- Konstantin
- On August 1, 2022
- https://euphoriatric.com
“Every known essence is excluded as the first principle of beings, because as long as it were known, it automatically ceases to be infinite” ANAXIMANDER Dikē, which refers to the concept of justice and to the Greek Goddess of Justice, was an important physical and metaphysical term in ancient philosophy. For ANAXIMANDER, the concept was concerned not only with ethical and formal laws, but also ontological laws; as a principle that governed how things come to be according to cosmic law. Dikē is the ultimate governing and ordering principle, which gives structure to everything from pre-existing Chaos to all of life and death.If cold becomes too pervasive in winter, it brings imbalance and thus injustice to the heat. If the summer sun is so scorching it withers and kills by its heat, it brings a similar imbalance. To support a limited human lifespan, one entity must “pay off” another by ceasing to exist so another can live. Inspired by the cycle of the four elements, day and night, and the four seasons, ANAXIMANDER and his philosophical predecessors and successors developed a vision of eternal rebirth.The Apeiron Is Justdike astraea st gaudens vermont anaximanderDike Astræa, possibly the work of August St. Gaudens, 1886, via the Old Supreme Court Chamber, the Vermont State House.
APEIRON which is fundamentally just, guarantees that no entities overstep their boundaries, as they are established according to the ordinance of time. The same applies to the ethical dimension of human life, as there are written and unwritten rules for good behavior, and ultimately a good life.
ANAXIMANDERis considered to be the first to compare cosmological law to ethical principles. In these terms, we have completed the cycle of connecting DIKE and ADIKIA, which are supposed to be in harmony with each other .As John Burnet points out in his book Early Greek Philosophy: “ANAXIMANDER taught, then, that there was an eternal, indestructible something out of which everything arises, and into which everything returns; a boundless stock from which the waste of existence is continually made good.”What Do We Learn From Anaximander’s Legacy?
Who is Dike? Dike is the exact opposite of Adikia. She is the goddess of justice whereas Adikia represents injustice. Dike is thought to be the daughter of Zeus and Themis. She is also part of the seasonal goddesses, which are also known as the HORAE in Greek COSMOLOGY(“MYTHOLOGY”)
Eunomia and Eirene are also part of the Horae. Dike is depicted as being in continuous conflict with Adikia to keep humans from dissolving into chaos and wrongdoing. In some pictures, Adikia is shown trying to flee from Dike who is attacking her with a mallet.
EUNOMIA was the goddess of good order and lawful conduct. She was associated with the internal stability of a state, including the enactment of good laws and the maintenance of civil order. She was also the spring-time goddess of green pastures (nomia in Greek). Eunomia was one of the Horai (Horae), goddesses of the seasons and the keepers of the gates of heaven. Her sisters were the goddesses Dike (Justice) and Eirene (Peace). Her opposite number was Dysnomia (Lawlessness).
She was frequently depicted in Athenian vase painting amongst the companions of Aphrodite, and in this sense represented the lawful or obedient behaviour of women in marriage. As such she was identified with Eurynome, mother of the Kharites (Charites, Graces).
EUNOMIA
»Eunomia and that unsullied fountain Dikē, her sister, sure support of cities; and Eirene of the same kin, who are the stewards of wealth for humanity — three glorious daughters of wise-counselled Themis«
Eunomia is the minor goddess over law and legislation. And according to the most people a daughter of Themis(Θέμις) titaness over divine law, and Zeus. Her opposite was Dysnomia (Δυσνομία), Lawlessness.
The name Eunomia can be translated into ‘good order’ or ‘governance according to good laws’
She was frequently depicted in Athenian vase painting amongst the companions of Aphrodite, and in this sense represented the lawful or obedient behavior of women in marriage. As such she was identified with Eurynome, mother of the Charites (Graces).
Eirene more commonly known in English as Peace, who was the personification of peace. She was depicted in art as a beautiful young woman carrying a cornucopia, sceptre, and a torch or rhyton. She is said sometimes to be the daughter of Zeus and Themis. Her Roman equivalent was Pax.
She was particularly well regarded by the citizens of Athens. After a naval victory over Sparta in 375 BC, the Athenians established a cult for Peace, erecting altars to her. They held an annual state sacrifice to her after 371 BC to commemorate the Common Peace of that year and set up a votive statue in her honour in the Agora of Athens. The statue was executed in bronze by Cephisodotus the Elder, likely the father or uncle of the famous sculptor Praxiteles. It was acclaimed by the Athenians, who depicted it on vases and coins.
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Horea was originally the personifications of the order of nature and of the seasons, but in later times they were regarded as the goddesses of order in general and of justice. In Homer, who neither mentions their parents nor their number, they are the Olympian divinities of the weather and the ministers of Zeus; and in this capacity they guard the doors of Olympus, and promote the fertility of the earth, by the various kinds of weather they send down.
The second generation do be fathered by Zeus and their mother should be Themis. Zeus is the king and Themis is titaness of Divine law, so it is pretty obvious that their children is law and order goddesses.
he horae and Dionysus}
According to Hesiod, Dike was fathered by Zeus upon his second consort, Themis. She and her mother were both personifications of justice. She is depicted as a young, slender woman carrying a physical balance scale and wearing a laurel wreath while her Roman counterpart (Justitia) appears in a similar fashion but blind-folded. She is represented in the constellation Libra which is named for the Latin name of her symbol (Scales). She is often associated with Astraea, the goddess of innocence and purity. Astraea is also one of her epithets referring to her appearance in the nearby constellation Virgo which is said to represent Astraea. This reflects her symbolic association with Astraea, who too has a similar iconography.
TRANSLATION
The House of Theseus, mosaic with the Three Horae (Dike, Eunomia and Eirene), West Wing, Paphos Archaeological Park, Cyprus
ANAXIMANDER marble relief, Roman copy of a Greek original, c. 610 – 546 BCE,
The great works of many PRE-SOCRATIC Greek philosophers have been lost to the sands of time. The best reconstructions we have, are from historians like DIOGENES Laertius, ARISTOTELES, and THEOFRASTUS. The latter brings us much of what we know about ANAXIMANDER.Burnet suggests that THEOFRASTUS had an insight into ANAXIMANDERs book, as he quotes him several times, and he occasionally criticizes him. Other sources include books such as the Refutation of All Heresies by the early Christian writer HIPPOLYTOS who claims that ANAXIMANDER was the FIRST to use the pre-existing word APEIRON
