05.29.09

Dodds: Greeks and the irrational

Posted in Booknotes at 7:33 pm by nemo

I was rereading parts of E.R. Dodds classic study, The Greeks and the Irrational. This work is remarkable indeed among specialized studies of the ancient Greeks in not being out of date (first published in the early fifties) and for its original discussion of the ‘Greek Enlightenment’ (with a counterpoint discussion of the irrational aspect of ancient Greek culture).

Secularists trying to defend themselves against the resurgence of religion might find the book of considerable interest, along with the larger historical architecture of the eonic effect.
We see the way in which the relationships of religion, tradition, enlightenments, and a later resurgence of religion, that is, a resemblance to our own times, is completely laid out in relationship to the Axial period. It might help if the secular question could achieve a more intelligible discussion than the current.

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