Traditional and Cosmic Gods in Later Plato and the Early Academy (Cambridge Classical Studies)

Description

This book sheds new light on Plato's cosmology in relation to Greek religion by examining the contested distinction between the traditional and cosmic gods. A close reading of the later dialogues shows that the two families of gods are routinely deployed to organise and structure Plato's accounts of the origins of the universe and of humanity and its social institutions, and to illuminate the moral and political ideals of philosophical utopias. Vilius Bartninkas argues that the presence of the two kinds of gods creates a dynamic, yet productive, tension in Plato's thinking which is unmistakable and which is not resolved until the works of his students. Thus the book closes by exploring how the cosmological and religious ideas of Plato's later dialogues resurfaced in the Early Academy and how the debates initiated there ultimately led to the collapse of this theological distinction. Cover Half-title page Series page Title page Copyright page Dedication Contents List of
Figures and Tables Preface and Acknowledgements List of
Abbreviations Introduction 0.1 Religion and Gods 0.2 Cosmology and Gods 0.3 The Aims and Scope of This Book Chapter 1 Plato’s Theogony 1.1 The Two Theogonies of the Timaeus 1.2 Introducing the Ouranian God 1.3 Ouranos and the Origins of the Cosmic Gods 1.4 The Cosmic Cult-Image 1.5 The Traditional Gods and the Biological Framework 1.6 Timaeus, the Poets and the Orphics 1.7 The Double Identity of Gods in Later Plato 1.8 Conclusions Chapter 2 Plato’s Anthropogony and Politogony 2.1 To Whom Does the Demiurge Speak? 2.2 The Younger Gods and Anthropogony in the Timaeus 2.3 Plato’s Society of Gods 2.4 Critias the Mythmaker 2.5 The Patron Gods and Politogony in the Critias 2.6 Divine Legislation in the Laws 2.7 Conclusions Chapter 3 Plato on Divinity and Morality 3.1 The Elitist Ideal of Godlikeness in the Timaeus 3.2 The Egalitarian Ideal of Godlikeness in the Laws 3.3 Moral Virtues and Cult Practice in Magnesia 3.4 The Traditional Gods As Moral Exemplars 3.5 The Traditional Gods and the Theology of Book 10 3.6 Intellectual Virtues and Political Practice in Magnesia 3.7 Revisiting the Religious Divisions 3.8 Conclusions Chapter 4 Cosmic Religion in the Early Academy 4.1 The Epinomis on Religion 4.2 The Ouranian God in the Early Academy 4.3 The Traditional Gods and the Planetary Names 4.4 Piety and Godlikeness in the Cosmic City 4.5 Conclusions Conclusions References Index Locorum Subject Index