Πάπυροι - Επιστημονικό Περιοδικό τόμος 5, 2016

Transcript

1 KIKI ALATZOGLOU THEMELI, ex. Professor of Philosophy, Ionian University Περίληψη Σύμφωνα με την ποιητική-μυθική εικόνα του πλατωνικού Φαίδρου οι ψυχές των ανθρώπων στο παρελθόν, πριν ενσωματωθούν ζούσαν ευτυχείς στον υπερουράνιο τόπο όπου εθεώντο τις ιδέες της Αλήθειας, της Ομορφιάς, της Δικαιοσύνης κλπ. Μετά την ενανθρώπισή τους όμως, σύμφωνα με άλλη πλατωνική εικόνα, αυτήν της Πολιτείας, ζουν αλυσσοδεμένες σε μια υπόγεια Σπηλιά, όπου μόνο σκιές του πραγματικού κόσμου μπορούν να διακρίνουν. Για τον Πλάτωνα -αθηναίο αριστοκράτη φιλόσοφο του 4ου π.χ. αι.- ο υπερουράνιος τόπος είναι ο ιδανικός χώρος, ενώ η γη και το σπήλαιο είναι ο χώρος του δεσμωτηρίου της ψυχής. Στη χριστιανική γραμματεία έχουμε ανάλογα: ο ευαγγελιστής Ιωάννης (1ος αι.μ.χ.) ζει αιχμάλωτος στο νησί της Πάτμου μέσα σε ένα Σπήλαιο. Εκεί βλέπει ένα όραμα και το περιγράφει, είναι η λεγόμενη Αποκάλυψη. Βλέπει μια πύλη ανοιχτή προς τον Ουρανό και ακούει μια φωνή να τον καλεί να ανέβει. Ανεβαίνει πνευματικά και θεάται το άμεσο και το απώτερο μέλλον. Το πρώτο είναι σκοτεινό και δύσκολο, το δεύτερο φωτεινό κι ευτυχισμένο: οι πιστοί χριστανοί μετά τις δυστυχίες της γήϊνης ζωής θα απολαύσουν την ουράνια ευτυχία ζώντας στους κόλπους του Θεού, στην Άνω Ιερουσαλήμ. Παρεμφερείς εικόνες έχουμε και από άλλους χριστιανούς συγγραφείς. Και στις δύο περιπτώσεις, του Πλάτωνα και των Χριστιανών, ο ουράνιος χώρος (υπερουράνιος τόπος, άνω Ιερουσαλήμ) σηματοδοτεί ζωή με Ευτυχία και Αλήθεια απαραίτητο συστατικό της ευτυχίας. Ο γήϊνος χώρος, η Γη σηματοδοτεί τα αντίθετα -γιατί άραγε; Η μόνη διαφορά ανάμεσά τους καθόλου ασήμαντη ιστορικά- είναι ότι ο Πλάτων τοποθετεί την ουράνια ευτυχία στο παρελθόν ενώ οι Χριστιανοί στο μέλλον. Το τελευταίο αυτό, η πορεία προς ένα μέλλον φωτεινό και ευτυχές θα αποτελέσει εφαλτήριο της ευρωπαϊκής σκέψης, ώστε αυτή να διαμορφώσει την έννοια της Προόδου των Διαφωτιστών και της Αταξική Κοινωνίας των Μαρξιστών, με τη σημαντική διαφορά ότι αυτές τοποθετούνται στη Γη και όχι στον Ουρανό! Λέξεις-κλειδιά: Υπερουράνιος τόπος-άνω Ιερουσαλήμ= Ουράνιος χώρος, Γη-Σπήλαιο= γήϊνος χώρος, Παρελθόν- Παρόν-Μέλλον, δυστυχισμένο παρόν-ευτυχές μέλλον Abstract According to the poetical-mythical image of the platonic dialog Phaedros human souls(psyche) lived happy in the Past -before been incorporated in human bodies- in the Yperouranios Topos, where they saw the Ideas of Truth, of Beauty, of Justice and so on. But -according another platonic mythical image, this of Politeiaafter their incorporation they are living tied into a Cave, where they can distinguish only shadows of the real world. He -an athenian aristocrat philosopher of the 4 th century BC- thinks that the Yperouranios Topos is an ideal place, the Earth and the Cave is the place of soul s prison. In the Christian litterary tradition we have also something similar: Ioannis the evangelist (1st century AD) lives as prisoner at a Cave in the island of Patmos. There, he sees and describes a vision, it is the so called Apocalypsis. He sees a gate open to Heaven and hears a voice to call him on. He went up spiritually and he saw the Near and the Distant Future. The near future is obscure and difficult, but the distant one is full of light and happiness: the faithfull Christians after the miserable terrestrial life(near future) will taste the heavenly happiness living in God s region, in the Ano Jerusalem (distant future). Similar pictures we have from other Christian writers as well. 7

2 In both cases -Plato and the Christians- the heavenly space (yperouranios topos, ano Jerusalem) indicates life with Happiness and Thruth -necessary component of happiness. The terrestial space, the Earth indicates the opossite. Why? The only difference but historically very significant- between theese two viewpoints is that Plato places the heavenly happiness in the Past, while Christians places it in the Future. The last one, the marsh on a future full of light and hapiness will be the vaulting horse of the european thought, so that it will be formulated as the idea of Progress and afterthat the marxist idea of Classless Society, both of which are oriented to a delightfull Future. The only, but very significant, difference is that these are located in Earth and not in Heaven! Keywords: Yperouranios Topos-Ano Jerusalem= heavenly space, Earth-Cave= terrestial space, Past-Present- Future, miserable present, happy-delightful future First we have to go back to the athenean aristocrat Plato, a pagan, who lived in the fourth century BC. and to notice that before him, the philosophical -and not only- thought and cosmic theory in general was different: ordinary people and philosophers lent a positive meaning to the terrestial and tangible world, meaning which with Plato was lost. In Plato's philosophical writings, the political and moral dimension of his thought dominates; it is clearly demonstrated in his two greatest works, the Nomoi and the Politeia. The full title of the last one, is Politeia or Peri Dikaiou = Republic or About Justice. This second title About Justice, shows that in Plato's thought, the concept of the Republic or the State, as we might now call it, is associated with the concept of Justice; because for Plato the Republic or the State is based or must be based on Justice; but Justice, in its turn, is based on the knowledge of the Just and Unjust, of Good and Bad. That is why Plato in order to describe vividly how we conceive of the idea of Justice, but also all other ideas depicts a mythical image -he is not only a great philosopher but also a first-rate author- namely the image of "the Yperouranios Topos" or "the region above heaven", in another of his works, the dialogue Phaedros 1. According to the mythical image in words of Phaedros, the human soul(= psyche) is likened to a carriage which has the mind for a charioteer; this carriage-soul went around Heaven (= yperouranios topos), where she once saw all Ideas, like the idea of Justice, of Beauty, of Truth, of Good and so on, face-to-face. Thus all human beings, i.e. their souls, have seen these Ideas at some time in the past, therwise they could not be incorporated in a human body. This mythical image in words can help us to better understand the other famous platonic myth, the myth of the Cave in the seventh book of the Politeia or the Republic 2. According to this, human beings are imprisoned in a Cave, having had their legs and necks fettered from childhood; there, they see only shadows of real things and of real people, who walk about the cave, and they hear only the echo of what happens outside the cave. It is only when someone succeeds in escaping, that he is acquainted with real things, real men, and the real sun and so on. The whole scene symbolizes the terrestrial and material world, in which all of us live, and greatly contrasts with the heavenly world, where our souls had once lived facing ideas, God and where they tasted real happiness. In both cases, the myth and related scene are concerned with, and refer to platonic theory of knowledge and especially to the permanent platonic attitude that knowledge is the basis of human happiness, and recollection is the basis of knowledge. So, for the prisoners of the Cave, it is only when they are free and can leave the cave that they can see and hear real things and remember Ideas, which can guarantee knowledge and thus real happiness. Also according to Plato, only people who succeed in escaping from the Cave can see real things and remember Ideas, which their souls had seen before their incorporation into the human body; thus, one can have knowledge of the world, if, and only if, * The main ideas of this abstract were presented in the 2ème congrès mèditerranèen d esthètique: Espaces et Mèmoires, Carthage du 6 au 8 mars Plato Phaedros, 247c f. 2 Plato Republic, 514 f. 8

3 one can remember Ideas ; this is a presupposition for learning and knowledge; and only knowledge can guarantee man s a worthwhile and happy life. We can understand why the yperouranios topos or the region above heaven is the ideal space for a human being's happiness and why the cave and the earth in general is the opposite, namely the place of imprisonment and misery -perhaps unconsciously for the people who live out their lives there. Now in Christian mythology we have an analogy. First of all, the story of Ioannis Apocalypse known as Revelation 3. The narrator Ioannis, the youngest Disciple of Jesus, Baptist and Evangelist -as most scholars accept- who lived in the first Christian century, is also imprisoned on the island of Patmos and also lives in a Cave. His narration is well-known in the Christian world but difficult for us to understand it clearly, for it is full of visions, that use ideas and images in words from the Old Testament 4 ; it is like a story with secret messages for the early Christians; its meaning could be passed around and understood by the early Christians, but an official of the Roman Empire -like us- would not be able to understand it, which was highly desirable for the writer; for example, when the fall of Babylon is described, the early Christians knew (perhaps) that this pointed to the fall of the Roman Empire, and this knowledge raised their hopes... So Ioannis, while in the Cave, sees and narrates a vision which is a message from God. He sees a door open to Heaven and hears a voice calling him to ascend to Heaven; he says he went there spiritually, where he saw the near and further future; the near future is obscure and difficult, but the further future is delightful: after all suffering has ended, God's Faithful s will receive the greatest blessing of all, they will live with God in Heaven, in the new or ano Jerusalem -the word ano in Greek means upper, i.e. in heaven or in a region in heaven. There, will be no more death, suffering, crying or pain..., there, in the sacred city, the city of God they can see God face-to-face, which is the Truth and real Happiness for faithful Christians. In Ioannis Apocalypse or Revelation, as in platonic Myths, truth and happiness is outside the Cave and far from the Earth, they are in Heaven. Similar aspects are repeated by many other Christian writers: Paul the Apostle, who lived also during the first Christian century and established many churches in the ancient world, wrote and sent Epistles to the first Christians, members of the established churches, in order to give them strength and to raise hopes 5. In his Epistle to Galatians (4.26), Paul characterizes Ano Jerusalem as a free city and mother of all Christians. In the Epistle to the Philippians (1.27&3.20) he emphasizes that our commonwealth is in heaven. And in the Epistle to the Ephesians (2.19) he reassures the Christians of Ephessos that they will no longer be strangers and sojourners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. The idea that we are strangers and sojourners in this terrestrial world is also proposed by another great Christian, by Augustine; he was born in Thagaste (= Souk Araz of Algeria) in the fourth Christian century, he lived, studied and fell in love in Carthago and died as bishop of the ancient city of Hippo Regius(= Anaba of Algeria). In his famous work the City of God, he describes two cities, the heavenly city or the city of God, and the terrestial one or the city of Diaboli -by city of God he means the human community composed of Christians; the two cities live together on the earth but only the city of God will survive and continue to live happily in Heaven after the final Judgment. According to him, all of us are strangers and sojourners in the terrestial city and we must not pay attention to miseries caused by the enemies of God, because all people in their terrestial life are only blessed by hope and they will be really blessed in the future and in their heavenly life... At last an idea of the antithessis and the distance between Heaven and Earth can be found in a text entitled Climax(= Ladder) written by an ascetic of the Orthodox Church, Ioannis of Climacus, who lived at the end of the sixth and the beginning of the seventh Christian century. According to this text, a ladder leads the monks -and all Christians- from Earth to Heaven through thirty steps, corresponding 3 Ioannis Apocalypse, NewTestament, greek edition: Καινή Διαθήκη Η Αποκάλυψη του Ιωάννη, σ. 190 επ. 4See Umberto Eco, Beato di Liebana. Testo di Umberto Eco, greek translation: Η Αποκάλυψη του Ιωἀννη, Παρατηρητής All Epistles of Paul are incorporeted in the NewTestament(see above) 9

4 to the thirty years of the private life of Christ. The subject of the book is very popular with hagiographers, who depicted it in frescoes on walls, in manuscripts as miniature or on wood as icons. The monks strive to reach the top of the ladder, where Christ awaits them ready to crown them for their strife. But the ascent is difficult, the temptations many, and black demons tie ropes around the necks of weak monks and drag them forcefully to their fall. However, on the upper part of the ladder, guardian angels are ready to support the enduring monks. Ioannis has already reached the top of the ladder, followed by a Bishop, perhaps the bishop of the Monastery of Sina Antonios, given that Ioannis was, for a short time, Abbot of this Monastery. Thus according to Christian mythology and eschatology, the soul of good Christians will only live happily in Heaven, in ano Jerusalem, where they can see and accompany God; to speek with Augustine, Christians on Earth live just blessed through hope and only in Heaven they will be in a sure eternity and in perfect peace 6. Summing up, we can conclude that in both cases -platonic and christian- Heaven, which in Greek is designated by the words ano or yper, is the ideal space for happiness, while the Earth, designated in Greek by the word kato is the opposite. Accordingly the concept ano or up or in the Heaven is a positive concept, the concept kato, down or on Earth is negative. Thus we must conclude that Plato, who lived in Classical Antiquity, and the Christians: Ioannis, Paul, Augustine, Ioannis Climacus and others, who lived in Late Antiquity held heavenly space in high esteem and terrestial space in low esteem -and as most scholars accept, Plato is a forerunner of Christians on many topics, on our topic too. The only, but great, difference between them is that Plato places the ideal space and the happiness of the soul in the past, since our soul lived in the yperouranios topos or in Heaven before its incorporation in our body, while Christians place it in the future, since Ioannis and all other christian writers refer to the future; and it is well-known that all christian expectations and hopes are oriented to the future. So we have, besides the under-estimation of the terrestial space, under-estimation of the present time; in the case of Plato we have estimation of the Past, in the case of Christians estimation of the Future. This is a very essential difference, but one concerned with historical perspective and historical adventures; it is also concerned with socio-political changes which took place in the meanwhile. The historical perspective changed with the Christians or rather at the time of the Christians 7. Plato had political reasons to under-estimate the present, because of the athenian democracy of his time, whose was a great enemy; the aristocrat and antidemocrat Plato believed that the democracy of his city-state Athens was destroyed or rather ill; so he thought that the state of past times was the best. Christians on the other side for other reasons -also political or socio-political- underestimated the awful-terrible present and put their hopes in the future. Such an attitude may have been created because of wars and economic impoverishment, because of the destruction of the classical city-state, the decline of democracy, the rise of empires and so on. Anyway during the christian centuries and much erlier, from the late hellenistic period, the man-citizen had become slowly a man-subject; he had lost his political freedom and his ability to self govern, to govern his city-state; he felt insecure and unprotected; so man's real and tangible home, the Earth, became for him a place of misery, where he was an unimportant being and his opinion of no worth. Thus the only hope for a better, dignified and appy life was placed in another home, in Heaven, a higher and ideal place where nobody but the God of goodness could govern. So, through these ideas, it has given rise to the first kind of Utopias, which have the lands around the east Mediterranean Sea as birthplace. It is remarkable that further more the christian expetations and hopes, i.e. the itinerary to a delightfull future, has given rise to the idea of Progress, which dominated for many centuries and be- 6 Saint Augustine, De Civitate Dei, Greek translation: Η πολιτεία του Θεού, Αθήναι 1955, σσ. 48,52 7 see also Γραμμ. Αλατζόγλου-Θέμελη, Ο κύκλος, η γραμμή και το έσχατον τέλος της Ιστορίας, Διαλέξεις Φιλοσοφίας, Ακαδημία Αθηνών

5 came the kernel of the european idea of the Enlightenment; it became also the kernel of the Marxist idea of a delightfull future, i.e. of a Society without Classes 8. The great and interesting difference between the old and the modern ideas is that in our modern world the terrestial space, the Earth is no more underestimated; it has taken the place of the Heaven! 8 Umberto Eco: Δεν μπορούμε να διανοηθούμε τον Χέγκελ και τον Μαρξ χωρίς τον Άγιο Ιωάννη, Entretiens sur la fin des Temps, Librairie Artheme Fayard 1998, greek translation: Συνομιλίες για το τέλος του χρόνου, Νέα Σύνορα A.A. Λιβάνη 1999 σ