Since early men started to evolve and grow in number, mankind had to find new suitable ways to organize themselves: the "pater familas" once guiding small families had now turned into rulers that had to deal with vast extents of territory and great quantities of people. Primordial methods of controlling crowds had become anachronic with the existence of this new reality: punishment by the only means of force & strength was doomed long since.
The famous Greek city-states (known as "polis") were the first true intents to organize crowds as proper societies: each men had an assigned role in the state, and the act of the inhabitants were supposed to seek the "common wealth". Laws were soon formulated as an instrument to structure and frame the behaviour of citizens: everybody now knew what was commonly believed to be "right" and "wrong", and what punishment you had to face if you chose to commit an act against this established code of conduct and responsibilities.
Anyhow ... how is it possible to enforce these well-installed-laws if the people that are somehow chosen to guide the city are far outnumbered by common citizens ? How is it possible to restrain people from murdering, stealing, raping or cheating if the controlling force will never be able to match in number the size of the populace ? How is it possible to limit people's freedom if their proper nature moves them to do more or less what they desire, no matter outside restriction that can exist ?
The answer is straightforward: it's not possible; no form of temporal organization can achieve this quest. It was not until the common belief of the existence of an eternal afterlife that people started to "cool down"; it was not until they feared of an endless punishment in the afterlife that they really started to behave.
The evolution of moral and ethical behaviour goes side by side with the evolution of religion. When caciques, lords, commanders, kings and emperors realized the power that eternal punishment and reward had on people, they started to organize the primitive and private magic mysteries into well systematized cults.
If you behave in your mortal stay, you'll be rewarded with eternal happiness, otherwise you'll suffer endless punishment from the moment your immortal soul leaves your body. Simple as it sounds, this was the best-found equation to supervise the mass. There's no better way to control a society rather than by self-member-control.
In the following lines we will go through the main written-ambassadors that relate the evolution of afterlife beliefs in society; we'll do our best in trying to stress how the conception of soul-immortality developed in a continuous way to make people behave.
Homer's Odyssey (750 BC)
Homer pictures the first setting known to us of the Underworld, a place in the map that could be reached by boat if you just knew the correct path to it. In his journey back home, Odysseus travels to the Underworld to seek advice from the seer Tiresias on how to reach his beloved Ithaca. Once there, he finds a dull and dark place where souls moan in an eternal pain; everyone is walking heavy footed, with their heads aimlessly facing the floor. There's no distinction between kings, commanders and ordinary people among the spirits, no contrast between sinners and good people: everything is equaled for the worse.
In his search for Tiresias he meets Achilles:
(...)
Achilles: “O shining Odysseus, never try to console me for dying. I would rather follow the plough as thrall to another man, one with no land allotted him and not much to live on, than be a king over all the perished dead."
(...)
Homer's afterlife is truly pessimistic, there's a single living death for all of us no matter what we've done in mortal times; we find no incentive in life to live in grace, no compulsion to live a moral life, for we all end up in hell. Life is nasty, but when we die it gets even worse !
Plato's Myth of Er (350 BC)
Taking Homer's Underworld as a starting point, the last book of his "Republic" concludes with the tale of a soldier named "Er" who died in war, and after ten days his body came back to life in order to tell the story of his stay in the Land of the Dead.
Let's sum up Plato's myth: when the body dies, the soul accomplishes a hundred years grace (in the Heavens) or punishment (in Hell). The soul then reincarnates in a new body, after having drunk from the river of forgetfulness (Lethe).
Once again, just as in Homer's book, we find a finite body that perishes and frees an infinite soul. What is perfectly observed in the tale is the introduction of a reward for moral people and a punishment for immoral ones: there's a sky for the good and a hell for those who misbehaved in earthly times.
In the following lines we will go through the main written-ambassadors that relate the evolution of afterlife beliefs in society; we'll do our best in trying to stress how the conception of soul-immortality developed in a continuous way to make people behave.
Homer's Odyssey (750 BC)
Homer pictures the first setting known to us of the Underworld, a place in the map that could be reached by boat if you just knew the correct path to it. In his journey back home, Odysseus travels to the Underworld to seek advice from the seer Tiresias on how to reach his beloved Ithaca. Once there, he finds a dull and dark place where souls moan in an eternal pain; everyone is walking heavy footed, with their heads aimlessly facing the floor. There's no distinction between kings, commanders and ordinary people among the spirits, no contrast between sinners and good people: everything is equaled for the worse.
In his search for Tiresias he meets Achilles:
(...)
Odysseus: "How do you like being in the Afterworld after having been so great in your living days ?"
Achilles: “O shining Odysseus, never try to console me for dying. I would rather follow the plough as thrall to another man, one with no land allotted him and not much to live on, than be a king over all the perished dead."
(...)
Homer's afterlife is truly pessimistic, there's a single living death for all of us no matter what we've done in mortal times; we find no incentive in life to live in grace, no compulsion to live a moral life, for we all end up in hell. Life is nasty, but when we die it gets even worse !
Plato's Myth of Er (350 BC)
Taking Homer's Underworld as a starting point, the last book of his "Republic" concludes with the tale of a soldier named "Er" who died in war, and after ten days his body came back to life in order to tell the story of his stay in the Land of the Dead.
Let's sum up Plato's myth: when the body dies, the soul accomplishes a hundred years grace (in the Heavens) or punishment (in Hell). The soul then reincarnates in a new body, after having drunk from the river of forgetfulness (Lethe).
Once again, just as in Homer's book, we find a finite body that perishes and frees an infinite soul. What is perfectly observed in the tale is the introduction of a reward for moral people and a punishment for immoral ones: there's a sky for the good and a hell for those who misbehaved in earthly times.
[ Any similarity with judeo-christian belief is mere coincidence ].
Plato's Republic tried to bring up a formula for constructing the "Ideal State", and as we mentioned in the beginning of this article, society can only be controlled by self-citizen-control. Hence, the need of the afterlife dicotomy "reward / punishment" was needed to be present.
Virgil's Aeneid (20 BC)
If Virgil lived nowadays, we would accuse him of copycat authoring; his Aeneid bears more than a resemblance to Homer's Odyssey: the same Greek story now verbally rendered for Romans and by a Roman.
Aeneas' descent to the Underworld is much like Odysseus', nevertheless we can pinpoint special differences in the setting of his Underworld: Virgil is more than seven hundreds years younger than Virgil, and he breaths in a time and place where living is more optimistic. Life has a real purpose, and if you do good in your temporal stay, you'll find endless happiness in your afterlife. Unlike Plato, we find no Sky in the Underworld, but instead a special place for kings, queens, heroes and virtuous people called "Elysium" (also known as Elysian Fields) where they have a joyful visit. For sinners, there's a special place of torment waiting for them following the judgement day: Tartarus.
"This is the place where the road divides and leads in two directions: our way is to the right, and extends under the ramparts of Dis to Elysium, but the left path leads to the evil realms of Tartarus, where penalties for sin are exacted"
It is important to notice the ethical standards he applies, not found in Homer.
Dante's Divine Comedy (1300 AD)
As regards for the evolution of afterlife-salvation and its connection with moral behaviour, The Divine Comedy makes a perfect match between the Christian and Pagan beliefs; Dante smoothly combines the classical myths with medieval doctrines in a story that starts with the descent to the Underworld (Hell), and the subsequent ascent to the celestial Paradise after having climbed the Mountain of Purgatory. [keep on reading]
Dante takes the myths of Homer, Plato and Virgil together and updates them into a new allegory made for Christians, were salvation is found in the belief of a single God who rules the Afterworld of the right and the good.
Once again the moral search of a moral life is found: if you've done good and believed in God while on Earth, you'll be able to reach your reward when your eternal soul leaves your body.
Virgil's Aeneid (20 BC)
If Virgil lived nowadays, we would accuse him of copycat authoring; his Aeneid bears more than a resemblance to Homer's Odyssey: the same Greek story now verbally rendered for Romans and by a Roman.
Aeneas' descent to the Underworld is much like Odysseus', nevertheless we can pinpoint special differences in the setting of his Underworld: Virgil is more than seven hundreds years younger than Virgil, and he breaths in a time and place where living is more optimistic. Life has a real purpose, and if you do good in your temporal stay, you'll find endless happiness in your afterlife. Unlike Plato, we find no Sky in the Underworld, but instead a special place for kings, queens, heroes and virtuous people called "Elysium" (also known as Elysian Fields) where they have a joyful visit. For sinners, there's a special place of torment waiting for them following the judgement day: Tartarus.
"This is the place where the road divides and leads in two directions: our way is to the right, and extends under the ramparts of Dis to Elysium, but the left path leads to the evil realms of Tartarus, where penalties for sin are exacted"
It is important to notice the ethical standards he applies, not found in Homer.
Dante's Divine Comedy (1300 AD)
As regards for the evolution of afterlife-salvation and its connection with moral behaviour, The Divine Comedy makes a perfect match between the Christian and Pagan beliefs; Dante smoothly combines the classical myths with medieval doctrines in a story that starts with the descent to the Underworld (Hell), and the subsequent ascent to the celestial Paradise after having climbed the Mountain of Purgatory. [keep on reading]
Dante takes the myths of Homer, Plato and Virgil together and updates them into a new allegory made for Christians, were salvation is found in the belief of a single God who rules the Afterworld of the right and the good.
Once again the moral search of a moral life is found: if you've done good and believed in God while on Earth, you'll be able to reach your reward when your eternal soul leaves your body.
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Hola Julian, muy interesante lo que estas escribiendo. Imagino que se debe basar en los libros que recomendas. Te mando un abrazo, Almandos
ReplyDeleteAsí es ... la mitología clásica (greco-romana) te lleva a un mundo de fantasía científica donde lo real se mezcla con lo irreal y las explicaciones de los fenómenos son de lo más disparatadas y absurdas, a la vez que llenas de riqueza espiritual e intelectual. En pocas palabras: fantástico y atrapante !!
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