Thales

ìThis is Thales whom Ionian Miletus bred and showed an astronomer, the highest of all in wisdom.î

- epigram inscribed on a statue of Thales (Barnes 68)

A curious bystander once asked Thales what the hardest thing to do was and Thales answered, ìto know thyself.î When asked what the easiest was he replied, ìto give advice.î In fact there are numerous stories attesting to wit of Thales, but Thales was much more than a wit, he is known as the founder of natural philosophy. He was one of the first to cut away the trappings of mythology and give a more modern, scientific view of the world. He formulated his own cosmology and avidly watched the stars among other things. He was the wisest of the seven sages of Greece and the date most widely accepted for his birth is 625 BC. He is said to be Phoenician, the son of Examyes and Cleobulina. It is unknown if he had a wife, but one story has him married with adopted children which he adored. Supposedly when asked why he had no children he answered, ìBecause I love my children.î (Barnes 66) At some point in his life he settled in Miletus, the city that was to become the center of the Pre-Socratic Philosophers.

There is a story in which Thales falls into a well because he had been looking at the stars. His pride was further damaged when a servant girl, who had seen his disgrace, mocked him and told he should remember to look to the earth and not only to the stars. If nothing else this story illustrates Thalesí interest in the heavens. It is said that he wrote works entitled Nautical Astronomy, On the Solstice and On the Equinox, all of which illustrate his immense interest in celestial events. Some attribute Thales with being among the first to record the period between the solstices. One of the most well know of Thales exploits is his prediction of the eclipse of 584 BC. Supposedly the eclipse took place during the sixth year of war between the Persians and Lydians, who after this remarkable event, laid down their arms. This prediction has been greatly questioned over the years. It is though that he used Babylonian methods (which would make sense since Asia Minor borders upon the Persian Empire which includes Babylon). He never states a certain day, time or place, just the year of the eclipse. Therefore it is probable that he recognized the pattern but not the exact mechanics that caused eclipses.

One of the reasons that the modern world criticizes Thalesí ability to predict such an eclipse is that his cosmology would not allow for the same movements that we today believe cause eclipses. Thalesí cosmology does not include an upper world for the gods or an underworld for the dead. One of his main contributions was his ability to divorce the world from the tyranny of the gods and see it in a more ìscientificî light. Thales was the first to declare that the universe was made of a single element. In his mind the universe was made of water, not as we know it, but as a type of moisture. The earth was formed from water that had been dried out. No one can say why he chose this element but it could be that he saw moisture in many different forms throughout the world, in lakes, in rain and in tears. Also, in most cases water was moving

and to him movement meant life. He thought that this motion was caused by soul. It was this life force or soul that water or moisture gave to each thing in different amounts, just as some objects are more moist than others. (McKirahan 31) Thales believed that the disk of the earth sat on a vast sea. He explained earthquakes by stating that it was the movement of this sea under the earth. By explaining it in this fashion he cut the tie with the gods, it was no longer Poseidon who shook the earth. The picture that Thales gives does not differ much from more ancient ones. He still thought that the earth was flat and still relied upon something to hold it up. Yet, it was not Atlas that held up his world but a natural element.

Numerous other discoveries have been attributed to Thales. It is said that he was the first to say that a circle is bisected by its diameter, that the angle of a semicircle was a right angle and that two angles of an isosceles triangle are equal. There are even stories that present him as an astute statesman. Thales began down a path that numerous other would follow that would eventually lead to the science we practice today. His influence trickled down through the ages, in fact when describing a very intelligent man the Greek playwright, Aristophenes, states, ìThe manís a Thales!î (McKirahan 23)

AnaximanderìThe things that perish into the things out of which they come to be, according to necessity,....î

- Quote attributed to Anaximander by Simplicius (McKirahan 43)Anaximander was Thalesí pupil, but in the eyes of many he greatly surpassed

his teacher. It is said that he was born in Miletus in 610 BC to Praxiades and died in 545 BC. Not much is known or even speculated about his personal life. It is suggested that he led an expedition to found a colony on the Black Sea and that he was the first to use gnomon and set up a sundial at Sparta. Most people believe that while he was the first to introduce it to Greek society, he was not the one who invented it. Anaximander is best know for his cosmology in which he identifies the principle element as apeiron, which translates to, ìunlimited, boundless, or indefinite.î (McKirahan 34) He also presented ideas on the origin of the human race, wrote a book entitled On Nature, drew a map of the stars and one of the inhabited earth.

Anaximander diverged from his teacherís picture of the universe. In Anaximanderís world all came from apeiron which is a kind of indefinite, eternal substance. It is speculated that he came to such a pass because of the idea of opposites (Hetherington 57). He could not see how water could be the origin of all things because fire could put it out and if fire could destroy water, how could it be part of it? Questions such of these prompted him to create apeiron which has no definite characteristics because if it had a characteristic this characteristic would have an opposite. Then something separated from this eternal substance that produced the opposite forces of hot and cold in the form of fire and mist. The fire formed a sphere around the mist. Later this sphere shattered creating separate rings of fire for the sun, moon and stars. Each of these spheres were encased in a cloud of mist or haze and through certain parts the fire breaks lose creating the sun, moon or stars. Eclipses and the phases of

the moon occur when these valves of fire are shrouded by the mist. The sun is the furthest from earth but is the brightest because it is made of the purest fire. The moon is the second largest and is muted in light because its fire is not as pure. The rings including the stars are the closest to earth but are made of the least pure fire, so they do not shine as brightly. The earth was formed from the heating of the water, which dried it out and the sea is salty because of this heating process. In his world this separation continues and by doing so he was the first to assert that the earth was created out of the same forces that are to maintain it. He stated that the earth is not supported by anything because it is in the center and therefore equidistant from everything. By making this assertion he challenged the concept that the natural state for any object is down and he introduced geometry into the formation of the universe. He also moved away from the idea that the earth was a flat disk. In Anaximanderís mind the earth was a cylinder which was three times as wide as it was deep. He stated that humans inhabit one of the flat edges. So, through these assertions Anaximander turned the Greekís conception of the world on its ear.

Anaximander also attempted to explain many natural phenomena. He said that lighting occurs when wind separates or breaks free from the clouds (Kahn 100). Wind he believed to be made up of the finest particles of vapor which move together. Here it should be noticed that he continued this idea of separation; lightening is caused by wind separating from the clouds. He also said that it was the wind that made the paths of the sun and moon oblique (note here that he recognizes that the sun and moon move in this fashion).

One of Anaximanderís most interesting assertions concerns the origins of humans. The main problem he must face is the ìfirst generationî problem: the fact that when humans are set upon the earth they are helpless and could not survive on their own (McKirahan 42). Other cultures had solved this problem through gods - the gods can set a grown man upon the earth with no problem. Anaximander solved this problem in an interesting way. He asserted that the first humans grew to maturity in the bodies of fish which had emerged from the water. He believed that when humans were able to fend for themselves they burst free from the fish. This belief seems tantalizingly like Darwinís theory of evolution, but it is a large stretch to see Anaximander as an believer in evolution. He never says anything about humans evolving from fish, just that they burst forth from them.

Many consider Anaximander the first genuine philosopher (Cleve 144) and his many accomplishments seem to warrant the title. His cosmology opened up a whole new avenue of thought for those who were to follow him. Hecataeus would later improve upon his map and later generations would expand the idea of circles in the sky upon which the sun, moon and stars moved. It is safe to say that Anaximander was one of the shinning stars of Pre-Socratic philosophy and a more than adequate successor to his teacher, Thales.

AnaximenesìAnaximenes believes that there is a single, moving, infinite first

principle of all existing things, namely air.î- Olympiodorus (Barnes 79)

The next great pillar of Pre-Socratic Philosophy after Anaximander was his pupil, Anaximenes. In many ways the ideas of Anaximander and Anaximenes are as similar as their names, but for the most part Anaximenes is seen to retreat from some of the bold assertions of his teacher. Yet in most cases there are good reasons for such retreats. Anaximenes also came from that hot bed of Pre-Socratic thought, Miletus. Nothing much is known about his personal life, not even its dates, although some state that his father was Eurystratus. (Hetherington 58) Anaximenes presented his own candidate for the principle substance of the universe, formed his own cosmology and made multiple other assertions concerning natural occurrences.

Anaximenes moved away from the vague, indefinable apeiron as the source of all things and in its place he put air. It is speculated that his reason for this could have been that he thought that any theory should have a solid, known base. There is no way to prove that the apeiron exists besides Anaximanderís own reasoning. (McKirahan 49) Air, on the other hand, is something that humans are very familiar with. Anaximenes believed that the different substances we see in the world result from the differences in the density of air. He said that air in its uniform state is invisible to all. Then, when it becomes rarer, less dense, it forms fire. When it condenses and becomes more dense it forms wind, then clouds, then water, then earth and finally stones. He attached the opposites that bothered his teacher, hot and cold, to the dense, rare pairing. He believed that things that are more dense are cold (like water and wind) and things that are less dense are hot (like fire). One of his explanations for this is that when we blow out air from pursed lip, which is more dense, it is colder and when we just breath out air normally, which is less dense, it is hot. The most important thing about this explanation is that he seems to be experimenting which would show one of the first steps towards our ìmodernî science. His major flaw here is that he doesnít deal with counter examples: wind can be hot and rocks can be cold. Yet, taken as a whole, the fact that he even attempts to experiment is a step in a new direction.

The cosmology of Anaximenes differs from those before him. He believed that the earth was a flat disk that sat upon a bed of air. In this description he

shied away from Anaximanderís suggestion that the earth does not need to rest upon anything. He said that the sun and other celestial objects were also flat and ride upon the air. He believed that stars formed from moisture that rose from the earth and then became rarer. He also stated that pieces of earth were in the sky, and this might be a way to explain meteorites. He believed that air is constantly moving and that this, not only causes change, but the movement of the celestial objects. He does not believe that the sun travels under the earth because that would upset the earth on its bed of air. Instead, he thought that the earth and all the celestial objects moves like a cap around the earth and that the other celestial objects did not heat the earth because they are too far away (which is correct). Also, he stated that the sun rises and sets because it is screened by objects on the earth like mountains and because it moves farther away.

Anaximenes also accounted many celestial occurrences, many of which are true. He believed that lighting resulted from the parting of the clouds from wind. This view is very close that held by his teacher. The sun rays hitting denser air caused rainbows in his mind. Earthquakes resulted form changes in the heating or cooling of the earth. He correctly stated that the moon is illuminated by the sun and that the seasons were caused by the sun. He also correctly accounted for lunar eclipses.

In many ways Anaximenes was a much more conservative philosopher than this teacher even though they follow many of the same paths of thought. At the same time, it was Anaximenesí example that many later philosopher would follow. In many cases he did uncover the way the world worked, as is the case with the light of the moon. Even though many of his other assertions were proven false with time he marked a departure from the gods that was absent in much of the rest of the ancient world. Xenophanes

By now have seven and sixty yearsbeen tossing my thought about the land of Greece;and from my birth there were twenty five to add to themif I know how to speak truly about these things.

- Xenophanes (McKirahan 59)If nothing else Xenophanes was the longest lived Pre-Socratic philosopher.

He is said to have lived to be over one hundred, from around the year 570 until 475 BC. He was born in the town of Colophon in Ionia, but had to leave when the town was conquered by the Persians in 546 BC. His right to be called a true philosopher had been called into question for he is mostly known to be a poet. After he left Colophon he wandered throughout the Grecian world reciting his poetry for payment. He also found the time to teach Parmenides and to expound upon his own ideas concerning the world. He had his own ideas about the principle elements of the world and about why certain natural phenomena occur. He is also questioned the extent of human knowledge and was one of the first men to attack of Olympian gods of Greece.

Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes all believed that one substance created all others, Xenophanes thought that two substances did the job; water and earth. To him the main opposition was not between hot and cold, or rare and dense, but

between wet and dry. He believed that the earth had first been one vat of mud that had been dried out. He supported this idea by citing the fact that fossils of sea animals had been found inland. Here he took a major step forward by citing evidence; his theories did not rest upon his own reasoning but upon concrete evidence. Yet, it is erroneous to say that he saw the earth as being created by these substances because, for him, the earth was eternal and changeless. It never came to be - it always was. Since he held such a belief he did not have to account for the formation of the world only for its eternal composition.

Xenophanes never goes in depth into his cosmology but a brief picture can be formed. Later philosophers interpreted his work as meaning that the earth does not float on anything but continues downwards infinitely. Also that the heavens continue upwards at infinite length. Others have interpreted his work as saying that the heavens and the earth have limits, but that they are bordered by a substance like Anaximanderís apeiron. In fact Xenophanes apeiron is one god and that one god is the world, shaped like a sphere. He never specifies a body for his god and thus to could be believed that a spherical earth itself was his body. (Cleve 10-15) It is said that this ball or infinitely stretching universe does not move and is changeless. In his own way, Xenophanes is trying to give his world an underlying unity like Anaximanderís apeiron or Anaximenesí air, only his is the shape of a god.

As already commented upon Xenophanes had a utterly different view of the gods then the rest of the Greeks. The previous philosophers had excluded the mention of the gods and in doing so negated their existence and power. Xenophanes openly attack the religious structure of the day. He railed against the idea that the gods were like humans, were formed in a hierarchy and interfered in human affairs. He stated that Hesiod and Homer, ìtold many lawless deeds of the gods -/ theft and adultery and mutual deception.î (Barnes 95) In the new forms of the universe created by the Pre-Socratic philosophers the old Olympian gods had no place. In their place Xenophanes places one group of gods that live in harmony. He wanted gods that were eternal and independent of the human world. In his religious views Xenophanes comes close to the more modern monotheist ideas of god.

Xenophanes also attempted to explain other celestial events. He saw rainbows as clouds. He said, ìWhat men call rainbow, that too is a cloud, purple and scarlet and yellow to see.î (Barnes 98) To him the sun recreated itself everyday from little pieces of fire. Therefore he thought there were innumerable suns and moons.

In Xenophanes mind the truth was hard to come by, almost impossible. He did not believe that the god or gods told humans everything. It is said that he concluded his own book by saying, ìLet these thing be believed as resembling the truth.î (McKirahan 67) While he professed that humans could never reach the truth he did think that they should d or at least one strive for truth because they could get closer to the truth. Through such beliefs Xenophanes illustrated his views about the limits of human knowledge.

The ideas Xenophanes presents about the principle elements of the earth and his cosmology do not seem as reasonable or as well thought out as those of the

previous philosophers. At the same time he presents many new ideas that mark major changes in thought: he doubts the ability of menís intelligence, provides evidence for his arguments and grapples with the gods. Xenophanes definitely shows the influence of Miletians and through his travels brings such ideas to other regions of the Greek world.

HeraclitusìAmong them Heraclitus the mocker, the reviler of the mob,the riddler, rose up.î

- Timon (Bares 106)Heraclitus was known by numerous nicknames, among the ìThe Riddlerî and

ìThe Obscure.î (Barnes 100) These nicknames stem from the fact that much of humanity was puzzled by his views. Supposedly Socrates thought they were great, but stated that he would have to take some to the oracle to make sense of them. (Barnes 100) Heraclitusí fragments have been interpreted many different ways throughout the years. The one thing we know for certain is that he was born in Ephesus around 540 BC. He was from an upper class family and Heraclitus, himself, may have enjoyed the honorary ìkingshipî before giving it to his brother. Heraclitus seems to have held the rest of humanity in contempt, this may have been due to the fact that the center of philosophical thought had shifted away from Asia Minor with the destruction of such places such as Miletus by the Persians. (McKirahan128) Heraclitus followed the path blazed by the earlier Milesian philosophers, but widened it. He took many of the ideas pertaining to nature and applied them to the political and social realm. He focused mainly on the state of human knowledge, on the idea of the unity of opposites and formed his own basic cosmology.

On the whole, Heraclitus did not think very kindly of mankind. He attacked religious practices by denying the use of sacrifices and claimed that the majority of mankind was bad. In his mind everyone existed in their own private world, with their own private reality and were unable to see the world as it truly existed. He believed that people could ìawakenî and see the true world, but that this would require them to question everything (McKirahan 131-132). Here he drew upon his predecessors by using the idea of inquiry which had been

dormant before. Yet the questioning he required of people was intelligent questioning: they should use certain senses at the right time. If they were in a dark room they should use their sense of smell and touch guide them. He admits that finding the true state of the world is difficult, but possible.

Heraclitus was enamored of the idea of the unity of opposites. He loved to put things in paradoxical language. He believed that everything is one and one, everything. He stated that the sea is both pure and polluted depending on how you look at it. It is pure to the fish and polluted to the human. He, also, states that extreme opposites like hot and cold are unified. His reasoning could be that for something to become hot it must first be cold because something hot cannot become hot. (McKirahan 136-137) It follows that to know something is hot we must first understand cold; people cannot understand peace without war. In this way Heraclitus shows that everything is from the core of one thing or needs the other to exist at all.

He ties this idea of unity of opposites into his idea of the universe. For Heraclitus the primary substance was fire. At the same time he believed that fire could become water and water, earth. Then, he believed the opposite could occur: that earth became water and water, fire. He believed that his interchange was constant and eternal, and thus the universe was eternal, but always changing. He saw the constant change of these three elements as giving the world stability. Yet, for Heraclitus fire was the purest substance, the base of all things. He gave it an active role in the universe. It judged all things and wad somehow tied with the idea of god. He thought that the purest fire was in the sky and this was why the flames on earth reached skyward.

Heraclitus also formed his own cosmology which is not as detailed as those of the Milesian philosophers. He believed that the sea and earth gave off exhalations, both dark and light. Then, he thought that the sky contained bowl like objects that could catch these exhalations. The bright ones all accumulated in the hollowed out part of the bowl and thus the sun was formed. As this explanation should make clear, the sun was formed anew each day. The moon went through the same process, except that the exhalations it caught were not as pure. To Heraclitus night was the product dark exhalations. In fact, he accounted for seasons, years, rain and wind through these exhalations. He said that the reason some celestial bodies appear fainter and cooler was that they are eclipses and the phases of the moon occurred when these bowls turned. He also believed that the breadth of the sun was about the size of a human foot.

Heraclitus did not concern himself about the exact formation of his cosmology. He was more concerned with how it maintained itself. One of Heraclitusí major contributions was his broadening of the traditional philosophy - the bold move to apply such ideas beyond nature to the actions of humans. While he insulted many of the other respected authorities of the time, such as Homer, he never uttered a negative word about the Milesian philosophers that proceed him, which in itself, showed he held them in respect. Yet his constantly negative outlook annoyed much of the ancient population and in his old age he supposedly became somewhat of a hermit who did not eat much more than grass. Then, at the age of sixty in 480 BC, he died under a pile of mature while trying to cure himself of the dropsy.

BabylonThe very utterance of the word Babylon brings forth images of grandeur.

Pictures of the Wall of Ishtar and of its ruler Nebukadnezar rule the mind. Such images are not out of place, but the history of Babylon began long before the Chaldeans took control. The city went through numerous expansions and collapses before this period. To understand the history of Babylon it must be understood that in the begining Mesopotamia was ruled by a series of city-states, that every once in a while would stop fighting among themselves and form a confederacy, or one city would gain dominance over the rest. Before Babylon emerged as a major city-state Sumer, Akkad and Ur had briefly pulled the surrounding areas together in a kind of unity. Babylon itself experienced two major flourishing. The first was during the reign of Hammurapi, and the other, in 600ís BC, under the rule of the Chaldeans.

Around the year 1800 BC Babylon first began to rise. Its greatest ruler during this period was Hammurapi. Hammurapi was the sixth in the line of rulers of Amorite origin in Babylon. This gave his reign legitimacy and thus, strength. He spent the first twenty years of his reign fortifying his territory. Then, he slowly began to expand, until in 1762 BC he could claim to have rule over the foundations of Sumer and Akkad. During his rule he respected the other gods of those he had conquered, which made his rule more comfortable to the conquered. Yet, he also imposed taxes and asked for tribute which, in many sectors, caused a disenchantment with his rule. He is most well known for his law code with its ìeye for an eyeî attitude. This law code showed an attempt to apply a common law throughout his land and it also showed the extent of his power since it placed him and his laws into the daily life of those in his ìempire.î One of his major accomplishments was the movement of the center of Mesopotamian culture to Babylon. To do this he changed the hierarchy of the gods. Before the main god had been Enlil, who was tied to the holy city of Nippur. In the Babylonian creation myth, Enuma Elish, Enlil hands the power to control the earth over to Marduk, the god of Babylon. Through this action the center of Mesopotamian culture was transferred to Babylon where it would remain for centuries. So, while after the rule of Hammurapi his ìempireî slowly collapsed, it left a lasting mark of the mind of the ancient world.

In 1595 BC the Hittites sacked Babylon and the Kassites took over control of the city. The origins of the Kassites is mysterious, but it is known that they ruled Babylon until 1200 BC. They saw themselves as the steward of the old, and thus good, culture of Babylon and of Sumer-Akkad. They kept out of the wars that raged around them by increased diplomatic missions and by the protection of the name of Babylon. The Kassites maintained a stable government until the 1200ís BC which saw the coming of the Sea Peoples.

The identity of the Sea People is a mystery. It is known that they were a mixture of people probably from the west whoís mass immigrations upset the balance in Mesopotamia and caused all the old states, including the Kassites, to fall. Emerging from the chaos, relatively unscathed, were the Assyrians who then proceeded to create the first real empire. The destiny of Babylon is difficult to chart through this time because sources dry up in times of chaos. What is known is that Babylon became a vassal of Assyria and through it revolted many times, it wasnít until the rise of the Chaldean Kings in 626 BC that their power was restored.

In 626 BC Babylon saw the ascension of Nabolsassar and the tenth dynasty of Babylon, but the major king of this period was Nebukadnezar II who came to power in 604 BC. Nebukadnezar embarked upon major building projects. He built the famed Ishtar Gate, which was only a part of a large wall that enclosed the city. He also built impressive palaces and rebuilt multiple temples. It is rumored that he was the creator of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the Tower of Babel. During this period Babylon flourished: numerous advances were made in mathematics and astronomy. In fact the Greek word Chaldean translates to astronomer (Knapp 237). The Babylonians founded the base 60 system on which we still base our telling of time and they laid the foundations for the modern calendar. They focused much on observations and on a tablet series, MUL.APIN, they traced three paths of the fixed stars. They were also able to predict solstices, eclipses and the like. So, once again Babylon became the center of culture for the ìcivilizedî world.

The downfall of the Chaldeans came with the reign of Nabonidus. Nabonidus shifted away from the worship of Marduk to the that of the moon god, Sin. During his reign the country faced many problems, among them a famine, but the shift in religion caused the major rift because it angered the priesthood. During this time Persia had been gaining power and the Priesthood of Marduk offered Babylon to Cyrus, the king of the Persians in 539 BC. Under the rule of Cyrus the Babylonians did not experience many hardships. In fact, Cyrus respected the religion and governmental structure of Babylon. Yet, not longer was Babylon the center of the ancient world. Thus, fell Babylon once more from power, but this time is was not to rise again like the fiery Phoenix.

The city of Babylon served as center of Mesopotamian society on two different occasions, centuries apart. After the rise of the Persians, followed by the rise of the Greeks and then the rise of Rome Babylon no longer had a chance to weld the great power it once had. Yet, at the same time, it always contained the elusive remembrance of power. In following centuries people still drew their ideas from those fermented in Babylon long ago.

In the begining...Bordering the clear waters of the Aegean Sea is a strip of coast known in

ancient times as Asia Minor and it was this small strip of coast that saw the first flourishing of natural philosophy. The reason that this place gave birth to philosophyís first bloom is unknown. The city-states that lined itís coast were wealthy, but more importantly they stood between two worlds: that the Near East and the Grecian West. The thoughts and ideas of both societies drifted through their bustling ports. Yet, these were not peaceful times. Internal and external disputes plagued the cities and it was from these seeds that the first Pre-Socratic philosophers grew.

It is erroneous to believe that new radial thought just came to be with Thales in 585 BC, because before the coming of that sage numerous other events had taken place. Ideas about the origin of the world can be found in almost any society. The Greeks saw the world being formed by the Olympian gods and the Babylonians by Marduk. Investigations into nature were no new idea either. The Babylonians spent hours looking at the sky and were able to predict eclipses and form the ancestor of our modern calendar. Hesiod, a Greek poet, placed the world in order by creating the Ages: the Golden Age, Silver Age, Bronze Age, Heroic Age, and Iron Age, but he left their formation in the hands of the gods. (Nagle 111) The main revolution that took place in Asia Minor with the first Pre-Socratic philosophers was the division between the natural and the supernatural. Before, explanations about the world had been intimately tied to the gods. The world of the Greeks had been held up by Atlas, and the achievement of the Pre-Socratics was to recognize that, while gods many have a place in the world, they did not affect nature, the world must be held by something like water. The Pre-Socratics were also able to bring forth the idea of debate into the scientific arena. Before, explanations of the world were based upon the gods and, therefore, indisputable, but now theories could be looked at with a critical eye without the fear of divine retribution. So, the first Pre-Socratics were able to divorce the natural from the supernatural and then they added debate to the formula, but the reasons why this occurred are complex and not fully understood.

To comprehend the formation of these new ideas one must first understand the world in which the citizens of Asia Minor and more specifically Ionia lived. It was not until modern times that there was a country called Greece. In ancient times to be Grecian was more of a cultural identity. The Greeks were a group of people who were bound together by ties of language and myth. In fact the word barbarian is derived from the Grecian word for foreigner. They also shared ties of myth, especially through the stories of Homer. The Iliad tells the story of a time when the Greeks united together for a common moral cause. They also shared

common religious beliefs focusing on the Olympian gods. Yet, this connection did not keep the Greek cities in peace. They were usually at war with at least one other city-state and many times these wars were incredibly destructive like the Peloponnesian Wars. There was no Grecian capital, although all the cities respected certain places like the Oracle at Delpi, instead power shifted throughout the Grecian world. With the rise of Grecian power came changes in the power structure. Before power had been centered in the hands of a landed elite, but with the rise of trade and Greek fortunes the power of the merchant and newly rich came to the forefront. These pressures were relieved in multiple ways. Much of the Grecian world saw the rise of tyrannies. A tyrant used in this context is not the modern conception of tyrant as an oppressor. These tyrants were sole leaders who took the power away from the aristocracy through popular support. Such governments did not last long due to the loss of that popular support. Other sectors of Greece took different steps. The Athenians, through Solon, passed numerous reforms to deal with it (they actually did have a tyrant for a time later through). So this period saw the rise of multiple governmental forms. The Greek world contained oligarchies, monarchies and tyrannies. It was a time a great upheaval for the Greek world, including Asia Minor.

Today most people think of Athens and Sparta as the Grecian power houses. In fact, Miletus, in Asia Minor, might have been founded earlier than Athens and at many times held as much power. It was Miletus, more than any other city, that witnessed the birth of philosophy. Today Miletus is not much, it was destroyed by the Persians and its prosperous harbor has silted up, but in the 500ís BC it was a wealthy city with a broad trade network. During this period Miletus experienced the same vast upheavals as the rest of the Grecian world. This attitude of change starkly contrasted the more stable systems of the east. This might be one of the reasons for the initial rise of Greek thought. Asia Minor, as a trade center, was a major receiver of ideas from the East. At the same time, it was connected to the west. A state of upheaval, like the one in Miletus in the 500ís BC, leads to questions about the right kind of government. Major debates were taking place as to the benefits of the different types. The society may not of had an extreme amount of freedom of speech, but it was given a reason to question its institutions and this questioning of institutions could have easily been transferred to the more philosophical questions. I would argue that the upheaval helped the Miletians and other see the universe as one that could be questioned and then they were able to apply the ideas they had received from the East. Why this all occurred in Miletus is unknown. There were other towns just as wealthy and experiencing the same upheavals, but it was Miletus that bore fruit.

Thought in MigrationThe first three major philosophers, Thales, Anaximander and Anaximenes,

came from Miletus. Whether they had connections or influenced each other is not known, but if they did it would not be surprising. Most of the first Pre-Socratic philosophers had their roots in Asia Minor. Yet, in 546 BC the coastal towns of Asia Minor including Miletus, fell into the hands of the Persians as they expanded. After this the momentum of the movement shifted about from Asia Minor to places like Athens and the city-states of Italy. This could, in part, be due to the Persians. The Persians wanted to keep the tyrannies in power in Asia Minor, while the citizens looked longingly at the reforms towards more democratic governments in places like Athens. The Persians had found the tyrannies much easier to deal with since they consisted of one person rather than a large Assembly, but their insistence made them unpopular with the population and led to a rebellion in 499 BC. The rebellion received help from other cities like Athens, but in the end it was put down. In 494 BC Miletus was retaken, pillaged and its population resettled. Thus, Miletus was not of much use to the philosophers after 494 BC. It could be that such a violent rebellion destroyed the economic base of the area for years to come and thus survival was more of an issue than revolutionary thought. All we do know is that philosopher like Xenophanes and Pythagoras began to travel throughout Greece, and through their travels they were able to find fertile minds in other regions. So in this way the flower of Asia Minor wilted as that of other city-states bloomed.

Babylonian CosmologyThe main source for Babylonian cosmology is their creation myth, Enuma

Elish. The origins of this tale are unknown. It is suggested that it went through many different transformations; that the first main character was the god Enlil, who was replaced by Marduk of Babylon, who, in turn, was replaced by Assur of the Assyrians. (Munitz 8-9) The story has been used by both the Babylonians and the Assyrians to legitimize their rule and at the same time it illustrates the view that the Mesopotamians had of the world.

In the begining their were two gods, Apsu and Tiíamat. Apsu was the sweet water and Tiíamat the salt. They gave birth to Lahamu and Lahmu, who were slit and they were the parents of Anshar and Kishar the gods of the horizon. The gods of the horizon gave life to Anu the sky god, whoís child was Eaki or Ea, the earth god, who was very wise. This part of the story was probably influenced by the area in which the Mesopotamians lived. (Munitz 10) The water (both of river and sea) was slowly silted up to form the horizon and then the earth. In their view the two horizons were separated by wind that kept them apart.

The next segment of the story gives order to the universe. Tiíamat and Apsu decide that the other gods were too bothersome and decided to destroy them, but

the other gods catch wind of the plan. Ea takes control, being the wisest, and casts a spell over Apsu and kills him. He, then, builds his house upon his body, as the earth covers the ground water. Time passes in peace and Ea has a glorious son named Marduk. Yet then the powers of chaos began to talk to Tiíamat and convince her to kill the other gods to revenge her slain husband, so she gathers an army. Once again, the other gods hear of this and they sent Ea out to defeat her, but he fails. Next they send out Anu, but he too fails. Finally they turn to Marduk, the young god. He consents, but as his price he wants the ìtablets of destinyî or supreme control over the earth. The other gods agree, but not before testing him. Their faith in Marduk is justified, for when they see him approach most of the enemy army flees, but Tiíamat stands her ground. In the end Marduk defeats her by netting her, blowing wind down her belly and shooting an arrow through her heart. He then tears her body in two. He uses half to form the sky, on top of which he builds his house. The other half he leaves on the ground and thus forms the seas. He places locks on the sea in the sky so it will not rain and the only time the locks open is during a rain storm. In this way the creation earlier referred to is repeated. The sky and earth, in the form of Tiíamat, is parted by the winds and Ea the earth float on top.

After his victory Marduk begins to put the earth in order. He sets up the constellations and determines their risings and settings. He forms gates at the east and west for the sun to pass through and places the moon in charge of the night, specifying its phases. Marduk also creates two bands in the sky as the paths of Enlil and Ea. Then, he creates people from a sacrificed god to serve the remaining gods. Finally, he organizes the gods and gives them separate duties to attend to and they in thanks confirm him as king of the underworld.

Thus ends the Babylonian creation story. It is this story that passes down to us the way they saw the universe. It is a universe with a flat disk of earth floating upon a vast sea. Then, below that, is the underworld. On the sides sit the gates for the sun, and right above the earth is the world of the stars and wind. Above that is the path of Enlil, and finally on the top reigns Marduk, the supreme god.

Asia MinorThe majority of early Pre-Socratic philosophers were from Ionia which forms

the western coast of Asia Minor and the surrounding islands. The area is extremely fertile and was first settled in 1000 BC by the Greeks. Many of the cities flourished. In the 700ís BC the Greeks of the mainland began to colonize the area slightly and the new cities also bloomed in the fertile soil. Many of the cities like Miletus became commercial centers and, therefore, gathered much

wealth, which helped the ideas of the early philosophers grow. Then, in the 546 BC the Ionian cities came under the sway of the Persians. The Persians tried to force the people to keep the existing tyrannical form of government, but in 499 BC they revolted. The Persians managed to crush the rebellion, which was supported by city-states Athens. The revolt ended in 494 BC when Miletus was captured and destroyed. The support given by the Athenians gave the Persians an excuse to invade Greece, but they in turn, were defeated by the Athenians at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. After the Athenian victory the Ionian states were technically free, but, in reality, they remained under the control of the Athenians, who were gaining control in the ancient world.

PythagorasìHe once passed by as a puppy was being beaten,the story goes, and in pity said these words:ëStop, donít beat him, since it is the soul of a man, a friend of

mine,which I recognized when I heard him crying.íî

- Xenophanes (McKirahan 81)Pythagoras is one of the best known and most talked about Pre-Socratic

philosopher. His life abounds with amusing stories like the one from above, but the problem is that no one knows what is true. One story says that when a snake reached out to bite him, he bit it back. (Barnes 85) What is known is that he was born in Samos around the year 570 BC to a man named Mnesarchus. Then, at some point, he disagreed with the tyrant of Samos, Polycrates, and then, through necessity, traveled through out the world. He visited places like Babylon and ended up settling in the Greek city of Croton. Once there he set up a secret society of Pythagoreans. The secrecy of this brotherhood is one of the reason that so little is known about this teachings. Also, the members of the brotherhood had a tendency to attribute all their own discoveries to their master. His teachings and their secrecy angered the people of Croton and caused them to attack the brotherhood, killing many of its members. Pythagoras, himself, escaped to Metapontum, where he died a few years later. The ideas that this group produced are difficult for a modern or even an ancient audience to comprehend.

One of the most talked about Pythagorean beliefs was the transmigration of souls. Pythagoras believed that souls were immortal. He thought that everything

moved in cycles and everything would happen again. The soul could remain in the underworld for a while, but, eventually, it would be recycled into another life form. He says he gained this knowledge because he was the son of Hermes, that his father gave him any wish except for immortality, and he asked for remembrance of his past lives. His wish was granted, and supposedly, Pythagoras could recount many of his other lives. (Barnes 86-87) Walking hand in hand with this idea is the fact that the eating of meat was prohibited. This was so because, for all one knew, one could be eating oneís best friend. The Pythagoreans also abhorred the eating of beans. No one knows the origin of this belief although many are speculated upon, from the fact that beans cause flatulation and this would disturb meditation to the fact that beans had connections with the underworld. (McKirahan 89) The origins for the theory of the transmigration of souls probably came from the East, especially Egypt.

Yet much of Pythagorasí fame rests upon his mathematical findings. He and his brotherhood identified odd and even numbers, prime and composite numbers, squared and cubed numbers and irrational numbers. It is said that when Hippasus broke the oath of secrecy and told the world of irrational numbers he was swallowed by the sea. A reason for this harsh punishment might be that the idea of irrational numbers contradicts some of the Pythagoreanís ideas about numbers. (McKirahan 99) His most famous mathematical find is the Pythagorean theorem. It is not know if he actually thought up this theorem, wrote a proof, or just transferred the idea from the East, yet the theorem does bear his name. He also discovered the ratios of the musical scales could be expressed numerically.

The Pythagoreans believed that instead of some element like air being the principle substance of earth, numbers were. They conceived this idea by looking at things like the numerical ratio of the musical scales. In fact, they believed that the universe constantly played music and that the only reason we couldnít hear it was that we always had. (Hetherington 62-63) They thought that everything began with number, from which came points, then lines, then planes, then solid figures and finally elements like air, fire, earth and water. The Pythagoreans tied moral qualities to numbers also: even was evil, odd was good and ten was perfection. Even marriage had a number, five, which is the combination of the first even number, two (even numbers were female), and the first odd number, three (odd numbers were male).

This idea of numbers played into Pythagorean cosmology. First off, the Pythagoreans took a big step forward by not placing the earth in the center of the universe. Instead they place a great fire in the middle around which the earth revolved just like a star. This was not due to any observational discrepancies that they had run across, but due to the fact that they believed that fire, as the purer substance, should be at the center. The Pythagoreans thought that the number ten was perfection, so they believed that there must be ten celestial objects, but as it was they could only think of nine: earth, sun, moon, stars, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. So, to solve this problem they came up with the novel idea of adding a counter-earth that remained opposite the earth.

The Pythagoreans caused a stir in the ancient world and while many of their ideas were ridiculed they did bring up many good points. The fact that they put

a central fire in the center of the universe would later inspire Kepler to form the heliocentric theory centuries later and student today remember Pythagoras for his theorem. Pythagoras, also, helps to illustrate the great impact the east had upon western philosophy - Pythagoras didnít walk around in Persian trousers for nothing.

Empedocles ìAmong them am I too now, a fugitive from the gods and a wanderer.î

- Empedocles (Barnes 194)The Pre-Socratic Philosophers present us with numerous characters who

appear larger than life and Empedocles is no disappointment. It is said that he walked around Acragas, where he was born around 500 BC, in a purple robe, a golden crown, bronze shoes and a laurel wreath. (McKirahan 255) His family was of an aristocratic background. In fact his grandfather had won a horse race during the Olympic games of 496 BC. Empedocles was also known as a politician and physician. He agreed with Pythagoras as to the transmigration of souls, but he thought up his own cosmology.

Empedocles had his own idea about what the principle substances of the universe were and to him they were all four elements: fire, air, earth and water. He believed that mixtures of these four elements formed all other things on earth. He also held the view that the world was immortal and went through an endless cycle, in which, it was torn apart by a force called strife, and then, pulled by together by a force called love. He also believed that there might be two worlds; the knowable and the unknowable. This may stem from his idea that there were limits to human knowledge.

He also managed to create a unique cosmology. He believed that from the base elements air separated itself, fire followed it and formed in a sphere around the air. Then, he thought there were two hemispheres that revolved around the earth. One hemisphere had a large amount of fire (this was day) and another was muted (this was night). He thought that the muted hemisphere had more air than the pure fire side. The sun he saw, not as fire, but as a reflection of fire. The moon was a sort of solidified air that was surrounded by the fire and got its light from the sun. The stars, on the other hand, he sees as fire. He was also able to predict the correct cause of solar eclipses.

So, Empedocles lit a new candle for the ancient world. He presented them with a new way to view the world, which was a departure from those before him.

He supposedly left this world in just as unique a manner: by jumping into Mt. Etna to prove that he really was a god.Parmenides

ì[Parmenides] was the first to say that the earth is spherical and lies in the

middle [of the universe].î-Diogenes Laertius (Barnes 140)

Whenever the Pre-Socratic philosophers are mentioned Parmenides must be spoken of. The date of Parmenidesí birth are unclear, the best estimate being c. 515 BC. It is known that he was born in Elea in Southern Italy, to a noble family and that he might have been influenced by Xenophanes. Legend, also, has it that he wrote a code of laws for that city that were in use many years later. (McKirahan 157) While he did create his own cosmology, his main contribution was to put a check on the assumptions made by previous philosophers.

Parmenides did not believed that the world was ever created or that anything ever changed. He attacked the assumptions made by other philosophers and implemented a check upon the wild spread of unfounded speculation. He pointed out that one needed more than pure common sense to prove a theory. Parmenides introduced deductive reasoning to philosophy, thereby bringing philosophy and the science to a new threshold. (McKirahan 157)

A new cosmology was born with Parmenides, but it seems that he, himself, was not very convinced of it, nor were others, but to be fair it deserves some brief mention. He believed there were many intertwined rings of rare and dense substances and others of light and darkness that resided between those. Then, these rings were surrounded by a solid wall and underneath was a ring of fire. Also, everything that lies in the middle is solid and around everything is another ring of fire. He thought that the air separated from the earth and that the sun and Milky Way were exhalations of fire. The moon he saw as a mixture of fire and air, and that the ether surrounded everything.

While Parmenidesí cosmology did not make a huge splash in the ancient world his thought about philosophy did. Much future speculation would be based upon his ideas. In fact, his idea of the unchanging earth probably influence the Atomic theory, one of the next big steps of the philosophers.Anaxagoras

ìAnd there, they say, is Anaxagoras, a stout hero,The Mind (for he had a mind), who suddenly rose upand tied together all that had before been in disarray.î

- Timon (Barnes 236)Anaxagoras hailed form Clazomenae in Asia Minor and accordingly, he

followed many of the ideas put forth by the philosophers of Miletus. It is said that he was born around the year 500 BC, but spent the majority of his life in Athens, until he was convicted of impiety because he believed that the sun was a fiery stone and not a god. So, he has the honor of being the first philosopher to be persecuted in Athens, following him would be such names as Socrates and Aristotle. (McKirahan 200-201) At that time he fled to Lampsacus, where he died in 428 BC. Someone once commented upon his exile and he answered that he had not been exiled from Athens, but Athens had been exiled from him. (Barnes 238) He

had the reputation for caring more about his studies on the heavens than politics. In fact, someone once chastised him for his disinterest in politics, asking him if he had no care for his state, and he answered that he had every care for it, and pointed to the heavens. (Barnes 236) He, also, tried to account for multiple celestial events and formed his own cosmology.

In Anaxagorasí mind everything was a mixture of everything. In the begining there was one big mass of everything and it was nothing, because one thing did not overwhelm the others. Then, the mind began to rotate the mass and it was from this rotation that everything formed. The substances that contained more of the dark, dense materials, like earth, ended up in the middle, while the lighter substances, like the air, were forced to the outer parts. So it is in this vortex that everything exists. It is the movement of this vortex that keeps the celestial objects floating (which are fiery stones). Everything contains apart of everything and the differences we perceive are the characteristics of the most dominant substance. According to this belief Anaxagoras believed that nothing was pure and, in a way, everything was eternal. Basically nothing was created or destroyed, but commingled and dissociated. Anaxagorasí world existed within this vortex. His earth was flat and supported by the ether. It was the rotation of the vortex that caused the movement of the celestial objects, which he saw as flaming stones.

Anaxagoras, also, attempted to explain certain celestial events. He saw the Milky Way as a reflection caused by the stars, and he believed that shooting stars were sparks shaken from the water. Then, he said that comets were caused by the conjunction of the planets, and that meteors fell from the sky because things sometimes escaped the vortex. It is said that he was able to predict the falling of a meteor at Aegospotami.(McKirahan 229) He, also, tried to explain thunder as the clash of clouds, and lighting as the result of the friction between clouds. Wind, he said, was air that had been rarefied by the sun. Some of his explanations turn out to be true. He correctly attributed rainbows to the play of sunlight on moisture in the air, and stated that the moon received its light from the sun. He, also, was correct in his explanations of lunar and solar eclipses.

Anaxagoras formed his own unique cosmology by incorporating new and old ideas. Also, he is interesting because he illustrates how the focus of the philosophical movement had moved away from the coast of Asia Minor to other regions of the Grecian world, like Athens. Also, in his ideas of the world it is able to see the beginning of the atomic theory, from which much of our ìmodernî science is formed.

Democritus

ìI came to Athens and no-one knew me.î- Diogenes Laertius (Barnes 244)

Many see Democritus as the premier Pre-Socratic philosopher because he is responsible for the development of the atomic theory. He was born in Abdera c. 460 and was the last of the Pre-Socratics. He was the student of Leucippus, who formed the atomic theory. Little is known of Democritusí life. He supposedly lived to ripe old age, some say around one hundred. (McKirahan 303) It is also said that he traveled extensively to places like Egypt, Persia and the Red Sea, so it was very likely that he was influenced by ideas from these foreign lands. Democritus was interested in a broad range of subjects, which included ethics, natural philosophy, technical subjects, mathematics and ìmusic.î He also, earned the nickname ìthe laughing philosopherî because of the amusement he saw in human follies. (McKirahan 304) He formed his own idea the formation of the universe and also, attempted to explain celestial events.

Democritus believed that the world came into formation when lots of shapes came into connect in a big whirl. Then, the denser atoms moved to the middle and some stuck together. The finer atoms escaped into the void. The remaining ones formed a sphere that at first was muddy and wet, but was dried out through the whirl of the universe. Then, some of the dry atoms ignited and formed the celestial objects. So, he thought that the whole world was formed from these atoms, which he saw as eternal. When moving, the atoms often strike each other, and either bounce off, or combine. He even tried to explain taste through them, by stating that those that were sweet retained a different shape then those that were bitter.

The cosmology that Democritus formed was not always explained through his atomic idea, but it interesting to examine anyway. He thought that the stars were the furthest out in the universe, followed by the sun, and then, the moon. He believed that the earth was concave in shape and held up by air. He also, thought the earth was oval, with its length one and one half times its width. He, then, states that because of the vortex the earth still revolves around the center. Democritus, also, thought that the earth was tilted because in one part the air is weaker and the other side had more vegetation.

Democritus also attempted to explain events that occurred in the sky. He believed that stars shone because of the speed they were moving and that the moonís eclipse cycle was different because its orbit differed. He then, said that thunder was a result of an unequal union of atoms, and lighting came from the collision of clouds and the meeting of the atoms formed fire. He accounted for the Milky Way and comets the same way as did Anaxagoras. He also studied the orbits of the planets.

So, Democritus developed the atomic theory and tried to account for the ways of the world. He is also important because he took the theory of someone else, Leucippus, and developed it further - a new trend for these times. Looking at the ideas of Democritus today we are impressed and see the seeds of our own ìmodernî science, but during his time the ideas of Democritus were not well received. Plato totally discounts them and never mentions the name of Democritus. Even the formation of our own atomic theory was not based on the

ideas of Democritus. It is only today that we can appreciate the ideas he brought to the table.

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