Ancient Anaxagoras

It is one’s view of the world and of themselves that dictate the decisions that they make in their lives. Facts are indisputable, but people can draw different conclusions among others based on their own belief system and the information given to them. Then, their opinion on a situation will help them determine what is the “right” decision or action to make afterwards. In a universe filled of unanswered questions and unlimited possibilities, perception is everything. In Ancient Greece, many believed that there were various gods and goddesses that created and ruled the world that they occupied. This shaped not only each citizen’s customs and beliefs at the time, but also determined how civilizations were built and functioned. However, an Ancient …show more content…
These three principles explain that humans cannot accurately judge what the “truth” is due to their limited amount of senses. These senses only allow them to see “glimpses” of what they cannot see, which in turn prevents them from understanding the beginning and end of the cycle of life. This limitation is demonstrated in the literal sense in Hippolytus, when the king of Troizen named Taeseus is unaware of the truth of the situation: that his wife lied about being raped by his son. His limitations made him not see Phaedra confess her love for Hippolytus to her nurse and killing herself after the prince found out, and make incorrect conclusions of the situation because he only knew of the note Phaedra left for him. This interpretation of these principles becomes even more literal when the king doesn’t comprehend the implication of death. Amid his rage, the king tells Poseidon that he “… have granted [Taeseus] curses [he] may rely on…” and that he wishes the death of his own son (885). Taeseus’ mistake reflects people’s incapability of knowing what is true, and that is juxtaposed by the power of the gods in this Greek play. When Artemis comes down to tell Taeseus what really happened during his absence, she states that Poseidon granted his wish but looked down upon him from waiting to hear from a prophet and without giving his son a trial (1320). Unlike humans, Greek gods and goddesses are not chained down …show more content…
The at-the-time radical philosopher believed that we are all composed of the same basic elements. Because of this, everyone is a part of everything else. All beings of nature impact one another heavily, and one’s actions or feelings could dramatically alter the course of events. Taesus exhibits these ideas in his actions throughout the play. The king believes all that he is seeing once he arrives to the palace, trusting Phaedra’s word that Hippolytus had raped her. It could have been proven to be untrue by multiple methods, and yet Taeseus strong emotions had conjures up a story that is all in his head and ultimately decide to ask for his son to be killed. This decision to ask a god to murder his son and banish him from the kingdom affects everyone else in the story— Hippolytus, the Chorus, and even the gods. The entire kingdom suffers with Taeseus, as well as the gods in Olympus. This brings up another idea that Anaxagoras had, which is that “nous” is what controls everything in one’s mind and that people are supposed to achieve balance for inputs. When things become out-of-balanced, then it can have dangerous consequences to themselves and the people around them. Phaedra struggles with this balance, which is the root of her wishing to take her own life. Her love and her pride are in conflict, which creates an overwhelming sense of guilt that ends up