Revista Archai

Polybius, the Pontic Sea and socioenvironmental disaster’s semantics

2025-03-11T17:10:23+00:00

The ancient Pontic Sea, known nowadays as the Black Sea, is one of the most important in history. During the Hellenistic period, the argument that it would become a shallow swamp, due to its alluviation and people's ignorance of this process, became well known. In proposing a dialogue between Ancient History and Environmental History, we depart from the recent concept of socioenvironmental disaster in order to bring it closer to the typology of disaster in Polybius’ Histories (c. 200 - c. 117 B.C.E.), and of his investigation of the Pontic Sea. Our aim is to understand the semantics of this experience and to reflect on the historicity of human awareness of its dependence on the environment. Accordingly, we focus our analysis on the language in which this experience is conceptualized insofar as human actions and the fate of the sea are temporally articulated by the author. Finally, we conclude that there are expressive similarities between the contemporary and ancient semantics of disaster, given that Polybius advocated a consistent human ethic of investigating so as to people better adapt themselves to the environment. We also hope this to be a suggestion to strengthen ties between Ancient History and Environmental History.

Soul as Explanatory Cause of Life in Aristotle: Scientific Knowledge simpliciter (ἁπλῶς) through Coextensive Universal Demonstrations and Context Restriction as a Solution to a Core-Dependent Homonymy from DA II.1-4

2024-03-07T17:41:58+00:00

The main purpose of this paper is to show, based on Aristotle’s theory of scientific demonstration, how soul plays the role of explanatory cause of life in De Anima (DA) II.1-4. Firstly, I evaluate how, in APo I.2 and II.16, Aristotle requires that universal demonstrations must satisfy a coextensional criterion between a given explanandum (A-term) and its most appropriate explanans (B-term), and that this criterion does not entail a causal symmetry between both those terms. I argue, following Angioni (2014a) and Zuppolini (2018), that, whenever one is before apparent ‘multiple causes’ scenario cases, in which there seems to be more than one possible cause to the same explanandum, one shall still find a unified and fully appropriate explanation of that explanandum. In the second part of this paper, I examine an example from DA II.1-4 in light of APo II.16-17. I argue that soul might be pointed out as the explanatory principle (B) that explains why life (A) belongs to a living body (C). In addition to that, I argue that, although there is a core-dependent homonymy taking place between plants (γ₁), animals (γ₂) and the nutritive capacity (α₁), the nutritive soul (β₁) plays the role of an incidental factor (συμβεβηκός) in the context of a scientific demonstration that has by explananda whatsoever attributes (α_n) that belong to animals (γ₂) qua living beings endowed with a perceptive soul (β₁) that explains why attributes (α_n) belong to them.

Priests of the Gods: Divination and Leadership in Xenophon

2024-10-17T20:16:02+01:00

This paper’s goal is to defend the thesis put forward by Michael Flower (2016) that piety is a sine qua non of effective leadership of Xenophon and also justify the fact that the model of leader in Xenophon is "first" (and foremost) a follower of the gods. We will present examples of the use of divination in two main texts. First of all, we will present the advice offered by Xenophon in one of his didactic treatises, the Hipparchicus or Cavalry Commander. This short text was written based on his personal experience as a mercenary soldier and commander and in it he offers his advice on how to become a good commander. In the second place I shall present the practical applications of the counsels of the Hipparchicus in Anabasis, a work in which Xenophon relates the events of his expedition in 401 B.C., when he accompanied Cyrus the Younger to fight for the throne of Persia against his brother Artaxerxes and, after the death of Cyrus, led the soldiers back to Asia Minor. Anabasis exhibits one of the most complete descriptions of divination from a first-hand account. Here the main forms of Greek divination are presented: consultation of the oracle at Delphi, extispicine (reading of entrails), omens (interpretation of bird flights), and the appearance of omens of luck or signs.

The tyrant that lives within us in light of Republic VIII and IX

2024-03-06T11:56:08+00:00

Hereby we intend to examine the way by which tyranny and the tyrant are presented in Republic, a Platonic dialogue around which we will circumscribe the present study. Our interest emerges from the resurgence, in the 21st century, of democratically elected regimes that, however, flirt with authoritarianism. Socrates’ thesis, presented in Republic VIII (562b-563e), according to which tyranny arises from within democracy, highlights the contradictions inherent in this government regime since its beginnings, helping us to rethink it today. For the purposes of this study we follow the emergence of the issue of tyranny from the first book of the dialogue, until we reach the proper examination of this regime in books VIII and IX, up to which we are faced with the surprising argument that inside each one of us inhabits a sleeping tyrant (Rep.IX, 576b4-6). The city-soul analogy proposed in Republic II, as well as the composite soul thesis in Republic IV work as guiding conceptions of our investigation.

Homology, Collective and Cultural Memory: Augustus’ Portraiture and Augustan Poetry

2025-04-06T15:36:53+01:00

This paper aims to establish a homology between two forms of art: the portraits of Octavian Augustus and Augustan poetry, particularly the works of Horace, Ovid, Propertius, and Virgil. The theoretical frameworks of Nora (1989), Assmann (1995 and 2011), Halbwachs (1968), and Galinsky (2014-2016) are mobilized to support the argument that both artistic expressions can be interpreted as vehicles of collective memory and cultural memory, serving the perpetuation of power and art.

On the Egyptian textual evidence of the myth of Thoth in Plato's Phaedrus

2025-01-13T13:37:18+00:00

In Phaedrus, the myth of Thoth explicitly alludes to Egypt and it is possible to find parallels with texts written in Egyptian, showing that Plato had some knowledge of Egyptian philosophy. This article will highlight some of the parallels and comment on this bibliography, since they are articles and chapters written in different languages and that do not converse with each other. It will comment on the Book of Thoth and discuss the thematic similarities with the tale Setne I, in relation to the dual role of writing as φάρμακον. It will then examine the relationship between Egyptian texts and Phaedrus. In doing so, it will be possible not only to show the state of the art of this discussion, but also to explore in greater depth the issues surrounding these two divergent conceptions of the role of writing and the transmission of knowledge.

“Science is nothing but perception” (Tht. 151e2-3). On the role of perception in the process of knowledge

2024-10-19T12:45:50+01:00

In the first part of the Theaetetus, Plato engages with the Protagorean position by interpreting the maxim “man is the measure” from a sensory perspective. The aim of the dialogue is to explore and define what constitutes knowledge, which is initially equated with perception. This contribution provides an analytical examination of the discussion among Socrates, Theodorus and Theaetetus (two mathematicians who represent Protagoras’ idea). Plato reinterprets the sophist’s thought and presents several specific criticisms, aiming to demonstrate the impossibility and danger of considering each individual’s perception as a valid basis for knowledge. At the same time, however, the philosopher acknowledges the sophist’s contribution, using it to better define the role of perception in knowledge. When considered alongside the assertions in the Seventh Letter, this discussion proves useful for clarifying a central aspect of Plato’s complex epistemological perspective.

Lessons of love in Achilles Tatius: commentary, translation and notes by Leucippe and Clitophon I.7-15

2024-10-17T19:34:16+01:00

We presente the trnaslation of a specific passage from the novel Leucippe and Clitophon, by Achilles Tatius: the scene in which the main character goes to meet his cousin Clinias and receives from him valuable teachings on seduction. This passage draws our attention because it dialogues with Roman erotic elegy, especially Ovid's Ars Amatoria, and because of its concise, unitary structure, which resonates like a short story within the novel. We have sought to recreate in our translation aesthetic and literary elements that resonate with these elements, especially the dynamism of the narrative, without losing the lyrical - or elegiac - nuances of the text.

Review of Aldo Dinucci. Manual de Estoicismo: a visão estoica do mundo. Campinas: Editora Auster, 2023, 144pp., ISBN 9786587408651

2024-01-18T21:26:49+00:00

Review of Aldo Dinucci. Manual de Estoicismo: a visão estoica do mundo. Campinas: Editora Auster, 2023, 144pp., ISBN 9786587408651

Review of CONTE, Bruno Loureiro. A doxa no poema de Parmênides. Uma investigação a partir dos testemunhos antigos. São Paulo: Loyola, 2023, 274pp., ISBN 9786555042597

2025-04-29T21:23:06+01:00

Review of CONTE, Bruno Loureiro. A doxa no poema de Parmênides. Uma investigação a partir dos testemunhos antigos. São Paulo: Loyola, 2023, 274pp., ISBN 9786555042597