The origin of Philosophy: passage from myth to logos

In the 6th century BC, in Miletus or Asia Minor (Greece), rational thought began to develop. The Greek man, first in all Western culture, comes into contact with new cultures, new ways of thinking and understanding the world, which causes a crisis of values. This man is the first to ask what is the meaning of everything, what is the right thought and how can we explain reality . Influences of other life possibilities make Greece begin to consider new challenges, new ways of seeing life and explaining it. This moment is known as the passage from myth to logos, and here in .com we will explain it to you.

Myths

"Mythos" was the narration by words that the Greeks used until that moment to explain everything around him. They were narrations made by poets, usually orally, which told how the gods gave meaning to the world, that is, how through the figure of the gods everything that was narrated in these stories happened.

The word

Thanks to the dialogue that the Greeks of that time maintain with their visitors, they begin to develop the first forms of communication with different cultures and, until now, distant for this town. Thanks to dialogue through the word, the origin of thought will begin.

The word and the logos

After the contact that the Greeks maintain with other cultures, the way of seeing life changes. They are aware of the insufficient explanation of the religious word that flooded the myth. Now, the word that explains why everything is a word loaded with rationality . Man thinks, investigates and decides for himself how to explain reality. This new rational discourse is known as "logos."

The polis

Form of grouping socially of the Greeks during the XIII century BC: small closed cities with agricultural economy and marked political hierarchy, completely autonomous and independent. In the 8th century BC, trade caused an excess of population and strong colonization, transforming the old polis into open cities, which allowed the evolution of thought and culture in general.

The physis or nature

Man begins to have consciousness and to observe how the living originates, but also, how it disappears. This leads them to consider relevant doubts and the need to create the first physical theories that explain the origin of nature and its change.

Homer and Hesiod

It is essential to read these Greek poets who exemplify how myths were, the form of religious explanation . Works of incomparable beauty that show the ancestor to rational thought.

Tips
  • Take into account the social and political conditions, the real responsible for this change.
  • Consider the slow passage from myth to logos: it was an evolution that took centuries to complete.
  • Physics arises from Philosophy: these thinkers were the first physicists.