It seems that for many classical scholars the main focus of\u00a0gnothi seauton<\/em>\u00a0concerns human limitations\u00a0and death. In our culture, we are taught to believe that human potential is unlimited, that we can have\u00a0whatever we want, that we can be whatever we want, if only our will is focused and strong. At least in\u00a0the rich, developed world, life is longer and more secure then ever, but in the end we all still die. Yet,\u00a0even death seems to have lost its pathos, so successful have we been at separating death and the\u00a0grimmer realities of life from our daily routines. What is the value of believing in limitations? Do we\u00a0limit ourselves if we focus on our limitations?<\/p>\n Aristotle in his\u00a0Politics<\/em><\/a>\u00a0states,<\/p>\n \u201cAs man is the best of the animals when perfected, so he is the worst\u00a0when separated from law and justice. For injustice is most dangerous when it is armed and man armed\u00a0by nature with intelligence and excellence may use them for entirely opposite ends. Therefore, when he\u00a0is without virtue, man is the most unscrupulous and savage of the animals.\u201d(3)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Surely the first step on the\u00a0road to injustice and lawlessness is to forget\u00a0gnothi seauton<\/em>, to forget what one is and who one should\u00a0be. Suffering beyond what is decreed by the Moira will surely follow when humans act either like\u00a0beasts, mindlessly following every desire, or like gods, taking extreme and reckless actions as if one\u00a0had the perfect knowledge and abilities of a god.<\/p>\n But what does it mean to \u201cknow thyself,\u201d to know you are human, to know that you are a fallible\u00a0mortal? What quality is produced in a person who cultivates gnothi seauton? Paul Woodruff, in his\u00a0book,\u00a0\u201cReverence: Renewing a Forgotten Virtue\u201d\u00a0<\/a>makes a strong case that the virtue he calls reverence\u00a0is such a quality.(4) Woodruff defines reverence, which he equates with\u00a0hosietes<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0eusebeia<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0aidos<\/em>,\u00a0as \u201ca well-developed capacity to have the feelings of awe, respect, and shame when these are the right\u00a0feelings to have.\u201d The foundation of reverence is the understanding of human limitations from which\u00a0one develops the ability to feel awe for that which is beyond human control \u2014 gods, fate, nature, truth,\u00a0justice and even death, respect for our fellow human beings, even though they too are fallible and\u00a0imperfect, and shame when our moral failings go beyond what is normal for a human.<\/p>\n Reverence is an Aristotelian type virtue, which is difficult to define with the precision demanded by\u00a0Socrates. Virtues are characteristic qualities in a person that lead that person to want to do the right\u00a0thing. Reverence, according to Woodruff, is a virtue because when one possesses it one has the\u00a0appropriate feelings of awe, respect and shame which lead one to want to behave appropriately, such as\u00a0to listen, to forgive, to apologize, to accept, to show restraint when these are the appropriate things to\u00a0do. The opposite of reverence is hubris. Reverence is a social virtue, which is particularly concerned\u00a0with the relationship to and exercise of power.<\/p>\n Gnothi seauton<\/em>, as I understand it, is an important pillar of my sense of spirituality.\u00a0Gnothi seauton<\/em>\u00a0calls me to accept reality, not as I wish it to be, but as it really is. It reminds me that my understanding\u00a0of reality will always be imperfect and incomplete. Many things are beyond my ability to know. Yet\u00a0gnothi seauton<\/em>\u00a0challenges me to strive to know and understand to my fullest ability. It teaches me to\u00a0accept human limitations both in myself and others. Perfection is not a characteristic of the human but\u00a0the divine.\u00a0Gnothi seauton<\/em>\u00a0forces me to confront the reality of death. It reminds me that life is fragile,\u00a0short and capricious. Even in our relatively safe, modern world, we have no guarantee of a tomorrow.\u00a0But it is because this life is ephemeral, that it is made more precious and beautiful, like the first flowers\u00a0of spring.<\/p>\n Most of all, for me,\u00a0gnothi seauton<\/em>\u00a0is about reverence, about developing a right relationship with reality,\u00a0with the\u00a0self<\/a>,\u00a0community<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Nature<\/a>. Reverence requires an acceptance of human limitations. It does\u00a0not require that we fully understand or explain the mystery of being. In fact, it reminds us that this is\u00a0beyond the capacity of the human. Instead, it calls us to accept and celebrate the mystery of being and\u00a0the dance of becoming, to acknowledge that we are part of something greater than ourselves, something\u00a0awe inspiring.<\/p>\n In my opinion, the traditional interpretation of\u00a0gnothi seauton<\/em>\u00a0as \u201cknow your limitations as a human\u00a0mortal\u201d is not only still valid, but more important than ever. Modern humans have unprecedented\u00a0access to knowledge, and an unprecedented ability to use this knowledge for good or ill. Human\u00a0beings have become like a force of nature, reshaping the earth and the climate, the force for which all\u00a0life must adapt to or die. Because human beings have more power than ever, it is more important now\u00a0than ever to remember our limitations, to know our place, to remembergnothi seauton<\/em>.<\/p>\n For discussion: What role does recognition of your limitations play in your spirituality?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Subscribe to The Spiritual Naturalist Society<\/a><\/strong> __________ __________ \u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Notes<\/b><\/p>\n 1.\u00a0Elizabeth.Vandiver,\u00a0Classical Mythology\u00a0<\/i>(The Teaching Company, 2000)<\/a>, mp3 lectures and\u00a0published notes<\/p>\n 2.\u00a0Donald Kagan,\u00a0Introduction to Ancient Greek History\u00a0<\/i>(Yale University: Open Yale Courses, fall\u00a02007, http:\/\/oyc.yale.edu)<\/a>, mp3 lectures and transcripts.<\/p>\n 3. Aristotle,\u00a0The Politics,\u00a0<\/i>as translated Donald Kagan in\u00a0Introduction to Ancient Greek History<\/i>with\u00a0slight modifications.<\/p>\n 4.\u00a0Paul Woodruff,\u00a0Reverence: Renewing a Forgotten Virtue\u00a0<\/i>(New York, NY: Oxford University Press,\u00a02001)<\/a>, print.<\/p>\n The Author<\/p>\n Maggie Jay Lee<\/strong>\u00a0is interested in growing a new religious culture grounded in the everyday shared world and the public revelations of science, that celebrates our relationship with Cosmos, Earth and each other, and strives to bring us into right relationship with the Nature inside and outside of us.\u00a0\u00a0She draws inspiration from modern cosmology, evolutionary psychology, and the myths and wisdom traditions of ancient Hellas.\u00a0\u00a0M. Jay is a member of the\u00a0Universal Pantheists Society<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0and the\u00a0Spiritual Naturalist Society<\/a>, and she has studied with Glenys Livingston author of\u00a0PaGaian Cosmology: Re-inventing Earth-based Goddess Religion<\/i><\/a>.\u00a0She celebrates the creative unfolding of Gaia in west Tennessee, where she lives with her husband, two dogs and cat.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This article is written by guest-writer, Maggie Jay Lee\u2026 Elizabeth Vandiver\u00a0states in\u00a0a Teaching Company Course\u00a0that the first Delphi maxim,\u00a0gnothi seauton\u00a0\u2013\u00a0know thyself, means, \u201cKnow what kind of creature you are, remember your limitations, remember that\u00a0you are not a god, you are mortal.\u201d(1) She interprets this as meaning in effect, \u201cKnow your place.\u201d\u00a0Donald Kagan in an Open […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1269,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"(cc)](\"https:\/\/spiritualnaturalistsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/i99ANwB-300x100.jpg\")
Elizabeth Vandiver<\/a>\u00a0states in\u00a0a Teaching Company Course<\/a>\u00a0that the first Delphi maxim,\u00a0gnothi seauton<\/em>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0know thyself, means, \u201cKnow what kind of creature you are, remember your limitations, remember that\u00a0you are not a god, you are mortal.\u201d(1) She interprets this as meaning in effect, \u201cKnow your place.\u201d\u00a0Donald Kagan in an Open Yale Course<\/a>\u00a0asserts that, \u201dThe Greeks combined a unique sense of mankind\u2019s\u00a0high place in the natural order with a painful understanding of the limitations of the greatness and the\u00a0possibilities before man [\u2026] with the greatest limitation being mortality.\u201d(2) He goes on to define\u00a0gnothi\u00a0seauton<\/em>\u00a0as well as the second maxim, nothing in excess, as meaning, \u201cKnow your own limitations as a\u00a0fallible mortal and then exercise moderation because you are not divine, you are mortal.\u201d<\/p>\nGnothi Seauton and Death<\/h2>\n
Gnothi Seauton and Reverence<\/h2>\n
Gnothi Seauton and Spirituality<\/h2>\n
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\nThis article first appeared at humanisticpaganism.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"M.](\"https:\/\/i434.photobucket.com\/albums\/qq67\/brandonmademedoit\/MargaretwithGodenhancedcropped02.jpg\" "\\"M.")
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