Saturday, January 10, 2009

γνώθι σεαυτόν

A stained glass window with the contracted version γνωθι σαυτόν.

The saying "Know thyself" may refer by extension to the ideal of understanding human behavior, morals, and thought, because ultimately to understand oneself is to understand other humans as well. However, the ancient Greek philosophers thought that no man can ever comprehend the human spirit and thought thoroughly, so it would have been almost inconceivable to know oneself fully. Therefore, the saying may refer to a less ambitious ideal, such as knowing one's own habits, morals, temperament, ability to control anger, and other aspects of human behavior that we struggle with on a daily basis.

It may also have a mystical interpretation. 'Thyself', is not meant in reference to the egotist, but the ego within self, the I AM consciousness.






Delphi became the site of a major temple to Phoebus Apollo, as well as the Pythian Games and the famous prehistoric oracle. Even in Roman times, hundreds of votive statues remained, described by Pliny the Younger and seen by Pausanias. Supposedly carved into the temple were three phrases: γνωθι σεαυτόν (gnothi seauton = "know thyself") and μηδέν άγαν (meden agan = "nothing in excess"), and Εγγύα πάρα δ'ατη (eggua para d'atē = "make a pledge and mischief is nigh"),[6] as well as a large letter E.[7] Among other things epsilon signifies the number 5. Plutarch's essay on the meaning of the “E at Delphi" is the only literary source for the inscription. In ancient times, the origin of these phrases was attributed to one or more of the Seven Sages of Greece,[8] though ancient as well as modern scholars have doubted the legitimacy of such ascriptions.[9] According to one pair of scholars, "The actual authorship of the three maxims set up on the Delphian temple may be left uncertain. Most likely they were popular proverbs, which tended later to be attributed to particular sages






"Let no one destitute of geometry enter my doors." Plato (c. 427 - 347 B.C.E.)


"[Geometry is] . . . persued for the sake of the knowledge of what eternally exists, and not of what comes for a moment into existence, and then perishes, ...[it] must draw the soul towards truth and give the finishing touch to the philosophic spirit."



***


See:
  • PLATO:Mathematician or Mystic ?
  • IN The Era of Quantum Gravity, will we be destitute?
  • 9 comments:

    1. Anonymous10:56 PM

      Hello. Could you please tell how to pronounce the phrase "Let no one destitute of geometry enter my doors" in its original Greek please??. Thanks!

      Regards,
      acy (acyuk_AT_hotmail.com)

      ReplyDelete
    2. Hi, this is great information! THank you.

      One question: In the explanation - "Εγγύα πάρα δ'ατη (eggua para d'atē = "make a pledge and mischief is nigh"),[6] as well as a large letter E.", is the 'large letter E' the 'E' at the beginning of the greek phrase. I am a bit confused in this regard.

      Many thanks!

      ReplyDelete
    3. Hi Aaron,

      Tried following up on your question. I'll have to do some digging here.

      If you find anything let me know so I can add info on that point.

      Best,

      ReplyDelete
    4. Just looking at sources


      Delphi became the site of a major temple to Phoebus Apollo, as well as the Pythian Games and the famous prehistoric oracle. Even in Roman times, hundreds of votive statues remained, described by Pliny the Younger and seen by Pausanias. Supposedly carved into the temple were three phrases: γνῶθι σεαυτόν (gnōthi seautón = "know thyself") and μηδέν άγαν (mēdén ágan = "nothing in excess"), and Ἑγγύα πάρα δ'ἄτη (engýa pára d'atē = "make a pledge and mischief is nigh"),[10] as well as a large letter E.[11] Among other things epsilon signifies the number 5. Plutarch's essay on the meaning of the "E at Delphi" is the only literary source for the inscription. In ancient times, the origin of these phrases was attributed to one or more of the Seven Sages of Greece,[12] See:Delphi

      List of oracular statements from Delphi 440 BC?

      Seven Sages of Greece

      ReplyDelete
    5. Epsilon (uppercase Ε, lowercase ε or lunate ϵ; Greek: Έψιλον) is the fifth letter of the Greek alphabet, corresponding phonetically to a close-mid front unrounded vowel /e/. See: Epsilon

      ReplyDelete
    6. Anonymous3:59 AM

      ageometritos midis isito
      e for ae
      i for e
      answer for "Let no one destitute of geometry enter my doors"

      ReplyDelete
    7. Thank you,

      See:....Know Thyself

      Been trying to track who really said this. Any info that may help?

      "Let no one ignorant of geometry enter"

      They indeed seem to be variations of.

      Why should anybody with common sense expect the academicians to be highly cited? Because
      the word ‘academy’ means a house in which knowledge is generated, debated, and transmitted. The
      fi rst such institution was Plato’s Academia (387 BC, named after its quarter in Athens, which was
      named after the sixth century BC mythical hero Academus). In modern times, ‘academia’ became
      synonymous with the highest peaks of idea generation and transmission. And, why not? The science
      debated in the Academia was geometry and mechanics, i.e. the legs of engineering science today.
      Written above the entrance was outhis ageometritos isito (rough translation: the person who cannot
      think geometrically cannot enter).
      TWO HIERARCHIES IN SCIENCE: THE FREE
      FLOW OF IDEAS AND THE ACADEMY


      Best,

      ReplyDelete
    8. Anonymous12:34 AM

      I propose to correct the image so in Greek: ἀγεωμὲτρητος μηδεὶς εἰσίτω (gcl, Lombardy)

      ReplyDelete
    9. Hi Anonymous,

      Could you link source for Lombardy?

      Best,

      ReplyDelete