The incursions of Ptolemy Soter into Coelê-Syria and Phoenicia after the death of Perdiccas have received scant attention from scholars in recent years, and the little they have received has failed to draw some vital conclusions. The sources are compressed, but unanimous, that very soon after the settlement of Triparadeisus, Ptolemy subverted and overran the region, fortified and garrisoned the cities, and returned to Egypt. He seems to have held this satrapy until it became a major arena in the (...) third Diadoch war, c. 315–311 B.C. (shrink)

Hellenistic ruler cult has generated much scholarly interest and an enormous bibliography; yet, existing studies have tended to focus on the communal character of the phenomenon, whereas the role of private individuals (if any) in ruler worship has attracted little attention. This article seeks to redress this neglect. The starting point of the present study is an inscription Διὶ | καὶ βασιλεῖ | Φιλίππωι Σωτῆρι on a rectangular marble plaque from Maroneia in Thrace. Since the text was published in 1991, (...) it has been disputed whether the king in question is Philip II or Philip V of Macedon. The question is further complicated by a newly published text from Thasos, plausibly restored to read [Β]ασιλέως Φιλί[ππου] | σωτῆρος. The identity of the king in these texts is a matter of great historical significance: if Philip II is meant, not only would this impinge on the question of his divinity, he would also be the first king called Sōtēr, thus providing the earliest attestation of a cult epithet spreading from the traditional gods to monarchs. The first part of this article will re-examine the king's identity by studying these two texts in connection with other dedications similarly addressed to a ‘King Philip’ and apparently set up by private individuals. The second will move beyond Macedonia: it will draw on potential parallels from the Attalid, Seleucid and Ptolemaic kingdoms and explore the possible contexts in which individuals set up similar objects. It will be demonstrated that, while there is evidence from other Hellenistic kingdoms of seemingly ‘private’ dedications set up according to civic or royal commands, in Macedonia the piecemeal and isolated nature of the evidence does not permit a conclusive answer. But whether set up spontaneously or by civic command, these objects provide important evidence for the interaction between the public and the private aspects of ruler worship. (shrink)

Zusammenfassung Der Artikel bietet die Bearbeitung eines bislang unveröffentlichten Keilschrifttextes (LB 863) aus der Liagre Böhl Collection (Leiden), der weiterführende Aussagen zur Dauer der Koregentschaft von Seleukos I. Nikator und Antiochos (I. Soter) erlaubt. Aufgrund des darin genannten Datums lässt sich wahrscheinlich machen, dass Antiochos’ Erhebung zum Koregenten wenigstens zwei Jahre früher anzusetzen ist als allgemein angenommen. Im Übrigen ist diese Beobachtung gut mit einem anderen Keilschrifttext (D.T. 189) vereinbar, dessen ungewöhnliches Datum sich bislang einer befriedigenden Erklärung entzogen hat.

Seleucus, son of Antiochus I Soter, is mentionned as his father's coregent from 281, but disappeared in 266 under mysterious circumstances, on which ancient authors and modern historiography oppose each other. Ancient historians talk about a family crisis that led to Seleucus' execution, while Moderns conclude to natural death. By reappraising sources, we intend to demonstrate that this event results from the failure of a political experiment : a triarchy which associated Antiochus Soter to both of his sons, (...) Seleucus and Antiochus. Séleucos, fils d'Antiochos Ier Sôter, apparaît comme corégent de son père dès 281, mais disparaît en 266 dans des circonstances mystérieuses, sur lesquelles les auteurs anciens et l'historiographie moderne s'opposent. Les sources évoquent une crise familiale ayant conduit à l'exécution du fils par le père, mais les Modernes préfèrent conclure qu'il a été emporté par une épidémie. En réétudiant les sources, nous entendons montrer que la disparition du corégent Séleucos résulte de l'échec d'une expérience politique originale: une triarchie associant Antiochos Ier et ses deux fils, Séleucos et Antiochos. (shrink)

This is a communication regarding the 27 th congress of the Society of Theology and Religious Studies (SOTER), held between the 15 th and 18 th of July, 2014. According to the proposition established by 2013’s assembly, the Congress assumed as common thread the relationship between spiritualties and social dynamics and also offered a debate about spirituality as endurance in times of oppression. This review highlights some topics that brought up important provocations, considering a needful depth, in order to (...) think of new perspectives in the context of the connection between religion and society. (shrink)

Dissertação: FREIRE, Gerson Bento. Sociedade de Teologia e Ciências da Religião : constituição, percurso e abordagens. 2014. Dissertação , Programa de Pós-graduação em Ciências da Religião, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte.

Scholarly opinion about Ptolemy Soter's history of Alexander has been far from unanimous. Not long ago Ptolemy was held to stand in the first rank of ancient historians. His history was described as brilliant, rational, straightforward, and exhaustive, while he himself was proclaimed a ‘second Thucydides’. In recent years, however, Ptolemy's reputation has seriously declined. His shortcomings, acknowledged also by his admirers, have been stressed and extensively analysed. Fritz Schachermeyr clearly reflected current opinion when he equated a ‘version from (...) the Hauptquartier's circles’ with a lie, a fraud, and an intentional omission. The purpose of this paper is to examine the recent reassessment of the nature and the aims of Ptolemy's work. (shrink)

Preface Part One Buddhism and Phenomenology Ch.1Buddhism and Phenomenology Ch.2 Husserl and Merleau-Ponty Part Two The Four Basic Buddhist Models in India Introduction Ch.3 Model One: The Five Skandhas Ch.4 Model Two: Pratitya-samutpada Ch.5 Model Three: Tridhatu Ch.6 Model Four: Sila-Samadhi-Prajna Ch.7 Asamjni-samapatti and Nirodha-samapatti Ch.8 Summary of the Four Models Part Three Karma, Meditation, and Epistemology Ch.9 Karma Ch.10 Madhyamikan Issues Ch.11 The Privilaging of Prajna-paramita Part Four Trimsika and Translations Ch.12 Texts and Translations Part Five The Ch’eng Wei-Shih (...) Lun and the Problem of Psychosophical Closure: Yogacara in China Ch.13 Ch.14 Seven Trajectories Ch.15 The Legend of the Transmission of the Ch’eng Wei-Shih Lun Ch.16 Alterity: Parinama Ch.17 Why Consciousness in Not Empty Ch.18 On Rupa Ch.19 Externality Ch.20 The Four Conditions Ch.21 Mirror Knowing: Soteric Alterations Ch.22 Language, Avijnapti-Rupa and Vijnapti-Rupa Ch.23 Is What is Ultimately Real Itself Ultimately Real? Conclusions Appendices Bibliography Index. (shrink)

L'inscription inédite d'Ambracie, qui est ici publiée, fait connaître le règlement frontalier entre les deux cités qui est intervenu après la destruction de l'Épire par Paul-Émile en 167 avant J.-C. Elle comprend le texte d'arbitrage entre Ambraciotes et Charadrites, puis les dispositions pratiques prises pour le bornage et le texte du serment. Elle permet de résoudre bien des problèmes de géographie historique : le fleuve Aphas est le Louros, Horraon — Horreum chez Tite-Live — est localisé dans le beau site (...) archéologique voisin d'Ammotopos, Charadros à Palaia Philippias. La délimitation frontalière peut être reconstituée et fait penser à celles qu'Ambracie tente de régler, à la même époque, avec ses voisins Athamanes et Acarnaniens. Le document permet d'identifier le grand temple archaïque dégagé à Arta comme étant celui d'Apollon Sôter et souligne les relations étroites entretenues avec l'Élide et la Thessalie ; il renseigne sur les institutions des deux cités et complète le calendrier épirote. (shrink)

This paper proposes four postulates for assessing, in the context of Buddhist-Christian dialogue, the respective understandings of the nature of the Metaphysical Ultimate (MU): the postulates of Internal Coherence; Depth of Soteric Efficacy; Breadth of Epistemic Warrant; and Breadth of Explanatory Power. It is argued that the application of these postulates supports the conclusion that the notion of the MU exemplified in Christian theism, where the MU is conceived of as being characterized (analogically) as personal in nature, not strictly and (...) completely ineffable, and cognizable by conceptual distinctions, has stronger and broader. epistemic warrants than that concept of the MU exemplified in Zen Buddhism. (shrink)

The most striking advances in the knowledge of human anatomy and physiology that the world had ever known—or was to know until the seventeenth century A.D.—took place in Hellenistic Alexandria. The city was founded in 331 B.C. by Alexander the Great. After the tatter's death in 323 B.C. and the subsequent dissolution of his empire, it became the capital of one of his generals, Ptolemy, son of Lagus, who established the Ptolemaic dynasty there. The first Ptolemy, subsequently named Soter (...) , and his son Ptolemy Philadelphus , became immensely enriched by their exploitation of Egypt and raised the city to a position of great wealth and magnificence. Anxious to enhance both their own reputation and the prestige of the kingdom, they sought to rival the cultural and scientific achievements not only of other Hellenistic rulers but even of Athens herself. Their patronage of the arts and sciences, coupled with their establishment of the Museum , together with the Library, made the city the centre of Hellenistic culture. Philosophers, mathematicians, astronomers, artists, poets and physicians were all encouraged to come and work there. (shrink)

I focus on the religio-aesthetic concept of nature in Japanese Buddhism as a valuable complement to environmental philosophy in the West and develop an explicit comparison of the Japanese Buddhist concept of nature and the ecological world view of Aldo Leopold. I discuss the profound current of ecological thought running through the Kegon, Tendai, Shingon, Zen, Pure Land, and Nichiren Buddhist traditions as weIl as modem Japanese philosophy as represented by Nishida Kitarö and Watsuji Tetsurö. In this context, I present (...) the Japanese concept of nature as an aesthetic continuum of interdependent events based on a field paradigm of reality. I show how the Japanese concept of nature entails an extension of ethics to include the relation between humans and the land. I argue that in both the Japanese Buddhist concept of nature and the thought of Aldo Leopold there is a hierarchy of normative values which grounds the land ethic in aland aesthetic. I also clarify the soteric concept of nature in Japanese Buddhism by which the natural environment becomes the ultimate locus of salvation for all sentient beings. In this way, I argue that the Japanese Buddhist concept of nature represents a fundamental shift from the egocentric to an ecocentric position-i.e., a de-anthropocentric standpoint which is nature-centered as opposed to human-centered. (shrink)

Menander's lost comedyThaiswith its famous protagonist, thehetairalover of Ptolemy I Soter and perhaps Alexander himself, was plainly well known at Rome, and is alluded to several times in Latin poetry of the Augustan and later periods, as Ariana Traill has shown. My purpose here is to argue that the literary characterisation of Thais in Menander's play underlies certain aspects of Lesbia as presented in the poetry of Catullus; that Catullus' poetry uses the plays of Menander has been demonstrated by (...) Richard Thomas, arguing that Catullus 8 shows clear traces of Demea's monologue in theSamia(325–56). (shrink)

Soteria has been traditionally an overlooked concept in the study of Greek religion, precisely due to its centrality in Christianity. The abundant pieces of evidence often were either examined teleologically as possible precedents of Christian salvation, or neglected for fear of projecting it into Greek religion. With the exception of the notable scholarship on ruler cults using the title Soter, the many testimonies of soteria and related terminology have been usually dispatched with the plat...

Koreans originally received Buddhism from their Chinese predecessors in a scripturally oriented context, and the Buddhism of the latter part of the Three Kingdoms period up through the Unified Silla 1 was wholly contained within scholarly sects. Not only were the scholarly schools the sole articulators of Buddhist soterics and philosophy—they administered all of the monasteries, and became deeply involved on an institutional level with the Silla government. These doctrinal schools functioned in this capacity for several centuries, without so much (...) as a hint of a question of their religious or political authority. (shrink)

In 1977, French excavations at Aï Khanoum in north-east Afghanistan—a foundation of Antiochus I Sotēr and subsequently one of the major cities of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom—of a building dating to shortly before the destruction of the place in 145 b.c.e. uncovered inter alia the remains of a papyrus and a parchment document. The papyrus text, dated by Cavallo on the basis of its letterforms to the mid third century b.c.e., preserved a fragment of a philosophical dialogue seemingly to be associated (...) with the Peripatetic school. The second document consisted of two separate portions of a piece of parchment roughly assigned on the basis of its letterforms to the second half of the third or the first half of the second century b.c.e.; as also in the case of the papyrus, the letters survived not on the parchment itself but impressed upon the hardened dirt that surrounded it. Only column II of the original editors’ ‘Texte 2a’ contains a significant amount of text, which appears in neither TrGF nor PCG. I present it here without regard to standard editorial niceties, which are rendered impossible by the desperate state of the original document, now almost certainly lost, and the nature of the original publication. (shrink)

Résumé Cet article offre une nouvelle lecture et interprétation des premières lignes préservées du décret issu par la cité éolique d’Aigai en l’honneur du roi Séleucos I et de son fils Antiochos, à la suite de la bataille de Kouroupédion. Le commentaire se focalise sur le rapport entre la syntaxe et le message du texte, sur l’utilisation de la dénomination sôteres, entre nom commun et épiclèse cultuelle, ainsi que sur la manière de laquelle les citoyens d’Aigai ont justifié l’octroi des (...) plus grands honneurs cultuels, par lesquels leurs bienfaiteurs sont adressés en qualité de divinités qui se sont manifestées. (shrink)

Summary The main function of Hellenistic queenship is increasingly understood as contributing to the definition of the basileus. The early Ptolemies produced the most peculiar version of the ‘sister queen’, known throughout the Near East as an ideological construct, but taken literally in Egypt from the time of Ptolemy II Philadelphos and Arsinoe II Philadelphos, the ‘Sibling-Lovers’. The most famous example of a ‘virgin queen’ is Berenike, the daughter of Ptolemy III Euergetes and Berenike II, best known from the Kanopos (...) Decree, which regulated her posthumous cult. Often understood as a merely honorary title for some or potentially all princesses in Alexandria, the basilissa title of unmarried girls has found little scholarly attention so far. Altogether, there are surprisingly few royal daughters for whom we have clear evidence: besides the aforesaid Berenike, her sister Arsinoe III and previously Berenike, the daughter of the Philadelphoi. Claims that Arsinoe II or her sister Philotera had enjoyed the same status at the court of Ptolemy I Soter cannot be substantiated, so that their basilissa titles should be explained by marriage with a king. The phenomenon of virgin queenship was thus of limited duration. It is best interpreted as a ramification of an emphatically endogamous royal dynasty: Ptolemy II and Ptolemy III pledged their most distinguished daughter to the future successor even before he had been chosen from among his brothers. (shrink)

To challenge the Foucauldian legacy of Jeremy Bentham’s panopticon prison, scholars often highlight Bentham’s later writings on the democratic power of public opinion. In doing so, they reaffirm Bentham’s reputation as a unreserved proponent of transparency. To recover the limits of Bentham’s embrace of publicity, I examine the model of visibility exemplified by his designs for the Sotimion, a residence for unmarried, pregnant women. The Sotimion draws our attention to Bentham’s appreciation for concealment as a method of preventing individual and (...) social harms caused by publicity and his criticisms of ascetic sexual norms. By being able to see visitors without being seen by them, the residents of the Sotimion would have avoided social censure while continuing to meet with friends, family, and even lovers. The Sotimion designs eschewed the panoptic principle, the use of asymmetric surveillance to reform moral behavior, and offered what I call the “soteric principle,” the use of asymmetric surveillance to protect the observer from punishment. By comparing the Sotimion to the Magdalen Hospital for Penitent Prostitutes and Bentham’s discussions of panoptic institutions for women, I examine the Sotimion’s distinctiveness while acknowledging its normalizing effects for residents from lower socioeconomic classes. Just as the panopticon captured Bentham’s commitment to publicity, applying the soteric model to Bentham’s theory of public opinion highlights his commitment to secrecy for protecting critics of government abuses from retribution. (shrink)

Most Buddhists would admit that every Buddhist practice and theoretical construct can be traced to or at least subsumed under one or more among the four nobles’ truths. It is hardly surprising, then, that listening to these truths and pondering upon them were considered the cornerstones of the Buddhist soteric endeavour. Learning them from a competent teacher and subjecting them to rational analysis are generally regarded as taking place at the very beginning of the religious career or, to put it (...) otherwise, still as an ordinary person along the preparatory path. At this stage, the discursive nature of the four nobles’ truths fits well the didactic and intellectual requirements of early religious practice. But how about the subsequent, more distinctively intuitive/non-conceptual stages of a mystic’s career? How to interpret, for instance, our sources’ strong emphasis on the four nobles’ truths as forming the content of the first pivotal event on the path, the so-called path of vision? And how to understand a philosopher’s claim that the yogic path exhausts itself in one’s learning, rationally analyzing and mentally cultivating the four nobles’ truths? In order to understand this, one has to turn to Abhidharmic interpretations of the four truths as embodying the ultimately true aspects of reality itself. Here, the truths are not regarded as a didactic device encapsulating the entire Buddhist law, but as the basic sixteenfold structure of the real. It is, of course, these ultimately true aspects that the path of cultivation is supposed to make directly perceptible to the yogin, thus enabling him to get rid of ignorance. (shrink)

O artigo faz uma síntese das discussões a respeito da relação entre consciência planetária, sustentabilidade e religião , a partir dos últimos congressos e publicações da SOTER, de eventos recentes de Teologia e Ciências da Religião e da Cúpula dos Povos (2012). Realiza um nivelamento conceitual dos termos envolvidos na questão. Caracteriza “consciência planetária”, a partir da Carta da Terra. Apresenta um panorama acerca do tema “sustentabilidade”, mostrando as principais diferenças e os pontos comuns das principais correntes. Responde a (...) dúvidas, questionamentos e objeções, tais como: se é apropriado designar o ser humano como Filho da Terra; em que sentido a Terra pode ser designada como mãe; liames entre globalização e planetarização; como se relacionam “ecologia” e “consciência planetária”. Delineia quais as tarefas da educação no atual contexto. Por fim, condensa os desafios e perspectivas das religiões em relação à evolução da consciência planetária, na Carta das religiões sobre o cuidado da Terra, da Cúpula dos Povos . Palavras-chave: Consciência planetária. Ecoteologia. Sustentabilidade. Religião e cidadania.This article summarizes the discussions on the relationship between planetary consciousness, sustainability and religion, taking into accounts the recent conferences and publications of SOTER, recent events of Theology, Sciences of Religion and the People's Summit (2012). The text also performs a flatness of conceptual terms involved in the issue. For this purpose, the article characterizes planetary consciousness from the Earth Charter, an overview of the topic sustainability and showing the main differences and commonalities of the major currents. It also answers to some questions and objections such as: a) is it appropriate to designate the human being as the Son of Earth? b) In what way should the earth be designated as a mother? c) What are the bonds between globalization and planetarization? d) How "ecology" and "planetary consciousness" are related? Finally, the article outlines the tasks of education in the current context and summarizes the challenges and prospects of religion in relation to the evolution of planetary consciousness in the Charter of religions regarding the care of Earth. Keywords: Planetary consciousness. Ecotheology. Sustainability. Religion and citizenship. (shrink)

Nicholas of Cusa (1402-1464) explored the boundaries of human reason for the sake of making religious belief believable. Unwillingly, he became a milestone in the process of rationalizing Christian theology. Giordano Bruno (1548-1600) is a proof to this perspective by the way he makes use of Cusanus’s approach. In his ’Spaccio de la bestia trionfante’, Bruno discusses Cusanus’s attempts at the geometrical problem of squaring the circle. Bruno not only promotes his atomistic geometry, he also uses the metaphoric meaning of (...) triangle for Trinity as an occasion to supplant ’faith’ with ’sincerity’. For Bruno faith is not anymore the true belief of religion, but rather ’good faith’ and fidelity, i.e., social and political virtues. (shrink)

In this article the phenomenon of an icon (as described by Jean-Luc Marion) is considered in relation with its media of appearance. Asking whether it can appear and be recognized as such in any medium or only in “iconic” media, attention is directed towards electronic media, namely the television, film and computer screens. The main question is whether “crossing of gazes” and recognition of the face is possible on screen. If not, the screen remains univocally a medium of an idol. (...) -/- Relation of an invisible icon to its medium (or environment) is found to be twofold: on the one hand, an icon itself is of ‘mediatic’ structure, since it implements the “medium is the message” phrase, given by Marshall McLuhan. The visible side of an icon is fully subservient to its invisible message – in other words, it becomes its message. On the other hand, an icon uses some kind of (additional) medium for its appearing. The medium can become an obstacle or a means due to its capabilities of presenting a situation of image and certain image logic with it. -/- Although, J.-L. Marion is strictly sceptical about the possibilities of audio-visual technologies to transmit the phenomenon of the face, several occasions for a doubt and further investigation are found. Firstly, the liberation from the status of an idol to a certain extent and hence a suggestion of an icon is found where the ‘content’ of the medium reveals the medium itself. Thus, it enables recognising the image as image and implies the segmentation of ‘layers’ of images. Secondly, strong suggestion of the face of the other addressing me (the viewer) personally is observed in the situation of accepted prayer. However, this possibility is only discovered in examples and it is still lacking theoretical background. Except of this, the screen remains a medium which ‘filters out’ the phenomenon of an icon. -/- On the whole, at least a suggestion of an icon is thought to be able to use the screen as its medium. (shrink)