Reply To: Humanism

[Gabe]

I like the quote from the Humanist Association. I think one of the crucial reasons why the Greeks were humanist was not that they didn’t have a ‘god-centered’ life. Their temples were always built at the center of their cities and there were many religious festivals, etc. If you read for instance the Apology which deals with the trial of Socrates you see that piety is an important value to the Greeks. What made the Greeks so Humanist though is the Humanity of their Gods. Reading Greek Mythology (or watching Disney’s Hercules!) you can see the liveliness and messiness that the Gods themselves were experiencing. I think the appreciation the Greeks had for these aspects of life are what made them Humanist and cause their art to move in the directions that it did.