Wednesday Wisdom

Alexander the Great captured Egypt in 332 BCE after defeating the Persian ruler Darius III in the Battle of Issus. He expanded his empire across Asia Minor the middle east and into Egypt bringing with him the Hellenistic (Greek) culture. He arrived in Egypt, where he was welcomed as a liberator by the Egyptians who were tired of Persian rule.

The famous story goes that when Alexander reached the Oracle of Amun at Siwa Oasis in the Western Desert of Egypt, he was proclaimed the son of the god Amun-Ra, which further legitimized his rule in the eyes of the Egyptians.

Alexander founded the city of Alexandria, which would become a significant cultural and trade center in the ancient world. Egypt, after his death in 323 BCE, remained under the control of Alexander's successors. First controlled by his general Ptolemy, then his son Ptolemy II Philadelphus in what was known as the Ptolemaic dynasty. The death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC created the end of the Ptolemaic dynasty with Roman conquest of Egypt as the Hellenic tradition was replaced by Roman rule.

The Library of Alexandria was commissioned by Ptolemy II Philadelphus 50 years later and was the most famous and influential libraries of the ancient world. The library's exact founding date is not entirely clear, but it is believed to have been established around 283-246 BCE. The primary purpose of the Library of Alexandria was to collect and preserve knowledge from different cultures and regions. It served as a center for scholarship, research, and intellectual exchange during the Hellenistic period. It is estimated that the library housed a vast collection of over 200,000 scrolls and manuscripts containing works on various subjects, including literature, science, mathematics, philosophy, and history from ancient Greece, the middle east and Egypt. The library attracted scholars and thinkers from all over the ancient world, making Alexandria a renowned center of learning. It played a crucial role in the transmission of knowledge from one civilization to another and was instrumental in preserving many classical Greek texts that would have otherwise been lost.

It is believed that in this library the works of a Greek-Egyptian figure named Hermes Trismegistus survived and could be found.

What he produced

Hermes Trismegistus, which translates as “Hermes thrice great” is a legendary figure of unknown origin. There is conjecture that name of origin comes from the Greek god Hermes and Egyptian god Thoth.

The works attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, also known as the Hermetic Corpus, were discovered in various locations over time. Hermes Trismegistus is a legendary figure in Western esotericism, often associated with ancient wisdom and mystical teachings. The Hermetic Corpus consists of a collection of texts that cover a wide range of topics, including philosophy, alchemy, astrology, and spiritual teachings. More importantly these ancient texts were esoteric meaning they contained divine wisdom that spoke of the union of body, mind and soul.

2023 Why should you care

Cosimo de Medici was anxious for Ficino to translate this manuscript believing there was a divine nature to this writing. It had survived the fall of Alexandria, kept in the Byzantine and Arabic world and finally helped inspired the renaissance in the west as religion, science and philosophy all began to once again be embraced. This ancient text also seemed to unify all religions with common themes that are found like the Kabbalah in Judaism, Gnosticism in Christianity, Sufism in Islam as well as principle of Buddhism and Hinduism. In the text there are seven principle that became the foundation in the renaissance thinking and later known as the philosophy of Hermeticism. These texts are important because they take the concept of a spiritual realm and apply it to the material world. The seven principles are:

1) Mentalism: consciousness matters over material

2) Correspondence: Below is above, above is below- we are shaped in the face of God through mind and matter

3) Vibrations: the universe is waves of energy

4) Polarity: Two sides of the coin are the same coin, there is no good without bad, love without hate

5) Rhythm: Life is like a pendulum moving to extremes, the only constant being change

6) Cause and Effect: Every action causes another reaction

7) Gender: Male female is like order and chaos, it's an energy compliment which creates life

Hermetic Corpus and the 7 principles inspired many scholars, philosophers and scientists through the ages. Sir Isaac Newton translated the works from Latin to English and was inspired by the concepts of physics in the ancient manuscript. The concept of the cosmos, energy and the human condition through the renaissance and the enlightenment all trace its roots through this ancient manuscript.

Throughout Europe and the middle east, the ancient laws of Moses, Mosiac Code was believed to be the laws of God. Plato with his Republic later laid a foundation for a contract between the laws of government and man. The principles by Hermes seem very universal across all laws and religions. Could it be this ancient manuscript from Hermes Trismegistus is the bridge from laws of God to the laws of man? Given all the common themes, was there a divine intervention in establishing religions?

And now you know...

Philosophy is the art of thinking, the building block of progress that shapes critical thinking across economics, ethics, religion, and science.

METAPHYSICS: Literally, the term metaphysics means ‘beyond the physical.’ Typically, this is the branch that most people think of when they picture philosophy. In metaphysics, the goal is to answer the what and how questions in life. Who are we, and what are time and space?

LOGIC: The study of reasoning. Much like metaphysics, understanding logic helps to understand and appreciate how we perceive the rest of our world. More than that, it provides a foundation for which to build and interpret arguments and analyses.

ETHICS: The study of morality, right and wrong, good and evil. Ethics tackles difficult conversations by adding weight to actions and decisions. Politics takes ethics to a larger scale, applying it to a group (or groups) of people. Political philosophers study political governments, laws, justice, authority, rights, liberty, ethics, and much more.

AESTHETICS: What is beautiful? Philosophers try to understand, qualify, and quantify what makes art what it is. Aesthetics also takes a deeper look at the artwork itself, trying to understand the meaning behind it, both art as a whole and art on an individual level. A question an aesthetics philosopher would seek to address is whether or not beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.

EPISTEMOLOGY: This is the study and understanding of knowledge. The main question is how do we know? We can question the limitations of logic, how comprehension works, and the ability (or perception) to be certain.