Essays Upon Natural History, and Other Miscellaneous Subjects Book

Sometimes one immures himself thinking that one knows more than the world around him. It's this attitude of complacency and hubris that I'm currently fighting, because sometimes I admit I do think I know a lot more than most people, which is why I'm glad I came across this book.

I didn't read this book as if I were performing an exegesis: I'm not a Greek scholar and will probably never be one. There were a lot of terms that I failed to understand, because I am unable to read untranslated Greek words. However, I was delighted with this book because it managed to debunk and destroy my preconceptions about some of the Greek philosophies and religions.

For example, one perceives of Epicurus nowadays as merely a pleasure-seeker. Mr. Murray reveals that nothing was farther from the truth: 'Epicurus says that pleasure, or "sweetness of life," is the good but he never counsels the direct pursuit of it. Quite the reverse. He says that if you conquer your desires and fears, and live simply and love those about you, the natural sweetness of life will reveal itself." (p. 105) That doesn't seem to be horrible. In fact, it's Jesus Christ's second commandment: love your neighbor as you love yourself.

The current idea of cynicism is relatively negative: people are driven by their own interests and usually do not hold honorable virtues. The original Cynic, however, was almost its polar opposite: these were the people who only sought virtue and lived like dogs in the sense that all it needed was to be loyal to its master, defend its master from beasts, and provide for himself. (p. 88) The Stoics were slightly different: they believed that life was shit, but man can be virtuous by the force of his own will.

In reading the evolution of Greek religion I also discovered my prejudices against paganism and developed insight regarding that. During the swansong of Pagan religion Paganism was neither bloody nor uncouth: the Pagan Sallustius wrote 'On the Gods and the World' explaining his beliefs, and it was a civilized and intelligent treatise.

I'm grateful for this book for providing me with a bit more knowledge and destroying some of my prejudices, and reminding me that I still have much to learn.