following a previous post where i mentioned Heraclitus & Xenophanes, i want to share a bit more for my love of Greek philosophy.
to me, it comes without saying that philosophy is the mother of all sciences, the cornerstone or free thinking and the basis of all modern society structures. apart from all that and so much more, philosophy is a way of thinking and living so captivating that once you enter, it will most certainly follow you through your whole life.
unfortunately, the Greek educational system does not really offer this knowledge to the Greek students. modern Greece claims to be the owner of universal philosophy, but does so little to actually prove it. so, at age 16, my father brought home an old forgotten encyclopedia of the main Greek philosophers. since i always enjoyed reading and as a curious mind, i grabbed the book on Aristotle. school had taught us only the basics of who our philosophers were so i had never really studied their teachings.
a whole new window opened inside me as, line after line, i stood mesmerized at the 
obvious wisdom of Aristotle´s laconic remarks on ethics. unfortunately, the book was such an old and mal written edition that i found it really hard to understand many things. as a result, i dropped the book after a while completely. but the window had opened once and for all. every time a matter of philosophy came up, i was there to grab it, feel it, study it, suck the life out of it. i felt really connected…
and then university came, along with endless courses of maths, accounting, marketing, sales techniques, stock markets and really everything else except for philosophy. in four years, i don´t think i read one page of philosophy. i was completely absorbed so many different ways!!!
post university now, when real life begins, i found myself working in a very good company right on the field of my studies. i got the chance to implement all that i had learned and improve myself a lot. but something bugged me at night…my restless mind needed food and i was starving myself. after wandering around fiction books, magazines and endless documentaries, i finally found what was missing…good old Greek philosophy! as soon as i started visiting websites on philosophy, i felt reborn and so eager to learn more that i just couldn´t wait. so i thought this time, i will do it the right way. i would study philosophy on my own step by step.
i just didn´t know where to start….who to read first. i became a member of my local library after i realized they had so many books on philosophy but i was lost among hundreds of books. i had seen documentaries and i knew i loved loved looooved the Seven Sages but this was not enough. and then i stumbled upon
Diogenes Laërtius
this amazing guy who lived hundreds of years after our great philosophers, wrote the most important philosophic encyclopedia, after studying and gathering the books of all the eminent philosophers. he organized them so finely that the Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers is a true piece of art. his categorization (with which i am fully in accordance) is the following:
i began my studying from the last book up because i want to leave my favourite philosophers for the end. i paradoxically believe that if i study all the others, i will fully understand the first ones better not only it terms of meaning but also legacy and effect on the philosophers who followed their lead.
this will take time. YEARS. it is a slow procedure that gradually alters your being in more ways than one and i hope i will, one day reach the end this study (i consider this my second university degree) with the knowledge and wisdom that i always wished to have.
i have by now fully studied Epicurus and i am now involved with the philosophers of book 9. i love this journey and i will keep you posted on my advances. thanks for reading and please send me your feedback!
Aahh.. what a beautiful posting!
Philosophy is a treasure for everyday life and friendships.
Keep it up!
thank you very much R! i dearly appreciate your point of view…:)
i just read your post before about your previous experience with blogging – i think an important thing to do is focus on a few ideas that interest you and run with it. i think blogging of your exploration of greek philosophy, and what you take away from reading about it, would be a great idea – something i’d be interested in reading anyhow. i’ll look forward to a post on Epicurus…
thanks for the kind advice, Cain, i find your words very welcome.
it’s true what you said about focusing, but i don’t know if i can do that with so many different things on my mind to write about…
i think some times my brain wants to explode from overthinking.
i will back with a post on Epicurus though cause he is just so very interesting to explore and talk about..