34.
Euripides’ Bacchae: *
It examines the 2 opposite sides of human nature: the rational and civilized side, which is represented by the character of Pentheus (king of Thebes) and the instinctive side, represented by Dionysus. This side is sensual without analysis, it feels a connection between man and beast, a potential source of divinity & spiritual power. Euripides portrays the gods as representing various human qualities, opening the question of the human condition. The play suggests that it is perilous to deny human desire for the Dionysian experience & that those who are open to the experience will find spiritual power, those who suppress desire in themselves will transform it into a destructive force.
35.
Wagner’s Parsifal: *
In 1854 Wagner read & was impressed by Schopenhauer; Parsifal is his final great espousal of Schopenhauer’s philosophy. Parsifal can heal Amfortas & redeem Kundry because he shows compassion (for Schopenhauer the highest form of human morality). Parsifal displays compassion in the face of sexual temptation. Schopenhauer argues that the only escape from the ever-present temptations of human life is through negation of the Will, and overcoming sexual temptation is a strong form of negation. In Tristan & Isolde Schopenhauer's influence is more obvious, with its focus on yearning. Parsifal, with its emphasis on compassion, is a natural follow-on to Tristan und Isolde. Wagner originally considered including Parsifal as a character in act 3 of Tristan, but later rejected the idea.
36.
homology: *
Goethe’s study of morphology (what was later called homology) influenced 19th century naturalists although his ideas of transformation were about the continuous metamorphosis of living things and did not relate to contemporary ideas of the transmutation of species.
In biology, homology is the existence of shared ancestry between a pair of structures, or genes, in different species. A common example of homologous structures are the forelimbs of vertebrates, the wings of bats, the arms of primates, the front flippers of whales and the forelegs of dogs. Homologous structures are structures (body parts/anatomy) which are similar in different species because the species have common descent. They may or may not perform the same function. SEE ILLUSTRATION
The principle of homology:
The biological relationships (shown by colours)
of the bones in the forelimbs of
vertebrates were used by Charles Darwin
as an argument in favor of evolution
Goethe’s Metamorphosis of Plants (1790) reflects his discovery of the serially homologous nature of leaf organs in plants, from cotyledons, to photosynthetic leaves, to the petals of a flower. This is his foliar theory showing that flower part are derived from leaves. The serial homology of limbs was described late in the 18th century. In developmental biology, organs that developed in the embryo in the same manner and from similar origins, such as from matching primordia in successive segments of the same animal, are serially homologous. Examples of this include the legs of a centipede, and male and female reproductive organs (the ovaries and testicles of mammals including human), which develop from the same embryonic tissue and are therefore homologous.
37.
os intermaxillare:*
Goethe, employing reflection & coincidence in studying an elephant's skull independently discovered the human intermaxillary bone (also known as "Goethe's bone") in 1784. Several years earlier Broussonet (1779) & Vicq d'Azyr (1780) had (using different methods) identified this bone as well. Goethe was not the only one in his day to question the prevailing dogma that this bone did not exist in humans. He believed ancient anatomists had known about this bone; he was the first to prove its existence in all mammals. This provided anatomical evidence of the evolutionary connection between man & animals.
38.
Owen: *
Owen first used the term "homology" in 1843 when studying the similarities of vertebrate fins and limbs, contrasting it with the matching term "analogy" which he used to describe different structures with the same function. Although he is credited with first articulating a definition of the word it is clear that Goethe had already arrived at a sophisticated view of homology and transformation (within an idealist morphological perspective) 50 years earlier. In 1859, Darwin used homology to argue that homologous structures (meaning that the organisms concerned shared a body plan from a common ancestor) meant that the given species were branches of a single tree of life.
39.
Wallenstein: *
He fought for the Catholics against the Protestant Bohemian revolt (1618); he defeated the rebels at White Mountain (1620). Further victories against the Protestants raised his reputation in the Imperial court. In 1625 he raised a large army of 50,000 men to further the Imperial cause & at Dessau Bridge (1626) crushed Protestant forces. Became a generalissimo & and Admiral of the Baltic Sea (1628) & ruler of N Bohemia; however the Emperor was suspicious of his ambitions, & released him from services in 1630. Recalled to service in 1632 he defeated the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus at Alte Veste and Lützen where the Swede was killed. However Wallenstein, now dissatisfied with his treatment, began negotiating with the Protestants, aiming to obtain a just peace. The Emperor fearing such a move, withdrew his command & ordered his his assassination, duly carried out winter 1634.
40.
parcelled Germany parcelled Greece: *
Germany was politically fragmented during the Holy Roman Empire (especially after the end of the Thirty Years' War) and during the German Confederation in the first half of the 19th century. A great many sovereign small & medium-sized secular and ecclesiastical principalities and Free Imperial cities (some of which were little larger than a single town or the grounds of the monastery of an Imperial abbey) existed. Estimates of the total number of German states at any given time during the 18th century vary, ranging from 294 to 348.
see illustration
This ended in 1871 with the unification of Germany into a politically & administratively integrated nation state following victory in the Franco-Prussian War. This event falls within the Autumnal period of the Civilization stage of the Faustian culture.
The Greek polis is the outstanding feature of Greek politics until the Hellenistic Age. Until this point there are no substantial territorial political entities other than the city state & its localized citizens. These cities consisted of a fortified city centre built on an acropolis or harbor controlling surrounding territories of land. The Greek identify (citizenship) is subsumed within the polis. They did not to refer to Athens, Sparta or Thebes but rather Athenians, Lacedaemonians or Thebans- the body of citizens came to be the most important meaning of the term polis in ancient Greece. see illustration
This ended in 338 BC, when Philip II defeated Athens and Thebes at the Battle of Chaeronea and established a federation of Greek states known as the League of Corinth, with him as the elected hegemon and commander-in-chief of a planned invasion of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia. This event falls within the late summer period of the Classic Culture.
41.
Contending States period/Punic Wars/Hyksos in Egypt: *
The Contending States: (aka the Warring States period) is period in Chinese history characterized by intensive warfare all around China with the goal of creating a single Empire. It begins in 403 BC when Han, Zhao and Wei were officially recognised as states by the Zhou court. This act was reflected the eroded Zhou authority & encouraged hostilities. The period concludes with the Qin wars of conquest that saw the annexation of all other contender states, ultimately leading to the Qin state's victory in 221 BC, the first unified Chinese empire, the Qin dynasty. It is early fall period for the Chinese Civilization.
The Punic Wars: a series of 3 wars fought between Rome and Carthage from 264 BC to 146 BC, part of the Hellenistic period of the Classical Culture, the Fall of the Civilization period.
The Hyksos in Egypt: their appearance as invaders led to the creation of the Fifteenth dynasty. This age called the Second Intermediate Period, saw Egypt fell into disarray for a second time, between the end of the Middle Kingdom and the start of the New Kingdom. The Hyksos Fifteenth Dynasty dates approximately from 1650 to 1550. Also contending for power was the Abydos Dynasty, a short-lived local dynasty ruling over parts of Middle and Upper Egypt, and the Sixteenth Dynasty, pharaohs ruling the Theban region in Upper Egypt and also in contention against the Hyksos. Eventually the Theban based Seventeenth Dynasty lead the war of liberation that drove the Hyksos back into Asia (1550 BC). It occurs in the Fall stage of the Egyptian civilization.
and see illustrations X 3
42.
Age of Pericles & age of Ommayads: *
The golden age of Athenian culture flourished under the leadership of Pericles (495-429 B.C.), a brilliant general, orator, patron of the arts & politician, ”the first citizen” of democratic Athens; he transformed his city’s alliances into an empire and graced its Acropolis with the famous Parthenon. It occurs in the Summer period of the Classical Culture age.
Age of Ommayads (aka Umayyad Caliphate) 661–750 AD; is the 2nd of 4 four major caliphates after Muhammad. Umayyad rule was established by Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan, governor of Syria, following the end of the First Muslim Civil War in 661 AD. Syria was their power base, Damascus their capital. They continued the Muslim conquests, incorporating the Transoxiana, Sindh, the Maghreb and Iberia (Al-Andalus) into the Muslim world. They were a feudal Arab empire ruling over a population which was overwhelmingly non-Arab as well as primarily non-Muslim. The Umayyad Calphate was an Arab-centric state, run by & for the benefit of ethic Arab Muslims. Non-Arabs were treated as second class citizens regardless of whether or not they converted to Islam. This led to discontent cutting across faiths & ethnicities, leading to their overthrow by the Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258) who claimed descent from an uncle of the Prophet. It is dated to the Summer period of the Magian Culture.
see illustration
43.
The Dionysian movement: *
The more famous urban festival was established during the tyranny of Pisistratus (6th century BC) when Eleutherae (a border town) chose to join Attica. The town people brought a statue of Dionysus to Athens but it was rejected by the Athenians. Dionysus proceeded to punish the city with a plague affecting the male genitalia; only when the Athenians accepted the cult of Dionysus was the plague cured. This explains the significance of the procession of citizens carrying phalloi. Following the procession there was a competition for the best poetry, songs & dance in honour of Dionysus. These were extremely competitive, & the best flute players & poets (such as Simonides and Pindar) offered their musical and lyrical services. Following these events the Theatre of Dionysus was purified by the sacrifice of a bull, and a grand feast for all citizens was held. A second procession & revelry was held and finally we find the five days of the festival set aside for drama: 3 days for tragedies (first performance was in 534 BC by Thespis); the final 2 days saw further poetry contests, which later (487 BC) would include the comedies.
44.
“…Dionysian movement…analogous to the Reformation”: * see Endnote
Spengler is making a point in contrasting homologous and analogous characteristics. Homologous refers to proximity in the Cultural lifecylce whereas analogous refers to a comparision of function. The Dioysian movement is homologous to the Renassiance but analygous to the Reforamtion.
The older pagan religion of Greece were based on the 12 Gods & were ethnic religions (for Greeks) and public in nature. Many of the festivals were very specific & exclusive to a particular deity or city-state, for instance the Panathenaic festival. In this sense they were political and impersonal.
The Dionysian movement was a “mystery religion”. Through the use of wine, dance & music, it promised to remove inhibitions & social constraints, liberating the individual to return to nature. It provided liberation for those marginalized by Greek society: women, slaves, outlaws & non-citizens. Although only the initiated could partake, there was no ethnic, social or gender restrictions on membership, it was inclusive. Like other mystery cults it offered a mystical awakening & a personal religious experience. It provided elements of a systematic religious doctrine, some had a map to the afterlife; some used communal worship & spiritual fellowship with other initiates. This and the other mystery religions became very popular during the Hellenic Age and Roman Empire, although the traditional 12 Gods paganism continued.
