Achilles takes an Arab shield

During the Middle Ages, the story of the Siege and the Fall of Troy and the dispersal of Trojan survivors following the siege of the city by the Achaeans served as the secular parallel to the Genesis creation narrative. Various dynasties or even entire nations claimed (and even went to extraordinary lengths to genealogically prove) Trojan origin, merely following a well-established Roman tradition which saw in Aeneas their ancestor.

The previous essay by Ricardo Bottino and the current essay by Ivan Dadic pretend to be nothing else but a warm exchange of thoughts between two friends who are seeking for truth. Thus they were written in a contemplative manner, rather than a mere accumulation of research and information.

Greek mythology puts on a new robe

I will discuss the reception of Greek polytheistic worldview in the Arab-Islamic civilization universe in the following passages. How could one reconcile strict Islamic monotheism with the polytheistic worldview of Greek poetry? Andalusi poet and philologist Ḥāzim al-Qarṭāǧanī (1211-1284) in his book Minhāǧ al-bulaġāʼ wa-sirāǧ al-udabāʼ (The methodology of the eloquent ones and the lamp of the literati) reiterates al-Fārābī in that Every genre of Greek poetry is connected to a certain particular metre. In addition, he lists three other observations regarding Greek poetry:

George Orwell je svoja iskustva Španjolskog građanskog rata pretočio u ratni dnevnik „Kataloniji u čast“, pročitao sam ga u jednom dahu tijekom svojih studentskih dana i svima koji vole ratne dnevnike preporučujem knjigu. Knjiga počinje jednim entuzijazmom koji je zahvatio cijelu tadašnju europsku ljevicu u vezi s događanjima u Španjolskoj, pa i velikog engleskog pisca. Kroz knjigu polako padaju maske i raspadaju se sve njegove iluzije u vezi velike lijeve koalicije predvođene republikancima i komunistima.

Introductory Remark

 I: One thing I have learned here in practice (something that I already knew in theory); a man cannot live a good life without a vow; a vow towards God or to a wife (through God). Without commitment, there is no happiness.

R: The subject of “Vow” looks like it has some substance for writing. We should both write about it and then compare our ideas!

I: Do I smell a challenge there?

 The essay by Ricardo Bottino and the upcoming essay by Ivan Dadic pretend to be nothing else but a warm exchange of thoughts between two friends who are seeking for truth. Thus they were written in a contemplative manner, rather than a mere accumulation of research and information.

Greek mythology puts on a new robe

Now we come to a crucial topic of our study - the reception of Greek polytheistic worldview in the Arab-Islamic civilizational universe. How could one reconcile strict Islamic monotheism with the polytheistic worldview of Greek poetry?