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?

Treći kat Parnell Heritage Puba u srcu Dublina, na Smaragdnom otoku, godina je 2016., postbožićna zima. Sjedimo Rihards i ja, moj ruski tovariš iz Latvije burnog životopisa. S Rusima svaki izlazak pustolovina je za sebe, i opasnost po miroljubivu zapadnoeuropsku okolinu. Tek s njima u društvu shvatih tu neku nježnu mediteransku crtu koju mi Hrvati nosimo u sebi.