|
Dating creation is the attempt to provide an estimate of the age of the Earth or the age of the universe as understood by various religious traditions. Varieties of traditional beliefs held that the Earth, or the entire Universe, was brought into being in a grand Creation event by one or more gods. Once these cultures developed calendars, many began to ponder the question of precisely how long ago this event happened. ==Greek and Roman== Most ancient Greek and Roman chroniclers, poets, grammarians, and scholars (Eratosthenes, Varro, Apollodorus of Athens, Ovid, Censorinus, Catullus, and Castor of Rhodes) believed in a threefold division of history: ''ádelon'' (obscure), ''mythikón'' (mythical) and ''historikón'' (historical) periods.〔''Ovid, Varro, and Castor of Rhodes: The Chronological Architecture of the "Metamorphoses"'',Thomas Cole, Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, Vol. 102, (2004), pp. 355-422.〕 According to the Roman grammarian Censorinus the first period, the ''ádelon'' (obscure), was calculated by Varro as follows: The primordial ''ádelon'' (obscure) period ''ended'' with the flood of Ogyges and what followed was the beginning of the ''mythikón'' (mythical) period. Varro dated this flood to 2137 BC〔Varro (''Rust''. 3.1.2–3) roughly 2100 years before himself writing in 37 BC.〕 but Censorinus wrote in his ''De Die Natali'' ch.xxi that the Ogyges’ diluvium occurred 1600 years before the first Olympiad (776 BC) meaning 2376 BC.〔H. Peter, ''Die Epochen in Varros Werk De Gente Populi Romani'', RhM 57 (1902) 231–251.〕 Castor of Rhodes also provided another date for the start of the ''mythikón'' (mythical) period, 2123 BC. Censorinus recorded that the second period, the ''mythikón'', stretched from the flood of Ogyges to the first Olympiad: According to Censorinus (quoting Varro), the second period (''mythikón'') lasted from 2137 to 776 BC, or if Censorinus' own dates are used: 2376 BC to 776 BC, or finally if Castor's: 2123 BC to 776 BC. Ovid, however, dated the start of the (''mythikón'') period to the reign of Inachus, who he dated 400 or so years ''after'' the flood of Ogyges, meaning around 1900–1700 BC, but agreed with Varro that the ''mythikón'' ended during the first Olympiad (776 BC).〔H. Peter, ''Die Epochen in Varros Werk De Gente Populi Romani'', RhM 57 (1902) 231–251; James Ussher dated Inachus to 1825 BC.〕 See Ages of Man for more details about Ovid's chronology. Another ancient date for the start of the ''mythikón'' (mythical) period is found preserved in Augustine's ''City of God'' xviii.3, which dates it to 2050 BC.〔. Peter, ''Die Epochen in Varros Werk De Gente Populi Romani'', RhM 57 (1902) 231–251.〕 The final period according to Censorinus and Varro, the ''historikón'' (historical) era, began from 776 BC (the first Olympiad) to their own time: Eratosthenes and Apollodorus of Athens, however, pushed back the start of the historical period to the Trojan War, which they fixed at 1184 BC.〔 Very few ancient Greeks or Romans attempted to date the creation, or beginning of the ''ádelon'' (obscure) period. While all ancient sources (excluding Ovid) dated the ''end'' of this period and start of the mythical (''mythikón'') period to 2376–2050 BC, most did not claim to know when the creation (''ádelon'' period) exactly began. As Censorinus admitted: Varro and Castor of Rhodes also wrote something very similar; however, some ancient Greek and Romans attempted to calculate the date for the creation by using ancient sources or records of mythological figures.〔''Bibliotheca Classica'', John Lemprière, 1788.〕 Since Inachus was dated 400 years after the flood of Ogyges and that Ogyges himself was considered a Titan〔Theophilus, in the 4th century (ad Autol.), says he was one of the Titans, an earlier fragment from Thallus also makes this identification.〕 or a primordial Autochthon "from earliest ages",〔The Greek word Ogygios (Ωγύγιος), meaning Ogygian, came to be synonymous with "primeval," "primal," or "from earliest ages".〕 some ancient Greek or Romans dated the creation (beginning with Chaos or Gaia) only a few hundred years before Ogyges (2376–2050 BC).〔A. Grafton, ''Tradition and Technique in Historical Chronology'', in M. H. Crawford and C. R. Ligota (eds.), ''Ancient History and the Antiquarian: Essays in Memory of Arnaldo Momigliano'' (London 1995).〕 Most ancient Greeks, however, did not subscribe to such a literalist view of using mythology to attempt to date the creation; Hecataeus of Miletus was an early ancient Greek logographer who strongly criticised this method, while Ptolemy wrote of such an "immense period" of time before the historical period (776 BC), and thus believed in a much greater age for the creation.〔''Great Syntaxis'', i. 3.〕 Among the ancient Greek and Roman philosophers there were different opinions and traditions pertaining to the date of the creation. Some philosophers believed the Universe was eternal, and actually had no date of creation. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Dating creation」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|