> Fellow Greeks,
>
> A week ago a question was raised about the meaning
> of EPIQUMIA. I found an interesting passage in Col. 3:5
> containing this word:
>
> NEKRWSATE OUN TA MELH TA EPI THS GHS
> PORNEIAN AKAQARSIAN PAQOS EPIQUMIAN
> KAKHN KAI THN PLEONEXIAN......
>
> (NIV) Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your
> earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil
> desires and greed......
>
> Now looking at the NIV's translation and the Greek
> there are two different words for lust and evil desires:
> PAQOS and EPITHUMIA KAKHN respectively.
>
> Which shows quite clearly that there is nothing
> inherently sexual in the meaning of EPITHUMIA.
> Lust is expressed by a different word.
>
> On another point,
>
> A friend (History Professor) recently told me about
> how he remembered reading something in Greek
> Philosophy regarding how the ancient Greeks
> viewed homosexuality. Basically the Greeks saw that
> the only way to have true spiritual love was through
> the melding of mind and spirit between two people.
> Since they thought that women didn't have a mind,
> the only way to achieve this kind of love was to meld
> with another male. Apparently the ancient Greeks
> were also quite favourable toward pedofilia.
>
> I find this quite shocking. My friend couldn't remember
> where he read this so does anyone out there know
> where I could find such references (assuming my friend
> recalled this correctly).
>
> ZAE hEMERA EX hEMERAS KAI PLOUTE
>
> cheers,
> Andrew
>
You'll find these sentiments expressed (though the idea about women not
having minds seems to be an implicit assumption) in Plato's
Symposium. And I think I'm right in saying that this is also the
tenor of the Phaedrus - though it's been a long while since I read the work.
In any case it certainly gives credence to the idea that Paul was ahead
of his time: since women are to him full moral agents (why else does
he address, let alone counsel them, as he does, to choose to subordinate
themselves to their husbands?).
Jeffrey Gibson
jgibson@acfsysv.roosevelt.edu