"Know thyself" in Greek and Latin literature
Does the meaning of know yourself is the same meaning that the ancients meant by using this term?
we read these days the word" know yourself " everywhere, what is the real meaning of Knowing yourself.
The Delphic maxim ''Know Thyself" has occurred so frequently in the literature of every age from the fifth century B. C, down to our own day that it may seem at first thought too well-worn a theme for fresh discussion.
But modern use of it, whether in the title of a book or a play or in the incidental pointing of a moral in some literary work, takes little account, as a rule, of its ancient connotation; and no systematic attempt has been made hitherto to discover its meanings for the Greeks themselves. It has been the aim of this study to determine the sense in which the Ancients interpreted the maxim, by collecting the instances of its actual or implied presence in the extant writings of the Greeks and Romans down to about 500 A. D.
It is possible that in covering so extensive a field some more or less important passages may have been overlooked, but they would probably not affect the categories indicated. It is with sincere gratitude that I here acknowledge my indebtedness to Professor Paul Shorey of the University of Chicago for the subject of this investigation, and for many an illuminating suggestion during the progress of the work.
We are not only in doubt concerning the original authorship of the sayings, but we do not know how early they appeared at Delphi. They must have been on the temple built toward the end of the 6th, or early in the 5th, century to replace the old stone structure destroyed by fire in 548 B.
the book details :Author: Eliza Gregory Wilkins
Publication date:1917
Company: Menasha, Wis., George Banta publishing company
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the book details :
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