Hellenism/ Indo-European Culture

Sophie's World Reaction: 

Even though it was a lot to take in all at once, reading "Hellenism" over break was my favorite part of the reading. This part of the reading was by far not the most exciting or mysterious of them all, but noticing all the different Hellenistic views on life, how one should live, and beliefs was really interesting. I read each religion and loved connecting each one to myself and finding views I agree with as well as views I don’t agree with.

Cynics:  I would love to follow the lifestyle of the Cynics, to live with no material connections and find “true happiness” elsewhere but that kind of lifestyle just isn’t possible for me and I’m not even sure if I want it to be possible for me. I know material possessions are unnecessary but I am much too attached to let go now or want to.  

Stoicism: I agree with following stoicism in the aspect of dealing with pain I feel that once you have come across something painful there’s no use in complaining about it, all I need to do know is find a way to get over it. I realized I apply this thought to myself but not to others. If someone else complains to me I do my utmost to help because I love helping others though I rarely ask others in return. I didn’t want to believe in fate and honestly I still don’t want to but I feel as though there is such a thing as fate but there are many different paths that lead to many different conclusions and it is very possible to change your fate.

Epicureans:  To me it’s not a bad thing to think about the future, especially when it involves yourself. I also feel it’s not “right”, to be honest, to seclude yourself from the world around you and live a life with “no worries.” Just because you may not have any problems, that doesn’t mean that others don’t. Nothing will improve if everyone simply ignored each other.  

Skepticism: When it comes to large scales or “huge” decisions I think it is important to weigh all your options. Deciding on where to live, one country compared to another makes a huge difference especially if those countries are opposites or parts of different continents. In order to guess if options really do balance each other out or if they may create other outcomes it is important to weigh them out. 

Real World Connection:

I was really surprised to notice how similar Indo-European Culture is to Buddhism and Hinduism. I never knew the Greeks and Romans had such common beliefs, morals, and ways to live by. Born into a Buddhist family, I knew a lot of things mentioned/ read about the Indo-European culture. Even after reading of the different Hellenistic lifestyles, my belief that most religions hold the same core values was supported. I believe that most religions say the same things or many of the same things only with fluff and stories that differ. This belief is the reason why I don’t follow any religion. Learning of the Indo-European culture made me believe it ever more. I realized that Buddhism and Indo-European culture are virtually the same, just the people involved and stories surrounding that person differ. An argument I used against my mom when first rebelling against religion was that when I did considered myself a Buddhist, I agreed with the morals it suggested and some parts of the lifestyle it presented but I didn’t believe in the stories that were told about the Buddha(s) and gods. Because of this, I realized the things I did take out of Buddhism was found in other religions as well such as Hinduism. Just as I had done for Buddhism I could have done towards Hinduism, I took the core values and left out all the rest and decided that if more than one religion reiterated the same beliefs, then it made no sense for me to say I belonged to solely one religion and not the other.