Christopher Star - Böcker

A grimly entertaining anthology of ancient Greek and Roman writings about how to fearlessly prepare for the end of the world and other disastersA remarkable percentage of people believe we are living in the end times, according to pollsters. Between the climate crisis, nuclear weapons, AI, and other existential threats, it’s easy to see why. How should we think about the apocalypse? How can we mentally prepare for doomsday and other disasters? This anthology presents ancient Greek and Roman writings about the end of the world—from the poet Hesiod and his prediction that Zeus will destroy humanity to philosophers such as Plato, Lucretius, Seneca, and Epictetus, who viewed the end of the world as an inevitable and regular process of nature and the cosmos. These writers—the original doomscrollers—show how thinking about the annihilation of civilization or the planet can be instructive and healthy, and they seek to teach readers how to face catastrophe without fear.Featuring fresh new translations and an introduction, as well as the original Greek and Latin texts on facing pages, this collection presents stories and ideas that are both familiar and unfamiliar. Here, Plato invents the tale of Atlantis to illustrate the idea that civilization is periodically wiped out by natural disasters, the Epicureans envision total planetary destruction in a universe guided by natural laws, the Stoics theorize that the cosmos is repeatedly consumed by its “creative fire” and then reborn, and much more.Along the way, we discover the ancient roots of modern doomsday prepping and postapocalyptic fiction. But most of all, we learn how thinking about the end of the world can be oddly reassuring and improve how we live today.

In "The Empire of the Self", Christopher Star studies the question of how political reality affects the concepts of body, soul, and self. Star argues that during the early Roman Empire the establishment of autocracy and the development of a universal ideal of individual autonomy were mutually enhancing phenomena. The Stoic ideal of individual empire or complete self-command is a major theme of Seneca's philosophical works. The problematic consequences of this ideal are explored in Seneca's dramatic and satirical works, as well as in the novel of his contemporary, Petronius. Star examines the rhetorical links between these diverse texts. He also demonstrates a significant point of contact between two writers generally thought to be antagonists - the idea that imperial speech structures reveal the self.

How did the ancient Greeks and Romans envision the end of the world?What is the long-term future of the human race? Will the world always remain as it is or will it undergo a catastrophic change? What role do the gods, human morality, and the forces of nature play in bringing about the end of the world? In Apocalypse and Golden Age, Christopher Star reveals the answers that Greek and Roman authors gave to these questions. The first large-scale investigation of the various scenarios for the end of the world in classical texts, this book demonstrates that key thinkers often viewed their world as shaped by catastrophe. Star focuses on how this theme was explored over the centuries in the works of poets, such as Hesiod, Vergil, Ovid, and Lucan, and by philosophers, including the Presocratics, Plato, Epicurus, Lucretius, Cicero, and Seneca. With possibilities ranging from periodic terrestrial catastrophes to the total dissolution of the world, these scenarios address the ultimate limits that define human life and institutions, and place humanity in the long perspective of cosmic and natural history. These texts also explore various options for the rebirth of society after world catastrophe, such as a return of the Golden Age or the redevelopment of culture and political institutions. Greek and Roman visions of the end, Star argues, are not calls to renounce this world and prepare for a future kingdom. Rather, they are set within larger investigations that examine and seek to improve personal and political life in the present. Contextualizing classical thought about the apocalypse with biblical studies, Star shows that the seeds of our contemporary anxieties about globalization, politics, and technology were sown during the Roman period. Even the prevalent link between an earthly leader and the beginning of the end times can be traced back to Greek and Roman rulers, the emperor Nero in particular. Apocalypse and Golden Age enriches our understanding of apocalyptic thought.