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Thoughts on Sallustius’ “On the Gods and the World”
This article appeared in He Epistole 6, Spring 2005.
Sallustius was a Neoplatonic philosopher from 4th century CE. One of his surviving writings is an ethical piece entitled “On the Gods and the World,” which he wrote for the benefit of the Emperor Julian. It is a most interesting piece that discusses mythology, cosmology, the nature and transmigration of the soul, why we worship the gods, and the problem of evil. However, it is not a long piece, and it would benefit all Hellenic polytheists to read it.[1] Here I would like to highlight just a few of the topics he discusses.
Firstly, let us look at the issue of mythology. In section three, Sallustius writes, “That the myths are divine can be seen from those who have used them. Myths have been used by inspired poets, by the best of philosophers, by those who established the mysteries, and by the Gods themselves in oracles.” He feels that it is quite obvious that myths are divine stories. He continues, “But why the myths are divine it is the duty of Philosophy to inquire.” Mythology has always been a popular subject; many authors have published books of mythology. They often discuss the symbolism found within them, compare them to similar myths from other cultures, or look for ancient rituals that seems to reenact scenes from the myth. This certainly is a legitimate approach for those in the field of mythography. However, I would doubt that most of these mythographers think of these stories as divine.
What about us, the Hellenic polytheists? If we view them as divine, then, according to Sallustius at least, it is our duty to try to understand why they are divine. The method proposed by Sallustius is philosophy. “[J]ust as the Gods have made the goods of sense common to all, but those of intellect only to the wise, so the myths state the existence of Gods to all, but who and what they are only to those who can understand.” By this he means that the myths are readily available for all to hear. In ancient Greece, all children grew up hearing these stories of the gods, and also as adults they were to be heard everywhere. In Plato’s Laws we read that as early as infancy people hear these myths in many circumstances; they are used as children’s stories, repeated at sacrifices, paraphrased in prayers, and acted out in rituals.[2] Thus, there is no question that every Greek citizen would know the stories, and know them well. However, only a few people could understand them.
Sallustius explains that myths are not to be taken literally. There are many contradictions in the myths, and accounts of the gods doing things that appear to be less-than-godlike. He asks, “But why have they put in the myths stories of adultery, robbery, father-binding, and all the other absurdity?” His answer is simple: these “absurdities” are meant to be red-flags to the wise. Such philosophically-minded people will notice these discrepancies, and will not be satisfied to simply accept them. They will inquire further into the nature of the gods, into the meaning behind the story, to uncover that which is hidden in the myths. Interestingly, a very similar point is made five centuries earlier by the author of the Derveni Papyrus regarding the Orphic literature. He said that Orpheus’ poetry “is something strange and riddling to people. But Orpheus did not intend to tell them captious riddles, but momentous things in riddles.”[3] Again, the stories (or poems and hymns, etc.) are readily available for all to hear; however, only those “pure in hearing” will be able to understand them. Mythology, then, should be used at a starting-point through which we can gain a better understanding of the gods.
In section twelve he addresses the question “Why is there evil in the world?” His argument is thus: all the gods are all good.[4] Since the gods make all things, then all things must also be good. Evil cannot come from humans’ minds, souls, or bodies, because they too, being made by the gods, are all good. It cannot come from “evil” spirits, because the spirits receive their power from the gods. Therefore, evil does not have positive existence. By “positive existence” he means that it is not a thing in-and-of-itself, but comes about due to the absence of something else, namely goodness. He gives the example of darkness; darkness has no positive existence, because it is only the absence of light.
Evil appears in the action of people, though not of all people and not all the time. These evil actions happen because the soul makes mistakes about what is good. The soul, while believing that an action is good, actually creates an outcome that is bad (evil). Sallustius gives several examples: an adulterer is thinking that his/her pleasure is good and a murderer thinks the money he is paid is good. Sallustius explains, “The soul sins therefore because, while aiming at good, it makes mistakes about the good.” The gods try to teach us what is good, through art, science, prayer, sacrifice, initiation, laws, and judgments.[5] Although Sallustius doesn’t say this, we might suspect that some people just cannot understand, just as some do not understand the hidden meaning in the myths, as we saw earlier.
The final point we shall discuss here is the transmigration of souls, which Sallustius presents in section twenty. For those unfamiliar with the phrase, “transmigration of the soul” refers to the belief that the soul, that which not only animates but directs the body, leaves the body upon death, and is “transferred” to another body as it is born (reincarnation). In later years this is also called metempsychosis. It is difficult to say if the majority of ancient Greeks believed in this theory or not. It was, however, believed by the Pythagoreans and the Orphics. Pindar, Empedocles, Herodotus, and Plato also write about the subject. Most of the mystery cults also teach some form of life after death, if not specifically reincarnation.
As a Neoplatonic philosopher, it would do us well to look at Sallustius after having considered Plato’s version of reincarnation. In the Phaedo he argues that the soul existed before one’s birth because the soul “recollects” concepts such as Beauty or Justice upon seeing instances of them in the physical world. Also in Book 10 of Laws he explains that the good soul receives a better body in its next incarnation; a bad soul receives a worse one.
Sallustius gives two reasons to prove that souls reincarnate. The first, which he assumes to be self-evident, is that souls must reincarnate due to the fact that some people are born with disabilities, such as blindness, for example. His second argument is the more compelling, in terms of logic. He explains that if souls did not reincarnate, then there either must be an infinite number of souls, or the gods must constantly be making new ones. Now, there cannot be an infinite number of souls existing within a finite world. As he puts it, “for in a finite whole there cannot be an infinite part.” However, if the gods are making new souls, it means that the world is unsatisfactory without these new souls. That, of course, cannot be, because whatever the gods create is by definition perfect, and nothing that is perfect has need for anything.
He is also concerned to explain how souls can animate different types of bodies. He says that if the soul is to occupy the body of a rational being, then that must the body of a person, since humans are the only rational beings with a body. If, however, the soul transmigrates to the body of an animal, it does not “inhabit” that body in the same way as it would that of a person. Instead, the soul “follows the body outside, as a guardian spirit follows a man.” This is because animals are irrational, while our souls are rational, and nothing rational can inhabit the body of an irrational being. Although it is not explicitly stated, it also follows that these guardian spirits that guide us are souls of “higher” beings with the same relationship to us as we have to animals.
As I have commented earlier, the essay by Sallustius is something I believe all Hellenic polytheists should read. I have heard some people say that they don’t like to read the philosophers because, on the whole, they reject the gods, and try to find some other reason to explain the happenings in the cosmos, for example. While that certainly is true of some of the philosophers, most notably the Presocratics, who were there “first” philosophers, the later developments in philosophy, as we can clearly see in Sallustius, did not have this same approach. I hope that what I have presented here will make you want to read more, as he gives incredible insight into many subjects that are important to us.