Ekpyrosis (; grc, ἐκπύρωσις ''ekpýrōsis'', "conflagration") is a

Stoic Stoic may refer to: * An adherent of Stoicism; one whose moral quality is associated with that school of philosophy *STOIC, a programming language * ''Stoic'' (film), a 2009 film by Uwe Boll * ''Stoic'' (mixtape), a 2012 mixtape by rapper T-Pain *' ...

belief in the periodic destruction of the

cosmos The cosmos (, ) is another name for the Universe. Using the word ''cosmos'' implies viewing the universe as a complex and orderly system or entity. The cosmos, and understandings of the reasons for its existence and significance, are studied in ...

by a great

conflagration A conflagration is a large fire. Conflagrations often damage human life, animal life, health, and/or property. A conflagration can begin accidentally, be naturally caused (wildfire), or intentionally created (arson). A very large fire can produc ...

every Great Year. The cosmos is then recreated (

palingenesis Palingenesis (; also palingenesia) is a concept of rebirth or re-creation, used in various contexts in philosophy, theology, politics, and biology. Its meaning stems from Greek , meaning 'again', and , meaning 'birth'. In biology, it is anothe ...

) only to be destroyed again at the end of the new cycle. This form of

catastrophe Catastrophe or catastrophic comes from the Greek κατά (''kata'') = down; στροφή (''strophē'') = turning ( el, καταστροφή). It may refer to: A general or specific event * Disaster, a devastating event * The Asia Minor Catastro ...

is the opposite of (κατακλυσμός, "inundation"), the destruction of the

earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

by water. The destruction of the universe was in the form of fire. The time frame of destruction was never defined or given by any of the Stoics. The fire destruction was to cleanse the universe. The cleansing of the universe was to help create a pure universe. The flames would destroy everything in the universe. Then, everything would be rebuilt in the exact same way in every detail before the fire. After so long, the process by fire would happen again and again. This cleansing of the universe is infinite.

Causes

There are three reasons that the belief was taught by the Greeks. The reasons come from the theories of

Zeno Zeno ( grc, Ζήνων) may refer to: People * Zeno (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Philosophers * Zeno of Elea (), philosopher, follower of Parmenides, known for his paradoxes * Zeno of Citium (333 – 264 BC), ...

and

Cleanthes Cleanthes (; grc-gre, Κλεάνθης; c. 330 BC – c. 230 BC), of Assos, was a Greek Stoic philosopher and boxer who was the successor to Zeno of Citium as the second head (''scholarch'') of the Stoic school in Athens. Originally a boxer, he ...

. The first cause is that the god of the universe keeps increasing in size making himself have to absorb himself when he gets too large. The second is that the

sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

and stars burn so hot and bright that they dry out the universe. With everything so dry, it causes the universe to catch fire burning everything up. Zeno states that the fire that destroys the universe will not destroy the very thing that gives itself life, which is the seas. Zeno's thought was to fix the issue caused by the theory of elemental anathymiasis. So the fire would not destroy the sea. The third is that when the planets all return to their position from when the universe was first created, it would also start the process of Ekpyrosis.

Among Stoics

The concept of Ekpyrosis is attributed to

Chrysippus Chrysippus of Soli (; grc-gre, Χρύσιππος ὁ Σολεύς, ; ) was a Greek Stoic philosopher. He was a native of Soli, Cilicia, but moved to Athens as a young man, where he became a pupil of the Stoic philosopher Cleanthes. When Clean ...

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''P ...

.M. Lapidge, "Stoic Cosmology," in ''The Stoics,'' ed. J. Rist (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978): pp. 183–184 Ekpyrosis itself however, was not a universally accepted theory by all Stoics. Other prominent stoics such as

Panaetius Panaetius (; grc-gre, Παναίτιος, Panaítios; – ) of Rhodes was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek Stoicism, Stoic philosopher. He was a pupil of Diogenes of Babylon and Antipater of Tarsus in Athens, before moving to Rome where he did m ...

Zeno of Tarsus Zeno of Tarsus ( grc-gre, Ζήνων ὁ Ταρσεύς, ''Zenon ho Tarseus''; fl. 200 BC) was a Stoic philosopher and the son of Dioscorides. Biography Zeno was a pupil of Chrysippus, and when Chrysippus died c. 206 BC, he succeeded him to b ...

Boethus of Sidon Boethus of Sidon ( grc-gre, Βόηθος, Bóēthos; – ) was a Peripatetic philosopher from Sidon, who lived towards the end of the 1st century BC. None of his work has been preserved and the complete collection of quotings and paraphrases appe ...

, and others either rejected Ekpyrosis or had differing opinions regarding its degree. Once such idea is that Ekpyrosis by some was generally viewed as a positive event that would result in a "purification" of the soul and a renewal of all that was destroyed. While another such as the Roman Poet

Lucan Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (3 November 39 AD – 30 April 65 AD), better known in English as Lucan (), was a Roman poet, born in Corduba (modern-day Córdoba), in Hispania Baetica. He is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of the Imperial ...

, depicted Ekpyrosis as just an end with no new beginning, that Ekpyrosis brought about only destruction upon the world. The extent to which Stoics discussed and disagreed regarding Ekpyrosis is largely attributed to works of

Hippolytus of Rome Hippolytus of Rome (, ; c. 170 – c. 235 AD) was one of the most important second-third century Christian theologians, whose provenance, identity and corpus remain elusive to scholars and historians. Suggested communities include Rome, Palestin ...

, found in the ''

Stoicorum Veterum Fragmenta ''Stoicorum Veterum Fragmenta'' is a collection by Hans von Arnim of fragments and testimonia of the earlier Stoics, published in 1903–1905 as part of the Bibliotheca Teubneriana. It includes the fragments and testimonia of Zeno of Citium, Chrys ...

''.

Abandonment

Ekpyrosis itself was, for the most part, a short-lived cosmological theory. With both Zeno of Tarus and Cleanthes theorizing on Ekpyrosis in the third century BC, and then Chrysippus expanding upon this soon after in the second century BC, Ekpyrosis would begin to be abandoned altogether by early Roman Stoics as early as the first and second centuries BC. A strong acceptance of

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

's theories of the universe, combined with a more practical lifestyle practiced by the Roman people, caused the later Stoics to focus their main effort on their own social well-being on earth, not on the cosmos. A prime example are the Stoic-influenced writings of the Roman Emperor

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good ...

(121–180). In his ''

Meditations ''Meditations'' () is a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor from AD 161 to 180, recording his private notes to himself and ideas on Stoic philosophy. Marcus Aurelius wrote the 12 books of the ''Meditations'' in Koine ...

'', he chooses to discuss how one should act and live their life, rather than speculate on cosmological theories.

Notes

References

* ''

''
2.605
*

Michael Lapidge Michael Lapidge, FBA (born 8 February 1942) is a scholar in the field of Medieval Latin literature, particularly that composed in Anglo-Saxon England during the period 600–1100 AD; he is an emeritus Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, a Fellow of ...

, 'Stoic Cosmology,' in: John M. Rist (ed.), ''The Stoics,'' Cambridge University Press, 1978, pp. 161–186 80–184 * J. Albert Harrill
"Stoic Physics, the Universal Conflagration, and the Eschatological Destruction of the “Ignorant and Unstable” in 2 Peter"
in: Tuomas Rasimus, Troels Engberg-Pedersen, Ismo Dunderberg (eds.)
''Stoicism in Early Christianity''
Baker Academic, 2010, p. 121. {{Stoicism Stoicism Theories in ancient Greek philosophy

Causes

Among Stoics

Abandonment

See also

Notes

References