Fate in Ancient Greek Philosophy and Religion

Dear Colleagues,

The Greek word heimarmene, translated in Latin as fatum and in English as ‘fate’ (sometimes also as ‘destiny’), refers to one of the doctrinal elements in which Greek religion intersects with philosophy. It is a challenge for philosophical reasons to study the interweaving of the alleged causality of fate with that of other causes. Reflection on fate also raises philosophical questions about contingent futures, freedom of the will, determinism, divine foreknowledge and providence, etc. Moreover, this theme is related to countless human situations that are common in Greek epics and tragedies (and, insofar, it was inspired by the occidental literature as a whole): unexpected happiness, mortal incapacity to resist misfortune, divination, man’s relationship with the divine, etc. Since the topics of free will and determinism, divine foreknowledge, and so on are very present in contemporary philosophy of religion, it is particularly interesting to explore how these matters were addressed by Greek philosophers and even by other Greek authors, who are not usually considered philosophers. Late antique Greek thought revisits the theme of fate and divine providence within the framework of Christian religion, in close dialogue with “pagan” Greek philosophy. These interchanges also represent a valuable contribution to the metaphysics of fate.

We are pleased to invite you to participate in this Special Issue of Religions on fate. Here, we would like to bring together articles on this question from an interdisciplinary perspective, but with a particular focus on ancient Greek philosophy and religion. When referring to ancient Greek thought, we are including late antique and Christian thought.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but not limited to) the following: fate in ancient Greek epic and tragedy, the Stoic interpretation of the religious idea of fate, the connection of fate with traditional Greek religion and other religious movements, the understanding of fate in the different Hellenistic philosophical schools, the philosophical criticism of Stoic fate or its reformulation, the relationship between fate and providence, questions connected with the relationship between determinism and free will in ancient Greek thought, ancient Christian approaches to the notion of fate, its criticism or its integration, etc.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. David Torrijos-Castrillejo
Prof. Dr. Jorge Luis Gutiérrez
Guest Editors

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• fate
• providence
• foreknowledge
• determinism
• free will
• divination
• fortune
• causality
• contingent future
• necessity