Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret: theorizing approaches to nature in antiquity, ca. 800 BCE 450 CE

Ancient thinkers reflected on nature and engaged with their abstractions in accordance with many different conceptual frameworks. These frameworks were numerous and diverse, characterized by varying interpretations of nature. Hebrews, Greeks, Romans, and early Christians each adopted approaches to nature; these approaches, conceptual and abstract, were in some ways similar, but also distinct. By analyzing the relevant primary sources, this thesis will investigate the similarities, differences, and interplay between these ancient theoretical frameworks. This thesis will investigate philosophical, theological, historical, ecological, and cultural perspectives on nature. An analysis of these ideas, being aware of their historical contexts, will allow us to better understand the inception and evolution of these early conceptions of nature. This thesis explores the ecological imaginations of ancient authors and Biblical texts, considering their conceptualizations of nature, its relationship to the divine, and humanity’s role within the natural world. This comparative study will further illustrate how ancient peoples understood their world, their gods, and their place in the cosmos, offering insights into the development of ecological and philosophical thought. I will examine texts from Homer, Hesiod, the Old Testament, The Greek pastoral poets, Lucretius, Virgil, Ovid, Paul, the New Testament, and Augustine; I aim to identify patterns in nature’s personification, its governance by divine forces, and its depiction as an autonomous system. Understanding these conceptions allows us to see continuities and divergences between different cultural and religious systems. These distinctions shaped moral and theological outlooks. Analyzing these primary sources together will allow me to diachronically analyze the evolution of natural theory in a period of 1,250 years between 800 BCE and 450 CE. This time frame spans the transition from the classical Greek and Roman traditions to the early Christian period. My analysis situates these works in their respective historical and cultural contexts, tracing different views on nature, Gods, and humanity, which have evolved through time.