Impiety facts for kids
Impiety is when someone shows a lack of proper respect for something considered very sacred or holy. It's like not treating something with the seriousness or reverence it's expected to have.
Impiety is often connected to sacrilege, which is a physical act of disrespecting something sacred. However, impiety can also be just an attitude or a belief, not always an action. It's usually about disrespecting a larger belief system, not just a small, isolated group.
For example, in ancient times, some people who followed Paganism thought early Christians were impious. This was because Christians refused to burn incense in front of statues of the gods, which was a common way to show respect to those gods. To the Pagans, this was a serious act of disrespect.
In ancient civilizations, impiety was a big deal for the whole community, not just a religious matter. This is because religions were often closely tied to the government and the state. People believed that disrespectful actions towards sacred objects or priests could make the gods angry, which could then harm the entire city or country.
Impiety in Ancient Greece
In ancient Greece, impiety was called asebeia. It was a serious charge, and people could face severe punishments for it. It's sometimes hard to know all the exact details about these cases because the information we have comes from old stories and writings.
Many famous people in ancient Athens were accused of impiety:
- In 415 BC, several Athenian men, including a well-known leader named Alcibiades, were sentenced to death for impiety. Most of them ran away from Athens before they could be executed.
- Most famously, the philosopher Socrates was put on trial and executed in 399 BC. He was accused of impiety and of leading young people astray with his ideas.
- Another Athenian philosopher, Anaxagoras, taught that the sun and stars were actually fiery rocks, not gods. He was accused of impiety for these ideas.
- Diagoras of Melos was accused of not believing in the gods and had to leave Athens. He was charged with impiety for supposedly telling secrets about the Eleusinian mysteries, which were special religious ceremonies, to people who weren't supposed to know them.
- Even famous philosophers like Aristotle and Theophrastus might have faced accusations of impiety.
- A woman named Phryne, who was very famous, was also put on trial for impiety but was found innocent.
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