Ideas and Ideals

The authors present the main statements of the original Mongolian religious and philosophical doctrine – Аrga bilig, which means the unity of two opposites. This doctrine is considered as the culture constant. The authors analyse the Mongolian fine-art works on the basis of Arga bilig. The article substantiates the hypothesis of the universal character of the doctrine for the world view of Mongolians. The analysis and interpretations are made on the basis of works of art.

The paper analyses how the set of images and events in the poem “Dionysiaca” by Nonnus of Panopolis reflects the ancient notion of time. The immortal gods of Olympus abide in eternity; however they have to reckon with the earth time and the order of things. Nevertheless, the time of the gods and the time of human beings are represented by different gods: Chronos and Aion, respectively. The original ancient gods, Phanes, Chaos, Chronos, can claim to be fully independent of the time of the mortal, and they abide in a sort of “timelessness” rather than eternity. Thus, there are three positions in relation to time: timelessness – complete independence from time of ancient gods, immortality, and eternity. At the same time, there is Olympic gods’ involvement in the earth time and complete subordination to the laws of the earth time on the part of the mortal. Dionysus is characterized by a spiral pattern of time. Zagreus, Dionysus, Iovakh are both a single whole and different. They are the past, the present and the future. Events in their lives are repeated, but not precisely. The above corresponds to the Platonic interpretation of time, and substantial similarity can be noticed.

The article analyses the text of the mystical «Revelations» of st. Birgitta and references to her “Revelations” in diplomatic correspondence during Hundred Years' War. In this text she calls on those warring parties for laying their arms down in the name of Jesus. The focus is on the argument in favor of the authenticity of the divine origin of the "Revelations" contained inside the text, and in external comments. These techniques of persuasion, as addressed to the recipient of the message, attempt to use conventional conceptions of established law. Based on a detailed analysis of how they were used, as well as how and why they were successful, we can reconstruct the role of religious elements in the legal and political relations of this era.