A favorite subject of the Greeks was philosophy.
According to Eschenburg, the word originally referred to
According to Eschenburg, the word originally referred to
- all inquiries about the nature of the Deity[ies],
- the origin and destiny of men, and
- the phenomena and powers of the physical world.
Says Eschenburg:
It was a special effort of Socrates to direct the investigations of philosophy to the various subjects of morals and religion, to questions of private and public virtue and right...
[N]otice an important distinction made among the philosophers, between their exoteric and esoteric doctrines...The exoteric comprehended only the principles and precepts, which they taught publicly to all their hearers and to the people: the esoteric included also their secret views and maxims..., which were disclosed only to their particular disciples and adepts, and upon which in public, both orally and in their writings, they expressed themselves obscurely in enigmatic and figurative language.
 
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