Experiencing the Divine in Plato

Abstract

As is often the case with ancient thinkers, we are not well informed on Plato’s thoughts about the direct experience of god, the gods, or of the divine in general. This is mainly due to the fact that ancient pagan religion did not focus too much on the interior experience of the divine, but placed an almost exclusive emphasis on the outer deeds of worship and cult. This does not amount to saying that there was no inner experience involved – as indeed there were personal contacts between humans and gods (through dreams, tokens, oracles etc.). Moreover, some cults, like the Eleusinian Mysteries, did require a certain spiritual engagement on the part of the religious person.