Thémis jako kategoria graniczna

Abstract

Thémis as a Liminal Category

Thémis is a concept deeply rooted in the culture of ancient Greece. As a category delineating the limits of “what’s right” as well as a personification of this very concept in Themis, the Titaness ruling the sphere of eternal order, justice, laws and mores in the Greek religion, thémis in ancient Greece was the ultimate boundary of the social reality. Situated on the crossroads between two spheres: the sacrum and the profane, this concept also served as the foundation of an impassable axio‑normative barrier between that which is human and which is other‑than‑human: either god‑like or beast‑like. Thémis as a philosophical and axio‑normative notion still remains a valid scientific category, which can be successfully used in the explication and analysis of the processes of emergence and transformation of contemporary social and individual boundaries. The examination of the socio‑cultural aspects of thémis facilitates the analysis of the communal factors influencing the individual world‑views, as well as those forming the limits and content of the prevailing ethics.