Ancient attitude to the experience of being: from myth to logos

Abstract

The article investigates the phenomenon of existential experience as the foundation of ancient philosophical traditions and as a key source for the formation of classical conceptions of Being. The author argues that the collapse of archaic communal worldviews in ancient societies led to the emergence of individual seekers of wisdom who, drawing from shamanic and mystery practices, developed psychotechnical methods to attain inner liberation and insight into Being. Through figures such as Pythagoras, Empedocles, and Parmenides, the text traces how experiential contact with the sacred gradually evolved into discursive and conceptual reflection, giving rise to philosophical discourse itself. Particular attention is given to Parmenides’ Poem on Nature, which exemplifies the transformation of mystical experience into rational argumentation and the birth of ontology. The study emphasizes that despite the plurality of ancient doctrines, their common experiential core – the intuition of Being as an all-encompassing Absolute – remains decisive. The interaction between numinous experience and rational discourse created a synergistic paradigm in which the Absolute became simultaneously an object of inner revelation and logical necessity. This synthesis allowed ancient thinkers to overcome existential anxiety and to comprehend the unity and eternity of Being. However, the accessibility of such experience was limited to a spiritual elite, which ultimately provoked a broader cultural demand for new, more inclusive forms of religious experience that culminated in the rise of monotheistic traditions.