Ancient
The original meaning of pagan is "rural" as opposed to "urban", and only came to refer to "non-Abrahamic" as opposed to Jewish, Christian and Islam in the 6th century, and it is therefore strictly an anachronism to apply the term to earlier times, although this is sometimes done (e.g. the three pagan "worthies" of William Caxton, Hector, Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar). The list includes only individuals of the Common Era who were "pagan" in contrast to emerging Christianity.
Read more about this topic: List Of Pagans
Famous quotes containing the word ancient:
“Red Rose, proud Rose, sad Rose of all my days!
Come near me, while I sing the ancient ways:
”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“Well, love is insanity. The ancient Greeks knew that. It is the taking over of a rational and lucid mind by delusion and self-destruction. You lose yourself, you have no power over yourself, you can’t even think straight.”
—Marilyn French (b. 1929)
“Here lies a man who was killed by lightning;
He died when his prospects seemed to be brightening.
He might have cut a flash in this world of trouble,
But the flash cut him, and he lies in the stubble.”
—Anonymous. From Booth, Epigrams Ancient and Modern (1863)