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:
“Silent rushes the swift Lord
Through ruined systems still restored,
Broadsowing, bleak and void to bless,
Plants with worlds the wilderness;
Waters with tears of ancient sorrow
Apples of Eden ripe to-morrow.
House and tenant go to ground,
Lost in God, in Godhead found.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“We Irish, born into that ancient sect
But thrown upon this filthy modern tide
And by its formless spawning fury wrecked,
Climb to our proper dark, that we may trace
The lineaments of a plummet-measured face.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“When I was young, beautiful ancient statues were castrated, so that the eye might not be corrupted.... Nothing was gained, unless horses and asses had also been castrated.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)