Nov 10, 2023 14:04
6 mos ago
31 viewers *
Spanish term

eterización

Spanish to English Art/Literary Religion Roman religion
Used in the following sentence:
"Además la introducción de nuevos cultos y la eterización de las creencias religiosas, fuertamente influidas por la filosofia helenística ponían en juego a la religión de ritos."

I interpret it to be talking about a gradual decrease in orthodoxy in the older 'folk' (i.e. more animistic) religious practices in favour of orthopraxy in the 'newer' cults but it seems a strange verb to use. Is this a recognised verb use, 'putting to sleep' ideas to allow others to come to the fore?

Discussion

philgoddard Nov 13, 2023:
Don't hold your breath for any points. Andy is apparently not satisfied with any of our answers, and posted the question again.

Proposed translations

+1
1 hr
Selected

stagnation

Key point here, the meaning of “eterización”. Yes, I agree with your interpretation, in my view the correct approach to the excerpt you have posted. “Eterización” is being used in this context with the meaning of “decline”, “weakening”, “decay” or, if you prefer, a process leading to a stagnation of traditional religious practices (that happened around the first century before Christ). “Stagnation” is the choice I like the most to reproduce the meaning of “eterización”.
It is imperative to analyze this term in the context you have provided, i.e. Roman religion changes in this time frame, first century B.C., but even doing it so, the term “eterización” seems extremely rare in Spanish. In other words, I cannot say why the author is using this, admittedly, very weird noun in this particular context, a noun derived from the verb “eterizar”, which is a verb basically used in the medical field with the meaning of “anesthetise” or “numb”. It is truly a very, very odd usage.
The German scholar Georg Wissowa (1859–1931) devoted a great deal of his time to studying Roman religion and is the author mentioned in the quote below. According to him, the new philosophical currents that came from Greece and the cults and myths of the same origin were the first reason for this decline or stagnation (“eterización”) of “traditional” religion in Rome.
So let´s examine this quote (it is very long, sorry, but necessary to understand the context and the possible meaning of “eterización” within):

https://www.pucesi.edu.ec/webs2/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/L...
LA ROMA DEL ENIGMÁTICO CONSTANTINO FRENTE AL INCIPIENTE CRISTIANISMO
(…)
Desde esta visión, dentro de la historia de Roma, el siglo I a. C. es uno de los que más ha centrado la atención de los historiadores, el momento de mayor influencia de la historiografía alemana, marcada por los estudios de Mommsen, será a principios del siglo XX, extendiéndose también al período de entreguerras. Sin duda, la obra de mayor relevancia dedicada a la religión romana es la de Wissowa (1912). Este autor asentará en los estudios sobre religión romana, especialmente en lo que al siglo I a. C. se refiere, los conceptos de manipulación y decadencia. Wissowa concibe la religión en época tardo republicana como mero elemento de manipulación política, un aspecto subyugado a los intereses de las diferentes facciones que luchan por hacerse con el control de las instituciones. Partiendo de los fragmentos conservados de las Antiquitates rerum divinarum de Varrón (a través de Agustín de Hipona, principalmente), la idea de decadencia aparece ligada al olvido de antiguos cultos, a la falta de continuidad en el culto a determinadas divinidades y a la «politización» de los colegios sacerdotales. Asimismo, subraya Aldea-Celada (2012), que el alemán señala como causantes de la decadencia a las nuevas corrientes filosóficas traídas de Grecia y a los cultos y mitos de la misma procedencia. La consecuencia será la negligencia en el mantenimiento de los cultos y sus rituales asociados, provocando que la religión pública republicana que conocemos para el siglo III a. C. desaparezca y sea sustituida por la religión reformada de Augusto que, si bien es cierto que se revestirá de un teórico carácter restaurador de la tradición, el resultado será una religión nueva con el emperador como eje fundamental.
La Roma de fines de la República, declina de la costumbre religiosa que consistía en la férrea defensa del culto a los antepasados, como vértebra de su religiosidad privada -sacra privata-. Aunado a esto, la introducción paulatina de nuevos cultos y la ETERIZACIÓN de las creencias religiosas, fuertemente influidas por la filosofía helenística ponían en juego a la religión de ritos. En este nuevo escenario, el culto a divinidades familiares y agrarias se veían muy afectadas y para Cicerón, el gran orador de Roma, este inusual contexto era motivo para levantar la voz de alarma. Dumézil (2007) recurre a los planteamientos asentados en la historiografía e introduce elementos de corte antropológico y, sobre todo, de filología y mitologías indoeuropeas, así hace referencia a este período “como época de decadencia, aunque habla de una decadencia que favoreció el surgimiento de una nueva religión de mano del emperador Augusto (p. 451).

Finally, and insisting on it again, I cannot give a final answer why the author has opted for the term “eterización”, I admit again it is a very rare choice, but the meaning seems to go in the direction I have explained.
Peer comment(s):

agree neilmac : I like this option:-)
4 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks. I'm a specialist in pre-Christian religion so was aware of the background to the question but was concerned on their choice of phrasing. It's good to see that others are equally baffled."
44 mins

eternización = eternalisation

Note from asker:
Phil - No, it's not a typo. Roman religion moved from animism and orthodoxy to ritual and orthopraxy. The author is talking about the decrease of religious belief and the corresponding increase in religious observance. The question related to why the author selected such odd phrasing to communicate it.
Peer comment(s):

neutral Toni Castano : Hi Phil, definitely not a typo, not in this context.
1 hr
Sorry, but I think the idea that it's a real word is far fetched. The simplest explanation is usually the most likely.
neutral Robert Carter : Okay, applying your Occam's razor, if "eterizar" exists (https://dle.rae.es/eterizar) I see no reason to doubt that "eterización" might be a "real word". Also, a CR of 5?
4 days
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+2
1 hr

loss of substance

The made-up term "eterización" derives from "éter/etéreo" (ether/ethereal) in the sense of unsubstantial.
https://www.wordreference.com/es/translation.asp?tranword=et...

I agree with your interpretation. This is the idea.

"... and the loss of substance of religious beliefs strongly influenced by Hellenistic philosphy challenged ritualistic religions"
Peer comment(s):

agree Toni Castano : Possible approach here. Saludos, Bea.
9 mins
Saludos de vuelta, Toni.
neutral philgoddard : Surely it's the opposite of loss of substance - religion became something eternal that transcended ritual.
15 mins
Being man-made, religions cannot become eternal. Strictly speaking, nothing can become eternal.
agree patinba : The idea is that worship was focused on more physical objects before it centered on the Hellenistic gods.
2 days 22 hrs
Yes, the new cults and Hellenistic philosophy superseded ritualism. Saludos Pat.
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22 hrs

anaesthetisation (deep-freezing)

eterización de las creencias religiosas : the anaesthetis/zing of religious creeds (beliefs)

The 'Castilian 'Spanish' is not a typo and it is simplistic and facile to suggest that it is.

Otherwise, I agree with the asker's interpretation as 'putting to sleep' used figuratively in a text that appears to intellectualise a topical religious and theological subject that would have been fit for referral to the former theological powerhouse of Heythrop College of London Uni.
Example sentence:

eth·er·ize [ˈiːθ(ə)rʌɪz] VERB HISTORICAL anaesthetize (a person or animal) with ether: "the blood samples were obtained from a pair of etherized frogs" · "I read it, feeling faintly etherized"

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2 days 5 hrs

somnolence

Since the root come from ether and has to do with anaesthetics, perhaps this might work.
Example sentence:

America is in a state of somnolence. It's an avoidance of paranoia through ignoring reality...

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