An issue which plainly exercised the thoughts of many intellectuals in the late antique world was that of man's relation to the gods, and specifically the problems of the mode of interaction between the human and divine planes of existence. Once one accepted, as anyone with any philosophical training did, that God, or the gods, were not subject to passions, and that, as not only Stoics but also Platonists, at least after the time of Plotinus, believed, the world-order was (either (...) entirely or very largely) determined as a product of God's providence, it became a serious problem as to how precisely one could influence the gods, or the course of events, by one's prayers or sacrifices. And yet efforts to do this, on both the popular and the official level, continued unabated. What was the proper attitude for a Platonist philosopher to take up? This is very much the subject of the well-known controversy between Plotinus' pupil Porphyry and his own pupil Iamblichus which manifests itself in the exchange of public letters known as The Letter to Anebo and The Reply of the Master Abammon to the Letter of Porphyry to Anebo (popularly known, since Marsilio Ficino conferred this title upon it, as De Mysteriis Aegyptiorum). The present article involves a close and sympathetic study of Iamblichus' position in defence of theurgy, reflecting on the validity of the distinction between religion and magic. (shrink)

The origin of the Neoplatonist doctrine of the henads has been imputed to Iamblichus, mostly on indirect evidence found in later Neoplatonists, chiefly Proclus. Is there any trace of this concept to be found in the extant works or fragments of Iamblichus himself? The best candidates among his surviving texts are the excerpts in Psellus of his volume on Theological Arithmetic from his Pythagorean series, and the first book of de Mysteriis , where Iamblichus answers Porphyry's questions (...) on the nature of the gods. Such evidence as can be found there would most likely deal with the divine henads, given the subject matter of the text. Certain repeated items of vocabulary appear as technical usages that form the basis for arguing that Iamblichus already has in mind if not the explicit concept henad at least its functional equivalent: the term monoeides occurring in both the Psellan excerpts and de Mysteriis, and in the latter, mostly in Book I, the stated attributes of a high, divine principle uniting the gods which are also designated by Proclus as typical of the divine henads, particularly in the propositions of the Elements of Theology defining the henads. Iamblichus in Book I also ascribes to the gods the same role in the process of ellampsis as Proclus does for the divine henads. A theory is also advanced concerning the possible development of the concept of the henad by Iamblichus, based in part on the polemical nature of de Mysteriis and his relationship to Porphyry. (shrink)

_Theurgy and the Soul_ is a study of Iamblichus of Syria, whose teachings set the final form of pagan spirituality prior to the Christianization of the Roman Empire. Gregory Shaw focuses on the theory and practice of theurgy, the most controversial and significant aspect of Iamblichus's Platonism. Theurgy literally means "divine action." Unlike previous Platonists who stressed the elevated status of the human soul, Iamblichus taught that the soul descended completely into the body and thereby required the (...) performance of theurgic rites—revealed by the gods—to unite the soul with the One. Iamblichus was once considered one of the great philosophers whose views on the soul and the importance of ritual profoundly influenced subsequent Platonists such as Proclus and Damascius. The Emperor Julian followed Iamblichus's teachings to guide the restoration of traditional pagan cults in his campaign against Christianity. Although Julian was unsuccessful, Iamblichus's ideas persisted well into the Middle Ages and beyond. His vision of a hierarchical cosmos united by divine ritual became the dominant world view for the entire medieval world and played an important role in the Renaissance Platonism of Marsilio Ficino. Even Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote that he expected a reading of Iamblichus to cause a "revival in the churches." But modern scholars have dismissed him, seeing theurgy as ritual magic or "manipulation of the gods." Shaw, however, shows that theurgy was a subtle and intellectually sophisticated attempt to apply Platonic and Pythagorean teachings to the full expression of human existence in the material world. (shrink)

This article explores Marsilio Ficino's interpretation of Plotinus's notion of tutelary daemon, as found in Enneads III.4. While Plotinus considered external daemons as philosophically insignificant and described one's personal daemon as the highest part of one's soul, Ficino placed great emphasis on the existence of outer daemonic entities which continuously interact with human beings. As a consequence, for Plotinus the soul's tutelary daemon corresponded to man's capability for intellectual knowledge, that is, to his ability to become emancipated from the (...) material world, which, from a Platonic point of view, was made of appearances. Ficino, by contrast, tends to identify the soul's daemonic power with the faculty which he saw as the gateway for the action of external entities: the imagination. The imagination – like a mirror – reflects and retains images of other levels of life and acts as the surface on which external daemons project the forms of their own imagining. Ficino provides a complex account of the relationships between the soul and various layers of daemonic interventions, in which he combines Plotinus's view on personal daemons with elements coming from later forms of daemonology, such as that of Porphyry, Iamblichus, Synesius and Proclus. (shrink)

Pythagoric life accompanied by fragments of the ethical writings of certain Pythagoreans in the Doric dialect and a collection of Pythagoric sentences from Stobaeus and others.

"The epistle of Porphyry to the Egyptian Anebo": p. [1]-16.

The problems that taxed the minds of people during the Renaissance were much the same as those confronting us today. In their perplexity many deep-thinking people sought the advice of Marsilio Ficino, the leader of the Platonic Academy in Florence, and through his letters he advised them, encouraged them, and sometimes reproved them. Ficino was utterly fearless in expressing what he knew to be true. His letters cover the widest range of topics, mixing philosophy and humor, compassion and advice, (...) and offering a profound glimpse into the soul of the Renaissance. This is the only accessible collection of Ficino's writings available in English. (shrink)

This volume contains Ficino’s extended analysis and commentary on the Phaedrus, which he explicates as a meditation on “beauty in all its forms” and a ...

Apres avoir ecrit Vivre selon Pythagore", Jamblique compose peu apres, vers la fin du Ille siecle de notre ere, un Protreptique, c'est-a-dire une exhortation a la philosophie, dont on trouve ici la premiere traduction integrale en francais. Cette initiation a l'acte de philosopher s'acheve au terme d'une ascension progressive figuree par une echelle, par un expose de la symbolique pythagoricienne. Jamblique avait eu, avec des visees differentes, d'illustres devanciers qu'il cite volontiers, comme Platon et Aristote (dont le Protreptique peut etre (...) reconstitue a l'aide des citations qu'en fait Jamblique ). L'exegese que propose Jamblique des Vers d'Or et des sentences pythagoriciennes a fait de son Protreptique une source de toute premiere importance pour qui desire connaitre et comprendre le pythagorisme. (shrink)

v. 1. Books I-IV. -- v. 2. Books V-VIII -- v. 3. Books IX-XI -- v. 4. Books XII-XIV -- v. 5. Books XV-XVI -- v. 6. Books XVII-XVIII.

On the text and translation of the De mysteriis -- Iamblichus the man -- The De mysteriis : a defence of theurgy, and an answer to Porphyry's letter to Anebo -- Iamblichus's knowledge of Egyptian religion and mythology -- The nature and contents of De mysteriis -- Iamblichus, De mysteriis : text and translation.

Iamblichus is the only Platonist philosopher whose philosophical letters have survived from the ancient world. These nineteen letters, which are translated into English here for the first time, address such topics as providence, fate, concord, marriage, bringing up children, ingratitude, music, and the cardinal virtues, with some letters addressed to students and others to prominent members of Syrian society and the imperial administration. The letters reflect the concerns of popular moral philosophy and illustrate the more public aspects of (...) class='Hi'>Iamblichus s philosophy. This volume provides a useful complement to Iamblichus: On the Mysteries, and On the Pythagorean Way of Life, both published by the Society of Biblical Literature, and will be of interest to students of late antiquity, of Neoplatonic philosophy, and of early Christianity. (shrink)

Rare work by a fourth-century philosopher is also an introduction to the study of Plato.

The problems which troubled people's minds during the Italian Renaissance were much the same as today. In trying to cope with them, many deep thinking people turned to Marsilio Ficino for help. Through his letters he advised, encouraged, and occasionally reproved them. Fearlessly he expressed the truth and his wisdom influenced many of the finest Western minds. He numbered statesmen, popes, artists, scientists, and philosophers amongst his circle.

Depuis la Renaissance, ce texte a influence profondement la tradition spirituelle neoplatonicienne et l'esoterisme occidental, ainsi que la symbolique maconnique. Beaucoup y ont trouve la revelation de ce qui est habituellement cache aux hommes. Fondee sur le texte grec le plus sur, collationne sur les manuscrits anciens, notre traduction a ete soigneusement revue pour etre a la fois d'une totale exactitude et accessible au lecteur contemporain.

English summary: This critically edited and translated (French) text sheds light on the debate over unity with the divine in the Greek world of the third and fourth centuries, and contributes to a better understanding of Iamblicus, one of the most important philosophers of late Antiquity. French description: L'ecrit de Jamblique connu aujourd'hui sous le titre De mysteriis est l'un des rares traites consacre a lhistoire de la religion grecque a lepoque de lEmpire (IIIe-IVe siecle). Il aborde trois questions majeures (...) : la classification des divinites, la divination et la theurgie (methode pour sunir a la divinite). Loccasion de ce traite lui a ete fourni par Porphyre, le disciple de Plotin, qui, fidele a son maitre, voulait que lunion a dieu sobtienne par un eveil de lame et la meditation portee a son point le plus eleve. Jamblique de son cote enseignait la theurgie, cest-a-dire une methode pour selever jusqua la divinite par les symboles sacres semes dans le monde par le demiurge, dans lesquels on pouvait trouver la presence de dieu. Porphyre ecrivit a Jamblique une lettre, intitulee Lettre a Anebon, pour soutenir le point de vue plotinien, et Jamblique lui a repondu dans cette Reponse a Porphyre (De mysteriis) dans laquelle il refute les arguments de Porphyre. Pour exposer son point de vue dune maniere acceptable pour Jamblique, Porphyre avait imagine la fiction egyptienne et creant de toutes pieces le nom d Anebon et Jamblique lui a repondu sous le pseudonyme de Maitre Abamon. Si bien que lon doit considerer cet echange de lettres comme un dialogue entre les deux plus grands philosophes de cette epoque, Porphyre et Jamblique. Jamblique qui est actuellement moins bien connu que Porphyre, a ete de son temps un philosophe dune importance capitale puisquil a inspire la derniere ecole philosophique grecque, celle de Proclus et de Damascius, qui ont enseigne a Athenes au Ve et VIe siecles. La publication de ce traite de Jamblique (lun des rares conserves de cet auteur) sera une contribution bienvenue afin de mieux connaitre ce personnage et son importance dans lhistoire de la philosophie grecque. (shrink)

»De amore sive in convivium Platonis«, dessen Wirkungsgeschichte bis weit ins 17. Jahrhundert reicht, ist Nachdichtung und Platon-Kommentar in einem und eines der bedeutendsten philosophischen Werke der Renaissance. - Bei einem Bankett vorgeblich anlässlich von Platons Geburtstag stellen neun Gäste, allesamt bekannte Florentiner Gelehrte, ihre Auffassungen über die Liebe in wechselnden Reden vor, indem sie Platons »Symposion« in zeitgenössischer Neuakzentuierung paraphrasieren. Dabei wird die Lehre von amor / caritas zum spekulativen Ansatzpunkt für Erkenntnislehre, Theologie, Kosmologie, Ethik und Naturphilosophie. In das (...) Grundkonzept des »Symposion« trägt Ficino als neues Element die Konvergenz des Platonismus mit dem Christentum ein, wobei er den ›Eros‹ einerseits neuplatonisch in sinnliche und himmlische Liebe differenziert, andererseits den Liebesbegriff christlich dynamisiert und erweitert. Nicht nur, wie bei Platon, bewirkt der ›Eros‹ das Streben des Sinnlichen zum Höheren, auch umgekehrt richtet sich das erotische Bestreben des Göttlichen auf das Materielle. Und schließlich ist die Liebe das Moment, das alle Dualismen, Form und Materie, Gott und Universum, zusammenhält: Der Eros wird zur Chiffre des Hervorgangs und der Rückwendung alles Seienden in Relation zu Gott – eine Relation, deren irdisches Abbild die irdische Liebe ist. Ficinos Metaphysik, die für die Philosophie der Renaissance von fundamentaler Bedeutung ist, enthält gleichzeitig auch eine für die Geschichte der Ästhetik bedeutsame Theorie des Schönen: Liebe wird als Sehnsucht nach dem Schönen verstanden, der Mensch gelangt über die Schau der körperlichen Schönheit zur geistigen Schönheit und letztlich zur Erkenntnis der Ordnung der Ideen und des Universums. Ficinos neuplatonische »Ästhetik« ist weit entfernt von subjektivistischer Kunsttheorie, enthält aber bereits Ansätze zu einer Theorie des menschlichen Liebens und Wahrnehmens. (shrink)

Un circolo lucreziano -- Furor et voluptas -- Dio, anima, natura -- Virtú e fortuna -- Platonismo e repubblicanesimo -- Pietas et sapientia -- Poeti platonici -- De miseria hominis -- Misteri d'amore -- Del bello, o della grazia -- Immortalità e resurrezione -- Anima mundi -- Il mondo delle immagini -- Sui demoni -- Fatalia -- Medicina del corpo, medicina dell'anima -- Sul male -- Profezia -- Preghiera e sacrificio -- De Trinitate -- Lode al sole.

-- volume 4. Ennead III, Part 1 (Books I-IV) -- volume 5. Ennead III, part 2 (Books V-IX) and Ennead IV.