The decline of Sophia and a misleading gloss in plotinus, enn. II.9 [33].10.25

Classical Quarterly 66 (1):413-417 (2016)
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Abstract

In two chapters of Enn. II.9 [33], Plotinus discusses the Gnostic idea that the creation of the world is due to the ‘decline’ of a principle that he variously calls Soul or Sophia. The identity of Plotinus' Gnostics is notoriously difficult to establish with any degree of precision; I can only note here that the idea of Sophia's ‘decline’ features in a number of extant Gnostic texts, such as those from Nag Hammadi and the Berlin Codex, as a recent survey of the evidence by Poirier has demonstrated.

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Eine neue Schrift Plotins.Richard Harder - 1936 - Hermes 71 (1):1-10.
À propos de la νεῦσις dans les textes de Nag Hammadi.Paul-Hubert Poirier - 2012 - Laval Théologique et Philosophique 68 (3):619-626.

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