Tiresias: The Ancient Mediterranean Religions Source Database

9252

Philo Of Alexandria, That God Is Unchangeable, 42-48
nan Now the outward sense, as indeed its name shows, in some degree is a kind of insertion, placing the things that are made apparent to it in the mind; for in the mind, since that is the greatest storehouse and receptacle for all things, is everything placed and treasured up which comes under the operation of the sense of seeing or hearing, or the other organs of the outward senses.
nan And imagination is an impression of figures in the soul; for the things which each of the outward senses has brought in, like a ring or a seal, on them it imprints its own character. And the mind, being like wax, having received the impression, keeps it carefully in itself until forgetfulness, the enemy of memory, has smoothed off the edges of the impression, or else has rendered it dim, or perhaps has completely effaced it.
nan And that which has been visible and has been impressed upon the soul at times affects the soul in a way consistent with itself, and at other times in a different way; and this passion to which it is subject is called appetite, which philosophers who define such things say is the first motion of the soul.
nan In such important points are animals superior to plants. Let us now see in what man is superior to the rest of the animal creation. X. Man, then, has received this one extraordinary gift, intellect, which is accustomed to comprehend the nature of all bodies and of all things at the same time; for, as in the body, the sight is the most important faculty, and since in the universe the nature of light is the most pre-eminent thing, in the same manner that part of us which is entitled to the highest rank is the mind.
nan For the mind is the sight of the soul, shining transcendently with its own rays, by which the great and dense darkness which ignorance of things sheds around is dissipated. This species of soul is not composed of the same elements as those of which the other kinds were made, but it has received a purer and more excellent essence of which the divine natures were formed; on which account the intellect naturally appears to be the only thing in us which is imperishable
nan for that is the only quality in us which the Father, who created us, thought deserving of freedom; and, unloosing the bonds of necessity, he let it go unrestrained, bestowing on it that most admirable gift and most connected with himself, the power, namely, of spontaneous will, as far as he was able to receive it; for the irrational animals, in whose soul there is not that especial gift tending to freedom, namely, mind, are put under the yoke and have bridles put in their mouths, and so are given unto men to be their slaves, as servants are given to their masters. But man, who has had bestowed on him a voluntary and self-impelling intellect, and who for the most part puts forth his energies in accordance with deliberate purpose, very properly receives blame for the offences which he designedly commits, and praise for the good actions which he intentionally performs.
nan For, in the case of other plants and other animals, we cannot call either the good that is caused by them deserving of praise, nor the evil that they do deserving of blame; for all their motions in either direction, and, all their changes, have no design about them, but are involuntary. But the soul of man, being the only one which has received from God the power of voluntary motion, and which in this respect has been made to resemble God, and being as far as possible emancipated from the authority of that grievous and severe mistress, necessity, may rightly be visited with reproach if she does not pay due honour to the being who has emancipated her. And therefore, in such a case, she will most deservedly suffer the implacable punishment denounced against slavish and ungrateful minds.

Intertexts (texts cited often on the same page as the searched text):

15 results
1. Hebrew Bible, Genesis, 2.21, 6.4-6.12, 29.31, 29.35 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE) 2.21. וַיַּפֵּל יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים תַּרְדֵּמָה עַל־הָאָדָם וַיִּישָׁן וַיִּקַּח אַחַת מִצַּלְעֹתָיו וַיִּסְגֹּר בָּשָׂר תַּחְתֶּנָּה׃ 6.4. הַנְּפִלִים הָיוּ בָאָרֶץ בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם וְגַם אַחֲרֵי־כֵן אֲשֶׁר יָבֹאוּ בְּנֵי הָאֱלֹהִים אֶל־בְּנוֹת הָאָדָם וְיָלְדוּ לָהֶם הֵמָּה הַגִּבֹּרִים אֲשֶׁר מֵעוֹלָם אַנְשֵׁי הַשֵּׁם׃ 6.5. וַיַּרְא יְהוָה כִּי רַבָּה רָעַת הָאָדָם בָּאָרֶץ וְכָל־יֵצֶר מַחְשְׁבֹת לִבּוֹ רַק רַע כָּל־הַיּוֹם׃ 6.6. וַיִּנָּחֶם יְהוָה כִּי־עָשָׂה אֶת־הָאָדָם בָּאָרֶץ וַיִּתְעַצֵּב אֶל־לִבּוֹ׃ 6.7. וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶמְחֶה אֶת־הָאָדָם אֲשֶׁר־בָּרָאתִי מֵעַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה מֵאָדָם עַד־בְּהֵמָה עַד־רֶמֶשׂ וְעַד־עוֹף הַשָּׁמָיִם כִּי נִחַמְתִּי כִּי עֲשִׂיתִם׃ 6.8. וְנֹחַ מָצָא חֵן בְּעֵינֵי יְהוָה׃ 6.9. אֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת נֹחַ נֹחַ אִישׁ צַדִּיק תָּמִים הָיָה בְּדֹרֹתָיו אֶת־הָאֱלֹהִים הִתְהַלֶּךְ־נֹחַ׃ 6.11. וַתִּשָּׁחֵת הָאָרֶץ לִפְנֵי הָאֱלֹהִים וַתִּמָּלֵא הָאָרֶץ חָמָס׃ 6.12. וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים אֶת־הָאָרֶץ וְהִנֵּה נִשְׁחָתָה כִּי־הִשְׁחִית כָּל־בָּשָׂר אֶת־דַּרְכּוֹ עַל־הָאָרֶץ׃ 29.31. וַיַּרְא יְהוָה כִּי־שְׂנוּאָה לֵאָה וַיִּפְתַּח אֶת־רַחְמָהּ וְרָחֵל עֲקָרָה׃ 29.35. וַתַּהַר עוֹד וַתֵּלֶד בֵּן וַתֹּאמֶר הַפַּעַם אוֹדֶה אֶת־יְהוָה עַל־כֵּן קָרְאָה שְׁמוֹ יְהוּדָה וַתַּעֲמֹד מִלֶּדֶת׃ 2.21. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the place with flesh instead thereof." 6.4. The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of nobles came in unto the daughters of men, and they bore children to them; the same were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown." 6.5. And the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." 6.6. And it repented the LORD that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart." 6.7. And the LORD said: ‘I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and creeping thing, and fowl of the air; for it repenteth Me that I have made them.’" 6.8. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD." 6.9. These are the generations of Noah. Noah was in his generations a man righteous and wholehearted; Noah walked with God." 6.10. And Noah begot three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth." 6.11. And the earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence." 6.12. And God saw the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth. ." 29.31. And the LORD saw that Leah was hated, and he opened her womb; but Rachel was barren." 29.35. And she conceived again, and bore a son; and she said: ‘This time will I praise the LORD.’ Therefore she called his name Judah; and she left off bearing."
2. Philo of Alexandria, On The Eternity of The World, 125 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE) 125. But we must now proceed to consider the question which we postponed till the present time. What sort of a part of the earth is that, that we may begin from this, whether it is greater or less, that is not dissolved by time? Do not the very hardest and strongest stones become hard and decayed through the weakness of their conformation (and this conformation is a sort of course of a highly strained spirit, a bond not indissoluble, but only very difficult to unloose), in consequence of which they are broken up and made fluid, so that they are dissolved first of all into a thin dust, and afterwards are wholly wasted away and destroyed? Again, if the water were never agitated by the winds, but were left immoveable for ever, would it not from inaction and tranquillity become dead? at all events it is changed by such stagnation, and becomes very foetid and foul-smelling, like an animal deprived of life.
3. Philo of Alexandria, On The Cherubim, 41 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE) 41. for since we say, that woman is to be understood symbolically as the outward sense, and since knowledge consists in alienation from the outward sense and from the body, it is plain that the lovers of wisdom must repudiate the outward sense rather than choose it, and is not this quite natural? for they who live with these men are in name indeed wives, but in fact virtues. Sarah is princess and guide, Rebecca is perseverance in what is good; Leah again is virtue, fainting and weary at the long continuance of exertion, which every foolish man declines, and avoids, and repudiates; and Zipporah, the wife of Moses, is virtue, mounting up from earth to heaven, and arriving at a just comprehension of the divine and blessed virtues which exist there, and she is called a bird. 41. For if the uncreated, and immortal, and everlasting God, who is in need of nothing and who is the maker of the universe, and the benefactor and King of kings, and God of gods, cannot endure to overlook even the meanest of human beings, but has thought even such worthy of being banqueted in sacred oracles and laws, as if he were about to give him a lovefeast, and to prepare for him alone a banquet for the refreshing and expanding of his soul instructed in the divine will and in the manner in which the great ceremonies ought to be performed, how can it be right for me, who am a mere mortal, to hold my head up high and to allow myself to be puffed up, behaving with insolence to my equals whose fortunes may, perhaps, not be equal to mine, but whose relationship to me is equal and complete, inasmuch as they are set down as the children of one mother, the common nature of all men?
4. Philo of Alexandria, On Giants, 27 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE) 27. But now, the spirit which is upon him is the wise, the divine, the indivisible, the undistributable, the good spirit, the spirit which is everywhere diffused, so as to fill the universe, which, while it benefits others, it not injured by having a participation in it given to another, and if added to something else, either as to its understanding, or its knowledge, or its wisdom. VII.
5. Philo of Alexandria, On The Migration of Abraham, 188 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE) 188. For the name Charran, being interpreted, means "a hole;" and holes are the emblems of the places of the outward sense. For in some sense they are all holes and caves, the eyes being the caves in which the sight dwells, the ears those of hearing, the nostrils of those smelling, the throat the cavern of taste, and the whole frame of the body, being the abode of touch.
6. Philo of Alexandria, On The Change of Names, 254 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE) 254. But what God promises every foolish man repudiates; therefore the sacred scriptures represent Leah as hated, and on this account it is that she received that name; for Leah, being interpreted, means "repudiating and labouring," because we all turn away from virtue and think it a laborious thing, by reason of its very often imposing commands on us which are not pleasant.
7. Philo of Alexandria, On The Creation of The World, 135, 141, 22, 41, 57, 62-63, 65-68, 97, 131 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE) 131. Then, preserving the natural order of things, and having a regard to the connection between what comes afterwards and what has gone before, he says next, "And a fountain went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the earth." For other philosophers affirm that all water is one of the four elements of which the world was composed. But Moses, who was accustomed to contemplate and comprehend matters with a more acute and far-sighted vision, considers thus: the vast sea is an element, being a fourth part of the entire universe, which the men after him denominated the ocean, while they look upon the smaller seas which we sail over in the light of harbours. And he drew a distinction between the sweet and drinkable water and that of the sea, attributing the former to the earth, and considering it a portion of the earth, rather than of the ocean, on account of the reason which I have already mentioned, that is to say, that the earth may be held together by the sweet qualities of the water as by a chain; the water acting in the manner of glue. For if the earth were left entirely dry, so that no moisture arose and penetrated through its holes rising to the surface in various directions, it would split. But now it is held together, and remains lasting, partly by the force of the wind which unites it, and partly because the moisture does not allow it to become dry, and so to be broken up into larger and smaller fragments.
8. Philo of Alexandria, On Planting, 18 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE)
9. Philo of Alexandria, On Dreams, 1.138 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE) 1.138. Now of these souls some descend upon the earth with a view to be bound up in mortal bodies, those namely which are most nearly connected with the earth, and which are lovers of the body. But some soar upwards, being again distinguished according to the definitions and times which have been appointed by nature.
10. Philo of Alexandria, On The Special Laws, 4.123, 4.173 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE) 4.123. On which account Moses, in another passage, establishes a law concerning blood, that one may not eat the blood nor the Fat.{27}{#le 3:17.} The blood, for the reason which I have already mentioned, that it is the essence of the life; not of the mental and rational life, but of that which exists in accordance with the outward senses, to which it is owing that both we and irrational animals also have a common existence.CONCERNING THE SOUL OR LIFE OF MANXXIV. For the essence of the soul of man is the breath of God, especially if we follow the account of Moses, who, in his history of the creation of the world, says that God breathed into the first man, the founder of our race, the breath of life; breathing it into the principal part of his body, namely the face, where the outward senses are established, the body-guards of the mind, as if it were the great king. And that which was thus breathed into his face was manifestly the breath of the air, or whatever else there may be which is even more excellent than the breath of the air, as being a ray emitted from the blessed and thricehappy nature of God. 4.173. And we can find clear instances of both kinds in the sacred laws, which it is well for us to imitate; for there was once a time in which Moses, alone by himself, decided all causes and all matters of legal controversy, labouring from morning till night. But after a time his father-inlaw came to him, and seeing with what a weight of business he was overwhelmed, as all those who had any disputes were everlastingly coming upon him, he gave him most excellent advice, counselling him to choose subordinate magistrates, that they might decide the less important affairs, and that he might have only the more serious causes to occupy him, and by this means provide himself with time for Rest.{39}{#ex 18:14.}
11. Philo of Alexandria, Allegorical Interpretation, 2.95 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE)
12. Philo of Alexandria, Questions On Genesis, 2.59 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE)
13. Philo of Alexandria, That God Is Unchangeable, 21-23, 30-32, 35-38, 40, 43-48, 50-69, 77-81, 20 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE) 20. However, we have said enough on this head; let us now connect what follows with It:ù"the Lord God, therefore," says Moses, "seeing that the wickedness of man was multiplied upon the earth, and that every one of them was carefully studying wickedness in his heart all his days; God considered in his mind that he had made man upon the earth, and he thought upon it; and God said, I will destroy man whom I have made from off the face of the earth."9
14. Plutarch, On Stoic Self-Contradictions, None (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
15. Stoic School, Stoicor. Veter. Fragm., 2.310

Subjects of this text:

subject	book bibliographic info
adam	Frey and Levison (2014), The Holy Spirit, Inspiration, and the Cultures of Antiquity Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 288
alexandria	MacDougall (2022), Philosophy at the Festival: The Festal Orations of Gregory of Nazianzus and the Classical Tradition. 133
anthropomorphic	Frey and Levison (2014), The Holy Spirit, Inspiration, and the Cultures of Antiquity Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 270
aristotle	Frey and Levison (2014), The Holy Spirit, Inspiration, and the Cultures of Antiquity Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 272, 277; MacDougall (2022), Philosophy at the Festival: The Festal Orations of Gregory of Nazianzus and the Classical Tradition. 133
body	Geljon and Runia (2019), Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary, 246
cappadocian father	MacDougall (2022), Philosophy at the Festival: The Festal Orations of Gregory of Nazianzus and the Classical Tradition. 133
church,father	MacDougall (2022), Philosophy at the Festival: The Festal Orations of Gregory of Nazianzus and the Classical Tradition. 133
clement of alexandria	MacDougall (2022), Philosophy at the Festival: The Festal Orations of Gregory of Nazianzus and the Classical Tradition. 133
cohesion (ἕξις)	Frey and Levison (2014), The Holy Spirit, Inspiration, and the Cultures of Antiquity Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 268, 271, 272, 288, 290
creation	Frey and Levison (2014), The Holy Spirit, Inspiration, and the Cultures of Antiquity Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 270, 271
ecstasy,ecstatic	Frey and Levison (2014), The Holy Spirit, Inspiration, and the Cultures of Antiquity Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 290
fire,fiery,stoic fire (πῦρ τεχνικόν)	Frey and Levison (2014), The Holy Spirit, Inspiration, and the Cultures of Antiquity Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 272
god,cause	Geljon and Runia (2019), Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary, 246
gregory of nazianus,or. 41 on pentecost	MacDougall (2022), Philosophy at the Festival: The Festal Orations of Gregory of Nazianzus and the Classical Tradition. 133
growth (φύσις)	Frey and Levison (2014), The Holy Spirit, Inspiration, and the Cultures of Antiquity Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 288, 290
hegemonikon	MacDougall (2022), Philosophy at the Festival: The Festal Orations of Gregory of Nazianzus and the Classical Tradition. 133
impression,imagination (φαντασία)	Frey and Levison (2014), The Holy Spirit, Inspiration, and the Cultures of Antiquity Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 271
knowledge	Frey and Levison (2014), The Holy Spirit, Inspiration, and the Cultures of Antiquity Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 271
late antiquity	MacDougall (2022), Philosophy at the Festival: The Festal Orations of Gregory of Nazianzus and the Classical Tradition. 133
law	Frey and Levison (2014), The Holy Spirit, Inspiration, and the Cultures of Antiquity Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 290
leah	Geljon and Runia (2019), Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary, 246
mind	Geljon and Runia (2019), Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary, 246
moses	Frey and Levison (2014), The Holy Spirit, Inspiration, and the Cultures of Antiquity Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 270
nemesius	MacDougall (2022), Philosophy at the Festival: The Festal Orations of Gregory of Nazianzus and the Classical Tradition. 133
origen	MacDougall (2022), Philosophy at the Festival: The Festal Orations of Gregory of Nazianzus and the Classical Tradition. 133
phantasia	MacDougall (2022), Philosophy at the Festival: The Festal Orations of Gregory of Nazianzus and the Classical Tradition. 133
philo (of alexandria)	MacDougall (2022), Philosophy at the Festival: The Festal Orations of Gregory of Nazianzus and the Classical Tradition. 133
philo judeas,quaestiones et solutiones in genesin	Frey and Levison (2014), The Holy Spirit, Inspiration, and the Cultures of Antiquity Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 277, 279
philo judeas,quod deus sit immutabilis	Frey and Levison (2014), The Holy Spirit, Inspiration, and the Cultures of Antiquity Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 270
philo judeas	Frey and Levison (2014), The Holy Spirit, Inspiration, and the Cultures of Antiquity Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 268, 269, 270, 271, 272, 277, 279, 288, 290, 292
philosopher	MacDougall (2022), Philosophy at the Festival: The Festal Orations of Gregory of Nazianzus and the Classical Tradition. 133
philosophy,classical	MacDougall (2022), Philosophy at the Festival: The Festal Orations of Gregory of Nazianzus and the Classical Tradition. 133
philosophy	Frey and Levison (2014), The Holy Spirit, Inspiration, and the Cultures of Antiquity Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 277
plato	MacDougall (2022), Philosophy at the Festival: The Festal Orations of Gregory of Nazianzus and the Classical Tradition. 133
plutarch,vii	Frey and Levison (2014), The Holy Spirit, Inspiration, and the Cultures of Antiquity Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 272, 277
rachel	Geljon and Runia (2019), Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary, 246
reason/rational	Frey and Levison (2014), The Holy Spirit, Inspiration, and the Cultures of Antiquity Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 268, 271, 272, 277, 279, 288, 290
resurrection	Frey and Levison (2014), The Holy Spirit, Inspiration, and the Cultures of Antiquity Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 292
semen	Frey and Levison (2014), The Holy Spirit, Inspiration, and the Cultures of Antiquity Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 277
sensation,sense,perception (αἴσθησις)	Frey and Levison (2014), The Holy Spirit, Inspiration, and the Cultures of Antiquity Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 271
sense-perception	Geljon and Runia (2019), Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary, 246
senses,five	Geljon and Runia (2019), Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary, 246
soul;	Frey and Levison (2014), The Holy Spirit, Inspiration, and the Cultures of Antiquity Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 268, 269, 271, 272, 277, 279, 290, 292
soul	MacDougall (2022), Philosophy at the Festival: The Festal Orations of Gregory of Nazianzus and the Classical Tradition. 133
spirit,characterizations as,,(a)ether	Frey and Levison (2014), The Holy Spirit, Inspiration, and the Cultures of Antiquity Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 279
spirit,characterizations as,,air/hot air	Frey and Levison (2014), The Holy Spirit, Inspiration, and the Cultures of Antiquity Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 272
spirit,characterizations as,,indestructible (ἄφθαρτος)	Frey and Levison (2014), The Holy Spirit, Inspiration, and the Cultures of Antiquity Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 271, 272, 288
spirit,effects of,,knowledge/understanding	Frey and Levison (2014), The Holy Spirit, Inspiration, and the Cultures of Antiquity Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 288
spirit,effects of,ψυχή (soul,life)	Frey and Levison (2014), The Holy Spirit, Inspiration, and the Cultures of Antiquity Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 268, 271, 277, 279, 288, 290, 292
stoic,epistemology	MacDougall (2022), Philosophy at the Festival: The Festal Orations of Gregory of Nazianzus and the Classical Tradition. 133
stoicism/stoic;	Frey and Levison (2014), The Holy Spirit, Inspiration, and the Cultures of Antiquity Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 269, 272, 277, 290
symbolic interpretation,of biblical figures	Geljon and Runia (2019), Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary, 246
thanksgiving	Geljon and Runia (2019), Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary, 246
trance	Frey and Levison (2014), The Holy Spirit, Inspiration, and the Cultures of Antiquity Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 288
virtues	Geljon and Runia (2019), Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary, 246
webb,ruth	MacDougall (2022), Philosophy at the Festival: The Festal Orations of Gregory of Nazianzus and the Classical Tradition. 133
wisdom of solomon'	Frey and Levison (2014), The Holy Spirit, Inspiration, and the Cultures of Antiquity Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 268