1. Hebrew Bible, Genesis, 1.1, 1.8-1.31, 2.7 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras / (neo-)pythagoreanism • Pythagoras, Pythagorean, NeoPythagoean(s) • Pythagorean • Pythagorean-Platonist tradition • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism/Pythagoreans/Pythagorean • Pythagoreans
Found in books: Birnbaum and Dillon (2020), Philo of Alexandria: On the Life of Abraham: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary, 160; Geljon and Runia (2019), Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary, 121; Horkey (2019), Cosmos in the Ancient World, 20, 271, 274, 283; Potter Suh and Holladay (2021), Hellenistic Jewish Literature and the New Testament: Collected Essays, 631; Rasimus (2009), Paradise Reconsidered in Gnostic Mythmaking: Rethinking Sethianism in Light of the Ophite Evidence, 98; deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 292, 307; Černušková, Kovacs and Plátová (2016), Clement’s Biblical Exegesis: Proceedings of the Second Colloquium on Clement of Alexandria , 283
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1.1 בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ׃
1.1 וַיִּקְרָא אֱלֹהִים לַיַּבָּשָׁה אֶרֶץ וּלְמִקְוֵה הַמַּיִם קָרָא יַמִּים וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים כִּי־טוֹב׃
1.8 וַיִּקְרָא אֱלֹהִים לָרָקִיעַ שָׁמָיִם וַיְהִי־עֶרֶב וַיְהִי־בֹקֶר יוֹם שֵׁנִי׃ 1.9 וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים יִקָּווּ הַמַּיִם מִתַּחַת הַשָּׁמַיִם אֶל־מָקוֹם אֶחָד וְתֵרָאֶה הַיַּבָּשָׁה וַיְהִי־כֵן׃' 1.11 וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים תַּדְשֵׁא הָאָרֶץ דֶּשֶׁא עֵשֶׂב מַזְרִיעַ זֶרַע עֵץ פְּרִי עֹשֶׂה פְּרִי לְמִינוֹ אֲשֶׁר זַרְעוֹ־בוֹ עַל־הָאָרֶץ וַיְהִי־כֵן׃
1.12 וַתּוֹצֵא הָאָרֶץ דֶּשֶׁא עֵשֶׂב מַזְרִיעַ זֶרַע לְמִינֵהוּ וְעֵץ עֹשֶׂה־פְּרִי אֲשֶׁר זַרְעוֹ־בוֹ לְמִינֵהוּ וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים כִּי־טוֹב׃
1.13 וַיְהִי־עֶרֶב וַיְהִי־בֹקֶר יוֹם שְׁלִישִׁי׃
1.14 וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים יְהִי מְאֹרֹת בִּרְקִיעַ הַשָּׁמַיִם לְהַבְדִּיל בֵּין הַיּוֹם וּבֵין הַלָּיְלָה וְהָיוּ לְאֹתֹת וּלְמוֹעֲדִים וּלְיָמִים וְשָׁנִים׃
1.15 וְהָיוּ לִמְאוֹרֹת בִּרְקִיעַ הַשָּׁמַיִם לְהָאִיר עַל־הָאָרֶץ וַיְהִי־כֵן׃
1.16 וַיַּעַשׂ אֱלֹהִים אֶת־שְׁנֵי הַמְּאֹרֹת הַגְּדֹלִים אֶת־הַמָּאוֹר הַגָּדֹל לְמֶמְשֶׁלֶת הַיּוֹם וְאֶת־הַמָּאוֹר הַקָּטֹן לְמֶמְשֶׁלֶת הַלַּיְלָה וְאֵת הַכּוֹכָבִים׃
1.17 וַיִּתֵּן אֹתָם אֱלֹהִים בִּרְקִיעַ הַשָּׁמָיִם לְהָאִיר עַל־הָאָרֶץ׃
1.18 וְלִמְשֹׁל בַּיּוֹם וּבַלַּיְלָה וּלֲהַבְדִּיל בֵּין הָאוֹר וּבֵין הַחֹשֶׁךְ וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים כִּי־טוֹב׃
1.19 וַיְהִי־עֶרֶב וַיְהִי־בֹקֶר יוֹם רְבִיעִי׃ 1.21 וַיִּבְרָא אֱלֹהִים אֶת־הַתַּנִּינִם הַגְּדֹלִים וְאֵת כָּל־נֶפֶשׁ הַחַיָּה הָרֹמֶשֶׂת אֲשֶׁר שָׁרְצוּ הַמַּיִם לְמִינֵהֶם וְאֵת כָּל־עוֹף כָּנָף לְמִינֵהוּ וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים כִּי־טוֹב׃ 1.22 וַיְבָרֶךְ אֹתָם אֱלֹהִים לֵאמֹר פְּרוּ וּרְבוּ וּמִלְאוּ אֶת־הַמַּיִם בַּיַּמִּים וְהָעוֹף יִרֶב בָּאָרֶץ׃ 1.23 וַיְהִי־עֶרֶב וַיְהִי־בֹקֶר יוֹם חֲמִישִׁי׃ 1.24 וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים תּוֹצֵא הָאָרֶץ נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה לְמִינָהּ בְּהֵמָה וָרֶמֶשׂ וְחַיְתוֹ־אֶרֶץ לְמִינָהּ וַיְהִי־כֵן׃ 1.25 וַיַּעַשׂ אֱלֹהִים אֶת־חַיַּת הָאָרֶץ לְמִינָהּ וְאֶת־הַבְּהֵמָה לְמִינָהּ וְאֵת כָּל־רֶמֶשׂ הָאֲדָמָה לְמִינֵהוּ וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים כִּי־טוֹב׃ 1.26 וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים נַעֲשֶׂה אָדָם בְּצַלְמֵנוּ כִּדְמוּתֵנוּ וְיִרְדּוּ בִדְגַת הַיָּם וּבְעוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם וּבַבְּהֵמָה וּבְכָל־הָאָרֶץ וּבְכָל־הָרֶמֶשׂ הָרֹמֵשׂ עַל־הָאָרֶץ׃ 1.27 וַיִּבְרָא אֱלֹהִים אֶת־הָאָדָם בְּצַלְמוֹ בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים בָּרָא אֹתוֹ זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה בָּרָא אֹתָם׃ 1.28 וַיְבָרֶךְ אֹתָם אֱלֹהִים וַיֹּאמֶר לָהֶם אֱלֹהִים פְּרוּ וּרְבוּ וּמִלְאוּ אֶת־הָאָרֶץ וְכִבְשֻׁהָ וּרְדוּ בִּדְגַת הַיָּם וּבְעוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם וּבְכָל־חַיָּה הָרֹמֶשֶׂת עַל־הָאָרֶץ׃ 1.29 וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים הִנֵּה נָתַתִּי לָכֶם אֶת־כָּל־עֵשֶׂב זֹרֵעַ זֶרַע אֲשֶׁר עַל־פְּנֵי כָל־הָאָרֶץ וְאֶת־כָּל־הָעֵץ אֲשֶׁר־בּוֹ פְרִי־עֵץ זֹרֵעַ זָרַע לָכֶם יִהְיֶה לְאָכְלָה׃ 1.31 וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים אֶת־כָּל־אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה וְהִנֵּה־טוֹב מְאֹד וַיְהִי־עֶרֶב וַיְהִי־בֹקֶר יוֹם הַשִּׁשִּׁי׃
2.7 וַיִּיצֶר יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים אֶת־הָאָדָם עָפָר מִן־הָאֲדָמָה וַיִּפַּח בְּאַפָּיו נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים וַיְהִי הָאָדָם לְנֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה׃'' None | sup>
1.1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
1.8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day. 1.9 And God said: ‘Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear.’ And it was so.
1.10 And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters called He Seas; and God saw that it was good.
1.11 And God said: ‘Let the earth put forth grass, herb yielding seed, and fruit-tree bearing fruit after its kind, wherein is the seed thereof, upon the earth.’ And it was so.
1.12 And the earth brought forth grass, herb yielding seed after its kind, and tree bearing fruit, wherein is the seed thereof, after its kind; and God saw that it was good.
1.13 And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.
1.14 And God said: ‘Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years;
1.15 and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth.’ And it was so.
1.16 And God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; and the stars.
1.17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
1.18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good.
1.19 And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day. 1.20 And God said: ‘Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let fowl fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.’ 1.21 And God created the great sea-monsters, and every living creature that creepeth, wherewith the waters swarmed, after its kind, and every winged fowl after its kind; and God saw that it was good. 1.22 And God blessed them, saying: ‘Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.’ 1.23 And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day. 1.24 And God said: ‘Let the earth bring forth the living creature after its kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after its kind.’ And it was so. 1.25 And God made the beast of the earth after its kind, and the cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good. 1.26 And God said: ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.’ 1.27 And God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them. 1.28 And God blessed them; and God said unto them: ‘Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that creepeth upon the earth.’ 1.29 And God said: ‘Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed—to you it shall be for food; 1.30 and to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is a living soul, I have given every green herb for food.’ And it was so. 1.31 And God saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
2.7 Then the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.' ' None |
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2. Hebrew Bible, Leviticus, 19.24 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagorean-Platonist tradition • Pythagoreanism/Pythagoreans/Pythagorean • Pythagoreans,
Found in books: Birnbaum and Dillon (2020), Philo of Alexandria: On the Life of Abraham: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary, 160; Geljon and Runia (2019), Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary, 31, 238; Wilson (2010), Philo of Alexandria: On Virtues: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary, 336
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19.24 וּבַשָּׁנָה הָרְבִיעִת יִהְיֶה כָּל־פִּרְיוֹ קֹדֶשׁ הִלּוּלִים לַיהוָה׃'' None | sup>
19.24 And in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy, for giving praise unto the LORD.'' None |
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3. Hesiod, Works And Days, 108-111, 116, 122-126, 137-138, 152-153, 156-173, 180, 255, 822-823 (8th cent. BCE - 7th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras / (neo-)pythagoreanism • Pythagoras, Pythagoreans • Pythagoras, pythagoreanism • Pythagoras/Pythagorean/Pythagoreanism • Pythagorean • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism xxv, metempsychosis • Pythagoreans
Found in books: Alvarez (2018), The Derveni Papyrus: Unearthing Ancient Mysteries, 25; Edmonds (2004), Myths of the Underworld Journey: Plato, Aristophanes, and the ‘Orphic’ Gold Tablets, 44, 93; Eidinow and Kindt (2015), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Greek Religion, 401, 416; Fowler (2014), Plato in the Third Sophistic, 44; Iribarren and Koning (2022), Hesiod and the Beginnings of Greek Philosophy, 39, 329; Lloyd (1989), The Revolutions of Wisdom: Studies in the Claims and Practice of Ancient Greek Science, 9, 258; Waldner et al. (2016), Burial Rituals, Ideas of Afterlife, and the Individual in the Hellenistic World and the Roman Empire, 79; Wolfsdorf (2020), Early Greek Ethics, 605; deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 206
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108 ὡς ὁμόθεν γεγάασι θεοὶ θνητοί τʼ ἄνθρωποι.'109 χρύσεον μὲν πρώτιστα γένος μερόπων ἀνθρώπων 110 ἀθάνατοι ποίησαν Ὀλύμπια δώματʼ ἔχοντες. 111 οἳ μὲν ἐπὶ Κρόνου ἦσαν, ὅτʼ οὐρανῷ ἐμβασίλευεν·
116 θνῇσκον δʼ ὥσθʼ ὕπνῳ δεδμημένοι· ἐσθλὰ δὲ πάντα
122 τοὶ μὲν δαίμονες ἁγνοὶ ἐπιχθόνιοι καλέονται 123 ἐσθλοί, ἀλεξίκακοι, φύλακες θνητῶν ἀνθρώπων, 124 οἵ ῥα φυλάσσουσίν τε δίκας καὶ σχέτλια ἔργα 125 ἠέρα ἑσσάμενοι πάντη φοιτῶντες ἐπʼ αἶαν, 126 πλουτοδόται· καὶ τοῦτο γέρας βασιλήιον ἔσχον—,
137 ἣ θέμις ἀνθρώποις κατὰ ἤθεα. τοὺς μὲν ἔπειτα 138 Ζεὺς Κρονίδης ἔκρυψε χολούμενος, οὕνεκα τιμὰς
152 καὶ τοὶ μὲν χείρεσσιν ὕπο σφετέρῃσι δαμέντες 153 βῆσαν ἐς εὐρώεντα δόμον κρυεροῦ Αίδαο
156 αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ καὶ τοῦτο γένος κατὰ γαῖʼ ἐκάλυψεν, 157 αὖτις ἔτʼ ἄλλο τέταρτον ἐπὶ χθονὶ πουλυβοτείρῃ 158 Ζεὺς Κρονίδης ποίησε, δικαιότερον καὶ ἄρειον, 159 ἀνδρῶν ἡρώων θεῖον γένος, οἳ καλέονται 160 ἡμίθεοι, προτέρη γενεὴ κατʼ ἀπείρονα γαῖαν. 161 καὶ τοὺς μὲν πόλεμός τε κακὸς καὶ φύλοπις αἰνή, 162 τοὺς μὲν ὑφʼ ἑπταπύλῳ Θήβῃ, Καδμηίδι γαίῃ, 163 ὤλεσε μαρναμένους μήλων ἕνεκʼ Οἰδιπόδαο, 164 τοὺς δὲ καὶ ἐν νήεσσιν ὑπὲρ μέγα λαῖτμα θαλάσσης 165 ἐς Τροίην ἀγαγὼν Ἑλένης ἕνεκʼ ἠυκόμοιο. 166 ἔνθʼ ἤτοι τοὺς μὲν θανάτου τέλος ἀμφεκάλυψε, 167 τοῖς δὲ δίχʼ ἀνθρώπων βίοτον καὶ ἤθεʼ ὀπάσσας 168 Ζεὺς Κρονίδης κατένασσε πατὴρ ἐς πείρατα γαίης. 169 Πέμπτον δʼ αὖτις ἔτʼ ἄ λλο γένος θῆκʼ εὐρύοπα Ζεὺς 169 ἀνδρῶν, οἳ γεγάασιν ἐπὶ χθονὶ πουλυβοτείρῃ. 169 τοῖσι δʼ ὁμῶς ν εάτοις τιμὴ καὶ κῦδος ὀπηδεῖ. 169 τοῦ γὰρ δεσμὸ ν ἔλυσε πα τὴρ ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε. 169 τηλοῦ ἀπʼ ἀθανάτων· τοῖσιν Κρόνος ἐμβασιλεύει. 170 καὶ τοὶ μὲν ναίουσιν ἀκηδέα θυμὸν ἔχοντες 171 ἐν μακάρων νήσοισι παρʼ Ὠκεανὸν βαθυδίνην, 172 ὄλβιοι ἥρωες, τοῖσιν μελιηδέα καρπὸν 173 τρὶς ἔτεος θάλλοντα φέρει ζείδωρος ἄρουρα.
180 Ζεὺς δʼ ὀλέσει καὶ τοῦτο γένος μερόπων ἀνθρώπων,
255 ἠέρα ἑσσάμενοι, πάντη φοιτῶντες ἐπʼ αἶαν.
822 αἵδε μὲν ἡμέραι εἰσιν ἐπιχθονίοις μέγʼ ὄνειαρ, 823 αἱ δʼ ἄλλαι μετάδουποι, ἀκήριοι, οὔ τι φέρουσαι. ' None | sup>
108 There roam among mankind all kinds of ill,'109 Filling both land and sea, while every day 110 Plagues haunt them, which, unwanted, come at night 111 As well, in silence, for Zeus took away
116 Embraced both men and gods, who, in their glory
122 of health, away from grief, they took delight 123 In plenty, while in death they seemed subdued 124 By sleep. Life-giving earth, of its own right, 125 Would bring forth plenteous fruit. In harmony 126 They lived, with countless flocks of sheep, at ease
137 A large bairn, in his mother’s custody, 138 Just playing inside for a hundred years.
152 With iron, full invincibility 153 In hands, limbs, shoulders, and the arms they plied
156 It was self-slaughter – they descended to 157 Chill Hades’ mouldy house, without a name. 158 Yes, black death took them off, although they’d been 159 Impetuous, and they the sun’s bright flame 160 Would see no more, nor would this race be seen 161 Themselves, screened by the earth. Cronus’ son then 162 Fashioned upon the lavish land one more, 163 The fourth, more just and brave – of righteous men, 164 Called demigods. It was the race before 165 Our own upon the boundless earth. Foul war 166 And dreadful battles vanquished some of these, 167 While some in Cadmus’ Thebes, while looking for 168 The flocks of Oedipus, found death. The sea 169 Took others as they crossed to Troy fight 170 For fair-tressed Helen. They were screened as well 171 In death. Lord Zeus arranged it that they might 172 Live far from others. Thus they came to dwell, 173 Carefree, among the blessed isles, content
180 That bound him. Though the lowest race, its gain
255 of one man often sways whole cities, for
822 Know nothing of – a god is angered thus. 823 In springs or rivers flowing to the sea ' None |
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4. Hesiod, Theogony, 120, 122 (8th cent. BCE - 7th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras, pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreans • cosmology, Pythagorean
Found in books: Demoen and Praet (2009), Theios Sophistes: Essays on Flavius Philostratus' Vita Apollonii, 290; Eidinow and Kindt (2015), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Greek Religion, 416; Horkey (2019), Cosmos in the Ancient World, 40; Iribarren and Koning (2022), Hesiod and the Beginnings of Greek Philosophy, 39
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120 ἠδʼ Ἔρος, ὃς κάλλιστος ἐν ἀθανάτοισι θεοῖσι,122 δάμναται ἐν στήθεσσι νόον καὶ ἐπίφρονα βουλήν. ' None | sup>
120 Tell how the gods and Earth first came to be,122 The gleaming stars, broad Heaven in the sky, ' None |
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5. Homer, Iliad, 8.13-8.15 (8th cent. BCE - 7th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras, pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism
Found in books: Iribarren and Koning (2022), Hesiod and the Beginnings of Greek Philosophy, 229; de Jáuregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 150
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8.13 ἤ μιν ἑλὼν ῥίψω ἐς Τάρταρον ἠερόεντα 8.14 τῆλε μάλʼ, ἧχι βάθιστον ὑπὸ χθονός ἐστι βέρεθρον, 8.15 ἔνθα σιδήρειαί τε πύλαι καὶ χάλκεος οὐδός,'' None | sup>
8.13 Whomsoever I shall mark minded apart from the gods to go and bear aid either to Trojans or Danaans, smitten in no seemly wise shall he come back to Olympus, or I shall take and hurl him into murky Tartarus, 8.15 far, far away, where is the deepest gulf beneath the earth, the gates whereof are of iron and the threshold of bronze, as far beneath Hades as heaven is above earth: then shall ye know how far the mightiest am I of all gods. Nay, come, make trial, ye gods, that ye all may know. Make ye fast from heaven a chain of gold, '' None |
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6. None, None, nan (7th cent. BCE - 6th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoreanism • Wehrli, F., interpretation of the Pythagorean Precepts
Found in books: Harte (2017), Rereading Ancient Philosophy: Old Chestnuts and Sacred Cows, 133; Huffman (2019), A History of Pythagoreanism, 98
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7. Xenophanes, Fragments, None (6th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans • Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans, and metempsychosis • Pythagoras, Pythagoreans • Pythagoras, pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism • eschatology. See mystery initiations and entries under Empedocles, Euripides, Homer, Parmenides, Pindar, Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans, aethereal • soul. See entries on soul or metempsychosis under Empedocles, Heraclitus, Homer, Parmenides, Pindar, Plato, Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans, as divine
Found in books: Iribarren and Koning (2022), Hesiod and the Beginnings of Greek Philosophy, 114, 128; Joosse (2021), Olympiodorus of Alexandria: Exegete, Teacher, Platonic Philosopher, 221; Long (2019), Immortality in Ancient Philosophy, 22; Tor (2017), Mortal and Divine in Early Greek Epistemology, 148, 151, 161, 244
| b7 And now I will turn to another tale and point the way. . . . Once they say that he Pythagoras) was passing by when a dog was being beaten and spoke this word: Stop! don\'t beat it! For it is the soul of a friend that I recognised when I heard its voice."" b8 There are by this time threescore years and seven that have tossed my careworn soul up and down the land of Hellas; and there were then five-and-twenty years from my birth, if I can say aught truly about these matters. b14 But mortals deem that the gods are begotten as they are, and have clothes like theirs, and voice and form.'' None |
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8. None, None, nan (6th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Golden Verses, Pythagorean • Pythagoras, pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism xxv, and mathematics of music • acusmata (Pythagorean) • acusmata (Pythagorean), origins and date • acusmata (Pythagorean), transmission • music, Pythagorean mathematics of
Found in books: Harte (2017), Rereading Ancient Philosophy: Old Chestnuts and Sacred Cows, 239; Iribarren and Koning (2022), Hesiod and the Beginnings of Greek Philosophy, 114, 129; Wolfsdorf (2020), Early Greek Ethics, 4, 615
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9. None, None, nan (6th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Iamblichus as Pythagorean/on Pythagoreanism • Pythagoras, pythagoreanism • eschatology. See mystery initiations and entries under Empedocles, Euripides, Homer, Parmenides, Pindar, Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans, aethereal
Found in books: Iribarren and Koning (2022), Hesiod and the Beginnings of Greek Philosophy, 114; Tor (2017), Mortal and Divine in Early Greek Epistemology, 230, 356; d'Hoine and Martijn (2017), All From One: A Guide to Proclus, 44
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10. None, None, nan (6th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras, Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism xxv, metempsychosis • metempsychosis (transmigration of soul, reincarnation), Pythagoreanism
Found in books: Graf and Johnston (2007), Ritual texts for the afterlife: Orpheus and the Bacchic Gold Tablets, 55, 69; Wolfsdorf (2020), Early Greek Ethics, 600, 605
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11. None, None, nan (6th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras, Pythagoreans • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism xxv, metempsychosis
Found in books: Alvarez (2018), The Derveni Papyrus: Unearthing Ancient Mysteries, 101; Long (2019), Immortality in Ancient Philosophy, 21; Waldner et al. (2016), Burial Rituals, Ideas of Afterlife, and the Individual in the Hellenistic World and the Roman Empire, 79; Wolfsdorf (2020), Early Greek Ethics, 605
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12. Euripides, Hippolytus, 952-957 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoreans • symbola, Pythagorean
Found in books: Alvarez (2018), The Derveni Papyrus: Unearthing Ancient Mysteries, 133; Petrovic and Petrovic (2016), Inner Purity and Pollution in Greek Religion, 198
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952 ἤδη νυν αὔχει καὶ δι' ἀψύχου βορᾶς"953 σίτοις καπήλευ' ̓Ορφέα τ' ἄνακτ' ἔχων" '954 βάκχευε πολλῶν γραμμάτων τιμῶν καπνούς:' "955 ἐπεί γ' ἐλήφθης. τοὺς δὲ τοιούτους ἐγὼ" '956 φεύγειν προφωνῶ πᾶσι: θηρεύουσι γὰρ 957 σεμνοῖς λόγοισιν, αἰσχρὰ μηχανώμενοι.' "" None | sup>
952 Thy boasts will never persuade me to be guilty of attributing ignorance to gods. Go then, vaunt thyself, and drive1 Hippolytus is here taunted with being an exponent of the Orphic mysteries. Apparently Orpheus, like Pythagoras, taught the necessity of total abstinence from animal food. thy petty trade in viands formed of lifeless food; take Orpheus for thy chief and go a-revelling, with all honour for the vapourings of many a written scroll,'953 Thy boasts will never persuade me to be guilty of attributing ignorance to gods. Go then, vaunt thyself, and drive1 Hippolytus is here taunted with being an exponent of the Orphic mysteries. Apparently Orpheus, like Pythagoras, taught the necessity of total abstinence from animal food. thy petty trade in viands formed of lifeless food; take Orpheus for thy chief and go a-revelling, with all honour for the vapourings of many a written scroll, 955 eeing thou now art caught. Let all beware, I say, of such hypocrites! who hunt their prey with fine words, and all the while are scheming villainy. She is dead; dost think that this will save thee? Why this convicts thee more than all, abandoned wretch! ' None |
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13. Herodotus, Histories, 2.81, 2.123, 2.123.2, 3.40, 4.76-4.80, 4.94-4.96 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Numa Pythagorean writings of • Pythagoras / (neo-)pythagoreanism • Pythagoras and Pythagoreans • Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans • Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans, and metempsychosis • Pythagoras, Pythagoreanism • Pythagoras, Pythagoreans • Pythagoras, pythagoreanism • Pythagorean quietude, the katabasis of Pythagoras • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism, Pythagorean • Pythagoreans • eschatology. See mystery initiations and entries under Empedocles, Euripides, Homer, Parmenides, Pindar, Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans, aethereal • soul. See entries on soul or metempsychosis under Empedocles, Heraclitus, Homer, Parmenides, Pindar, Plato, Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans, as divine • symbola, Pythagorean
Found in books: Bernabe et al. (2013), Redefining Dionysos, 148; Bickerman and Tropper (2007), Studies in Jewish and Christian History, 307; Graf and Johnston (2007), Ritual texts for the afterlife: Orpheus and the Bacchic Gold Tablets, 159, 175; Iribarren and Koning (2022), Hesiod and the Beginnings of Greek Philosophy, 95; Joosse (2021), Olympiodorus of Alexandria: Exegete, Teacher, Platonic Philosopher, 230; Long (2019), Immortality in Ancient Philosophy, 20; Munn (2006), The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. 47, 50, 71; Petrovic and Petrovic (2016), Inner Purity and Pollution in Greek Religion, 57; Stephens and Winkler (1995), Ancient Greek Novels: The Fragments: Introduction, Text, Translation, and Commentary, 113; Tor (2017), Mortal and Divine in Early Greek Epistemology, 148, 244, 276; deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 30, 77
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2.81 ἐνδεδύκασι δὲ κιθῶνας λινέους περὶ τὰ σκέλεα θυσανωτούς, τοὺς καλέουσι καλασίρις· ἐπὶ τούτοισι δὲ εἰρίνεα εἵματα λευκὰ ἐπαναβληδὸν φορέουσι. οὐ μέντοι ἔς γε τὰ ἱρὰ ἐσφέρεται εἰρίνεα οὐδὲ συγκαταθάπτεταί σφι· οὐ γὰρ ὅσιον. ὁμολογέουσι δὲ ταῦτα τοῖσι Ὀρφικοῖσι καλεομένοισι καὶ Βακχικοῖσι, ἐοῦσι δὲ Αἰγυπτίοισι καὶ Πυθαγορείοισι· οὐδὲ γὰρ τούτων τῶν ὀργίων μετέχοντα ὅσιον ἐστὶ ἐν εἰρινέοισι εἵμασι θαφθῆναι. ἔστι δὲ περὶ αὐτῶν ἱρὸς λόγος λεγόμενος.
2.123 τοῖσι μέν νυν ὑπʼ Αἰγυπτίων λεγομένοισι χράσθω ὅτεῳ τὰ τοιαῦτα πιθανά ἐστι· ἐμοὶ δὲ παρὰ πάντα τὸν λόγον ὑπόκειται ὅτι τὰ λεγόμενα ὑπʼ ἑκάστων ἀκοῇ γράφω. ἀρχηγετέειν δὲ τῶν κάτω Αἰγύπτιοι λέγουσι Δήμητρα καὶ Διόνυσον. πρῶτοι δὲ καὶ τόνδε τὸν λόγον Αἰγύπτιοι εἰσὶ οἱ εἰπόντες, ὡς ἀνθρώπου ψυχὴ ἀθάνατος ἐστί, τοῦ σώματος δὲ καταφθίνοντος ἐς ἄλλο ζῷον αἰεὶ γινόμενον ἐσδύεται, ἐπεὰν δὲ πάντα περιέλθῃ τὰ χερσαῖα καὶ τὰ θαλάσσια καὶ τὰ πετεινά, αὖτις ἐς ἀνθρώπου σῶμα γινόμενον ἐσδύνει· τὴν περιήλυσιν δὲ αὐτῇ γίνεσθαι ἐν τρισχιλίοισι ἔτεσι. τούτῳ τῷ λόγῳ εἰσὶ οἳ Ἑλλήνων ἐχρήσαντο, οἳ μὲν πρότερον οἳ δὲ ὕστερον, ὡς ἰδίῳ ἑωυτῶν ἐόντι· τῶν ἐγὼ εἰδὼς τὰ οὐνόματα οὐ γράφω.' 3.40 καί κως τὸν Ἄμασιν εὐτυχέων μεγάλως ὁ Πολυκράτης οὐκ ἐλάνθανε, ἀλλά οἱ τοῦτʼ ἦν ἐπιμελές. πολλῷ δὲ ἔτι πλεῦνός οἱ εὐτυχίης γινομένης γράψας ἐς βυβλίον τάδε ἐπέστειλε ἐς Σάμον. “Ἄμασις Πολυκράτεϊ ὧδε λέγει. ἡδὺ μὲν πυνθάνεσθαι ἄνδρα φίλον καὶ ξεῖνον εὖ πρήσσοντα· ἐμοὶ δὲ αἱ σαὶ μεγάλαι εὐτυχίαι οὐκ ἀρέσκουσι, τὸ θεῖον ἐπισταμένῳ ὡς ἔστι φθονερόν· καί κως βούλομαι καὶ αὐτὸς καὶ τῶν ἂν κήδωμαι τὸ μέν τι εὐτυχέειν τῶν πρηγμάτων τὸ δὲ προσπταίειν, καὶ οὕτω διαφέρειν τὸν αἰῶνα ἐναλλὰξ πρήσσων ἢ εὐτυχέειν τὰ πάντα. οὐδένα γάρ κω λόγῳ οἶδα ἀκούσας ὅστις ἐς τέλος οὐ κακῶς ἐτελεύτησε πρόρριζος, εὐτυχέων τὰ πάντα. σύ νυν ἐμοὶ πειθόμενος ποίησον πρὸς τὰς εὐτυχίας τοιάδε· φροντίσας τὸ ἂν εὕρῃς ἐόν τοι πλείστου ἄξιον καὶ ἐπʼ ᾧ σὺ ἀπολομένῳ μάλιστα τὴν ψυχὴν ἀλγήσεις, τοῦτο ἀπόβαλε οὕτω ὅκως μηκέτι ἥξει ἐς ἀνθρώπους· ἤν τε μὴ ἐναλλὰξ ἤδη τὠπὸ τούτου αἱ εὐτυχίαι τοι τῇσι πάθῃσι προσπίπτωσι, τρόπῳ τῷ ἐξ ἐμεῦ ὑποκειμένῳ ἀκέο.”
4.76 ξεινικοῖσι δὲ νομαίοισι καὶ οὗτοι φεύγουσι αἰνῶς χρᾶσθαι, μήτε τεῶν ἄλλων, Ἑλληνικοῖσι δὲ καὶ ἥκιστα, ὡς διέδεξαν Ἀνάχαρσις τε καὶ δεύτερα αὖτις Σκύλης. τοῦτο μὲν γὰρ Ἀνάχαρσις ἐπείτε γῆν πολλὴν θεωρήσας καὶ ἀποδεξάμενος κατʼ αὐτὴν σοφίην πολλὴν ἐκομίζετο ἐς ἤθεα τὰ Σκυθέων, πλέων διʼ Ἑλλησπόντου προσίσχει ἐς Κύζικον. καὶ εὗρε γὰρ τῇ μητρὶ τῶν θεῶν ἀνάγοντας τοὺς Κυζικηνοὺς ὁρτὴν μεγαλοπρεπέως κάρτα, εὔξατο τῇ μητρὶ ὁ Ἀνάχαρσις, ἢν σῶς καὶ ὑγιὴς ἀπονοστήσῃ ἐς ἑωυτοῦ, θύσειν τε κατὰ ταὐτὰ κατὰ ὥρα τοὺς Κυζικηνοὺς ποιεῦντας καὶ παννυχίδα στήσειν. ὡς δὲ ἀπίκετο ἐς τὴν Σκυθικήν καταδὺς ἐς τὴν καλεομένην Ὑλαίην ʽἡ δʼ ἔστι μὲν παρὰ τὸν Ἀχιλλήιον δρόμον, τυγχάνει δὲ πᾶσα ἐοῦσα δενδρέων παντοίων πλέἠ, ἐς ταύτην δὴ καταδὺς ὁ Ἀνάχαρσις τὴν ὁρτὴν ἐπετέλεε πᾶσαν τῇ θεῷ, τύμπανον τε ἔχων καὶ ἐκδησάμενος ἀγάλματα. καὶ τῶν τις Σκυθέων καταφρασθεὶς αὐτὸν ταῦτα ποιεῦντα ἐσήμηνε τῷ βασιλέι Σαυλίω· ὁ δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ἀπικόμενος ὡς εἶδε τὸν Ἀνάχαρσιν ποιεῦντα ταῦτα, τοξεύσας αὐτὸν ἀπέκτεινε. καὶ νῦν ἤν τις εἴρηται περὶ Ἀναχάρσιος, οὐ φασί μιν Σκύθαι γινώσκειν, διὰ τοῦτο ὅτι ἐξεδήμησέ τε ἐς τὴν Ἑλλάδα καὶ ξεινικοῖσι ἔθεσι διεχρήσατο. ὡς δʼ ἐγὼ ἤκουσα Τύμνεω τοῦ Ἀριαπείθεος ἐπιτρόπου, εἶναι αὐτὸν Ἰδανθύρσου τοῦ Σκυθέων βασιλέος πάτρων, παῖδα δὲ εἶναι Γνούρου τοῦ Λύκου τοῦ Σπαργαπείθεος. εἰ ὦν ταύτης ἦν τῆς οἰκίης ὁ Ἀνάχαρσις, ἴστω ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀδελφεοῦ ἀποθανών· Ἰδάνθυρσος γὰρ ἦν παῖς Σαυλίου, Σαύλιος δὲ ἦν ὁ ἀποκτείνας Ἀνάχαρσιν. 4.77 καίτοι τινὰ ἤδη ἤκουσα λόγον ἄλλον ὑπὸ Πελοποννησίων λεγόμενον, ὡς ὑπὸ τοῦ Σκυθέων βασιλέος Ἀνάχαρσις ἀποπεμφθεὶς τῆς Ἑλλάδος μαθητὴς γένοιτο, ὀπίσω τε ἀπονοστήσας φαίη πρὸς τὸν ἀποπέμψαντα Ἕλληνας πάντας ἀσχόλους εἶναι ἐς πᾶσαν σοφίην πλὴν Λακεδαιμονίων, τούτοισι δὲ εἶναι μούνοισι σωφρόνως δοῦναι τε καὶ δέξασθαι λόγον. ἀλλʼ οὗτος μὲν ὁ λόγος ἄλλως πέπλασται ὑπʼ αὐτῶν Ἑλλήνων, ὁ δʼ ὧν ἀνὴρ ὥσπερ πρότερον εἰρέθη διεφθάρη. 4.78 οὗτος μέν νυν οὕτω δὴ ἔπρηξε διὰ ξεινικά τε νόμαια καὶ Ἑλληνικὰς ὁμιλίας. πολλοῖσι δὲ κάρτα ἔτεσι ὕστερον Σκύλης ὁ Ἀριαπείθεος ἔπαθε παραπλήσια τούτῳ. Ἀριαπείθεϊ γὰρ τῷ Σκυθέων βασιλέι γίνεται μετʼ ἄλλων παίδων Σκύλης· ἐξ Ἰστριηνῆς δὲ γυναικὸς οὗτος γίνεται καὶ οὐδαμῶς ἐγχωρίης· τὸν ἡ μήτηρ αὕτη γλῶσσάν τε Ἑλλάδα καὶ γράμματα ἐδίδαξε. μετὰ δὲ χρόνῳ ὕστερον Ἀριαπείθης μὲν τελευτᾷ δόλῳ ὑπὸ Σπαργαπείθεος τοῦ Ἀγαθύρσων βασιλέος, Σκύλης δὲ τήν τε βασιληίην παρέλαβε καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα τοῦ πατρός, τῇ οὔνομα ἦν Ὀποίη· ἦν δὲ αὕτη ἡ Ὀποίη ἀστή, ἐξ ἧς ἦν Ὄρικος Ἀριαπείθεϊ παῖς. βασιλεύων δὲ Σκυθέων ὁ Σκύλης διαίτῃ οὐδαμῶς ἠρέσκετο Σκυψικῇ, ἀλλὰ πολλὸν πρὸς τὰ Ἑλληνικὰ μᾶλλον τετραμμένος ἦν ἀπὸ παιδεύσιος τῆς ἐπεπαίδευτο, ἐποίεέ τε τοιοῦτο· εὖτε ἀγάγοι τὴν στρατιὴν τὴν Σκυθέων ἐς τὸ Βορυσθενειτέων ἄστυ ʽοἱ δὲ Βορυσθενεῗται οὗτοι λέγουσι σφέας αὐτοὺς εἶναι Μιλησίουσ̓, ἐς τούτους ὅκως ἔλθοι ὁ Σκύλης, τὴν μὲν στρατιὴν καταλίπεσκε ἐν τῷ προαστείῳ, αὐτὸς δὲ ὅκως ἔλθοι ἐς τὸ τεῖχος καὶ τὰς πύλας ἐγκλῄσειε, τὴν στολὴν ἀποθέμενος τὴν Σκυθικὴν λάβεσκε ἂν Ἑλληνίδα ἐσθῆτα, ἔχων δʼ ἂν ταύτην ἠγόραζε οὔτε δορυφόρων ἑπομένων οὔτε ἄλλου οὐδενός· τὰς δὲ πύλας ἐφύλασσον, μή τίς μιν Σκυθέων ἴδοι ἔχοντα ταύτην τὴν στολήν· καὶ τά τε ἄλλα ἐχρᾶτο διαίτη Ἑλληνικῇ καὶ θεοῖσι ἱρὰ ἐποίεε κατὰ νόμους τοὺς Ἑλλήνων. ὅτε δὲ διατρίψειε μῆνα ἡ πλέον τούτου, ἀπαλλάσσετο ἐνδὺς τὴν Σκυθικὴν στολήν. ταῦτα ποιέεσκε πολλάκις καὶ οἰκία τε ἐδείματο ἐν Βορυσθένεϊ καὶ γυναῖκα ἔγημε ἐς αὐτὰ ἐπιχωρίην. 4.79 ἐπείτε δὲ ἔδεέ οἱ κακῶς γενέσθαι, ἐγίνετο ἀπὸ προφάσιος τοιῆσδε. ἐπεθύμησε Διονύσῳ Βακχείῳ τελεσθῆναι· μέλλοντι δέ οἱ ἐς χεῖρας ἄγεσθαι τὴν τελετὴν ἐγένετο φάσμα μέγιστον. ἦν οἱ ἐν Βορυσθενεϊτέων τῇ πόλι οἰκίης μεγάλης καὶ πολυτελέος περιβολή, τῆς καὶ ὀλίγῳ τι πρότερον τούτων μνήμην εἶχον, τὴν πέριξ λευκοῦ λίθου σφίγγες τε καὶ γρῦπες ἕστασαν· ἐς ταύτην ὁ θεὸς ἐνέσκηψε βέλος. καὶ ἣ μὲν κατεκάη πᾶσα, Σκύλης δὲ οὐδὲν τούτου εἵνεκα ἧσσον ἐπετέλεσε τὴν τελετήν. Σκύθαι δὲ τοῦ βακχεύειν πέρι Ἕλλησι ὀνειδίζουσι· οὐ γὰρ φασὶ οἰκὸς εἶναι θεὸν ἐξευρίσκειν τοῦτον ὅστις μαίνεσθαι ἐνάγει ἀνθρώπους. ἐπείτε δὲ ἐτελέσθη τῷ Βακχείῳ ὁ Σκύλης, διεπρήστευσε τῶν τις Βορυσθενειτέων πρὸς τοὺς Σκύθας λέγων “ἡμῖν γὰρ καταγελᾶτε, ὦ Σκύθαι, ὅτι βακχεύομεν καὶ ἡμέας ὁ θεὸς λαμβάνει· νῦν οὗτος ὁ δαίμων καὶ τὸν ὑμέτερον βασιλέα λελάβηκε, καὶ βακχεύει τε καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ μαίνεται. εἰ δέ μοι ἀπιστέετε, ἕπεσθε, καὶ ὑμῖν ἐγὼ δέξω.” εἵποντο τῶν Σκύθεων οἱ προεστεῶτες, καὶ αὐτοὺς ἀναγαγὼν ὁ Βορυσθενεΐτης λάθρῃ ἐπὶ πύργον κατεῖσε. ἐπείτε δὲ παρήιε σὺν τῷ θιάσῳ ὁ Σκύλης καὶ εἶδόν μιν βακχεύοντα οἱ Σκύθαι, κάρτα συμφορὴν μεγάλην ἐποιήσαντο, ἐξελθόντες δὲ ἐσήμαινον πάσῃ τῇ στρατιῇ τὰ ἴδοιεν. 4.80 ὡς δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐξήλαυνε ὁ Σκύλης ἐς ἤθεα τὰ ἑωυτοῦ, οἱ Σκύθαι προστησάμενοι τὸν ἀδελφεὸν αὐτοῦ Ὀκταμασάδην, γεγονότα ἐκ τῆς Τήρεω θυγατρός, ἐπανιστέατο τῷ Σκύλῃ. ὁ δὲ μαθὼν τὸ γινόμενον ἐπʼ ἑωυτῷ καὶ τὴν αἰτίην διʼ ἣν ἐποιέετο, καταφεύγει ἐς τὴν Θρηίκην. πυθόμενος δὲ ὁ Ὀκταμασάδης ταῦτα ἐστρατεύετο ἐπὶ τὴν Θρηίκην. ἐπείτε δὲ ἐπὶ τῷ Ἴστρῳ ἐγένετο, ἠντίασάν μιν οἱ Θρήικες, μελλόντων δὲ αὐτῶν συνάψειν ἔπεμψε Σιτάλκης παρὰ τὸν Ὀκταμασάδην λέγων τοιάδε. “τι δεῖ ἡμέας ἀλλήλων πειρηθῆναι; εἶς μέν μευ τῆς ἀδελφεῆς παῖς, ἔχεις δέ μευ ἀδελφεόν. σὺ δέ μοι ἀπόδος τοῦτον, καὶ ἐγὼ σοὶ τὸν σὸν Σκύλην παραδίδωμι· στρατιῇ δὲ μήτε σὺ κινδυνεύσῃς μήτʼ ἐγώ.” ταῦτά οἱ πέμψας ὁ Σιτάλκης ἐπεκηρυκεύετο· ἦν γὰρ παρὰ τῷ Ὀκταμασάδη ἀδελφεὸς Σιτάλκεω πεφευγώς. ὁ δὲ Ὀκταμασάδης καταινέει ταῦτα, ἐκδοὺς δὲ τὸν ἑωυτοῦ μήτρωα Σιτάλκη ἔλαβε τὸν ἀδελφεὸν Σκύλην. καὶ Σιτάλκης μὲν παραλαβὼν τὸν ἀδελφεὸν ἀπήγετο, Σκύλεω δὲ Ὀκταμασάδης αὐτοῦ ταύτῃ ἀπέταμε τὴν κεφαλήν. οὕτω μὲν περιστέλλουσι τὰ σφέτερα νόμαια Σκύθαι, τοῖσι δὲ παρακτωμένοισι ξεινικοὺς νόμους τοιαῦτα ἐπιτίμια διδοῦσι.
4.94 ἀθανατίζουσι δὲ τόνδε τὸν τρόπον· οὔτε ἀποθνήσκειν ἑωυτοὺς νομίζουσι ἰέναι τε τὸν ἀπολλύμενον παρὰ Σάλμοξιν δαίμονα· οἳ δὲ αὐτῶν τὸν αὐτὸν τοῦτον ὀνομάζουσι Γεβελέιζιν· διὰ πεντετηρίδος τε τὸν πάλῳ λαχόντα αἰεὶ σφέων αὐτῶν ἀποπέμπουσι ἄγγελον παρὰ τὸν Σάλμοξιν, ἐντελλόμενοι τῶν ἂν ἑκάστοτε δέωνται, πέμπουσι δὲ ὧδε· οἳ μὲν αὐτῶν ταχθέντες ἀκόντια τρία ἔχουσι, ἄλλοι δὲ διαλαβόντες τοῦ ἀποπεμπομένου παρὰ τὸν Σάλμοξιν τὰς χεῖρας καὶ τοὺς πόδας, ἀνακινήσαντες αὐτὸν μετέωρον ῥίπτουσι ἐς τὰς λόγχας. ἢν μὲν δὴ ἀποθάνῃ ἀναπαρείς, τοῖσι δὲ ἵλεος ὁ θεὸς δοκέει εἶναι· ἢν δὲ μὴ ἀποθάνῃ, αἰτιῶνται αὐτὸν τὸν ἄγγελον, φάμενοί μιν ἄνδρα κακὸν εἶναι, αἰτιησάμενοι δὲ τοῦτον ἄλλον ἀποπέμπουσι· ἐντέλλονται δὲ ἔτι ζῶντι. οὗτοι οἱ αὐτοὶ Θρήικες καὶ πρὸς βροντήν τε καὶ ἀστραπὴν τοξεύοντες ἄνω πρὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀπειλέουσι τῷ θεῷ, οὐδένα ἄλλον θεὸν νομίζοντες εἶναι εἰ μὴ τὸν σφέτερον. 4.95 ὡς δὲ ἐγὼ πυνθάνομαι τῶν τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον οἰκεόντων Ἑλλήνων καὶ Πόντον, τὸν Σάλμοξιν τοῦτον ἐόντα ἄνθρωπον δουλεῦσαι ἐν Σάμῳ, δουλεῦσαι δὲ Πυθαγόρῃ τῷ Μνησάρχου, ἐνθεῦτεν δὲ αὐτὸν γενόμενον ἐλεύθερον χρήματα κτήσασθαι μεγάλα, κτησάμενον δὲ ἀπελθεῖν ἐς τὴν ἑωυτοῦ. ἅτε δὲ κακοβίων τε ἐόντων τῶν Θρηίκων καὶ ὑπαφρονεστέρων, τὸν Σάλμοξιν τοῦτον ἐπιστάμενον δίαιτάν τε Ἰάδα καὶ ἤθεα βαθύτερα ἢ κατὰ Θρήικας, οἷα Ἕλλησι τε ὁμιλήσαντα καὶ Ἑλλήνων οὐ τῷ ἀσθενεστάτῳ σοφιστῇ Πυθαγόρη, κατασκευάσασθαι ἀνδρεῶνα, ἐς τὸν πανδοκεύοντα τῶν ἀστῶν τοὺς πρώτους καὶ εὐωχέοντα ἀναδιδάσκειν ὡς οὔτε αὐτὸς οὔτε οἱ συμπόται αὐτοῦ οὔτε οἱ ἐκ τούτων αἰεὶ γινόμενοι ἀποθανέονται, ἀλλʼ ἥξουσι ἐς χῶρον τοῦτον ἵνα αἰεὶ περιεόντες ἕξουσι τὰ πάντα ἀγαθά. ἐν ᾧ δὲ ἐποίεε τὰ καταλεχθέντα καὶ ἔλεγε ταῦτα, ἐν τούτῳ κατάγαιον οἴκημα ἐποιέετο. ὡς δέ οἱ παντελέως εἶχε τὸ οἴκημα, ἐκ μὲν τῶν Θρηίκων ἠφανίσθη, καταβὰς δὲ κάτω ἐς τὸ κατάγαιον οἴκημα διαιτᾶτο ἐπʼ ἔτεα τρία· οἳ δὲ μιν ἐπόθεόν τε καὶ ἐπένθεον ὡς τεθνεῶτα. τετάρτω δὲ ἔτεϊ ἐφάνη τοῖσι Θρήιξι, καὶ οὕτω πιθανά σφι ἐγένετο τὰ ἔλεγε ὁ Σάλμοξις. ταῦτα φασί μιν ποιῆσαι. 4.96 ἐγὼ δὲ περὶ μὲν τούτου καὶ τοῦ καταγαίου οἰκήματος οὔτε ἀπιστέω οὔτε ὦν πιστεύω τι λίην, δοκέω δὲ πολλοῖσι ἔτεσι πρότερον τὸν Σάλμοξιν τοῦτον γενέσθαι Πυθαγόρεω. εἴτε δὲ ἐγένετό τις Σάλμοξις ἄνθρωπος, εἴτʼ ἐστὶ δαίμων τις Γέτῃσι οὗτος ἐπιχώριος, χαιρέτω. οὗτοι μὲν δὴ τρόπῳ τοιούτῳ χρεώμενοι ὡς ἐχειρώθησαν ὑπὸ Περσέων, εἵποντο τῷ ἄλλῳ στρατῷ.'' None | sup>
2.81 They wear linen tunics with fringes hanging about the legs, called “calasiris,” and loose white woolen mantles over these. But nothing woolen is brought into temples, or buried with them: that is impious. ,They agree in this with practices called Orphic and Bacchic, but in fact Egyptian and Pythagorean: for it is impious, too, for one partaking of these rites to be buried in woolen wrappings. There is a sacred legend about this.
2.123.2 The Egyptians were the first who maintained the following doctrine, too, that the human soul is immortal, and at the death of the body enters into some other living thing then coming to birth; and after passing through all creatures of land, sea, and air, it enters once more into a human body at birth, a cycle which it completes in three thousand years. ' "
2.123 These Egyptian stories are for the benefit of whoever believes such tales: my rule in this history is that I record what is said by all as I have heard it. The Egyptians say that Demeter and Dionysus are the rulers of the lower world. ,The Egyptians were the first who maintained the following doctrine, too, that the human soul is immortal, and at the death of the body enters into some other living thing then coming to birth; and after passing through all creatures of land, sea, and air, it enters once more into a human body at birth, a cycle which it completes in three thousand years. ,There are Greeks who have used this doctrine, some earlier and some later, as if it were their own; I know their names, but do not record them.
3.40 Now Amasis was somehow aware of Polycrates' great good fortune; and as this continued to increase greatly, he wrote this letter and sent it to Samos : “Amasis addresses Polycrates as follows. ,It is pleasant to learn that a friend and ally is doing well. But I do not like these great successes of yours; for I know the gods, how jealous they are, and I desire somehow that both I and those for whom I care succeed in some affairs, fail in others, and thus pass life faring differently by turns, rather than succeed at everything. ,For from all I have heard I know of no man whom continual good fortune did not bring in the end to evil, and utter destruction. Therefore if you will be ruled by me do this regarding your successes: ,consider what you hold most precious and what you will be sorriest to lose, and cast it away so that it shall never again be seen among men; then, if after this the successes that come to you are not mixed with mischances, strive to mend the matter as I have counselled you.” " "
4.76 But as regards foreign customs, the Scythians (like others) very much shun practising those of any other country, and particularly of Hellas, as was proved in the case of Anacharsis and also of Scyles. ,For when Anacharsis was coming back to the Scythian country after having seen much of the world in his travels and given many examples of his wisdom, he sailed through the Hellespont and put in at Cyzicus; ,where, finding the Cyzicenes celebrating the feast of the Mother of the Gods with great ceremony, he vowed to this same Mother that if he returned to his own country safe and sound he would sacrifice to her as he saw the Cyzicenes doing, and establish a nightly rite of worship. ,So when he came to Scythia, he hid himself in the country called Woodland (which is beside the Race of Achilles, and is all overgrown with every kind of timber); hidden there, Anacharsis celebrated the goddess' ritual with exactness, carrying a small drum and hanging images about himself. ,Then some Scythian saw him doing this and told the king, Saulius; who, coming to the place himself and seeing Anacharsis performing these rites, shot an arrow at him and killed him. And now the Scythians, if they are asked about Anacharsis, say they have no knowledge of him; this is because he left his country for Hellas and followed the customs of strangers. ,But according to what I heard from Tymnes, the deputy for Ariapithes, Anacharsis was an uncle of Idanthyrsus king of Scythia, and he was the son of Gnurus, son of Lycus, son of Spargapithes. Now if Anacharsis was truly of this family, then let him know he was slain by his own brother; for Idanthyrsus was the son of Saulius, and it was Saulius who killed Anacharsis. " '4.77 It is true that I have heard another story told by the Peloponnesians; namely, that Anacharsis had been sent by the king of Scythia and had been a student of the ways of Hellas, and after his return told the king who sent him that all Greeks were keen for every kind of learning, except the Lacedaemonians; but that these were the only Greeks who spoke and listened with discretion. ,But this is a tale pointlessly invented by the Greeks themselves; and be this as it may, the man was put to death as I have said. ' "4.78 This, then, was how Anacharsis fared, owing to his foreign ways and consorting with Greeks; and a great many years afterward, Scyles, son of Ariapithes, suffered a like fate. Scyles was one of the sons born to Ariapithes, king of Scythia; but his mother was of Istria, and not native-born; and she taught him to speak and read Greek. ,As time passed, Ariapithes was treacherously killed by Spargapithes, king of the Agathyrsi, and Scyles inherited the kingship and his father's wife, a Scythian woman whose name was Opoea, and she bore Scyles a son, Oricus. ,So Scyles was king of Scythia; but he was in no way content with the Scythian way of life, and was much more inclined to Greek ways, from the upbringing that he had received. So this is what he would do: he would lead the Scythian army to the city of the Borysthenites (who say that they are Milesians), and when he arrived there would leave his army in the suburb of the city, ,while he himself, entering within the walls and shutting the gates, would take off his Scythian apparel and put on Greek dress; and in it he would go among the townsfolk unattended by spearmen or any others (who would guard the gates, lest any Scythian see him wearing this apparel), and in every way follow the Greek manner of life, and worship the gods according to Greek usage. ,When he had spent a month or more like this, he would put on Scythian dress and leave the city. He did this often; and he built a house in Borysthenes, and married a wife of the people of the country and brought her there. " '4.79 But when things had to turn out badly for him, they did so for this reason: he conceived a desire to be initiated into the rites of the Bacchic Dionysus; and when he was about to begin the sacred mysteries, he saw the greatest vision. ,He had in the city of the Borysthenites a spacious house, grand and costly (the same house I just mentioned), all surrounded by sphinxes and griffins worked in white marble; this house was struck by a thunderbolt. And though the house burnt to the ground, Scyles none the less performed the rite to the end. ,Now the Scythians reproach the Greeks for this Bacchic revelling, saying that it is not reasonable to set up a god who leads men to madness. ,So when Scyles had been initiated into the Bacchic rite, some one of the Borysthenites scoffed at the Scythians: “You laugh at us, Scythians, because we play the Bacchant and the god possesses us; but now this deity has possessed your own king, so that he plays the Bacchant and is maddened by the god. If you will not believe me, follow me now and I will show him to you.” ,The leading men among the Scythians followed him, and the Borysthenite brought them up secretly onto a tower; from which, when Scyles passed by with his company of worshippers, they saw him playing the Bacchant; thinking it a great misfortune, they left the city and told the whole army what they had seen. ' "4.80 After this Scyles rode off to his own place; but the Scythians rebelled against him, setting up his brother Octamasades, son of the daughter of Teres, for their king. ,Scyles, learning what had happened concerning him and the reason why it had happened, fled into Thrace; and when Octamasades heard this he led his army there. But when he was beside the Ister, the Thracians barred his way; and when the armies were about to engage, Sitalces sent this message to Octamasades: ,“Why should we try each other's strength? You are my sister's son, and you have my brother with you; give him back to me, and I will give up your Scyles to you; and let us not endanger our armies.” ,Such was the offer Sitalces sent to him; for Sitalces' brother had fled from him and was with Octamasades. The Scythian agreed to this, and took his brother Scyles, giving up his own uncle to Sitalces. ,Sitalces then took his brother and carried him away, but Octamasades beheaded Scyles on the spot. This is how closely the Scythians guard their customs, and these are the penalties they inflict on those who add foreign customs to their own. " 4.94 Their belief in their immortality is as follows: they believe that they do not die, but that one who perishes goes to the deity Salmoxis, or Gebeleïzis, as some of them call him. ,Once every five years they choose one of their people by lot and send him as a messenger to Salmoxis, with instructions to report their needs; and this is how they send him: three lances are held by designated men; others seize the messenger to Salmoxis by his hands and feet, and swing and toss him up on to the spear-points. ,If he is killed by the toss, they believe that the god regards them with favor; but if he is not killed, they blame the messenger himself, considering him a bad man, and send another messenger in place of him. It is while the man still lives that they give him the message. ,Furthermore, when there is thunder and lightning these same Thracians shoot arrows skyward as a threat to the god, believing in no other god but their own. 4.95 I understand from the Greeks who live beside the Hellespont and Pontus, that this Salmoxis was a man who was once a slave in Samos, his master being Pythagoras son of Mnesarchus; ,then, after being freed and gaining great wealth, he returned to his own country. Now the Thracians were a poor and backward people, but this Salmoxis knew Ionian ways and a more advanced way of life than the Thracian; for he had consorted with Greeks, and moreover with one of the greatest Greek teachers, Pythagoras; ,therefore he made a hall, where he entertained and fed the leaders among his countrymen, and taught them that neither he nor his guests nor any of their descendants would ever die, but that they would go to a place where they would live forever and have all good things. ,While he was doing as I have said and teaching this doctrine, he was meanwhile making an underground chamber. When this was finished, he vanished from the sight of the Thracians, and went down into the underground chamber, where he lived for three years, ,while the Thracians wished him back and mourned him for dead; then in the fourth year he appeared to the Thracians, and thus they came to believe what Salmoxis had told them. Such is the Greek story about him. 4.96 Now I neither disbelieve nor entirely believe the tale about Salmoxis and his underground chamber; but I think that he lived many years before Pythagoras; ,and as to whether there was a man called Salmoxis or this is some deity native to the Getae, let the question be dismissed. '' None |
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14. Plato, Alcibiades Ii, None (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras and Pythagoreans, on prayer • Pythagorean, Pythagoreanism • symbola, Pythagorean
Found in books: Dillon and Timotin (2015), Platonic Theories of Prayer, 34; Mikalson (2010), Greek Popular Religion in Greek Philosophy, 48, 49; Petrovic and Petrovic (2016), Inner Purity and Pollution in Greek Religion, 112
| 143a Ζεῦ βασιλεῦ, τὰ μὲν ἐσθλά, φησί, καὶ εὐχομένοις καὶ ἀνεύκτοις ἄμμι δίδου, τὰ δὲ δειλὰ καὶ εὐχομένοις ἀπαλέξειν Anth. Pal. 10.108 κελεύει. ΣΩ. ἐμοὶ μὲν οὖν καλῶς δοκεῖ καὶ ἀσφαλῶς λέγειν ὁ ποιητής· σὺ δʼ εἴ τι ἐν νῷ ἔχεις πρὸς ταῦτα, μὴ σιώπα. ΑΛ. χαλεπόν, ὦ Σώκρατες, ἐστὶν ἀντιλέγειν πρὸς τὰ καλῶς εἰρημένα· ἐκεῖνο δʼ οὖν ἐννοῶ, ὅσων κακῶν αἰτία ἡ ἄγνοια τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, ὁπότε, ὡς ἔοικε, λελήθαμεν ἡμᾶς'150b καὶ φρόνησις διαφερόντως τετιμῆσθαι· φρόνιμοι δὲ καὶ δίκαιοι οὐκ ἄλλοι τινές εἰσιν ἢ τῶν εἰδότων ἃ δεῖ πράττειν καὶ λέγειν καὶ πρὸς θεοὺς καὶ πρὸς ἀνθρώπους. βουλοίμην δʼ ἂν καὶ σοῦ πυθέσθαι ὅτι ποτʼ ἐν νῷ ἔχεις πρὸς ταῦτα. ΑΛ. ἀλλʼ ἐμοὶ μέν, ὦ Σώκρατες, οὐκ ἄλλῃ πῃ δοκεῖ ἢ ᾗπερ σοί τε καὶ τῷ θεῷ· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἂν εἰκὸς εἴη ἀντίψηφον ἐμὲ τῷ θεῷ γενέσθαι. ΣΩ. οὐκοῦν μέμνησαι ἐν πολλῇ ἀπορίᾳ φάσκων εἶναι, ' None | 143a King Zeus, give unto us what is good, whether we pray or pray not; But what is grievous, even if we pray for it, do thou avert. Anth. Pal. 10.108. Soc. So then, to my mind the poet spoke well and soundly; but if you have thought of an answer to his words, do not be silent. Alc. It is difficult, Socrates, to gainsay what has been well spoken: one thing, however, I do observe —how many evils are caused to men by ignorance, when, as it seems, we are beguiled by her not only into doing,'150b and wise and just are they alone who know what acts and words to use towards gods and men. But I should like now to hear what may be your opinion on the subject. Alc. Why, Socrates, it in no wise differs from yours and the god’s; for indeed it would not be fitting for me to record my vote against the god. Soc. And you remember you professed to be in great perplexity lest you should pray unawares for evil, ' None |
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15. Plato, Cratylus, None (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Iamblichus as Pythagorean/on Pythagoreanism • Pythagoras / (neo-)pythagoreanism
Found in books: d'Hoine and Martijn (2017), All From One: A Guide to Proclus, 44; deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 90
| 400c σῆμά τινές φασιν αὐτὸ εἶναι τῆς ψυχῆς, ὡς τεθαμμένης ἐν τῷ νῦν παρόντι· καὶ διότι αὖ τούτῳ σημαίνει ἃ ἂν σημαίνῃ ἡ ψυχή, καὶ ταύτῃ σῆμα ὀρθῶς καλεῖσθαι. δοκοῦσι μέντοι μοι μάλιστα θέσθαι οἱ ἀμφὶ Ὀρφέα τοῦτο τὸ ὄνομα, ὡς δίκην διδούσης τῆς ψυχῆς ὧν δὴ ἕνεκα δίδωσιν, τοῦτον δὲ περίβολον ἔχειν, ἵνα σῴζηται, δεσμωτηρίου εἰκόνα· εἶναι οὖν τῆς ψυχῆς τοῦτο, ὥσπερ αὐτὸ ὀνομάζεται, ἕως ἂν ἐκτείσῃ τὰ ὀφειλόμενα, τὸ σῶμα, καὶ οὐδὲν δεῖν παράγειν οὐδʼ ἓν γράμμα.'' None | 400c ign ( σῆμα ). But I think it most likely that the Orphic poets gave this name, with the idea that the soul is undergoing punishment for something; they think it has the body as an enclosure to keep it safe, like a prison, and this is, as the name itself denotes, the safe ( σῶμα ) for the soul, until the penalty is paid, and not even a letter needs to be changed.'' None |
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16. Plato, Euthyphro, None (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras/Pythagorean/Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism
Found in books: Beneker et al. (2022), Plutarch’s Unexpected Silences: Suppression and Selection in the Lives and Moralia, 60; Fowler (2014), Plato in the Third Sophistic, 156
| 3d ΕΥΘ. τούτου οὖν πέρι ὅπως ποτὲ πρὸς ἐμὲ ἔχουσιν, οὐ πάνυ ἐπιθυμῶ πειραθῆναι. ΣΩ. ἴσως γὰρ σὺ μὲν δοκεῖς σπάνιον σεαυτὸν παρέχειν καὶ διδάσκειν οὐκ ἐθέλειν τὴν σεαυτοῦ σοφίαν· ἐγὼ δὲ φοβοῦμαι μὴ ὑπὸ φιλανθρωπίας δοκῶ αὐτοῖς ὅτιπερ ἔχω ἐκκεχυμένως παντὶ ἀνδρὶ λέγειν, οὐ μόνον ἄνευ μισθοῦ, ἀλλὰ καὶ προστιθεὶς ἂν ἡδέως εἴ τίς μου ἐθέλει ἀκούειν. εἰ μὲν οὖν, ὃ νυνδὴ ἔλεγον, μέλλοιέν μου καταγελᾶν ὥσπερ'' None | 3d Euthyphro. I don’t much desire to test their sentiments toward me in this matter. Socrates. No, for perhaps they think that you are reserved and unwilling to impart your wisdom. But I fear that because of my love of men they think that I not only pour myself out copiously to anyone and everyone without payment, but that I would even pay something myself, if anyone would listen to me. Now if, as I was saying just now, they were to laugh at me, as you say they do at you, it would not be at all unpleasant'' None |
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17. Plato, Gorgias, None (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras, Pythagorean, NeoPythagoean(s) • Pythagorean theory of numerology • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism xxv, Plato and • Pythagoreanism xxv, and friendship • Pythagoreans • friendship (philia), Pythagorean
Found in books: Eidinow and Kindt (2015), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Greek Religion, 218; Lloyd (1989), The Revolutions of Wisdom: Studies in the Claims and Practice of Ancient Greek Science, 276; Pevarello (2013), The Sentences of Sextus and the Origins of Christian Ascetiscism. 83; Potter Suh and Holladay (2021), Hellenistic Jewish Literature and the New Testament: Collected Essays, 631; Wolfsdorf (2020), Early Greek Ethics, 58, 571; d'Hoine and Martijn (2017), All From One: A Guide to Proclus, 179
| 507c ἀνάγκη, ὦ Καλλίκλεις, τὸν σώφρονα, ὥσπερ διήλθομεν, δίκαιον ὄντα καὶ ἀνδρεῖον καὶ ὅσιον ἀγαθὸν ἄνδρα εἶναι τελέως, τὸν δὲ ἀγαθὸν εὖ τε καὶ καλῶς πράττειν ἃ ἂν πράττῃ, τὸν δʼ εὖ πράττοντα μακάριόν τε καὶ εὐδαίμονα εἶναι, τὸν δὲ πονηρὸν καὶ κακῶς πράττοντα ἄθλιον· οὗτος δʼ ἂν εἴη ὁ ἐναντίως ἔχων τῷ σώφρονι, ὁ ἀκόλαστος, ὃν σὺ ἐπῄνεις.'508a γῆν καὶ θεοὺς καὶ ἀνθρώπους τὴν κοινωνίαν συνέχειν καὶ φιλίαν καὶ κοσμιότητα καὶ σωφροσύνην καὶ δικαιότητα, καὶ τὸ ὅλον τοῦτο διὰ ταῦτα κόσμον καλοῦσιν, ὦ ἑταῖρε, οὐκ ἀκοσμίαν οὐδὲ ἀκολασίαν. σὺ δέ μοι δοκεῖς οὐ προσέχειν τὸν νοῦν τούτοις, καὶ ταῦτα σοφὸς ὤν, ἀλλὰ λέληθέν σε ὅτι ἡ ἰσότης ἡ γεωμετρικὴ καὶ ἐν θεοῖς καὶ ἐν ἀνθρώποις μέγα δύναται, σὺ δὲ πλεονεξίαν οἴει δεῖν ἀσκεῖν· γεωμετρίας γὰρ ἀμελεῖς. εἶεν· ἢ ἐξελεγκτέος δὴ οὗτος ὁ λόγος ' None | 507c Callicles, that the temperate man, as shown in our exposition, being just and brave and pious, is the perfection of a good man; and that the good man does well and fairly whatever he does and that he who does well is blessed and happy, while the wicked man or evil-doer is wretched. And this must be the man who is in an opposite case to the temperate,—the licentious man whom you were commending.'508a and gods and men are held together by communion and friendship, by orderliness, temperance, and justice; and that is the reason, my friend, why they call the whole of this world by the name of order, not of disorder or dissoluteness. Now you, as it seems to me, do not give proper attention to this, for all your cleverness, but have failed to observe the great power of geometrical equality amongst both gods and men: you hold that self-advantage is what one ought to practice, because you neglect geometry. Very well: either we must refute this statement, that it is by the possession ' None |
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18. Plato, Meno, None (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Empedocles, and Pythagoreanism • Pythagoras and Pythagoreans • Pythagoras, Pythagoreans • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism xxv • Pythagoreans
Found in books: Alvarez (2018), The Derveni Papyrus: Unearthing Ancient Mysteries, 133; Eidinow and Kindt (2015), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Greek Religion, 218; Long (2019), Immortality in Ancient Philosophy, 20; Mikalson (2010), Greek Popular Religion in Greek Philosophy, 200; Wolfsdorf (2020), Early Greek Ethics, 61
| 81a ΜΕΝ. οὐκοῦν καλῶς σοι δοκεῖ λέγεσθαι ὁ λόγος οὗτος, ὦ Σώκρατες; ΣΩ. οὐκ ἔμοιγε. ΜΕΝ. ἔχεις λέγειν ὅπῃ; ΣΩ. ἔγωγε· ἀκήκοα γὰρ ἀνδρῶν τε καὶ γυναικῶν σοφῶν περὶ τὰ θεῖα πράγματα— ΜΕΝ. τίνα λόγον λεγόντων; ΣΩ. ἀληθῆ, ἔμοιγε δοκεῖν, καὶ καλόν. ΜΕΝ. τίνα τοῦτον, καὶ τίνες οἱ λέγοντες; ΣΩ. οἱ μὲν λέγοντές εἰσι τῶν ἱερέων τε καὶ τῶν ἱερειῶν ὅσοις μεμέληκε περὶ ὧν μεταχειρίζονται λόγον οἵοις τʼ εἶναι'81b διδόναι· λέγει δὲ καὶ Πίνδαρος καὶ ἄλλοι πολλοὶ τῶν ποιητῶν ὅσοι θεῖοί εἰσιν. ἃ δὲ λέγουσιν, ταυτί ἐστιν· ἀλλὰ σκόπει εἴ σοι δοκοῦσιν ἀληθῆ λέγειν. φασὶ γὰρ τὴν ψυχὴν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου εἶναι ἀθάνατον, καὶ τοτὲ μὲν τελευτᾶν—ὃ δὴ ἀποθνῄσκειν καλοῦσι—τοτὲ δὲ πάλιν γίγνεσθαι, ἀπόλλυσθαι δʼ οὐδέποτε· δεῖν δὴ διὰ ταῦτα ὡς ὁσιώτατα διαβιῶναι τὸν βίον· οἷσιν γὰρ ἂν— Φερσεφόνα ποινὰν παλαιοῦ πένθεος δέξεται, εἰς τὸν ὕπερθεν ἅλιον κείνων ἐνάτῳ ἔτεϊ ἀνδιδοῖ ψυχὰς πάλιν, 81c ἐκ τᾶν βασιλῆες ἀγαυοὶ καὶ σθένει κραιπνοὶ σοφίᾳ τε μέγιστοι ἄνδρες αὔξοντʼ· ἐς δὲ τὸν λοιπὸν χρόνον ἥρωες ἁγνοὶ πρὸς ἀνθρώπων καλεῦνται. Pind. fr. 133 Bergk ἅτε οὖν ἡ ψυχὴ ἀθάνατός τε οὖσα καὶ πολλάκις γεγονυῖα, καὶ ἑωρακυῖα καὶ τὰ ἐνθάδε καὶ τὰ ἐν Ἅιδου καὶ πάντα χρήματα, οὐκ ἔστιν ὅτι οὐ μεμάθηκεν· ὥστε οὐδὲν θαυμαστὸν καὶ περὶ ἀρετῆς καὶ περὶ ἄλλων οἷόν τʼ εἶναι αὐτὴν ἀναμνησθῆναι, ἅ γε καὶ πρότερον ἠπίστατο. ἅτε γὰρ τῆς φύσεως ' None | 81a Men. Now does it seem to you to be a good argument, Socrates? Soc. It does not. Men. Can you explain how not? Soc. I can; for I have heard from wise men and women who told of things divine that— Men. What was it they said ? Soc. Something true, as I thought, and admirable. Men. What was it? And who were the speakers? Soc. They were certain priests and priestesses who have studied so as to be able to give a reasoned account of their ministry; and Pindar also'81b and many another poet of heavenly gifts. As to their words, they are these: mark now, if you judge them to be true. They say that the soul of man is immortal, and at one time comes to an end, which is called dying, and at another is born again, but never perishes. Consequently one ought to live all one’s life in the utmost holiness. For from whomsoever Persephone shall accept requital for ancient wrong, the souls of these she restores in the ninth year to the upper sun again; from them arise 81c glorious kings and men of splendid might and surpassing wisdom, and for all remaining time are they called holy heroes amongst mankind. Pind. Fr. 133 Bergk Seeing then that the soul is immortal and has been born many times, and has beheld all things both in this world and in the nether realms, she has acquired knowledge of all and everything; so that it is no wonder that she should be able to recollect all that she knew before about virtue and other things. For a ' None |
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19. Plato, Phaedo, None (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Iamblichus as Pythagorean/on Pythagoreanism • Iamblichus, as source for Pythagoreanism • Pythagoras, Pythagoreans • Pythagorean • Pythagorean Precepts (Aristoxenus) • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism xxv • Stobaeus, as source for Pythagoreanism • acusmata (Pythagorean)
Found in books: Eidinow and Kindt (2015), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Greek Religion, 221; Frede and Laks (2001), Traditions of Theology: Studies in Hellenistic Theology, its Background and Aftermath, 86; Long (2019), Immortality in Ancient Philosophy, 22, 178, 179, 180; Wolfsdorf (2020), Early Greek Ethics, 701; d'Hoine and Martijn (2017), All From One: A Guide to Proclus, 44
| 61d τὰ σκέλη ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν, καὶ καθεζόμενος οὕτως ἤδη τὰ λοιπὰ διελέγετο. ἤρετο οὖν αὐτὸν ὁ Κέβης : πῶς τοῦτο λέγεις, ὦ Σώκρατες, τὸ μὴ θεμιτὸν εἶναι ἑαυτὸν βιάζεσθαι, ἐθέλειν δ’ ἂν τῷ ἀποθνῄσκοντι τὸν φιλόσοφον ἕπεσθαι; unit="para"/τί δέ, ὦ Κέβης ; οὐκ ἀκηκόατε σύ τε καὶ Σιμμίας περὶ τῶν τοιούτων Φιλολάῳ συγγεγονότες; οὐδέν γε σαφές, ὦ Σώκρατες . ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ ἐγὼ ἐξ ἀκοῆς περὶ αὐτῶν λέγω: ἃ μὲν οὖν τυγχάνω ἀκηκοὼς φθόνος οὐδεὶς λέγειν. καὶ γὰρ ἴσως'62b καὶ γὰρ ἂν δόξειεν, ἔφη ὁ Σωκράτης, οὕτω γ’ εἶναι ἄλογον: οὐ μέντοι ἀλλ’ ἴσως γ’ ἔχει τινὰ λόγον. ὁ μὲν οὖν ἐν ἀπορρήτοις λεγόμενος περὶ αὐτῶν λόγος, ὡς ἔν τινι φρουρᾷ ἐσμεν οἱ ἄνθρωποι καὶ οὐ δεῖ δὴ ἑαυτὸν ἐκ ταύτης λύειν οὐδ’ ἀποδιδράσκειν, μέγας τέ τίς μοι φαίνεται καὶ οὐ ῥᾴδιος διιδεῖν: οὐ μέντοι ἀλλὰ τόδε γέ μοι δοκεῖ, ὦ Κέβης, εὖ λέγεσθαι, τὸ θεοὺς εἶναι ἡμῶν τοὺς ἐπιμελουμένους καὶ ἡμᾶς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἓν τῶν κτημάτων τοῖς θεοῖς εἶναι. ἢ σοὶ οὐ δοκεῖ οὕτως; ἔμοιγε, φησὶν ὁ Κέβης . 62c οὐκοῦν, ἦ δ’ ὅς, καὶ σὺ ἂν τῶν σαυτοῦ κτημάτων εἴ τι αὐτὸ ἑαυτὸ ἀποκτεινύοι, μὴ σημήναντός σου ὅτι βούλει αὐτὸ τεθνάναι, χαλεπαίνοις ἂν αὐτῷ καί, εἴ τινα ἔχοις τιμωρίαν, τιμωροῖο ἄν; πάνυ γ᾽, ἔφη. ' None | 61d And as he spoke he put his feet down on the ground and remained sitting in this way through the rest of the conversation.Then Cebes asked him: What do you mean by this, Socrates, that it is not permitted to take one’s life, but that the philosopher would desire to follow after the dying? How is this, Cebes? Have you and Simmias, who are pupils of Philolaus, not heard about such things? Nothing definite, Socrates. I myself speak of them only from hearsay; but I have no objection to telling what I have heard. And indeed it is perhaps especially fitting,'62b but perhaps there is some reason in it. Now the doctrine that is taught in secret about this matter, that we men are in a kind of prison and must not set ourselves free or run away, seems to me to be weighty and not easy to understand. But this at least, Cebes, I do believe is sound, that the gods are our guardians and that we men are one of the chattels of the gods. Do you not believe this? Yes, said Cebes, 62c I do. Well then, said he, if one of your chattels should kill itself when you had not indicated that you wished it to die, would you be angry with it and punish it if you could? Certainly, he replied. Then perhaps from this point of view it is not unreasonable to say that a man must not kill himself until god sends some necessity upon him, such as has now come upon me. That, said Cebes, seems sensible. But what you said just now, Socrates, that philosophers ought to be ready and willing to die, that seem ' None |
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20. Plato, Phaedrus, None (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Iamblichus as Pythagorean/on Pythagoreanism • Pythagoras and Pythagoreans • Pythagoras/Pythagorean/Pythagoreanism • Pythagorean pseudepigrapha • Pythagorean source • Pythagorean/Neopythagorean • Pythagoreanism
Found in books: Birnbaum and Dillon (2020), Philo of Alexandria: On the Life of Abraham: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary, 151; Blidstein (2017), Purity Community and Ritual in Early Christian Literature, 33; Eidinow and Kindt (2015), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Greek Religion, 218; Erler et al. (2021), Authority and Authoritative Texts in the Platonist Tradition, 58; Fowler (2014), Plato in the Third Sophistic, 265; Mikalson (2010), Greek Popular Religion in Greek Philosophy, 200; Wilson (2012), The Sentences of Sextus, 402; d'Hoine and Martijn (2017), All From One: A Guide to Proclus, 44
| 229a ΣΩ. δεῦρʼ ἐκτραπόμενοι κατὰ τὸν Ἰλισὸν ἴωμεν, εἶτα ὅπου ἂν δόξῃ ἐν ἡσυχίᾳ καθιζησόμεθα. ΦΑΙ. εἰς καιρόν, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἀνυπόδητος ὢν ἔτυχον· σὺ μὲν γὰρ δὴ ἀεί. ῥᾷστον οὖν ἡμῖν κατὰ τὸ ὑδάτιον βρέχουσι τοὺς πόδας ἰέναι, καὶ οὐκ ἀηδές, ἄλλως τε καὶ τήνδε τὴν ὥραν τοῦ ἔτους τε καὶ τῆς ἡμέρας. ΣΩ. πρόαγε δή, καὶ σκόπει ἅμα ὅπου καθιζησόμεθα. ΦΑΙ. ὁρᾷς οὖν ἐκείνην τὴν ὑψηλοτάτην πλάτανον; ΣΩ. τί μήν;' 245a τῶν παρόντων κακῶν εὑρομένη. ΣΩ. τρίτη δὲ ἀπὸ Μουσῶν κατοκωχή τε καὶ μανία, λαβοῦσα ἁπαλὴν καὶ ἄβατον ψυχήν, ἐγείρουσα καὶ ἐκβακχεύουσα κατά τε ᾠδὰς καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἄλλην ποίησιν, μυρία τῶν παλαιῶν ἔργα κοσμοῦσα τοὺς ἐπιγιγνομένους παιδεύει· ὃς δʼ ἂν ἄνευ μανίας Μουσῶν ἐπὶ ποιητικὰς θύρας ἀφίκηται, πεισθεὶς ὡς ἄρα ἐκ τέχνης ἱκανὸς ποιητὴς ἐσόμενος, ἀτελὴς αὐτός τε καὶ ἡ ποίησις ὑπὸ τῆς τῶν μαινομένων ἡ τοῦ σωφρονοῦντος ἠφανίσθη. 248a ΣΩ. ' None | 229a Socrates. Let us turn aside here and go along the Ilissus ; then we can sit down quietly wherever we please. Phaedrus. I am fortunate, it seems, in being barefoot; you are so always. It is easiest then for us to go along the brook with our feet in the water, and it is not unpleasant, especially at this time of the year and the day. Socrates. Lead on then, and look out for a good place where we may sit. Phaedrus. Do you see that very tall plane tree? Socrates. What of it?' 245a ills is found. Socrates. And a third kind of possession and madness comes from the Muses. This takes hold upon a gentle and pure soul, arouses it and inspires it to songs and other poetry, and thus by adorning countless deeds of the ancients educates later generations. But he who without the divine madness comes to the doors of the Muses, confident that he will be a good poet by art, meets with no success, and the poetry of the sane man vanishes into nothingness before that of the inspired madmen. 248a that which best follows after God and is most like him, raises the head of the charioteer up into the outer region and is carried round in the revolution, troubled by the horses and hardly beholding the realities; and another sometimes rises and sometimes sinks, and, because its horses are unruly, it sees some things and fails to see others. The other souls follow after, all yearning for the upper region but unable to reach it, and are carried round beneath, ' None |
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21. Plato, Republic, None (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Aristotle, relationship to Pythagorean Precepts • Aristoxenus, as a Pythagorean • Diogenes Laertius, as source for Pythagoreanism • Iamblichus, as source for Pythagoreanism • Neo-Pythagorean • Neo-Pythagorean, ὁμοούσιος • Plato, on Pythagoreanism • Plato, relationship to Pythagorean Precepts • Porphyry, as source for Pythagoreanism • Pythagorean • Pythagorean Precepts (Aristoxenus) • Pythagorean Precepts (Aristoxenus), rationality of • Pythagorean Precepts (Aristoxenus), sources and influences • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism xxv • Pythagoreans • Pythagoreans, writings of • Wehrli, F., interpretation of the Pythagorean Precepts • acusmata (Pythagorean) • pseudo-Pythagorean writings
Found in books: Alvarez (2018), The Derveni Papyrus: Unearthing Ancient Mysteries, 32; Edmonds (2004), Myths of the Underworld Journey: Plato, Aristophanes, and the ‘Orphic’ Gold Tablets, 97; Eidinow and Kindt (2015), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Greek Religion, 561; Huffman (2019), A History of Pythagoreanism, 86, 99; Lloyd (1989), The Revolutions of Wisdom: Studies in the Claims and Practice of Ancient Greek Science, 241; Novenson (2020), Monotheism and Christology in Greco-Roman Antiquity, 272; Pevarello (2013), The Sentences of Sextus and the Origins of Christian Ascetiscism. 194; Rasimus (2009), Paradise Reconsidered in Gnostic Mythmaking: Rethinking Sethianism in Light of the Ophite Evidence, 44; Wardy and Warren (2018), Authors and Authorities in Ancient Philosophy, 163, 324; Widdicombe (2000), The Fatherhood of God from Origen to Athanasius, 35, 39; Wilson (2012), The Sentences of Sextus, 402; Wolfsdorf (2020), Early Greek Ethics, 700, 703
| 517b προσαπτέον ἅπασαν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν λεγομένοις, τὴν μὲν διʼ ὄψεως φαινομένην ἕδραν τῇ τοῦ δεσμωτηρίου οἰκήσει ἀφομοιοῦντα, τὸ δὲ τοῦ πυρὸς ἐν αὐτῇ φῶς τῇ τοῦ ἡλίου δυνάμει· τὴν δὲ ἄνω ἀνάβασιν καὶ θέαν τῶν ἄνω τὴν εἰς τὸν νοητὸν τόπον τῆς ψυχῆς ἄνοδον τιθεὶς οὐχ ἁμαρτήσῃ τῆς γʼ ἐμῆς ἐλπίδος, ἐπειδὴ ταύτης ἐπιθυμεῖς ἀκούειν. θεὸς δέ που οἶδεν εἰ ἀληθὴς οὖσα τυγχάνει. τὰ δʼ οὖν ἐμοὶ φαινόμενα οὕτω φαίνεται, ἐν τῷ γνωστῷ τελευταία ἡ τοῦ 530d ὡς ἐγᾦμαι. τὰ μὲν οὖν πάντα ἴσως ὅστις σοφὸς ἕξει εἰπεῖν· ἃ δὲ καὶ ἡμῖν προφανῆ, δύο. 537c τά τε χύδην μαθήματα παισὶν ἐν τῇ παιδείᾳ γενόμενα τούτοις συνακτέον εἰς σύνοψιν οἰκειότητός τε ἀλλήλων τῶν μαθημάτων καὶ τῆς τοῦ ὄντος φύσεως.' '600b συνουσίᾳ καὶ τοῖς ὑστέροις ὁδόν τινα παρέδοσαν βίου Ὁμηρικήν, ὥσπερ Πυθαγόρας αὐτός τε διαφερόντως ἐπὶ τούτῳ ἠγαπήθη, καὶ οἱ ὕστεροι ἔτι καὶ νῦν Πυθαγόρειον τρόπον ἐπονομάζοντες τοῦ βίου διαφανεῖς πῃ δοκοῦσιν εἶναι ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις; 617d ἐν μέρει ἑκατέρας ἑκατέρᾳ τῇ χειρὶ ἐφάπτεσθαι. σφᾶς οὖν, ἐπειδὴ ἀφικέσθαι, εὐθὺς δεῖν ἰέναι πρὸς τὴν Λάχεσιν. προφήτην οὖν τινα σφᾶς πρῶτον μὲν ἐν τάξει διαστῆσαι, ἔπειτα λαβόντα ἐκ τῶν τῆς Λαχέσεως γονάτων κλήρους τε καὶ βίων παραδείγματα, ἀναβάντα ἐπί τι βῆμα ὑψηλὸν εἰπεῖν—'' None | 509b the similitude of it still further in this way. How? The sun, I presume you will say, not only furnishes to visibles the power of visibility but it also provides for their generation and growth and nurture though it is not itself generation. of course not. In like manner, then, you are to say that the objects of knowledge not only receive from the presence of the good their being known, but their very existence and essence is derived to them from it, though the good itself is not essence but still transcends essence in dignity and surpassing power.'517b likening the region revealed through sight to the habitation of the prison, and the light of the fire in it to the power of the sun. And if you assume that the ascent and the contemplation of the things above is the soul’s ascension to the intelligible region, you will not miss my surmise, since that is what you desire to hear. But God knows whether it is true. But, at any rate, my dream as it appears to me is that in the region of the known the last thing to be seen and hardly seen is the idea of good, 530d according to my opinion. To enumerate them all will perhaps be the task of a wise man, but even to us two of them are apparent.” “What are they?” “In addition to astronomy, its counterpart, I replied.” “What is that?” “We may venture to suppose,” I said, “that as the eyes are framed for astronomy so the ears are framed, for the movements of harmony; and these are in some sort kindred sciences, as the Pythagoreans affirm and we admit, do we not, Glaucon?” “We do,” he said. 537c and they will be required to gather the studies which they disconnectedly pursued as children in their former education into a comprehensive survey of their affinities with one another and with the nature of things.” “That, at any rate, he said, is the only instruction that abides with those who receive it.” “And it is also,” said I, “the chief test of the dialectical nature and its opposite. For he who can view things in their connection is a dialectician; he who cannot, is not.” “I concur,” he said. “With these qualities in mind,” I said, 600a is there any tradition of a war in Homer’s time that was well conducted by his command or counsel? None. Well, then, as might be expected of a man wise in practical affairs, are many and ingenious inventions for the arts and business of life reported of Homer as they are of Thales the Milesian and Anacharsis the Scythian? Nothing whatever of the sort. Well, then, if no public service is credited to him, is Homer reported while he lived to have been a guide in education to men who took pleasure in associating with him 600b and transmitted to posterity a certain Homeric way of life just as Pythagoras was himself especially honored for this, and his successors, even to this day, denominating a certain way of life the Pythagorean, are distinguished among their contemporaries? No, nothing of this sort either is reported; for Creophylos, Socrates, the friend of Homer, would perhaps be even more ridiculous than his name as a representative of Homeric culture and education, if what is said about Homer is true. For the tradition is that Homer was completely neglected in his own lifetime by that friend of the flesh. 617d alternately with either hand lent a hand to each. ' None |
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22. Plato, Timaeus, None (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagorean mathematics/mathematical • Pythagorean, Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism xxv, and mathematics of music • Pythagoreanism xxv, and music as therapy • Pythagoreans • cosmology, Pythagorean • music, Pythagorean mathematics of
Found in books: Dillon and Timotin (2015), Platonic Theories of Prayer, 195; Horkey (2019), Cosmos in the Ancient World, 280; Novenson (2020), Monotheism and Christology in Greco-Roman Antiquity, 272; Wolfsdorf (2020), Early Greek Ethics, 618; d'Hoine and Martijn (2017), All From One: A Guide to Proclus, 282; Černušková, Kovacs and Plátová (2016), Clement’s Biblical Exegesis: Proceedings of the Second Colloquium on Clement of Alexandria , 288
| 28c δʼ αἰσθητά, δόξῃ περιληπτὰ μετʼ αἰσθήσεως, γιγνόμενα καὶ γεννητὰ ἐφάνη. τῷ δʼ αὖ γενομένῳ φαμὲν ὑπʼ αἰτίου τινὸς ἀνάγκην εἶναι γενέσθαι. ΤΙ. τὸν μὲν οὖν ποιητὴν καὶ πατέρα τοῦδε τοῦ παντὸς εὑρεῖν τε ἔργον καὶ εὑρόντα εἰς πάντας ἀδύνατον λέγειν· τόδε δʼ οὖν πάλιν ἐπισκεπτέον περὶ αὐτοῦ, πρὸς πότερον τῶν παραδειγμάτων ὁ τεκταινόμενος αὐτὸν' 30b λογισάμενος οὖν ηὕρισκεν ἐκ τῶν κατὰ φύσιν ὁρατῶν οὐδὲν ἀνόητον τοῦ νοῦν ἔχοντος ὅλον ὅλου κάλλιον ἔσεσθαί ποτε ἔργον, νοῦν δʼ αὖ χωρὶς ψυχῆς ἀδύνατον παραγενέσθαι τῳ. διὰ δὴ τὸν λογισμὸν τόνδε νοῦν μὲν ἐν ψυχῇ, ψυχὴν δʼ ἐν σώματι συνιστὰς τὸ πᾶν συνετεκταίνετο, ὅπως ὅτι κάλλιστον εἴη κατὰ φύσιν ἄριστόν τε ἔργον ἀπειργασμένος. οὕτως οὖν δὴ κατὰ λόγον τὸν εἰκότα δεῖ λέγειν τόνδε τὸν κόσμον ζῷον ἔμψυχον ἔννουν τε τῇ ἀληθείᾳ διὰ τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ 35b μειγνὺς δὲ μετὰ τῆς οὐσίας καὶ ἐκ τριῶν ποιησάμενος ἕν, πάλιν ὅλον τοῦτο μοίρας ὅσας προσῆκεν διένειμεν, ἑκάστην δὲ ἔκ τε ταὐτοῦ καὶ θατέρου καὶ τῆς οὐσίας μεμειγμένην. ἤρχετο δὲ διαιρεῖν ὧδε. μίαν ἀφεῖλεν τὸ πρῶτον ἀπὸ παντὸς μοῖραν, μετὰ δὲ ταύτην ἀφῄρει διπλασίαν ταύτης, τὴν δʼ αὖ τρίτην ἡμιολίαν μὲν τῆς δευτέρας, τριπλασίαν δὲ τῆς πρώτης, τετάρτην δὲ τῆς δευτέρας διπλῆν, πέμπτην δὲ τριπλῆν τῆς ' None | 28c and things sensible, being apprehensible by opinion with the aid of sensation, come into existence, as we saw, and are generated. And that which has come into existence must necessarily, as we say, have come into existence by reason of some Cause. Tim. Now to discover the Maker and Father of this Universe were a task indeed; and having discovered Him, to declare Him unto all men were a thing impossible. However, let us return and inquire further concerning the Cosmos,—after which of the Models did its Architect construct it?' 30b none that is irrational will be fairer, comparing wholes with wholes, than the rational; and further, that reason cannot possibly belong to any apart from Soul. So because of this reflection He constructed reason within soul and soul within body as He fashioned the All, that so the work He was executing might be of its nature most fair and most good. Thus, then, in accordance with the likely account, we must declare that this Cosmos has verily come into existence as a Living Creature endowed with soul and reason owing to the providence of God. 35b And when with the aid of Being He had mixed them, and had made of them one out of three, straightway He began to distribute the whole thereof into so many portions as was meet; and each portion was a mixture of the Same, of the Other, and of Being. And He began making the division thus: First He took one portion from the whole; then He took a portion double of this; then a third portion, half as much again as the second portion, that is, three times as much as the first; he fourth portion He took was twice as much as the second; the fifth three times as much as the third; ' None |
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23. Sophocles, Electra, 62-64 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans • Pythagoras, pythagoreanism • Pythagorean quietude, the katabasis of Pythagoras
Found in books: Iribarren and Koning (2022), Hesiod and the Beginnings of Greek Philosophy, 92; Tor (2017), Mortal and Divine in Early Greek Epistemology, 276, 277
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62 I find true life and win renown? No word is ill-omened, I trust, if it yields gain. For often before now I have seen clever men die in false report; then, when they return home, they are held in greater honor.'63 I find true life and win renown? No word is ill-omened, I trust, if it yields gain. For often before now I have seen clever men die in false report; then, when they return home, they are held in greater honor. ' None |
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24. Xenophon, The Education of Cyrus, 1.2.4 (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Aristotle, relationship to Pythagorean Precepts • Plato, relationship to Pythagorean Precepts • Pythagorean Precepts (Aristoxenus) • Pythagorean Precepts (Aristoxenus), rationality of • Pythagorean Precepts (Aristoxenus), sources and influences • precepts, in the Pythagorean tradition
Found in books: Huffman (2019), A History of Pythagoreanism, 70; Wolfsdorf (2020), Early Greek Ethics, 703
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1.2.4 διῄρηται δὲ αὕτη ἡ ἀγορὰ ἡ περὶ τὰ ἀρχεῖα τέτταρα μέρη· τούτων δʼ ἔστιν ἓν μὲν παισίν, ἓν δὲ ἐφήβοις, ἄλλο τελείοις ἀνδράσιν, ἄλλο τοῖς ὑπὲρ τὰ στρατεύσιμα ἔτη γεγονόσι. νόμῳ δʼ εἰς τὰς ἑαυτῶν χώρας ἕκαστοι τούτων πάρεισιν, οἱ μὲν παῖδες ἅμα τῇ ἡμέρᾳ καὶ οἱ τέλειοι ἄνδρες, οἱ δὲ γεραίτεροι ἡνίκʼ ἂν ἑκάστῳ προχωρῇ, πλὴν ἐν ταῖς τεταγμέναις ἡμέραις, ἐν αἷς αὐτοὺς δεῖ παρεῖναι. οἱ δὲ ἔφηβοι καὶ κοιμῶνται περὶ τὰ ἀρχεῖα σὺν τοῖς γυμνητικοῖς ὅπλοις πλὴν τῶν γεγαμηκότων· οὗτοι δὲ οὔτε ἐπιζητοῦνται, ἢν μὴ προρρηθῇ παρεῖναι, οὔτε πολλάκις ἀπεῖναι καλόν.'' None | sup>
1.2.4 '' None |
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25. Xenophon, Memoirs, 1.1.9, 1.3.3, 4.7.6 (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras and Pythagoreans, and Apollo • Pythagoras and Pythagoreans, and divination • Pythagoras and Pythagoreans, on prayer • Pythagoras and Pythagoreans, on sacrifice • Pythagoreans • symbola, Pythagorean
Found in books: Horkey (2019), Cosmos in the Ancient World, 28; Lloyd (1989), The Revolutions of Wisdom: Studies in the Claims and Practice of Ancient Greek Science, 242; Mikalson (2010), Greek Popular Religion in Greek Philosophy, 112, 177, 179; Petrovic and Petrovic (2016), Inner Purity and Pollution in Greek Religion, 65
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1.1.9 τοὺς δὲ μηδὲν τῶν τοιούτων οἰομένους εἶναι δαιμόνιον, ἀλλὰ πάντα τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης γνώμης, δαιμονᾶν ἔφη· δαιμονᾶν δὲ καὶ τοὺς μαντευομένους ἃ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἔδωκαν οἱ θεοὶ μαθοῦσι διακρίνειν (οἷον εἴ τις ἐπερωτῴη πότερον ἐπιστάμενον ἡνιοχεῖν ἐπὶ ζεῦγος λαβεῖν κρεῖττον ἢ μὴ ἐπιστάμενον, ἢ πότερον ἐπιστάμενον κυβερνᾶν ἐπὶ τὴν ναῦν κρεῖττον λαβεῖν ἢ μὴ ἐπιστάμενον), ἢ ἃ ἔξεστιν ἀριθμήσαντας ἢ μετρήσαντας ἢ στήσαντας εἰδέναι· τοὺς τὰ τοιαῦτα παρὰ τῶν θεῶν πυνθανομένους ἀθέμιτα ποιεῖν ἡγεῖτο. ἔφη δὲ δεῖν, ἃ μὲν μαθόντας ποιεῖν ἔδωκαν οἱ θεοί, μανθάνειν, ἃ δὲ μὴ δῆλα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐστί, πειρᾶσθαι διὰ μαντικῆς παρὰ τῶν θεῶν πυνθάνεσθαι· τοὺς θεοὺς γὰρ οἷς ἂν ὦσιν ἵλεῳ σημαίνειν.
1.3.3 θυσίας δὲ θύων μικρὰς ἀπὸ μικρῶν οὐδὲν ἡγεῖτο μειοῦσθαι τῶν ἀπὸ πολλῶν καὶ μεγάλων πολλὰ καὶ μεγάλα θυόντων. οὔτε γὰρ τοῖς θεοῖς ἔφη καλῶς ἔχειν, εἰ ταῖς μεγάλαις θυσίαις μᾶλλον ἢ ταῖς μικραῖς ἔχαιρον· πολλάκις γὰρ ἂν αὐτοῖς τὰ παρὰ τῶν πονηρῶν μᾶλλον ἢ τὰ παρὰ τῶν χρηστῶν εἶναι κεχαρισμένα· οὔτʼ ἂν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἄξιον εἶναι ζῆν, εἰ τὰ παρὰ τῶν πονηρῶν μᾶλλον ἦν κεχαρισμένα τοῖς θεοῖς ἢ τὰ παρὰ τῶν χρηστῶν· ἀλλʼ ἐνόμιζε τοὺς θεοὺς ταῖς παρὰ τῶν εὐσεβεστάτων τιμαῖς μάλιστα χαίρειν. ἐπαινέτης δʼ ἦν καὶ τοῦ ἔπους τούτου· καδδύναμιν δʼ ἔρδειν ἱέρʼ ἀθανάτοισι θεοῖσι, Hes. WD 336 καὶ πρὸς φίλους δὲ καὶ ξένους καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἄλλην δίαιταν καλὴν ἔφη παραίνεσιν εἶναι τὴν καδδύναμιν δʼ ἔρδειν.
4.7.6 ὅλως δὲ τῶν οὐρανίων, ᾗ ἕκαστα ὁ θεὸς μηχανᾶται, φροντιστὴν γίγνεσθαι ἀπέτρεπεν· οὔτε γὰρ εὑρετὰ ἀνθρώποις αὐτὰ ἐνόμιζεν εἶναι οὔτε χαρίζεσθαι θεοῖς ἂν ἡγεῖτο τὸν ζητοῦντα ἃ ἐκεῖνοι σαφηνίσαι οὐκ ἐβουλήθησαν. κινδυνεῦσαι δʼ ἂν ἔφη καὶ παραφρονῆσαι τὸν ταῦτα μεριμνῶντα οὐδὲν ἧττον ἢ Ἀναξαγόρας παρεφρόνησεν ὁ μέγιστον φρονήσας ἐπὶ τῷ τὰς τῶν θεῶν μηχανὰς ἐξηγεῖσθαι.'' None | sup>
1.1.9 If any man thinks that these matters are wholly within the grasp of the human mind and nothing in them is beyond our reason, that man, he said, is irrational. But it is no less irrational to seek the guidance of heaven in matters which men are permitted by the gods to decide for themselves by study: to ask, for instance, Is it better to get an experienced coachman to drive my carriage or a man without experience? Cyropaedia I. vi. 6. Is it better to get an experienced seaman to steer my ship or a man without experience? So too with what we may know by reckoning, measurement or weighing. To put such questions to the gods seemed to his mind profane. In short, what the gods have granted us to do by help of learning, we must learn; what is hidden from mortals we should try to find out from the gods by divination: for to him that is in their grace the gods grant a sign.
1.3.3 Though his sacrifices were humble, according to his means, he thought himself not a whit inferior to those who made frequent and magnificent sacrifices out of great possessions. The gods (he said) could not well delight more in great offerings than in small — for in that case must the gifts of the wicked often have found more favour in their sight than the gifts of the upright — and man would not find life worth having, if the gifts of the wicked were received with more favour by the gods than the gifts of the upright. No, the greater the piety of the giver, the greater (he thought) was the delight of the gods in the gift. He would quote with approval the line: According to thy power render sacrifice to the immortal gods, Hes. WD 336 and he would add that in our treatment of friends and strangers, and in all our behaviour, it is a noble principle to render according to our power.
4.7.6 In general, with regard to the phenomena of the heavens, he deprecated curiosity to learn how the deity contrives them: he held that their secrets could not be discovered by man, and believed that any attempt to search out what the gods had not chosen to reveal must be displeasing to them. He said that he who meddles with these matters runs the risk of losing his sanity as completely as Anaxagoras, who took an insane pride in his explanation of the divine machinery. '' None |
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26. None, None, nan (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras and Pythagoreans, on prayer • Pythagoreanism
Found in books: Mikalson (2010), Greek Popular Religion in Greek Philosophy, 177; Wilson (2012), The Sentences of Sextus, 90
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27. None, None, nan (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Aristotle, relationship to Pythagorean Precepts • Plato, relationship to Pythagorean Precepts • Pythagorean Precepts (Aristoxenus) • Pythagorean Precepts (Aristoxenus), rationality of • Pythagorean Precepts (Aristoxenus), sources and influences • Wehrli, F., interpretation of the Pythagorean Precepts
Found in books: Huffman (2019), A History of Pythagoreanism, 98; Wolfsdorf (2020), Early Greek Ethics, 703
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28. None, None, nan (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras / (neo-)pythagoreanism • Pythagorean
Found in books: Edmonds (2004), Myths of the Underworld Journey: Plato, Aristophanes, and the ‘Orphic’ Gold Tablets, 44; deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 64, 226
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29. None, None, nan (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras, pythagoreanism • Pythagoreans
Found in books: Horkey (2019), Cosmos in the Ancient World, 73; Iribarren and Koning (2022), Hesiod and the Beginnings of Greek Philosophy, 114
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30. None, None, nan (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Empedocles, and Pythagoreanism • Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans • Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans, and metempsychosis • Pythagoras, Pythagoreans • Pythagoras, pythagoreanism • Pythagorean • Pythagorean quietude • Pythagoreanism xxv
Found in books: Gazis and Hooper (2021), Aspects of Death and the Afterlife in Greek Literature, 82; Iribarren and Koning (2022), Hesiod and the Beginnings of Greek Philosophy, 96, 300; Tor (2017), Mortal and Divine in Early Greek Epistemology, 151, 161, 238, 275, 323; Waldner et al. (2016), Burial Rituals, Ideas of Afterlife, and the Individual in the Hellenistic World and the Roman Empire, 36, 44; Wolfsdorf (2020), Early Greek Ethics, 61
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31. None, None, nan (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Diogenes Laertius, as source for Pythagoreanism • Iamblichus, as source for Pythagoreanism • Porphyry, as source for Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism xxv • acusmata (Pythagorean) • symbola, Pythagorean
Found in books: Petrovic and Petrovic (2016), Inner Purity and Pollution in Greek Religion, 57; Wolfsdorf (2020), Early Greek Ethics, 700
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32. None, None, nan (5th cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras, pythagoreanism • Pythagorean Precepts (Aristoxenus) • Pythagorean Precepts (Aristoxenus), ethical principles of • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism xxv, and mathematics of music • Pythagoreans • music, Pythagorean mathematics of • music, and Pythagorean Precepts on desire and procreation
Found in books: Horkey (2019), Cosmos in the Ancient World, 33; Iribarren and Koning (2022), Hesiod and the Beginnings of Greek Philosophy, 114; Seaford (2018), Tragedy, Ritual and Money in Ancient Greece: Selected Essays, 135; Wolfsdorf (2020), Early Greek Ethics, 617, 708
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33. None, None, nan (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras/Pythagorean/Pythagoreanism • Pythagorean • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreans
Found in books: Despotis and Lohr (2022), Religious and Philosophical Conversion in the Ancient Mediterranean Traditions, 331; Fowler (2014), Plato in the Third Sophistic, 134, 159; Pevarello (2013), The Sentences of Sextus and the Origins of Christian Ascetiscism. 176; Wilson (2012), The Sentences of Sextus, 81
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34. None, None, nan (4th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Callicratidas (Pythagorean) • Clinias (Pythagorean) • Metopus (Pythagorean) • Pseudo-Pythagorean corpus • Pythagoras, Pythagoreans • Theages (Pythagorean)
Found in books: Erler et al. (2021), Authority and Authoritative Texts in the Platonist Tradition, 119; Long (2006), From Epicurus to Epictetus Studies in Hellenistic and Roman Philosophy, 89, 92
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35. None, None, nan (4th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoreanism • acusmata (Pythagorean) • acusmata (Pythagorean), religious precepts • daimones, in Pythagoreanism • fire, in Pythagorean acusmata • funerary practices, Pythagorean • heroes, in Pythagoreanism • natural phenomena, in Pythagorean acusmata • religion, in Pythagorean acusmata
Found in books: Stephens and Winkler (1995), Ancient Greek Novels: The Fragments: Introduction, Text, Translation, and Commentary, 114; Wolfsdorf (2020), Early Greek Ethics, 10
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36. None, None, nan (4th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras/Pythagoreans • Pythagorean • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism xxv, metempsychosis • cosmology, Pythagorean • metempsychosis (transmigration of soul, reincarnation), Pythagoreanism
Found in books: Edmonds (2004), Myths of the Underworld Journey: Plato, Aristophanes, and the ‘Orphic’ Gold Tablets, 96; Eidinow and Kindt (2015), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Greek Religion, 561; Horkey (2019), Cosmos in the Ancient World, 37; Inwood and Warren (2020), Body and Soul in Hellenistic Philosophy, 178; Joosse (2021), Olympiodorus of Alexandria: Exegete, Teacher, Platonic Philosopher, 221; Wolfsdorf (2020), Early Greek Ethics, 562; van der EIjk (2005), Medicine and Philosophy in Classical Antiquity: Doctors and Philosophers on Nature, Soul, Health and Disease, 208
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37. None, None, nan (4th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagor(as)(eans) • Pythagoreanism/Pythagoreans/Pythagorean
Found in books: Frey and Levison (2014), The Holy Spirit, Inspiration, and the Cultures of Antiquity Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 45; Geljon and Runia (2019), Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary, 121
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38. None, None, nan (4th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans • Pythagoreanism xxv, and definitional inquiry • Pythagoreans • cosmology, Pythagorean
Found in books: Horkey (2019), Cosmos in the Ancient World, 82; Lloyd (1989), The Revolutions of Wisdom: Studies in the Claims and Practice of Ancient Greek Science, 275; Tor (2017), Mortal and Divine in Early Greek Epistemology, 55; Wolfsdorf (2020), Early Greek Ethics, 189
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39. None, None, nan (4th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras and Pythagoreans, on athletic festivals • music, means of purification of the soul in Pythagoreanism • symbola, Pythagorean
Found in books: Mikalson (2010), Greek Popular Religion in Greek Philosophy, 86; Petrovic and Petrovic (2016), Inner Purity and Pollution in Greek Religion, 58
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40. None, None, nan (4th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoreanism xxv, and mathematics of music • Pythagoreans • music, Pythagorean mathematics of
Found in books: Motta and Petrucci (2022), Isagogical Crossroads from the Early Imperial Age to the End of Antiquity, 185; Wolfsdorf (2020), Early Greek Ethics, 614
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41. None, None, nan (4th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagorean/Neopythagorean • Pythagoreanism xxv, and music as therapy
Found in books: Blidstein (2017), Purity Community and Ritual in Early Christian Literature, 31; Wolfsdorf (2020), Early Greek Ethics, 619
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42. None, None, nan (3rd cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Plato, relationship to Pythagorean Precepts • Pythagoras, pythagoreanism • Pythagorean Precepts (Aristoxenus) • Pythagorean Precepts (Aristoxenus), vs. other evidence on Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism xxv, and mathematics of music • Pythagoreanism xxv, and the polis • Pythagoreans • music, Pythagorean mathematics of • numbers in Pythagoreanism • polis, the, and Pythagoreanism
Found in books: Horkey (2019), Cosmos in the Ancient World, 31; Iribarren and Koning (2022), Hesiod and the Beginnings of Greek Philosophy, 114; Lloyd (1989), The Revolutions of Wisdom: Studies in the Claims and Practice of Ancient Greek Science, 243; Motta and Petrucci (2022), Isagogical Crossroads from the Early Imperial Age to the End of Antiquity, 190; Wolfsdorf (2020), Early Greek Ethics, 621, 710
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43. Cicero, De Finibus, 5.87 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras, Pythagoreans • Pythagoreans, division of mathematici and acousmati • Pythagoreans, writings of
Found in books: Hoenig (2018), Plato's Timaeus and the Latin Tradition, 47; Wardy and Warren (2018), Authors and Authorities in Ancient Philosophy, 164
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5.87 \xa0On this your cousin and\xa0I are agreed. Hence what we have to consider is this, can the systems of the philosophers give us happiness? They certainly profess to do so. Whether it not so, why did Plato travel through Egypt to learn arithmetic and astronomy from barbarian priests? Why did he later visit Archytas at Tarentum, or the other Pythagoreans, Echecrates, Timaeus and Arion, at Locri, intending to append to his picture of Socrates an account of the Pythagorean system and to extend his studies into those branches which Socrates repudiated? Why did Pythagoras himself scour Egypt and visit the Persian magi? why did he travel on foot through those vast barbarian lands and sail across those many seas? Why did Democritus do the same? It is related of Democritus (whether truly or falsely we are not concerned to inquire) that he deprived himself of eyesight; and it is certain that in order that his mind should be distracted as little as possible from reflection, he neglected his paternal estate and left his land uncultivated, engrossed in the search for what else but happiness? Even if he supposed happiness to consist in knowledge, still he designed that his study of natural philosophy should bring him cheerfulness of mind; since that is his conception of the Chief Good, which he entitles euthumia, or often athambia, that is freedom from alarm. <'' None |
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44. Cicero, On The Ends of Good And Evil, 5.87 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Brontinus (Pythagorean) • Bryson (Pythagorean) • Butherus (Pythagorean) • Charondas (Pythagorean) • Clinias (Pythagorean) • Criton (Pythagorean) • Dios (Pythagorean) • Eccelus (Pythagorean) • Ecphantus (Pythagorean) • Euryphamus (Pythagorean) • Eurytus (Pythagorean) • Metopus (Pythagorean) • Ocellus (Pythagorean) • Onatas (Pythagorean) • Pseudo-Pythagorean corpus • Pythagoras, Pythagoreans • Pythagorean doctrine • Pythagorean source • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreans • Pythagoreans, division of mathematici and acousmati • Pythagoreans, writings of • Sthenidas (Pythagorean) • Zaleucus (Pythagorean)
Found in books: Erler et al. (2021), Authority and Authoritative Texts in the Platonist Tradition, 58, 110, 123; Hoenig (2018), Plato's Timaeus and the Latin Tradition, 47; Wardy and Warren (2018), Authors and Authorities in Ancient Philosophy, 164
sup>
5.87 quare hoc hoc atque hoc Non. videndum est, possitne nobis hoc ratio philosophorum dare. pollicetur certe. nisi enim id faceret, cur Plato Aegyptum peragravit, ut a sacerdotibus barbaris numeros et caelestia acciperet? cur post Tarentum ad Archytam? cur ad reliquos Pythagoreos, Echecratem, Timaeum, Arionem, Locros, ut, cum Socratem expressisset, adiungeret Pythagoreorum disciplinam eaque, quae Socrates repudiabat, addisceret? cur ipse Pythagoras et Aegyptum lustravit et Persarum magos adiit? cur tantas regiones barbarorum pedibus obiit, tot maria transmisit? cur haec eadem Democritus? qui —vere falsone, quaerere mittimus quaerere mittimus Se. quereremus BER queremus V quae- rere nolumus C.F.W. Mue. —dicitur oculis se se oculis BE privasse; privavisse R certe, ut quam minime animus a cogitationibus abduceretur, patrimonium neglexit, agros deseruit incultos, quid quaerens aliud nisi vitam beatam? beatam vitam R quam si etiam in rerum cognitione ponebat, tamen ex illa investigatione naturae consequi volebat, bono ut esset animo. id enim ille id enim ille R ideo enim ille BE id ille V id est enim illi summum bonum; eu)qumi/an cet. coni. Mdv. summum bonum eu)qumi/an et saepe a)qambi/an appellat, id est animum terrore liberum.'' None | sup>
5.87 \xa0On this your cousin and\xa0I are agreed. Hence what we have to consider is this, can the systems of the philosophers give us happiness? They certainly profess to do so. Whether it not so, why did Plato travel through Egypt to learn arithmetic and astronomy from barbarian priests? Why did he later visit Archytas at Tarentum, or the other Pythagoreans, Echecrates, Timaeus and Arion, at Locri, intending to append to his picture of Socrates an account of the Pythagorean system and to extend his studies into those branches which Socrates repudiated? Why did Pythagoras himself scour Egypt and visit the Persian magi? why did he travel on foot through those vast barbarian lands and sail across those many seas? Why did Democritus do the same? It is related of Democritus (whether truly or falsely we are not concerned to inquire) that he deprived himself of eyesight; and it is certain that in order that his mind should be distracted as little as possible from reflection, he neglected his paternal estate and left his land uncultivated, engrossed in the search for what else but happiness? Even if he supposed happiness to consist in knowledge, still he designed that his study of natural philosophy should bring him cheerfulness of mind; since that is his conception of the Chief Good, which he entitles euthumia, or often athambia, that is freedom from alarm. <'' None |
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45. Cicero, On The Nature of The Gods, 1.30-1.33, 1.36, 1.39, 1.41, 2.95 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras / (neo-)pythagoreanism • Pythagoras, Pythagoreans • Pythagorean • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism,
Found in books: Atkins (2021), The Cambridge Companion to Cicero's Philosophy 125; Frede and Laks (2001), Traditions of Theology: Studies in Hellenistic Theology, its Background and Aftermath, 86; Long (2006), From Epicurus to Epictetus Studies in Hellenistic and Roman Philosophy, 292; Long (2019), Immortality in Ancient Philosophy, 82; Wynne (2019), Horace and the Gift Economy of Patronage, 79; deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 91
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1.30 The inconsistencies of Plato are a long story. In the Timaeus he says that it is impossible to name the father of this universe; and in the Laws he deprecates all inquiry into the nature of the deity. Again, he holds that god is entirely incorporeal (in Greek, asomatos); but divine incorporeity is inconceivable, for an incorporeal deity would necessarily be incapable of sensation, and also of practical wisdom, and of pleasure, all of which are attributes essential to our conception of deity. Yet both in the Timaeus and the Laws he says that the world, the sky, the stars, the earth and our souls are gods, in addition to those in whom we have been taught to believe; but it is obvious that these propositions are both inherently false and mutually destructive. 1.31 Xenophon also commits almost the same errors, though in fewer words; for in his memoir of the sayings of Socrates he represents Socrates as arguing that it is wrong to inquire about the form of god, but also as saying that both the sun and the soul are god, and as speaking at one moment of a single god and at another of several: utterances that involve almost the same mistakes as do those which we quoted from Plato. 1.32 Antisthenes also, in his book entitled The Natural Philosopher, says that while there are many gods of popular belief, there is one god in nature, so depriving divinity of all meaning or substance. Very similarly Speusippus, following his uncle Plato, and speaking of a certain force that governs all things and is endowed with life, does his best to root out the notion of deity from our minds altogether. 1.33 And Aristotle in the Third Book of his Philosophy has a great many confused notions, not disagreeing with the doctrines of his master Plato; at one moment he assigns divinity exclusively to the intellect, at another he says that the world is itself a god, then again he puts some other being over the world, and assigns to this being the rôle of regulating and sustaining the world-motion by means of a sort of inverse rotation; then he says that the celestial heat is god — not realizing that the heavens are a part of that world which elsewhere he himself has entitled god. But how could the divine consciousness which he assigns to the heavens persist in a state of such rapid motion? Where moreover are all the gods of accepted belief, if we count the heavens also as a god? Again, in maintaining that god is incorporeal, he robs him entirely of sensation, and also of wisdom. Moreover, how is motion possible for an incorporeal being, and how, if he is always in motion, can he enjoy tranquillity and bliss?
1.36 "Lastly, Balbus, I come to your Stoic school. Zeno\'s view is that the law of nature is divine, and that its function is to command what is right and to forbid the opposite. How he makes out this law to be alive passes our comprehension; yet we undoubtedly expect god to be a living being. In another passage however Zeno declares that the aether is god — if there is any meaning in a god without sensation, a form of deity that never presents itself to us when we offer up our prayers and supplications and make our vows. And in other books again he holds the view that a \'reason\' which pervades all nature is possessed of divine power. He likewise attributes the same powers to the stars, or at another time to the years, the months and the seasons. Again, in his interpretation of Hesiod\'s Theogony (or Origin of the Gods) he does away with the customary and received ideas of the gods altogether, for he does not reckon either Jupiter, Juno or Vesta as gods, or any being that bears a personal name, but teaches that these names have been assigned allegorically to dumb and lifeless things.
1.39 Chrysippus, who is deemed to be the most skilful interpreter of the Stoic dreams, musters an enormous mob of unknown gods — so utterly unknown that even imagination cannot guess at their form and nature, although our mind appears capable of visualizing anything; for he says that divine power resides in reason, and in the soul and mind of the universe; he calls the world itself a god, and also the all‑pervading world-soul, and again the guiding principle of that soul, which operates in the intellect and reason, and the common and all‑embracing nature of things; beside this, the fire that I previously termed aether; and also the power of Fate, and the Necessity that governs future events; and also all fluid and soluble substances, such as water, earth, air, the sun, moon and stars, and the all‑embracing unity of things; and even those human beings who have attained immortality.
1.41 This is what is contained in his Nature of the Gods, Book I. In Book II he aims at reconciling the myths of Orpheus, Musaeus, Hesiod and Homer with his own theology as enunciated in Book I, and so makes out that even the earliest poets of antiquity, who had no notion of these doctrines, were really Stoics. In this he is followed by Diogenes of Babylon, who in his book entitled Minerva rationalizes the myth of the birth of the virgin goddess from Jove by explaining it as an allegory of the processes of nature. ' "
2.95 So Aristotle says brilliantly: 'If there were beings who had always lived beneath the earth, in comfortable, well‑lit dwellings, decorated with statues and pictures and furnished with all the luxuries enjoyed by persons thought to be supremely happy, and who though they had never come forth above the ground had learnt by report and by hearsay of the existence of certain deities or divine powers; and then if at some time the jaws of the earth were opened and they were able to escape from their hidden abode and to come forth into the regions which we inhabit; when they suddenly had sight of the earth and the seas and the sky, and came to know of the vast clouds and mighty winds, and beheld the sun, and realized not only its size and beauty but also its Ptolemaic in causing the day by shedding light over all the sky, and, after night had darkened the earth, they then saw the whole sky spangled and adorned with stars, and the changing phases of the moon's light, now waxing and now waning, and the risings and settings of all these heavenly bodies and their courses fixed and changeless throughout all eternity, — when they saw these things, surely they would think that the gods exist and that these mighty marvels are their handiwork.' "' None |
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46. None, None, nan (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Brontinus (Pythagorean) • Bryson (Pythagorean) • Butherus (Pythagorean) • Charondas (Pythagorean) • Clinias (Pythagorean) • Criton (Pythagorean) • Dios (Pythagorean) • Eccelus (Pythagorean) • Ecphantus (Pythagorean) • Euryphamus (Pythagorean) • Eurytus (Pythagorean) • Metopus (Pythagorean) • Ocellus (Pythagorean) • Onatas (Pythagorean) • Pseudo-Pythagorean corpus • Pythagorean doctrine • Pythagorean source • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism, • Pythagoreanism, Romans and • Pythagoreans • Pythagoreans, division of mathematici and acousmati • Pythagoreans, writings of • Sthenidas (Pythagorean) • Zaleucus (Pythagorean)
Found in books: Atkins (2021), The Cambridge Companion to Cicero's Philosophy 10, 37; Erler et al. (2021), Authority and Authoritative Texts in the Platonist Tradition, 58, 123; Gruen (2011), Rethinking the Other in Antiquity, 345; Wardy and Warren (2018), Authors and Authorities in Ancient Philosophy, 164
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47. None, None, nan (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreans, division of mathematici and acousmati • Pythagoreans, writings of
Found in books: Wardy and Warren (2018), Authors and Authorities in Ancient Philosophy, 164; Wynne (2019), Horace and the Gift Economy of Patronage, 76
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48. None, None, nan (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Archytas, Pythagorean • Pythagoras, Pythagoreans • Pythagoras/Pythagoreans • Pythagoreans
Found in books: Horkey (2019), Cosmos in the Ancient World, 234; Inwood and Warren (2020), Body and Soul in Hellenistic Philosophy, 203, 207; Long (2006), From Epicurus to Epictetus Studies in Hellenistic and Roman Philosophy, 293; Long (2019), Immortality in Ancient Philosophy, 109; Sorabji (2000), Emotion and Peace of Mind: From Stoic Agitation to Christian Temptation, 241
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49. Diodorus Siculus, Historical Library, 5.28.6, 10.9.3 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Numa Pythagorean writings of • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreans • precepts, in the Pythagorean tradition • symbola, Pythagorean
Found in books: Gruen (2011), Rethinking the Other in Antiquity, 144; Huffman (2019), A History of Pythagoreanism, 70; Petrovic and Petrovic (2016), Inner Purity and Pollution in Greek Religion, 56, 60, 64; Stephens and Winkler (1995), Ancient Greek Novels: The Fragments: Introduction, Text, Translation, and Commentary, 113
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5.28.6 \xa0for the belief of Pythagoras prevails among them, that the souls of men are immortal and that after a prescribed number of years they commence upon a new life, the soul entering into another body. Consequently, we are told, at the funerals of their dead some cast letters upon the pyre which they have written to their deceased kinsmen, as if the dead would be able to read these letters.' ' None |
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50. Ovid, Metamorphoses, 15.1-15.8, 15.60-15.74, 15.165-15.172, 15.178, 15.180-15.181, 15.199-15.213, 15.237-15.258, 15.362-15.367, 15.382-15.388, 15.434-15.435 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras/Pythagoreanism • Pythagoras/Pythagoreanism, on bugonia in Metamorphoses • Pythagoreanism, Romans and • Pythagoreans, division of mathematici and acousmati • Pythagoreans, writings of
Found in books: Gruen (2011), Rethinking the Other in Antiquity, 345; Wardy and Warren (2018), Authors and Authorities in Ancient Philosophy, 164; Williams and Vol (2022), Philosophy in Ovid, Ovid as Philosopher, 223, 241, 242, 252, 288, 289, 296, 343, 347, 350
sup>
15.1 Quaeritur interea quis tantae pondera molis 15.2 sustineat tantoque queat succedere regi: 15.3 destinat imperio clarum praenuntia veri 15.4 fama Numam; non ille satis cognosse Sabinae 15.5 gentis habet ritus: animo maiora capaci 15.6 concipit et, quae sit rerum natura, requirit. 15.7 Huius amor curae, patria Curibusque relictis, 15.8 fecit ut Herculei penetraret ad hospitis urbem.
15.60 Vir fuit hic, ortu Samius, sed fugerat una 15.61 et Samon et dominos odioque tyrannidis exsul 15.62 sponte erat, isque, licet caeli regione remotos, 15.63 mente deos adiit et quae natura negabat 15.64 visibus humanis, oculis ea pectoris hausit, 15.66 in medium discenda dabat coetusque silentum 15.67 dictaque mirantum magni primordia mundi 15.68 et rerum causas et, quid natura, docebat, 15.69 quid deus, unde nives, quae fulminis esset origo, 15.70 Iuppiter an venti discussa nube tonarent, 15.71 quid quateret terras, qua sidera lege mearent — 15.72 et quodcumque latet; primusque animalia mensis 15.73 arguit imponi, primus quoque talibus ora 15.74 docta quidem solvit, sed non et credita, verbis:
15.165 Omnia mutantur, nihil interit: errat et illinc
15.166 huc venit, hinc illuc, et quoslibet occupat artus
15.167 spiritus eque feris humana in corpora transit
15.168 inque feras noster nec tempore deperit ullo;
15.169 utque novis facilis signatur cera figuris
15.171 sed tamen ipsa eadem est: animam sic semper eandem
15.172 esse, sed in varias doceo migrare figuras.
15.180 non secus ac flumen, neque enim consistere flumen
15.181 nec levis hora potest, sed ut unda impellitur unda
15.199 Quid? non in species succedere quattuor annum 15.200 adspicis, aetatis peragentem imitamina nostrae? 15.201 Nam tener ac lactens puerique simillimus aevo 15.202 vere novo est: tunc herba nitens et roboris expers 15.203 turget et insolida est et spe delectat agrestes. 15.204 Omnia tunc florent, florumque coloribus almus 15.205 ludit ager, neque adhuc virtus in frondibus ulla est. 15.206 Transit in aestatem post ver robustior annus 15.207 fitque valens iuvenis: neque enim robustior aetas 15.208 ulla nec uberior, nec quae magis ardeat, ulla est. 15.209 Excipit autumnus, posito fervore iuventae 15.210 maturus mitisque, inter iuvenemque senemque 15.211 temperie medius, sparsus quoque tempora canis. 15.212 Inde senilis hiems tremulo venit horrida passu, 15.213 aut spoliata suos, aut quos habet, alba capillos.
15.237 Haec quoque non perstant, quae nos elementa vocamus, 15.238 quasque vices peragant, (animos adhibete!) docebo. 15.239 Quattuor aeternus genitalia corpora mundus 15.240 continet; ex illis duo sunt onerosa suoque 15.241 pondere in inferius, tellus atque unda, feruntur, 15.242 et totidem gravitate carent nulloque premente 15.243 alta petunt, aer atque aere purior ignis. 15.245 ex ipsis et in ipsa cadunt, resolutaque tellus 15.246 in liquidas rarescit aquas, tenuatus in auras 15.247 aeraque umor abit, dempto quoque pondere rursus 15.248 in superos aer tenuissimus emicat ignes. 15.249 Inde retro redeunt, idemque retexitur ordo; 15.250 ignis enim densum spissatus in aera transit, 15.251 hic in aquas, tellus glomerata cogitur unda. 15.252 Nec species sua cuique manet, rerumque novatrix 15.253 ex aliis alias reddit natura figuras: 15.254 nec perit in toto quicquam, mihi credite, mundo, 15.255 sed variat faciemque novat, nascique vocatur 15.256 incipere esse aliud, quam quod fuit ante, morique 15.257 desinere illud idem. Cum sint huc forsitan illa, 15.258 haec translata illuc, summa tamen omnia constant.
15.362 nonne vides, quaecumque mora fluidoque calore 15.363 corpora tabescunt, in parva animalia verti? 15.364 I quoque, delectos mactatos obrue tauros 15.365 (cognita res usu) de putri viscere passim 15.366 florilegae nascuntur apes, quae more parentum 15.367 rura colunt operique favent in spemque laborant;
15.382 Nonne vides, quos cera tegit sexangula, fetus 15.383 melliferarum apium sine membris corpora nasci 15.384 et serosque pedes serasque adsumere pennas? 15.385 Iunonis volucrem, quae cauda sidera portat, 15.386 armigerumque Iovis Cythereiadasque columbas 15.387 et genus omne avium mediis e partibus ovi, 15.388 ni sciret fieri, quis nasci posse putaret?
15.434 haec igitur formam crescendo mutat et olim 15.435 immensi caput orbis erit. Sic dicere vates' ' None | sup>
15.1 While this was happening, they began to seek 15.2 for one who could endure the weight of such 15.3 a task and could succeed a king so great; 15.4 and Fame, the harbinger of truth, destined 15.5 illustrious Numa for the sovereign power. 15.6 It did not satisfy his heart to know 15.7 only the Sabine ceremonials, 15.8 and he conceived in his expansive mind
15.60 and suppliant in neglected garb, exclaimed, 15.61 ‘Oh mighty Hercules , for whom alone 15.62 the twice six labors gave the privilege 15.63 of heavenly residence, give me your aid, 15.64 for you were the true cause of my offence.’ 15.66 to vote with chosen pebbles, white and black. 15.67 The white absolved, the black condemned the man. 15.68 And so that day the fateful votes were given—: 15.69 all cast into the cruel urn were black! 15.70 Soon as that urn inverted poured forth all 15.71 the pebbles to be counted, every one 15.72 was changed completely from its black to white, 15.73 and so the vote adjudged him innocent. 15.74 By that most fortunate aid of Hercule
15.165 that predatory creatures which attempt
15.166 destruction of mankind, are put to death
15.167 without evasion of the sacred laws:
15.168 but, though with justice they are put to death,
15.169 that cannot be a cause for eating them.
15.171 was thought to have deserved death as the first
15.172 of victims, for with her long turned-up snout
15.180 with nectar in full udders? Their soft wool
15.181 affords the warmest coverings for our use,
15.199 of blemish and most beautiful in form 15.200 (perfection brings destruction) is adorned 15.201 with garlands and with gilded horns before 15.202 the altar. In his ignorance he hear 15.203 one praying, and he sees the very grain 15.204 he labored to produce, fixed on his head 15.205 between the horns, and felled, he stains with blood 15.206 the knife which just before he may have seen 15.207 reflected in clear water. Instantly 15.208 they snatch out entrails from his throbbing form, 15.209 and seek in them intentions of the gods. 15.210 Then, in your lust for a forbidden food 15.211 you will presume to batten on his flesh, 15.212 O race of mortals! Do not eat such food! 15.213 Give your attention to my serious words;
15.237 Whether the funeral pile consumes your flesh 15.238 with hot flames, or old age dissolves it with 15.239 a gradual wasting power, be well assured 15.240 the body cannot meet with further ill. 15.241 And souls are all exempt from power of death. 15.242 When they have left their first corporeal home, 15.243 they always find and live in newer homes. 15.245 that in the days of the great Trojan War, 15.246 I was Euphorbus, son of Panthous. 15.247 In my opposing breast was planted then 15.248 the heavy spear-point of the younger son 15.249 of Atreus. Not long past I recognised 15.250 the shield, once burden of my left arm, where' "15.251 it hung in Juno 's temple at ancient Argos ," '15.252 the realm of Abas. Everything must change: 15.253 but nothing perishes. The moving soul 15.254 may wander, coming from that spot to this, 15.255 from this to that—in changed possession live 15.256 in any limbs whatever. It may pa 15.257 from beasts to human bodies, and again 15.258 to those of beasts. The soul will never die,
15.362 four elemental parts. And two of these 15.363 are heavy—earth and water—and are borne 15.364 downwards by weight. The other two devoid 15.365 of weight, are air and—even lighter—fire: 15.366 and, if these two are not constrained, they seek 15.367 the higher regions. These four elements,
15.382 in all this universe of vast extent, 15.383 not one thing ever perished. All have changed 15.384 appearance. Men say a certain thing is born, 15.385 if it takes a different form from what it had; 15.386 and yet they say, that certain thing has died, 15.387 if it no longer keeps the self same shape. 15.388 Though distant things move near, and near things far,
15.434 the waves sweep round it. Zancle was a part 15.435 of Italy , until the sea cut off' ' None |
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51. Philo of Alexandria, On The Life of Abraham, 26 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreans,
Found in books: Wilson (2010), Philo of Alexandria: On Virtues: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary, 365; Wilson (2012), The Sentences of Sextus, 289
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26 But we must not be ignorant that repentance occupies the second place only, next after perfection, just as the change from sickness to convalescence is inferior to perfect uninterrupted health. Therefore, that which is continuous and perfect in virtues is very near divine power, but that condition which is improvement advancing in process of time is the peculiar blessing of a welldisposed soul, which does not continue in its childish pursuits, but by more vigorous thoughts and inclinations, such as really become a man, seeks a tranquil steadiness of soul, and which attains to it by its conception of what is good. V. '' None |
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52. Philo of Alexandria, On The Decalogue, 26 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras/Pythagoreans • Pythagoreanism/Pythagoreans/Pythagorean
Found in books: Geljon and Runia (2019), Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary, 238; Inwood and Warren (2020), Body and Soul in Hellenistic Philosophy, 198
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26 And the archetypal numbers, which are the models of these three are, of the point the limit, of the line the number two, and of the superficies the number three, and of the solid the number four; the combination of which, that is to say of one, and two, and three, and four completes the decade, which displays other beauties also in addition to those which are visible. '' None |
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53. Philo of Alexandria, On Giants, 8 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras/Pythagorean/Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreans,
Found in books: Fowler (2014), Plato in the Third Sophistic, 45; Wilson (2010), Philo of Alexandria: On Virtues: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary, 186
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8 for these also are entire souls pervading the universe, being unadulterated and divine, inasmuch as they move in a circle, which is the kind of motion most akin to the mind, for every one of them is the parent mind. It is therefore necessary that the air also should be full of living beings. And these beings are invisible to us, inasmuch as the air itself is not visible to mortal sight. '' None |
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54. Philo of Alexandria, On The Migration of Abraham, 128 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism/Pythagoreans/Pythagorean
Found in books: Geljon and Runia (2019), Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary, 164; Wilson (2012), The Sentences of Sextus, 402
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128 And this is the end which is celebrated among those who study philosophy in the best manner, namely, to live in accordance with nature. And this takes place when the mind, entering into the path of virtue, treads in the steps of right reason, and follows God, remembering his commandments, and at all times and in all places confirming them both by word and deed;" '' None |
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55. Philo of Alexandria, On The Creation of The World, 7-9, 16, 47 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Philo of Alexandria, and Pythagoreanism • Pythagoras/Pythagoreans • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism/Pythagoreans/Pythagorean • Pythagoreans
Found in books: Frede and Laks (2001), Traditions of Theology: Studies in Hellenistic Theology, its Background and Aftermath, 291; Geljon and Runia (2019), Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary, 238; Hankinson (1998), Cause and Explanation in Ancient Greek Thought, 341; Inwood and Warren (2020), Body and Soul in Hellenistic Philosophy, 198; Novenson (2020), Monotheism and Christology in Greco-Roman Antiquity, 254
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7 For some men, admiring the world itself rather than the Creator of the world, have represented it as existing without any maker, and eternal; and as impiously as falsely have represented God as existing in a state of complete inactivity, while it would have been right on the other hand to marvel at the might of God as the creator and father of all, and to admire the world in a degree not exceeding the bounds of moderation. 8 But Moses, who had early reached the very summits of philosophy, and who had learnt from the oracles of God the most numerous and important of the principles of nature, was well aware that it is indispensable that in all existing things there must be an active cause, and a passive subject; and that the active cause is the intellect of the universe, thoroughly unadulterated and thoroughly unmixed, superior to virtue and superior to science, superior even to abstract good or abstract beauty; 9 while the passive subject is something iimate and incapable of motion by any intrinsic power of its own, but having been set in motion, and fashioned, and endowed with life by the intellect, became transformed into that most perfect work, this world. And those who describe it as being uncreated, do, without being aware of it, cut off the most useful and necessary of all the qualities which tend to produce piety, namely, providence:
16 for God, as apprehending beforehand, as a God must do, that there could not exist a good imitation without a good model, and that of the things perceptible to the external senses nothing could be faultless which wax not fashioned with reference to some archetypal idea conceived by the intellect, when he had determined to create this visible world, previously formed that one which is perceptible only by the intellect, in order that so using an incorporeal model formed as far as possible on the image of God, he might then make this corporeal world, a younger likeness of the elder creation, which should embrace as many different genera perceptible to the external senses, as the other world contains of those which are visible only to the intellect. '4
7 This is the cause why the earth bore fruit and herbs before God proceeded to adorn the heaven. And next the heaven was embellished in the perfect number four, and if any one were to pronounce this number the origin and source of the all-perfect decade he would not err. For what the decade is in actuality, that the number four, as it seems, is in potentiality, at all events if the numerals from the unit to Four are placed together in order, they will make ten, which is the limit of the number of immensity, around which the numbers wheel and turn as around a goal. ' None |
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56. Philo of Alexandria, On The Special Laws, 1.103, 4.123 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagorean/Neopythagorean • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism/Pythagoreans/Pythagorean • Pythagoreans,
Found in books: Blidstein (2017), Purity Community and Ritual in Early Christian Literature, 48; Geljon and Runia (2019), Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary, 121; Wilson (2010), Philo of Alexandria: On Virtues: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary, 365; Wilson (2012), The Sentences of Sextus, 289
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1.103 For it would be mere folly that some men should be excluded from the priesthood by reason of the scars which exist on their bodies from ancient wounds, which are the emblem of misfortune indeed, but not of wickedness; but that those persons who, not at all out of necessity but from their own deliberate choice, have made a market of their beauty, when at last they slowly repent, should at once after leaving their lovers become united to priests, and should come from brothels and be admitted into the sacred precincts. For the scars and impressions of their old offences remain not the less in the souls of those who repent.
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}{' None |
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57. Philo of Alexandria, That Every Good Person Is Free, 75 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras and Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreans
Found in books: Ayres and Ward (2021), The Rise of the Early Christian Intellectual, 52; Taylor (2012), The Essenes, the Scrolls, and the Dead Sea, 100
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75 Moreover Palestine and Syria too are not barren of exemplary wisdom and virtue, which countries no slight portion of that most populous nation of the Jews inhabits. There is a portion of those people called Essenes, in number something more than four thousand in my opinion, who derive their name from their piety, though not according to any accurate form of the Grecian dialect, because they are above all men devoted to the service of God, not sacrificing living animals, but studying rather to preserve their own minds in a state of holiness and purity. '' None |
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58. None, None, nan (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Numa Pythagorean writings of • Pythagoras / (neo-)pythagoreanism • Pythagorean writings burnt in Rome • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreans • religions, Roman, Pythagorean cult
Found in books: Isaac (2004), The invention of racism in classical antiquity, 385; Jenkyns (2013), God, Space, and City in the Roman Imagination, 195; Rohmann (2016), Christianity, Book-Burning and Censorship in Late Antiquity, 228; Stephens and Winkler (1995), Ancient Greek Novels: The Fragments: Introduction, Text, Translation, and Commentary, 113; deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 68, 69
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59. Josephus Flavius, Jewish War, 2.119-2.129, 2.131-2.149, 2.151-2.161 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreans • Pythagoreans, and the soul • Silence, Pythagorean silence
Found in books: Pevarello (2013), The Sentences of Sextus and the Origins of Christian Ascetiscism. 158; Piotrkowski (2019), Priests in Exile: The History of the Temple of Onias and Its Community in the Hellenistic Period, 233; Taylor (2012), The Essenes, the Scrolls, and the Dead Sea, 50, 83, 100
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2.119 Τρία γὰρ παρὰ ̓Ιουδαίοις εἴδη φιλοσοφεῖται, καὶ τοῦ μὲν αἱρετισταὶ Φαρισαῖοι, τοῦ δὲ Σαδδουκαῖοι, τρίτον δέ, ὃ δὴ καὶ δοκεῖ σεμνότητα ἀσκεῖν, ̓Εσσηνοὶ καλοῦνται, ̓Ιουδαῖοι μὲν γένος ὄντες, φιλάλληλοι δὲ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων πλέον. 2.121 τὸν μὲν γάμον καὶ τὴν ἐξ αὐτοῦ διαδοχὴν οὐκ ἀναιροῦντες, τὰς δὲ τῶν γυναικῶν ἀσελγείας φυλαττόμενοι καὶ μηδεμίαν τηρεῖν πεπεισμένοι τὴν πρὸς ἕνα πίστιν.' "2.122 Καταφρονηταὶ δὲ πλούτου, καὶ θαυμάσιον αὐτοῖς τὸ κοινωνικόν, οὐδὲ ἔστιν εὑρεῖν κτήσει τινὰ παρ' αὐτοῖς ὑπερέχοντα: νόμος γὰρ τοὺς εἰς τὴν αἵρεσιν εἰσιόντας δημεύειν τῷ τάγματι τὴν οὐσίαν, ὥστε ἐν ἅπασιν μήτε πενίας ταπεινότητα φαίνεσθαι μήθ' ὑπεροχὴν πλούτου, τῶν δ' ἑκάστου κτημάτων ἀναμεμιγμένων μίαν ὥσπερ ἀδελφοῖς ἅπασιν οὐσίαν εἶναι." "2.123 κηλῖδα δ' ὑπολαμβάνουσι τὸ ἔλαιον, κἂν ἀλειφθῇ τις ἄκων, σμήχεται τὸ σῶμα: τὸ γὰρ αὐχμεῖν ἐν καλῷ τίθενται λευχειμονεῖν τε διαπαντός. χειροτονητοὶ δ' οἱ τῶν κοινῶν ἐπιμεληταὶ καὶ ἀδιαίρετοι πρὸς ἁπάντων εἰς τὰς χρείας ἕκαστοι." "2.124 Μία δ' οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτῶν πόλις ἀλλ' ἐν ἑκάστῃ μετοικοῦσιν πολλοί. καὶ τοῖς ἑτέρωθεν ἥκουσιν αἱρετισταῖς πάντ' ἀναπέπταται τὰ παρ' αὐτοῖς ὁμοίως ὥσπερ ἴδια, καὶ πρὸς οὓς οὐ πρότερον εἶδον εἰσίασιν ὡς συνηθεστάτους:" "2.125 διὸ καὶ ποιοῦνται τὰς ἀποδημίας οὐδὲν μὲν ὅλως ἐπικομιζόμενοι, διὰ δὲ τοὺς λῃστὰς ἔνοπλοι. κηδεμὼν δ' ἐν ἑκάστῃ πόλει τοῦ τάγματος ἐξαιρέτως τῶν ξένων ἀποδείκνυται ταμιεύων ἐσθῆτα καὶ τὰ ἐπιτήδεια." '2.126 καταστολὴ δὲ καὶ σχῆμα σώματος ὅμοιον τοῖς μετὰ φόβου παιδαγωγουμένοις παισίν. οὔτε δὲ ἐσθῆτας οὔτε ὑποδήματα ἀμείβουσι πρὶν διαρραγῆναι τὸ πρότερον παντάπασιν ἢ δαπανηθῆναι τῷ χρόνῳ.' "2.127 οὐδὲν δ' ἐν ἀλλήλοις οὔτ' ἀγοράζουσιν οὔτε πωλοῦσιν, ἀλλὰ τῷ χρῄζοντι διδοὺς ἕκαστος τὰ παρ' αὐτῷ τὸ παρ' ἐκείνου χρήσιμον ἀντικομίζεται: καὶ χωρὶς δὲ τῆς ἀντιδόσεως ἀκώλυτος ἡ μετάληψις αὐτοῖς παρ' ὧν ἂν θέλωσιν." '2.128 Πρός γε μὴν τὸ θεῖον εὐσεβεῖς ἰδίως: πρὶν γὰρ ἀνασχεῖν τὸν ἥλιον οὐδὲν φθέγγονται τῶν βεβήλων, πατρίους δέ τινας εἰς αὐτὸν εὐχὰς ὥσπερ ἱκετεύοντες ἀνατεῖλαι. 2.129 καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα πρὸς ἃς ἕκαστοι τέχνας ἴσασιν ὑπὸ τῶν ἐπιμελητῶν διαφίενται, καὶ μέχρι πέμπτης ὥρας ἐργασάμενοι συντόνως πάλιν εἰς ἓν συναθροίζονται χωρίον, ζωσάμενοί τε σκεπάσμασιν λινοῖς οὕτως ἀπολούονται τὸ σῶμα ψυχροῖς ὕδασιν, καὶ μετὰ ταύτην τὴν ἁγνείαν εἰς ἴδιον οἴκημα συνίασιν, ἔνθα μηδενὶ τῶν ἑτεροδόξων ἐπιτέτραπται παρελθεῖν: αὐτοί τε καθαροὶ καθάπερ εἰς ἅγιόν τι τέμενος παραγίνονται τὸ δειπνητήριον.' "
2.131 προκατεύχεται δ' ὁ ἱερεὺς τῆς τροφῆς, καὶ γεύσασθαί τινα πρὶν τῆς εὐχῆς ἀθέμιτον: ἀριστοποιησάμενος δ' ἐπεύχεται πάλιν: ἀρχόμενοί τε καὶ παυόμενοι γεραίρουσι θεὸν ὡς χορηγὸν τῆς ζωῆς. ἔπειθ' ὡς ἱερὰς καταθέμενοι τὰς ἐσθῆτας πάλιν ἐπ' ἔργα μέχρι δείλης τρέπονται." "2.132 δειπνοῦσι δ' ὁμοίως ὑποστρέψαντες συγκαθεζομένων τῶν ξένων, εἰ τύχοιεν αὐτοῖς παρόντες. οὔτε δὲ κραυγή ποτε τὸν οἶκον οὔτε θόρυβος μιαίνει, τὰς δὲ λαλιὰς ἐν τάξει παραχωροῦσιν ἀλλήλοις." "2.133 καὶ τοῖς ἔξωθεν ὡς μυστήριόν τι φρικτὸν ἡ τῶν ἔνδον σιωπὴ καταφαίνεται, τούτου δ' αἴτιον ἡ διηνεκὴς νῆψις καὶ τὸ μετρεῖσθαι παρ' αὐτοῖς τροφὴν καὶ ποτὸν μέχρι κόρου." "2.134 Τῶν μὲν οὖν ἄλλων οὐκ ἔστιν ὅ τι μὴ τῶν ἐπιμελητῶν προσταξάντων ἐνεργοῦσι, δύο δὲ ταῦτα παρ' αὐτοῖς αὐτεξούσια, ἐπικουρία καὶ ἔλεος: βοηθεῖν τε γὰρ τοῖς ἀξίοις, ὁπόταν δέωνται, καὶ καθ' ἑαυτοὺς ἐφίεται καὶ τροφὰς ἀπορουμένοις ὀρέγειν. τὰς δὲ εἰς τοὺς συγγενεῖς μεταδόσεις οὐκ ἔξεστι ποιεῖσθαι δίχα τῶν ἐπιτρόπων." "2.135 ὀργῆς ταμίαι δίκαιοι, θυμοῦ καθεκτικοί, πίστεως προστάται, εἰρήνης ὑπουργοί. καὶ πᾶν μὲν τὸ ῥηθὲν ὑπ' αὐτῶν ἰσχυρότερον ὅρκου, τὸ δὲ ὀμνύειν αὐτοῖς περιίσταται χεῖρον τῆς ἐπιορκίας ὑπολαμβάνοντες: ἤδη γὰρ κατεγνῶσθαί φασιν τὸν ἀπιστούμενον δίχα θεοῦ." "2.136 σπουδάζουσι δ' ἐκτόπως περὶ τὰ τῶν παλαιῶν συντάγματα μάλιστα τὰ πρὸς ὠφέλειαν ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος ἐκλέγοντες: ἔνθεν αὐτοῖς πρὸς θεραπείαν παθῶν ῥίζαι τε ἀλεξητήριον καὶ λίθων ἰδιότητες ἀνερευνῶνται." "2.137 Τοῖς δὲ ζηλοῦσιν τὴν αἵρεσιν αὐτῶν οὐκ εὐθὺς ἡ πάροδος, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ ἐνιαυτὸν ἔξω μένοντι τὴν αὐτὴν ὑποτίθενται δίαιταν ἀξινάριόν τε καὶ τὸ προειρημένον περίζωμα καὶ λευκὴν ἐσθῆτα δόντες." '2.138 ἐπειδὰν δὲ τούτῳ τῷ χρόνῳ πεῖραν ἐγκρατείας δῷ, πρόσεισιν μὲν ἔγγιον τῇ διαίτῃ καὶ καθαρωτέρων τῶν πρὸς ἁγνείαν ὑδάτων μεταλαμβάνει, παραλαμβάνεται δὲ εἰς τὰς συμβιώσεις οὐδέπω. μετὰ γὰρ τὴν τῆς καρτερίας ἐπίδειξιν δυσὶν ἄλλοις ἔτεσιν τὸ ἦθος δοκιμάζεται καὶ φανεὶς ἄξιος οὕτως εἰς τὸν ὅμιλον ἐγκρίνεται.' "2.139 πρὶν δὲ τῆς κοινῆς ἅψασθαι τροφῆς ὅρκους αὐτοῖς ὄμνυσι φρικώδεις, πρῶτον μὲν εὐσεβήσειν τὸ θεῖον, ἔπειτα τὰ πρὸς ἀνθρώπους δίκαια φυλάξειν καὶ μήτε κατὰ γνώμην βλάψειν τινὰ μήτε ἐξ ἐπιτάγματος, μισήσειν δ' ἀεὶ τοὺς ἀδίκους καὶ συναγωνιεῖσθαι τοῖς δικαίοις:" "2.141 τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἀγαπᾶν ἀεὶ καὶ τοὺς ψευδομένους προβάλλεσθαι: χεῖρας κλοπῆς καὶ ψυχὴν ἀνοσίου κέρδους καθαρὰν φυλάξειν καὶ μήτε κρύψειν τι τοὺς αἱρετιστὰς μήθ' ἑτέροις αὐτῶν τι μηνύσειν, κἂν μέχρι θανάτου τις βιάζηται." '2.142 πρὸς τούτοις ὄμνυσιν μηδενὶ μὲν μεταδοῦναι τῶν δογμάτων ἑτέρως ἢ ὡς αὐτὸς μετέλαβεν, ἀφέξεσθαι δὲ λῃστείας καὶ συντηρήσειν ὁμοίως τά τε τῆς αἱρέσεως αὐτῶν βιβλία καὶ τὰ τῶν ἀγγέλων ὀνόματα. τοιούτοις μὲν ὅρκοις τοὺς προσιόντας ἐξασφαλίζονται.' "2.143 Τοὺς δ' ἐπ' ἀξιοχρέοις ἁμαρτήμασιν ἁλόντας ἐκβάλλουσι τοῦ τάγματος. ὁ δ' ἐκκριθεὶς οἰκτίστῳ πολλάκις μόρῳ διαφθείρεται: τοῖς γὰρ ὅρκοις καὶ τοῖς ἔθεσιν ἐνδεδεμένος οὐδὲ τῆς παρὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις τροφῆς δύναται μεταλαμβάνειν, ποηφαγῶν δὲ καὶ λιμῷ τὸ σῶμα τηκόμενος διαφθείρεται." '2.144 διὸ δὴ πολλοὺς ἐλεήσαντες ἐν ταῖς ἐσχάταις ἀναπνοαῖς ἀνέλαβον, ἱκανὴν ἐπὶ τοῖς ἁμαρτήμασιν αὐτῶν τὴν μέχρι θανάτου βάσανον ἡγούμενοι.' "2.145 Περὶ δὲ τὰς κρίσεις ἀκριβέστατοι καὶ δίκαιοι, καὶ δικάζουσι μὲν οὐκ ἐλάττους τῶν ἑκατὸν συνελθόντες, τὸ δ' ὁρισθὲν ὑπ' αὐτῶν ἀκίνητον. σέβας δὲ μέγα παρ' αὐτοῖς μετὰ τὸν θεὸν τοὔνομα τοῦ νομοθέτου, κἂν βλασφημήσῃ τις εἰς τοῦτον κολάζεται θανάτῳ." '2.146 τοῖς δὲ πρεσβυτέροις ὑπακούουσιν καὶ τοῖς πλείοσιν ἐν καλῷ: δέκα γοῦν συγκαθεζομένων οὐκ ἂν λαλήσειέν τις ἀκόντων τῶν ἐννέα.' "2.147 καὶ τὸ πτύσαι δὲ εἰς μέσους ἢ τὸ δεξιὸν μέρος φυλάσσονται καὶ ταῖς ἑβδομάσιν ἔργων ἐφάπτεσθαι διαφορώτατα ̓Ιουδαίων ἁπάντων: οὐ μόνον γὰρ τροφὰς ἑαυτοῖς πρὸ μιᾶς ἡμέρας παρασκευάζουσιν, ὡς μὴ πῦρ ἐναύοιεν ἐκείνην τὴν ἡμέραν, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ σκεῦός τι μετακινῆσαι θαρροῦσιν οὐδὲ ἀποπατεῖν." "2.148 ταῖς δ' ἄλλαις ἡμέραις βόθρον ὀρύσσοντες βάθος ποδιαῖον τῇ σκαλίδι, τοιοῦτον γάρ ἐστιν τὸ διδόμενον ὑπ' αὐτῶν ἀξινίδιον τοῖς νεοσυστάτοις, καὶ περικαλύψαντες θοιμάτιον, ὡς μὴ τὰς αὐγὰς ὑβρίζοιεν τοῦ θεοῦ, θακεύουσιν εἰς αὐτόν." "2.149 ἔπειτα τὴν ἀνορυχθεῖσαν γῆν ἐφέλκουσιν εἰς τὸν βόθρον: καὶ τοῦτο ποιοῦσι τοὺς ἐρημοτέρους τόπους ἐκλεγόμενοι. καίπερ δὴ φυσικῆς οὔσης τῆς τῶν λυμάτων ἐκκρίσεως ἀπολούεσθαι μετ' αὐτὴν καθάπερ μεμιασμένοις ἔθιμον." "
2.151 καὶ μακρόβιοι μέν, ὡς τοὺς πολλοὺς ὑπὲρ ἑκατὸν παρατείνειν ἔτη, διὰ τὴν ἁπλότητα τῆς διαίτης ἔμοιγε δοκεῖν καὶ τὴν εὐταξίαν, καταφρονηταὶ δὲ τῶν δεινῶν, καὶ τὰς μὲν ἀλγηδόνας νικῶντες τοῖς φρονήμασιν, τὸν δὲ θάνατον, εἰ μετ' εὐκλείας πρόσεισι, νομίζοντες ἀθανασίας ἀμείνονα." "2.152 διήλεγξεν δὲ αὐτῶν ἐν ἅπασιν τὰς ψυχὰς ὁ πρὸς ̔Ρωμαίους πόλεμος, ἐν ᾧ στρεβλούμενοί τε καὶ λυγιζόμενοι καιόμενοί τε καὶ κλώμενοι καὶ διὰ πάντων ὁδεύοντες τῶν βασανιστηρίων ὀργάνων, ἵν' ἢ βλασφημήσωσιν τὸν νομοθέτην ἢ φάγωσίν τι τῶν ἀσυνήθων, οὐδέτερον ὑπέμειναν παθεῖν, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ κολακεῦσαί ποτε τοὺς αἰκιζομένους ἢ δακρῦσαι." '2.153 μειδιῶντες δὲ ἐν ταῖς ἀλγηδόσιν καὶ κατειρωνευόμενοι τῶν τὰς βασάνους προσφερόντων εὔθυμοι τὰς ψυχὰς ἠφίεσαν ὡς πάλιν κομιούμενοι.' "2.154 Καὶ γὰρ ἔρρωται παρ' αὐτοῖς ἥδε ἡ δόξα, φθαρτὰ μὲν εἶναι τὰ σώματα καὶ τὴν ὕλην οὐ μόνιμον αὐτῶν, τὰς δὲ ψυχὰς ἀθανάτους ἀεὶ διαμένειν, καὶ συμπλέκεσθαι μὲν ἐκ τοῦ λεπτοτάτου φοιτώσας αἰθέρος ὥσπερ εἱρκταῖς τοῖς σώμασιν ἴυγγί τινι φυσικῇ κατασπωμένας," "2.155 ἐπειδὰν δὲ ἀνεθῶσι τῶν κατὰ σάρκα δεσμῶν, οἷα δὴ μακρᾶς δουλείας ἀπηλλαγμένας τότε χαίρειν καὶ μετεώρους φέρεσθαι. καὶ ταῖς μὲν ἀγαθαῖς ὁμοδοξοῦντες παισὶν ̔Ελλήνων ἀποφαίνονται τὴν ὑπὲρ ὠκεανὸν δίαιταν ἀποκεῖσθαι καὶ χῶρον οὔτε ὄμβροις οὔτε νιφετοῖς οὔτε καύμασι βαρυνόμενον, ἀλλ' ὃν ἐξ ὠκεανοῦ πραὺ̈ς ἀεὶ ζέφυρος ἐπιπνέων ἀναψύχει: ταῖς δὲ φαύλαις ζοφώδη καὶ χειμέριον ἀφορίζονται μυχὸν γέμοντα τιμωριῶν ἀδιαλείπτων." "2.156 δοκοῦσι δέ μοι κατὰ τὴν αὐτὴν ἔννοιαν ̔́Ελληνες τοῖς τε ἀνδρείοις αὐτῶν, οὓς ἥρωας καὶ ἡμιθέους καλοῦσιν, τὰς μακάρων νήσους ἀνατεθεικέναι, ταῖς δὲ τῶν πονηρῶν ψυχαῖς καθ' ᾅδου τὸν ἀσεβῶν χῶρον, ἔνθα καὶ κολαζομένους τινὰς μυθολογοῦσιν, Σισύφους καὶ Ταντάλους ̓Ιξίονάς τε καὶ Τιτυούς, πρῶτον μὲν ἀιδίους ὑφιστάμενοι τὰς ψυχάς, ἔπειτα εἰς προτροπὴν ἀρετῆς καὶ κακίας ἀποτροπήν." '2.157 τούς τε γὰρ ἀγαθοὺς γίνεσθαι κατὰ τὸν βίον ἀμείνους ἐλπίδι τιμῆς καὶ μετὰ τὴν τελευτήν, τῶν τε κακῶν ἐμποδίζεσθαι τὰς ὁρμὰς δέει προσδοκώντων, εἰ καὶ λάθοιεν ἐν τῷ ζῆν, μετὰ τὴν διάλυσιν ἀθάνατον τιμωρίαν ὑφέξειν. 2.158 ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ̓Εσσηνοὶ περὶ ψυχῆς θεολογοῦσιν ἄφυκτον δέλεαρ τοῖς ἅπαξ γευσαμένοις τῆς σοφίας αὐτῶν καθιέντες.' "2.159 Εἰσὶν δ' ἐν αὐτοῖς οἳ καὶ τὰ μέλλοντα προγινώσκειν ὑπισχνοῦνται, βίβλοις ἱεραῖς καὶ διαφόροις ἁγνείαις καὶ προφητῶν ἀποφθέγμασιν ἐμπαιδοτριβούμενοι: σπάνιον δ' εἴ ποτε ἐν ταῖς προαγορεύσεσιν ἀστοχοῦσιν." "2.161 δοκιμάζοντες μέντοι τριετίᾳ τὰς γαμετάς, ἐπειδὰν τρὶς καθαρθῶσιν εἰς πεῖραν τοῦ δύνασθαι τίκτειν, οὕτως ἄγονται. ταῖς δ' ἐγκύμοσιν οὐχ ὁμιλοῦσιν, ἐνδεικνύμενοι τὸ μὴ δι' ἡδονὴν ἀλλὰ τέκνων χρείαν γαμεῖν. λουτρὰ δὲ ταῖς γυναιξὶν ἀμπεχομέναις ἐνδύματα, καθάπερ τοῖς ἀνδράσιν ἐν περιζώματι. τοιαῦτα μὲν ἔθη τοῦδε τοῦ τάγματος." ' None | sup>
2.119 2. For there are three philosophical sects among the Jews. The followers of the first of which are the Pharisees; of the second, the Sadducees; and the third sect, which pretends to a severer discipline, are called Essenes. These last are Jews by birth, and seem to have a greater affection for one another than the other sects have. 2.121 They do not absolutely deny the fitness of marriage, and the succession of mankind thereby continued; but they guard against the lascivious behavior of women, and are persuaded that none of them preserve their fidelity to one man. 2.122 3. These men are despisers of riches, and so very communicative as raises our admiration. Nor is there anyone to be found among them who hath more than another; for it is a law among them, that those who come to them must let what they have be common to the whole order,—insomuch that among them all there is no appearance of poverty, or excess of riches, but every one’s possessions are intermingled with every other’s possessions; and so there is, as it were, one patrimony among all the brethren. 2.123 They think that oil is a defilement; and if anyone of them be anointed without his own approbation, it is wiped off his body; for they think to be sweaty is a good thing, as they do also to be clothed in white garments. They also have stewards appointed to take care of their common affairs, who every one of them have no separate business for any, but what is for the use of them all. 2.124 4. They have no one certain city, but many of them dwell in every city; and if any of their sect come from other places, what they have lies open for them, just as if it were their own; and they go in to such as they never knew before, as if they had been ever so long acquainted with them. 2.125 For which reason they carry nothing at all with them when they travel into remote parts, though still they take their weapons with them, for fear of thieves. Accordingly, there is, in every city where they live, one appointed particularly to take care of strangers, and to provide garments and other necessaries for them. 2.126 But the habit and management of their bodies is such as children use who are in fear of their masters. Nor do they allow of the change of garments, or of shoes, till they be first entirely torn to pieces or worn out by time. 2.127 Nor do they either buy or sell anything to one another; but every one of them gives what he hath to him that wanteth it, and receives from him again in lieu of it what may be convenient for himself; and although there be no requital made, they are fully allowed to take what they want of whomsoever they please. 2.128 5. And as for their piety towards God, it is very extraordinary; for before sunrising they speak not a word about profane matters, but put up certain prayers which they have received from their forefathers, as if they made a supplication for its rising. 2.129 After this every one of them are sent away by their curators, to exercise some of those arts wherein they are skilled, in which they labor with great diligence till the fifth hour. After which they assemble themselves together again into one place; and when they have clothed themselves in white veils, they then bathe their bodies in cold water. And after this purification is over, they every one meet together in an apartment of their own, into which it is not permitted to any of another sect to enter; while they go, after a pure manner, into the dining-room, as into a certain holy temple,
2.131 but a priest says grace before meat; and it is unlawful for anyone to taste of the food before grace be said. The same priest, when he hath dined, says grace again after meat; and when they begin, and when they end, they praise God, as he that bestows their food upon them; after which they lay aside their white garments, and betake themselves to their labors again till the evening; 2.132 then they return home to supper, after the same manner; and if there be any strangers there, they sit down with them. Nor is there ever any clamor or disturbance to pollute their house, but they give every one leave to speak in their turn; 2.133 which silence thus kept in their house appears to foreigners like some tremendous mystery; the cause of which is that perpetual sobriety they exercise, and the same settled measure of meat and drink that is allotted to them, and that such as is abundantly sufficient for them. 2.134 6. And truly, as for other things, they do nothing but according to the injunctions of their curators; only these two things are done among them at everyone’s own free will, which are to assist those that want it, and to show mercy; for they are permitted of their own accord to afford succor to such as deserve it, when they stand in need of it, and to bestow food on those that are in distress; but they cannot give any thing to their kindred without the curators. 2.135 They dispense their anger after a just manner, and restrain their passion. They are eminent for fidelity, and are the ministers of peace; whatsoever they say also is firmer than an oath; but swearing is avoided by them, and they esteem it worse than perjury for they say that he who cannot be believed without swearing by God is already condemned. 2.136 They also take great pains in studying the writings of the ancients, and choose out of them what is most for the advantage of their soul and body; and they inquire after such roots and medicinal stones as may cure their distempers. 2.137 7. But now, if anyone hath a mind to come over to their sect, he is not immediately admitted, but he is prescribed the same method of living which they use, for a year, while he continues excluded; and they give him also a small hatchet, and the fore-mentioned girdle, and the white garment. 2.138 And when he hath given evidence, during that time, that he can observe their continence, he approaches nearer to their way of living, and is made a partaker of the waters of purification; yet is he not even now admitted to live with them; for after this demonstration of his fortitude, his temper is tried two more years; and if he appear to be worthy, they then admit him into their society. 2.139 And before he is allowed to touch their common food, he is obliged to take tremendous oaths, that, in the first place, he will exercise piety towards God, and then that he will observe justice towards men, and that he will do no harm to any one, either of his own accord, or by the command of others; that he will always hate the wicked, and be assistant to the righteous; 2.141 that he will be perpetually a lover of truth, and propose to himself to reprove those that tell lies; that he will keep his hands clear from theft, and his soul from unlawful gains; and that he will neither conceal anything from those of his own sect, nor discover any of their doctrines to others, no, not though anyone should compel him so to do at the hazard of his life. 2.142 Moreover, he swears to communicate their doctrines to no one any otherwise than as he received them himself; that he will abstain from robbery, and will equally preserve the books belonging to their sect, and the names of the angels or messengers. These are the oaths by which they secure their proselytes to themselves. 2.143 8. But for those that are caught in any heinous sins, they cast them out of their society; and he who is thus separated from them does often die after a miserable manner; for as he is bound by the oath he hath taken, and by the customs he hath been engaged in, he is not at liberty to partake of that food that he meets with elsewhere, but is forced to eat grass, and to famish his body with hunger, till he perish; 2.144 for which reason they receive many of them again when they are at their last gasp, out of compassion to them, as thinking the miseries they have endured till they came to the very brink of death to be a sufficient punishment for the sins they had been guilty of. 2.145 9. But in the judgments they exercise they are most accurate and just, nor do they pass sentence by the votes of a court that is fewer than a hundred. And as to what is once determined by that number, it is unalterable. What they most of all honor, after God himself, is the name of their legislator Moses, whom, if anyone blaspheme, he is punished capitally. 2.146 They also think it a good thing to obey their elders, and the major part. Accordingly, if ten of them be sitting together, no one of them will speak while the other nine are against it. 2.147 They also avoid spitting in the midst of them, or on the right side. Moreover, they are stricter than any other of the Jews in resting from their labors on the seventh day; for they not only get their food ready the day before, that they may not be obliged to kindle a fire on that day, but they will not remove any vessel out of its place, nor go to stool thereon. 2.148 Nay, on theother days they dig a small pit, a foot deep, with a paddle (which kind of hatchet is given them when they are first admitted among them); and covering themselves round with their garment, that they may not affront the Divine rays of light, they ease themselves into that pit, 2.149 after which they put the earth that was dug out again into the pit; and even this they do only in the more lonely places, which they choose out for this purpose; and although this easement of the body be natural, yet it is a rule with them to wash themselves after it, as if it were a defilement to them.
2.151 They are long-lived also, insomuch that many of them live above a hundred years, by means of the simplicity of their diet; nay, as I think, by means of the regular course of life they observe also. They condemn the miseries of life, and are above pain, by the generosity of their mind. And as for death, if it will be for their glory, they esteem it better than living always; 2.152 and indeed our war with the Romans gave abundant evidence what great souls they had in their trials, wherein, although they were tortured and distorted, burnt and torn to pieces, and went through all kinds of instruments of torment, that they might be forced either to blaspheme their legislator, or to eat what was forbidden them, yet could they not be made to do either of them, no, nor once to flatter their tormentors, or to shed a tear; 2.153 but they smiled in their very pains, and laughed those to scorn who inflicted the torments upon them, and resigned up their souls with great alacrity, as expecting to receive them again. 2.154 11. For their doctrine is this: That bodies are corruptible, and that the matter they are made of is not permanent; but that the souls are immortal, and continue forever; and that they come out of the most subtile air, and are united to their bodies as to prisons, into which they are drawn by a certain natural enticement; 2.155 but that when they are set free from the bonds of the flesh, they then, as released from a long bondage, rejoice and mount upward. And this is like the opinions of the Greeks, that good souls have their habitations beyond the ocean, in a region that is neither oppressed with storms of rain or snow, or with intense heat, but that this place is such as is refreshed by the gentle breathing of a west wind, that is perpetually blowing from the ocean; while they allot to bad souls a dark and tempestuous den, full of never-ceasing punishments. 2.156 And indeed the Greeks seem to me to have followed the same notion, when they allot the islands of the blessed to their brave men, whom they call heroes and demigods; and to the souls of the wicked, the region of the ungodly, in Hades, where their fables relate that certain persons, such as Sisyphus, and Tantalus, and Ixion, and Tityus, are punished; which is built on this first supposition, that souls are immortal; and thence are those exhortations to virtue, and dehortations from wickedness collected; 2.157 whereby good men are bettered in the conduct of their life by the hope they have of reward after their death; and whereby the vehement inclinations of bad men to vice are restrained, by the fear and expectation they are in, that although they should lie concealed in this life, they should suffer immortal punishment after their death. 2.158 These are the Divine doctrines of the Essenes about the soul, which lay an unavoidable bait for such as have once had a taste of their philosophy. 2.159 12. There are also those among them who undertake to foretell things to come, by reading the holy books, and using several sorts of purifications, and being perpetually conversant in the discourses of the prophets; and it is but seldom that they miss in their predictions. 2.161 However, they try their spouses for three years; and if they find that they have their natural purgations thrice, as trials that they are likely to be fruitful, they then actually marry them. But they do not use to accompany with their wives when they are with child, as a demonstration that they do not marry out of regard to pleasure, but for the sake of posterity. Now the women go into the baths with some of their garments on, as the men do with somewhat girded about them. And these are the customs of this order of Essenes.' ' None |
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60. Josephus Flavius, Against Apion, 2.168 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras and Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreans
Found in books: Ayres and Ward (2021), The Rise of the Early Christian Intellectual, 52; Taylor (2012), The Essenes, the Scrolls, and the Dead Sea, 92
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2.168 ὁποῖος δὲ κατ' οὐσίαν ἐστὶν ἄγνωστον. ταῦτα περὶ θεοῦ φρονεῖν οἱ σοφώτατοι παρ' ̔́Ελλησιν ὅτι μὲν ἐδιδάχθησαν ἐκείνου τὰς ἀρχὰς παρασχόντος, ἐῶ νῦν λέγειν, ὅτι δ' ἐστὶ καλὰ καὶ πρέποντα τῇ τοῦ θεοῦ φύσει καὶ μεγαλειότητι, σφόδρα μεμαρτυρήκασι: καὶ γὰρ Πυθαγόρας καὶ ̓Αναξαγόρας καὶ Πλάτων οἵ τε μετ' ἐκεῖνον ἀπὸ τῆς στοᾶς φιλόσοφοι καὶ μικροῦ δεῖν ἅπαντες οὕτως"" None | sup>
2.168 I do not now explain how these notions of God are the sentiments of the wisest among the Grecians, and how they were taught them upon the principles that he afforded them. However, they testify, with great assurance, that these notions are just, and agreeable to the nature of God, and to his majesty; for Pythagoras, and Anaxagoras, and Plato, and the Stoic philosophers that succeeded them, and almost all the rest, are of the same sentiments, and had the same notions of the nature of God; '' None |
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61. New Testament, 1 John, 3.2 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagorean • Pythagoreanism
Found in books: Despotis and Lohr (2022), Religious and Philosophical Conversion in the Ancient Mediterranean Traditions, 331; Wilson (2012), The Sentences of Sextus, 400
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3.2 Ἀγαπητοί, νῦν τέκνα θεοῦ ἐσμέν, καὶ οὔπω ἐφανερώθη τί ἐσόμεθα. οἴδαμεν ὅτι ἐὰν φανερωθῇ ὅμοιοι αὐτῷ ἐσόμεθα, ὅτι ὀψόμεθα αὐτὸν καθώς ἐστιν.'' None | sup>
3.2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it is not yet revealed what we will be. But we know that, when he is revealed, we will be like him; for we will see him just as he is. '' None |
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62. New Testament, 1 Corinthians, 15.44 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras, Pythagorean, NeoPythagoean(s) • Pythagoreans, and the soul
Found in books: Potter Suh and Holladay (2021), Hellenistic Jewish Literature and the New Testament: Collected Essays, 239; Taylor (2012), The Essenes, the Scrolls, and the Dead Sea, 83
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15.44 σπείρεται σῶμα ψυχικόν, ἐγείρεται σῶμα πνευματικόν. Εἰ ἔστιν σῶμα ψυχικόν, ἔστιν καὶ πνευματικόν.'' None | sup>
15.44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised aspiritual body. There is a natural body and there is also a spiritualbody.'' None |
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63. New Testament, 1 Timothy, 2.9, 2.15 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreans
Found in books: Malherbe et al. (2014), Light from the Gentiles: Hellenistic Philosophy and Early Christianity: Collected Essays of Abraham J, 466; Pevarello (2013), The Sentences of Sextus and the Origins of Christian Ascetiscism. 48, 81; Wilson (2012), The Sentences of Sextus, 246
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2.9 Ὡσαύτως γυναῖκας ἐν καταστολῇ κοσμίῳ μετὰ αἰδοῦς καὶ σωφροσύνης κοσμεῖν ἑαυτάς, μὴ ἐν πλέγμασιν καὶ χρυσίῳ ἢ μαργαρίταις ἢ ἱματισμῷ πολυτελεῖ,
2.15 σωθήσεται δὲ διὰ τῆς τεκνογονίας, ἐὰν μείνωσιν ἐνπίστει καὶ ἀγάπῃ καὶ ἁγιασμῷ μετὰ σωφροσύνης.'' None | sup>
2.9 In the same way, that women also adorn themselves in decent clothing, with modesty and propriety; not just with braided hair, gold, pearls, or expensive clothing;
2.15 but she will be saved through her child-bearing, if they continue in faith, love, and sanctification with sobriety. '' None |
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64. New Testament, Acts, 17.18, 17.23, 17.25-17.26, 17.30 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras / (neo-)pythagoreanism • Pythagoras, Pythagorean, NeoPythagoean(s) • Pythagorean • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreans
Found in books: Despotis and Lohr (2022), Religious and Philosophical Conversion in the Ancient Mediterranean Traditions, 323; Lieu (2015), Marcion and the Making of a Heretic: God and Scripture in the Second Century, 326; Pevarello (2013), The Sentences of Sextus and the Origins of Christian Ascetiscism. 105; Potter Suh and Holladay (2021), Hellenistic Jewish Literature and the New Testament: Collected Essays, 631; Rohmann (2016), Christianity, Book-Burning and Censorship in Late Antiquity, 157; deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 366
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17.18 τινὲς δὲ καὶ τῶν Ἐπικουρίων καὶ Στωικῶν φιλοσόφων συνέβαλλον αὐτῷ, καί τινες ἔλεγον Τί ἂν θέλοι ὁ σπερμολόγος οὗτος λέγειν; οἱ δέ Ξένων δαιμονίων δοκεῖ καταγγελεὺς εἶναι·
17.23 διερχόμενος γὰρ καὶ ἀναθεωρῶν τὰ σεβάσματα ὑμῶν εὗρον καὶ βωμὸν ἐν ᾧ ἐπεγέγραπτο ΑΓΝΩΣΤΩ ΘΕΩ. ὃ οὖν ἀγνοοῦντες εὐσεβεῖτε, τοῦτο ἐγὼ καταγγέλλω ὑμῖν.
17.25 οὐδὲ ὑπὸ χειρῶν ἀνθρωπίνων θεραπεύεται προσδεόμενός τινος, αὐτὸςδιδοὺς πᾶσι ζωὴν καὶ πνοὴν καὶ τὰ πάντα· 17.26 ἐποίησέν τε ἐξ ἑνὸς πᾶν ἔθνος ανθρώπων κατοικεῖν ἐπὶ παντὸς προσώπου τῆς γῆς, ὁρίσας προστεταγμένους καιροὺς καὶ τὰς ὁροθεσίας τῆς κατοικίας αὐτῶν,
17.30 τοὺς μὲν οὖν χρόνους τῆς ἀγνοίας ὑπεριδὼν ὁ θεὸς τὰ νῦν ἀπαγγέλλει τοῖς ἀνθρώποις πάντας πανταχοῦ μετανοεῖν,'' None | sup>
17.18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also encountered him. Some said, "What does this babbler want to say?"Others said, "He seems to be advocating foreign demons," because he preached Jesus and the resurrection. ' "
17.23 For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.' What therefore you worship in ignorance, this I announce to you. " "
17.25 neither is he served by men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself gives to all life and breath, and all things. " '17.26 He made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the surface of the earth, having determined appointed seasons, and the bounds of their habitation,
17.30 The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked. But now he commands that all men everywhere should repent, '' None |
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65. New Testament, James, 5.3 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreans
Found in books: Pevarello (2013), The Sentences of Sextus and the Origins of Christian Ascetiscism. 28; Wilson (2012), The Sentences of Sextus, 344
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5.3 ὁ χρυσὸς ὑμῶν καὶ ὁ ἄργυρος κατίωται, καὶ ὁ ἰὸς αὐτῶν εἰς μαρτύριον ὑμῖν ἔσται καὶ φάγεται τὰς σάρκας ὑμῶν· ὡς πῦρ ἐθησαυρίσατε ἐν ἐσχάταις ἡμέραις.'' None | sup>
5.3 Your gold and your silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be for a testimony against you, and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up your treasure in the last days. '' None |
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66. New Testament, Colossians, 1.17, 2.8 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagorean • Pythagoreans • Pythagoreans,
Found in books: Despotis and Lohr (2022), Religious and Philosophical Conversion in the Ancient Mediterranean Traditions, 207, 323; Huttner (2013), Early Christianity in the Lycus Valley, 124; McDonough (2009), Christ as Creator: Origins of a New Testament Doctrine, 125; Rohmann (2016), Christianity, Book-Burning and Censorship in Late Antiquity, 157
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1.17 καὶ αὐτὸς ἔστιν πρὸ πάντων καὶ τὰ πάντα ἐν αὐτῷ συνέστηκεν,
2.8 Βλέπετε μή τις ὑμᾶς ἔσται ὁ συλαγωγῶν διὰ τῆς φιλοσοφίας καὶ κενῆς ἀπάτης κατὰ τὴν παράδοσιν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, κατὰ τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου καὶ οὐ κατὰ Χριστόν·'' None | sup>
1.17 He is before all things, and in him all things are held together. ' "
2.8 Be careful that you don't let anyone rob you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the elements of the world, and not after Christ. "' None |
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67. New Testament, Galatians, 4.25 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras, Pythagorean, NeoPythagoean(s) • Pythagorean opposites
Found in books: Fisch, (2023), Written for Us: Paul’s Interpretation of Scripture and the History of Midrash, 91; Potter Suh and Holladay (2021), Hellenistic Jewish Literature and the New Testament: Collected Essays, 179
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4.25 τὸ δὲ Ἅγαρ Σινὰ ὄρος ἐστὶν ἐν τῇ Ἀραβίᾳ, συνστοιχεῖ δὲ τῇ νῦν Ἰερουσαλήμ, δουλεύει γὰρ μετὰ τῶν τέκνων αὐτῆς·'' None | sup>
4.25 For this Hagar is Mount Sinai inArabia, and answers to the Jerusalem that exists now, for she is inbondage with her children. '' None |
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68. New Testament, John, 1.3, 1.9-1.14, 14.15 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Philo ‘the Pythagorean’ • Pythagorean • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreans
Found in books: Despotis and Lohr (2022), Religious and Philosophical Conversion in the Ancient Mediterranean Traditions, 207, 331; Horkey (2019), Cosmos in the Ancient World, 293; Pevarello (2013), The Sentences of Sextus and the Origins of Christian Ascetiscism. 28; Černušková, Kovacs and Plátová (2016), Clement’s Biblical Exegesis: Proceedings of the Second Colloquium on Clement of Alexandria , 60, 268, 283, 288
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1.3 πάντα διʼ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν.
1.9 Ἦν τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀληθινὸν ὃ φωτίζει πάντα ἄνθρωπον ἐρχόμενον εἰς τὸν κόσμον. 1.10 ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ἦν, καὶ ὁ κόσμος διʼ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ ὁ κόσμος αὐτὸν οὐκ ἔγνω. 1.11 Εἰς τὰ ἴδια ἦλθεν, καὶ οἱ ἴδιοι αὐτὸν οὐ παρέλαβον. 1.12 ὅσοι δὲ ἔλαβον αὐτόν, ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς ἐξουσίαν τέκνα θεοῦ γενέσθαι, τοῖς πιστεύουσιν εἰς τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, 1.13 οἳ οὐκ ἐξ αἱμάτων οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήματος σαρκὸς οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήματος ἀνδρὸς ἀλλʼ ἐκ θεοῦ ἐγεννήθησαν. 1.14 Καὶ ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο καὶ ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν, καὶ ἐθεασάμεθα τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, δόξαν ὡς μονογενοῦς παρὰ πατρός, πλήρης χάριτος καὶ ἀληθείας·?̔
14.15 Ἐὰν ἀγαπᾶτέ με, τὰς ἐντολὰς τὰς ἐμὰς τηρήσετε·' ' None | sup>
1.3 All things were made through him. Without him was not anything made that has been made.
1.9 The true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world. ' "1.10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world didn't recognize him. " "1.11 He came to his own, and those who were his own didn't receive him. " "1.12 But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God's children, to those who believe in his name: " '1.13 who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 1.14 The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.
14.15 If you love me, keep my commandments. ' ' None |
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69. New Testament, Matthew, 5.39, 22.21 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreans
Found in books: Pevarello (2013), The Sentences of Sextus and the Origins of Christian Ascetiscism. 48, 103, 117; Wilson (2012), The Sentences of Sextus, 60, 101
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5.39 Ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν μὴ ἀντιστῆναι τῷ πονηρῷ· ἀλλʼ ὅστις σε ῥαπίζει εἰς τὴν δεξιὰν σιαγόνα σου, στρέψον αὐτῷ καὶ τὴν ἄλλην·
22.21 λέγουσιν Καίσαρος. τότε λέγει αὐτοῖς Ἀπόδοτε οὖν τὰ Καίσαρος Καίσαρι καὶ τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ τῷ θεῷ.'' None | sup>
5.39 But I tell you, don't resist him who is evil; but whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. " 22.21 They said to him, "Caesar\'s."Then he said to them, "Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar\'s, and to God the things that are God\'s."'" None |
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70. Plutarch, On The Education of Children, None (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism xxv, acumsatici and mathematici • Pythagoreanism xxv, and friendship • acusmata (Pythagorean) • acusmata (Pythagorean), dietary taboos • acusmata (Pythagorean), history of interpretation • acusmata (Pythagorean), interpretation of ethical allegories • acusmata (Pythagorean), religious precepts • anger, in Pythagorean acusmata • courage (andreia), in Pythagorean acusmata • daimones, in Pythagoreanism • death, in Pythagorean acusmata • diet, in Pythagorean acusmata • friendship (philia), Pythagorean • justice (dikē), in Pythagorean acusmata • killing, in Pythagoreanism • marriage, in Pythagorean acusmata • metempsychosis (transmigration of soul, reincarnation), Pythagoreanism • oaths, in Pythagorean acusmata • pleasure (ἡδονή), in Pythagorean acusmata • religion, in Pythagorean acusmata • sacrifice, in Pythagorean acusmata
Found in books: Wilson (2012), The Sentences of Sextus, 318; Wolfsdorf (2020), Early Greek Ethics, 11, 12, 13, 15
| 12e "Do not taste of black-tails;" that, "Do not spend your time with men of black character, because of their malevolence.""Do not step over the beam of a balance"; that is, one should give greatest heed to justice and not transgress it."Do not sit on a peck measure"; as much as to say that we should avoid idleness and have forethought for providing our daily bread."Do not give your hand to everybody"; instead of, "Do not make friends too readily.""Do not wear a tight ring"; means that one should live his life unhampered, and not subject it to any bond."Do not poke a fire with steel"; instead of,"Do not provoke an angry man." Indeed, it is wrong to do so, and we should yield to men who are in a temper."Do not eat your heart"; as much as to say, "Do not injure your soul by wasting it with worries."'' None |
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71. Plutarch, Numa Pompilius, 8.7-8.8, 22.3-22.4 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras, Pythagoreanism, and Apollonius of Tyana • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism, Romans and • Pythagorism
Found in books: Bricault and Bonnet (2013), Panthée: Religious Transformations in the Graeco-Roman Empire, 51; Erler et al. (2021), Authority and Authoritative Texts in the Platonist Tradition, 116; Gruen (2011), Rethinking the Other in Antiquity, 345; Jenkyns (2013), God, Space, and City in the Roman Imagination, 250; Manolaraki (2012), Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus, 304
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8.7 ἔστι δὲ καὶ τὰ περὶ τῶν ἀφιδρυμάτων νομοθετήματα παντάπασιν ἀδελφὰ τῶν Πυθαγόρου δογμάτων, οὔτε γὰρ ἐκεῖνος αἰσθητὸν ἢ παθητόν, ἀόρατον δὲ καὶ ἄκτιστον ἄκτιστον Sintenis 1 with AC, followed by Bekker: ἀκήρατον ( unmixed ). καὶ νοητὸν ὑπελάμβανεν εἶναι τὸ πρῶτον, οὗτός τε διεκώλυσεν ἀνθρωποειδῆ καὶ ζῳόμορφον εἰκόνα θεοῦ Ῥωμαίους νομίζειν. οὐδʼ ἦν παρʼ αὑτοῖς οὔτε γραπτὸν οὔτε πλαστὸν εἶδος θεοῦ πρότερον, 8.8 ἀλλʼ ἐν ἑκατὸν ἑβδομήκοντα τοῖς πρώτοις ἔτεσι ναοὺς μὲν οἰκοδομού μεν οι καὶ καλιάδας ἱερὰς ἱστῶντες, ἄγαλμα δὲ οὐδὲν ἔμμορφον ποιούμενοι διετέλουν, ὡς οὔτε ὅσιον ἀφομοιοῦν τὰ βελτίονα τοῖς χείροσιν οὔτε ἐφάπτεσθαι θεοῦ δυνατὸν ἄλλως ἢ νοήσει, κομιδῆ δὲ καὶ τὰ τῶν θυσιῶν ἔχεται τῆς Πυθαγορικῆς ἁγιστείας· ἀναίμακτοι γάρ ἦσαν αἵ γε πολλαί, διʼ ἀλφίτου καὶ σπονδῆς καὶ τῶν εὐτελεστάτων πεποιημέναι.
22.3 ᾧ λογισμῷ φασι μηδὲ τοὺς Πυθαγορικοὺς εἰς γραφὴν κατατίθεσθαι τὰ συντάγματα, μνήμην δὲ καὶ παίδευσιν αὐτῶν ἄγραφον ἐμποιεῖν τοῖς ἀξίοις. καὶ τῆς γε περὶ τὰς ἀπόρους καὶ ἀρρήτους λεγομένας ἐν γεωμετρίᾳ μεθόδους πραγματείας πρός τινα τῶν ἀναξίων ἐκδοθείσης, ἔφασαν ἐπισημαίνειν τὸ δαιμόνιον μεγάλῳ τινὶ καὶ κοινῷ κακῷ τὴν γεγενημένην παρανομίαν καὶ ἀσέβειαν ἐπεξερχόμενον. 22.4 ὥστε συγγνώμην ἔχειν πολλὴν τοῖς εἰς τὸ αὐτὸ Πυθαγόρᾳ Νομᾶν φιλοτιμουμένοις συνάγειν ἐπὶ τοσαύταις ὁμοιότησιν. οἱ δὲ περὶ Ἀντίαν ἱστοροῦσι δώδεκα μὲν εἶναι βίβλους ἱεροφαντικάς, δώδεκα δὲ ἄλλας Ἑλληνικὰς φιλοσόφους τὰς εἰς τὴν σορὸν συντεθείσας. τετρακοσίων δέ που διαγενομένων ἐτῶν ὕπατοι μὲν ἦσαν Πόπλιος Κορνήλιος καὶ Μάρκος Βαίβιος· ὄμβρων δὲ μεγάλων ἐπιπεσόντων καὶ χώματος περιρραγέντος ἐξέωσε σε τὰς σοροὺς τὸ ῥεῦμα·'' None | sup>
8.7 Furthermore, his ordices concerning images are altogether in harmony with the doctrines of Pythagoras. For that philosopher maintained that the first principle of being was beyond sense or feeling, was invisible and uncreated, and discernible only by the mind. And in like manner Numa forbade the Romans to revere an image of God which had the form of man or beast. Nor was there among them in this earlier time any painted or graven likeness of Deity,
8.7 Furthermore, his ordices concerning images are altogether in harmony with the doctrines of Pythagoras. For that philosopher maintained that the first principle of being was beyond sense or feeling, was invisible and uncreated, and discernible only by the mind. And in like manner Numa forbade the Romans to revere an image of God which had the form of man or beast. Nor was there among them in this earlier time any painted or graven likeness of Deity, 8.8 but while for the first hundred and seventy years they were continually building temples and establishing sacred shrines, they made no statues in bodily form for them, convinced that it was impious to liken higher things to lower, and that it was impossible to apprehend Deity except by the intellect. Their sacrifices, too, were altogether appropriate to the Pythagorean worship; for most of them involved no bloodshed, but were made with flour, drink-offerings, and the least costly gifts.
22.3 This is the reason, we are told, why the Pythagoreans also do not entrust their precepts to writing, but implant the memory and practice of them in living disciples worthy to receive them. And when their treatment of the abstruse and mysterious processes of geometry had been divulged to a certain unworthy person, they said the gods threatened to punish such lawlessness and impiety with some signal and wide-spread calamity.
22.3 This is the reason, we are told, why the Pythagoreans also do not entrust their precepts to writing, but implant the memory and practice of them in living disciples worthy to receive them. And when their treatment of the abstruse and mysterious processes of geometry had been divulged to a certain unworthy person, they said the gods threatened to punish such lawlessness and impiety with some signal and wide-spread calamity. 22.4 Therefore we may well be indulgent with those who are eager to prove, on the basis of so many resemblances between them, that Numa was acquainted with Pythagoras. Antias, however, writes that it was twelve pontifical books, and twelve others of Greek philosophy, which were placed in the coffin. And about four hundred years afterwards, when Publius Cornelius and Marcus Baebius were consuls, heavy rains fell, and the torrent of water tore away the earth and dislodged the coffins.'22.4 Therefore we may well be indulgent with those who are eager to prove, on the basis of so many resemblances between them, that Numa was acquainted with Pythagoras. Antias, however, writes that it was twelve pontifical books, and twelve others of Greek philosophy, which were placed in the coffin. And about four hundred years afterwards, when Publius Cornelius and Marcus Baebius were consuls, heavy rains fell, and the torrent of water tore away the earth and dislodged the coffins. ' None |
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72. Plutarch, Sertorius, 8.2 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras, Pythagoreans • Pythagoreanism
Found in books: Jenkyns (2013), God, Space, and City in the Roman Imagination, 122; Waldner et al. (2016), Burial Rituals, Ideas of Afterlife, and the Individual in the Hellenistic World and the Roman Empire, 79
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8.2 ἐνταῦθα ναῦταί τινες ἐντυγχάνουσιν αὐτῷ νέον ἐκ τῶν Ἀτλαντικῶν νήσων ἀναπεπλευκότες, αἳ δύο μέν εἰσι λεπτῷ παντάπασι πορθμῷ διαιρούμεναι, μυρίους δʼ ἀπέχουσι Λιβύης σταδίους καὶ ὀνομάζονται Μακάρων. ὄμβροις δὲ χρώμεναι μετρίοις σπανίως, τὰ δὲ πλεῖστα πνεύμασι μαλακοῖς καὶ δροσοβόλοις, οὐ μόνον ἀροῦν καὶ φυτεύειν παρέχουσιν ἀγαθὴν καὶ πίονα χώραν, ἀλλὰ καὶ καρπὸν αὐτοφυῆ φέρουσιν ἀποχρῶντα πλήθει καὶ γλυκύτητι βόσκειν ἄνευ πόνων καὶ πραγματείας σχολάζοντα δῆμον.'' None | sup>
8.2 '' None |
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73. Seneca The Younger, Letters, 108.17-108.21 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreans, Exercises • Pythagoreans, Giving upmeal, reviewing the day, hard bed, cold baths, anger makes you ugly
Found in books: Pevarello (2013), The Sentences of Sextus and the Origins of Christian Ascetiscism. 38; Sorabji (2000), Emotion and Peace of Mind: From Stoic Agitation to Christian Temptation, 214
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108.17 Inasmuch as I have begun to explain to you how much greater was my impulse to approach philosophy in my youth than to continue it in my old age, I shall not be ashamed to tell you what ardent zeal Pythagoras inspired in me. Sotion12 used to tell me why Pythagoras abstained from animal food, and why, in later times, Sextius did also. In each case, the reason was different, but it was in each case a noble reason. 108.18 Sextius believed that man had enough sustece without resorting to blood, and that a habit of cruelty is formed whenever butchery is practised for pleasure. Moreover, he thought we should curtail the sources of our luxury; he argued that a varied diet was contrary to the laws of health, and was unsuited to our constitutions. 108.19 Pythagoras, on the other hand, held that all beings were inter-related, and that there was a system of exchange between souls which transmigrated from one bodily shape into another. If one may believe him, no soul perishes or ceases from its functions at all, except for a tiny interval – when it is being poured from one body into another. We may question at what time and after what seasons of change the soul returns to man, when it has wandered through many a dwelling-place; but meantime, he made men fearful of guilt and parricide, since they might be, without knowing it, attacking the soul of a parent and injuring it with knife or with teeth – if, as is possible, the related spirit be dwelling temporarily in this bit of flesh! 108.20 When Sotion had set forth this doctrine, supplementing it with his own proofs, he would say: "You do not believe that souls are assigned, first to one body and then to another, and that our so-called death is merely a change of abode? You do not believe that in cattle, or in wild beasts, or in creatures of the deep, the soul of him who was once a man may linger? You do not believe that nothing on this earth is annihilated, but only changes its haunts? And that animals also have cycles of progress and, so to speak, an orbit for their souls, no less than the heavenly bodies, which revolve in fixed circuits? Great men have put faith in this idea; 108.21 therefore, while holding to your own view, keep the whole question in abeyance in your mind. If the theory is true, it is a mark of purity to refrain from eating flesh; if it be false, it is economy. And what harm does it do to you to give such credence? I am merely depriving you of food which sustains lions and vultures." '' None |
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74. None, None, nan (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoreanism, self-sufficiency • Pythagoreans
Found in books: Malherbe et al. (2014), Light from the Gentiles: Hellenistic Philosophy and Early Christianity: Collected Essays of Abraham J, 332; Sorabji (2000), Emotion and Peace of Mind: From Stoic Agitation to Christian Temptation, 235
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75. None, None, nan (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreans
Found in books: Pevarello (2013), The Sentences of Sextus and the Origins of Christian Ascetiscism. 101; Wilson (2012), The Sentences of Sextus, 56
| 4.1 HE is free who lives as he wishes to live; who is neither subject to compulsion nor to hindrance, nor to force; whose movements to action ( ὁρμαί ) are not impeded, whose desires attain their purpose, and who does not fall into that which he would avoid ( ἐκκλίσεις ἀπερίπτωτοι ). Who then chooses to live in error? No man. Who chooses to live deceived, liable to mistake, unjust, unrestrained, discontented, mean? No man. Not one then of the bad lives as he wishes; nor is he then free. And who chooses to live in sorrow, fear, envy, pity, desiring and failing in his desires, attempting to avoid something and falling into it? Not one. Do we then find any of the bad free from sorrow, free from fear, who does not fall into that which he would avoid, and does not obtain that which he wishes? Not one; nor then do we find any bad man free. If then a man who has been twice consul should hear this, if you add, But you are a wise man; this is nothing to you: he will pardon you. But if you tell him the truth, and say, You differ not at all from those who have been thrice sold as to being yourself not a slave, what else ought you to expect than blows? For he says, What, I a slave, I whose father was free, whose mother was free I whom no man can purchase: I am also of senatorial rank, and a friend of Caesar, and I have been a consul, and I own many slaves.—In the first place, most excellent senatorial man, perhaps your father also was a slave in the same kind of servitude, and your mother, and your grandfather and all your ancestors in an ascending series. But even if they were as free as it is possible, what is this to you? What if they were of a noble nature, and you of a mean nature; if they were fearless, and you a coward; if they had the power of self-restraint, and you are not able to exercise it. And what, you may say, has this to do with being a slave? Does it seem to you to be nothing to do a thing unwillingly, with compulsion, with groans, has this nothing to do with being a slave? It is something, you say: but who is able to compel me, except the lord of all, Caesar? Then even you yourself have admitted that you have one master. But that he is the common master of all, as you say, let not this console you at all: but know that you are a slave in a great family. So also the people of Nicopolis are used to exclaim, By the fortune of Caesar, we are free. However, if you please, let us not speak of Caesar at present. But tell me this: did you never love any person, a young girl, or slave, or free? What then is this with respect to being a slave or free? Were you never commanded by the person beloved to do something which you did not wish to do? have you never flattered your little slave? have you never kissed her feet? And yet if any man compelled you to kiss Caesar’s feet, you would think it an insult and excessive tyranny. What else then is slavery? Did you never go oat by night to some place whither you did not wish to go, did you not expend that you did not wish to expend, did you not utter words with sighs and groans, did you not submit to abuse and to be excluded? But if you are ashamed to confess your own acts, see what Thrasonides says and does, who having seen so much military service as perhaps not even you have, first of all went out by night, when Geta (a slave) does not venture out, but if he were compelled by his master, would have cried out much and would have gone out lamenting his bitter slavery. Next, what does Thrasonides say? A worthless girl has enslaved me, me whom no enemy ever did. Unhappy man, who are the slave even of a girl, and a worthless girl. Why then do you still call yourself free? and why do you talk of your service in the army? Then he calls for a sword and is angry with him who out of kindness refuses it; and he sends presents to her who hates him, and intreats and weeps, and on the other hand having had a little success he is elated. But even then how? was he free enough neither to desire nor to fear? Now consider in the case of animals, how we employ the notion of liberty. Men keep tame lions shut up, and feed them, and some take them about; and who will say that this lion is free? Is it not the fact that the more he lives at his ease, so much the more he is in a slavish condition? and who if he had perception and reason would wish to be one of these lions? Well, these birds when they are caught and are kept shut up, how much do they suffer in their attempts to escape? and some of them die of hunger rather than submit to such a kind of life. And as many of them as live, hardly live and with suffering pine away; and if they ever find any opening, they make their escape. So much do they desire their natural liberty, and to be independent and free from hindrance. And what harm is there to you in this? What do you say? I am formed by nature to fly where I choose, to live in the open air, to sing when I choose: you deprive me of all this, and say, what harm is it to you? For this reason we shall say that those animals only are free, which cannot endure capture, but as soon as they are caught. escape from captivity by death. So Diogenes also somewhere says that there is only one way to freedom, and that is to die content: and he writes to the Persian king. You cannot enslave the Athenian state any more than you can enslave fishes. How is that? cannot I catch them? If you catch them, says Diogenes, they will immediately leave you, as fishes do; for if you catch a fish, it dies; and if these men that are caught shall die, of what use to you is the preparation for war? These are the words of a free man who had carefully examined the thing, and, as was natural, had discovered it. But if you look for it in a different place from where it is, what wonder if you never find it? The slave wishes to be set free immediately. Why? Do you think that he wishes to pay money to the collectors of twentieths? No; but because he imagines that hitherto through not having obtained this, he is hindered and unfortunate. If I shall be set free, immediately it is all happiness, I care for no man, I speak to all as an equal and like to them, I go where I choose, I come from any place I choose, and go where I choose. Then he is set free; and forthwith having no place where he can eat, he looks for some man to flatter, some one with whom he shall sup: then he either works with his body and endures the most dreadful things; and if he can obtain a manger, he falls into a slavery much worse than his former slavery; or even if he is become rich, being a man without any knowledge of what is good, he loves some little girl, and in his unhappiness laments and desires to be a slave again. He says, what evil did I suffer in my state of slavery? Another clothed me, another supplied me with shoes, another fed me, another looked after me in sickness; and I did only a few services for him. But now a wretched man, what things I suffer, being a slave to many instead of to one. But however, he says, if I shall acquire rings then I shall live most prosperously and happily. First, in order to acquire these rings, he submits to that which he is worthy of; then when he has acquired them, it is again all the same. Then he says, If I shall be engaged in military service, I am free from all evils. He obtains military service. He suffers as much as a flogged slave, and nevertheless he asks for a second service and a third. After this, when he has put the finishing stroke (the colophon) to his career, and is become a senator, then he becomes a slave by entering into the assembly, then he serves the finer and most splendid slavery—not to be a fool, but to learn what Socrates taught, what is the nature of each thing that exists, and that a man should not rashly adapt preconceptions ( προλήψεις ) to the several things which are. For this is the cause to men of all their evils, the not being able to adapt the general preconceptions to the several things. But we have different opinions (about the cause of our evils). One man thinks that he is sick: not so however, but the fact is that he does not adapt his preconceptions right. Another thinks that he is poor; another that he has a severe father or mother; and another again that Caesar is not favourable to him. But all this is one and only one thing, the not knowing how to adapt the preconceptions. For who has not a preconception of that which is bad, that it is hurtful, that it ought to be avoided, that it ought in every way to be guarded against? One preconception is not repugt to another, only where it comes to the matter of adaptation. What then is this evil, which is both hurtful, and a thing to be avoided? He answers not to be Caesar’s friend.—He is gone far from the mark, he has missed the adaptation, he is embarrassed, he seeks the things which are not at all pertinent to the matter; for when he has succeeded in being Caesar’s friend, never the less he has failed in finding what he sought. For what is that which every man seeks? To live secure, to be happy, to do every thing as he wishes, not to be hindered, nor compelled. When then he is become the friend of Caesar, is he free from hindrance? free from compulsion, is he tranquil, is he happy? of whom shall we inquire? What more trustworthy witness have we than this very man who is become Caesar’s friend? Come forward and tell us when did you sleep more quietly, now or before you became Caesar’s friend? Immediately you hear the answer, Stop, I intreat you, and do not mock me: you know not what miseries I suffer, and sleep does not come to me; but one comes and says, Caesar is already awake, he is now going forth: then come troubles and cares—Well, when did you sup with more pleasure, now or before? Hear what he says about this also. He says that if he is not invited, he is pained: and if he is invited, he sups like a slave with his master, all the while being anxious that he does not say or do any thing foolish. And what do you suppose that he is afraid of; lest he should be lashed like a slave? How can he expect any thing so good? No, but as befits so great a man, Caesar’s friend, he is afraid that he may lose his head. And when did you bathe more free from trouble, and take your gymnastic exercise more quietly? In fine, which kind of life did you prefer? your present or your former life? I can swear that no man is so stupid or so ignorant of truth as not to bewail his own misfortunes the nearer he is in friendship to Caesar. Since then neither those who are called kings live as they choose, nor the friends of kings, who finally are those who are free? Seek, and you will find; for you have aids from nature for the discovery of truth. But if you are not able yourself by going along these ways only to discover that which follows, listen to those who have made the inquiry. What do they say? Does freedom seem to you a good thing? The greatest good. Is it possible then that he who obtains the greatest good can be unhappy or fare badly? No. Whomsoever then you shall see unhappy, unfortunate, lamenting, confidently declare that they are not free. I do declare it. We have now then got away from buying and selling and from such arrangements about matters of property: for if you have rightly assented to these matters, if the great king (the Persian king) is unhappy, he cannot be free, nor can a little king, nor a man of consular rank, nor one who has been twice consul.—Be it so. Further then answer me this question also, does freedom seem to you to be something great and noble and valuable?—How should it not seem so? Is it possible then when a man obtains anything so great and valuable and noble to be mean?—It is not possible—When then you see any man subject to another or flattering him contrary to his own opinion, confidently affirm that this man also is not free; and not only if he do this for a bit of supper, but also if he does it for a government (province) or a consulship: and call these men little slaves who for the sake of little matters do these things, and those who do so for the sake of great things call great slaves, as they deserve to be.—This is admitted also—Do you think that freedom is a thing independent and self governing?— Certainly—Whomsoever then it is in the power of another to hinder and compel, declare that he is not free. And do not look, I intreat you, after his grandfathers and great grandfathers, or inquire about his being bought or sold; but if you hear him saying from his heart and with feeling, Master, even if the twelve fasces precede him (as consul), call him a slave. And if you hear him say, Wretch that I am, how much I suffer, call him a slave. If finally you see him lamenting, complaining, unhappy, call him a slave though he wears a praetexta. If then he is doing nothing of this kind, do not yet say that he is free, but learn his opinions, whether they are subject to compulsion, or may produce hindrance, or to bad fortune; and if you find him such, call him a slave who has a holiday in the Saturnalia: say that his master is from home: he will return soon, and you will know what he suffers. Who will return? Whoever has in himself the power over anything which is desired by the man, either to give it to him or to take it away? Thus then have we many masters? We have: for we have circumstances as masters prior to our present masters; and these circumstances are many. Therefore it must of necessity be that those who have the power over any of these circumstances must be our masters. For no man fears Caesar himself, but he fears death, banishment, deprivation of his property, prison, and disgrace. Nor does any man love Caesar, unless Caesar is a person of great merit, but he loves wealth, the office of tribune, praetor or consul. When we love, and hate and fear these things, it must be that those who have the power over them must be our masters. Therefore we adore them even as gods; for we think that what possesses the power of conferring the greatest advantage on us is divine. Then we wrongly assume ( ὑποτάσσομεν ) that a certain person has the power of conferring the greatest advantages; therefore he is something divine. For if we wrongly assume that a certain person has the power of conferring the greatest advantages, it is a necessary consequence that the conclusion from these premises must be false. What then is that which makes a man free from hindrance and makes him his own master? For wealth does not do it, nor consulship, nor provincial government, nor royal power; but something else must be discovered. What then is that which when we write makes us free from hindrance and unimpeded? The knowledge of the art of writing. What then is it in playing the lute? The science of playing the lute. Therefore in life also it is the science of life. You have then heard in a general way: but examine the thing also in the several parts. Is it possible that he who desires any of the things which depend on others can be free from hindrance? No—Is it possible for him to be unimpeded? No—Therefore he cannot be free. Consider then: whether we have nothing which is in our own power only, or whether we have all things, or whether some things are in our own power, and others in the power of others.—What do you mean?— When you wish the body to be entire (sound), is it in your power or not?—It is not in my power—When you wish it to be healthy?—Neither is this in my power.— When you wish it to be handsome?—Nor is this—Life or death?—Neither is this in my power.—Your body then is another’s, subject to every man who is stronger than yourself—It is—But your estate, is it in your power to have it when you please, and as long as you please, and such as you please?—No—And your slaves?—No—And your clothes?—No—And your house?—No—And your horses?—Not one of these things—And if you wish by all means your children to live, or your wife, or your brother, or your friends, is it in your power?—This also is not in my power. Whether then have you nothing which is in your own power, which depends on yourself only and cannot be taken from you, or have you any thing of the kind?—I know not—Look at the thing then thus, and examine it. Is any man able to make you assent to that which is false He means that which seems to you to be false. See iii. 22, 42. In the matter of assent then : this is the third τόρος or locus or division in philosophy (iii. 2, 1–5). As to the Will, compare i. 17, note 10. Epictetus affirms that a man cannot be compelled to assent, that is to admit, to allow, or, to use another word, to believe in that which seems to him to be false, or, to use the same word again, to believe in that in which he does not believe. When the Christian uses the two creeds, which begin with the words, I believe etc., he knows or he ought to know, that he cannot compel an unbeliever to accept the same belief. He may by pains and penalties of various kinds compel some persons to profess or to express the same belief: but as no pains or penalties could compel some Christians to deny their belief, so I suppose that perhaps there are men who could not be compelled to express this belief when they have it not. The case of the believer and the unbeliever however are not the same. The believer may be strengthened in his belief by the belief that he will in some way be punished by God, if he denies that which he believes. The unbeliever will not have the same motive or reason for not expressing his assent to that which he does not believe. He believes that it is and will be all the same to him with respect to God, whether he gives his assent to that which he does not believe or refuses his assent. There remains nothing then to trouble him if he expresses his assent to that which he does not believe, except the opinion of those who know that he does not believe, or his own reflections on expressing his assent to that which he does not believe; or in other words his publication of a lie, which may probably do no harm to any man or in any way. I believe that some men are strong enough, under some circumstances at least, to refuse their assent to any thing which they do not believe; but I do not affirm that they would do this under all circumstances. To return to the matter under consideration, a man cannot be compelled by any power to accept voluntarily a thing as true, when lie believes that it is not true; and this act of his is quite independent of the matter whether his unbelief is well founded or not. He does not believe because he cannot believe. Yet it is said (Mark xvi. 11,) in the received text, as it now stands, He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not, shall be damned (condemned). The cause, as it is called, of this unbelief is explained by some theologians; but all men do not admit the explanation to be sufficient: and it does not concern the present subject. —No man—In the matter of assent then you are free from hindrance and obstruction.—Granted—Well; and can a man force you to desire to move towards that to which you do not choose?—He can, for when he threatens me with death or bonds, he compels me to desire to move towards it. If then, you despise death and bonds, do you still pay any regard to him?—No—Is then the despising of death an act of your own or is it not yours?—It is my act—It is your own act then also to desire to move towards a thing: or is it not so?—It is my own act—But to desire to move away from a thing, whose act is that? This also is your act—What then if I have attempted to walk, suppose another should hinder me—What part of you does he hinder? does he hinder the faculty of assent?—No: but my poor body—Yes, as he would do with a stone— Granted; but I no longer walk—And who told you that walking is your own act free from hindrance? for I said that this only was free from hindrance, to desire to move: but where there is need of body and its co-operation, you have heard long ago that nothing is your own.—Granted this also—And who can compel you to desire what you do not wish?—No man—And to propose or intend, or in short to make use of the appearances which present themselves, can any man compel you?—He cannot do this: but he will hinder me when I desire from obtaining what I desire.—If you desire any thing which is your own, and one of the things which cannot be hindered, how will he hinder you?—He cannot in any way—Who then tells you that he who desires the things that belong to another is free from hindrance? Must I then not desire health? By no means, nor any thing else that belongs to another: for what is not in your power to acquire or to keep when you please, this belongs to another. Keep then far from it not only your hands, but more than that, even your desires. If you do not, you have surrendered yourself as a slave; you have subjected your neck, if you admire any thing not your own, to every thing that is dependent on the power of others and perishable, to which you have conceived a liking.—Is not my hand my own?—It is a part of your own body; but it is by nature earth, subject to hindrance, compulsion, and the slave of every thing which is stronger. And why do I say your hand? You ought to possess your whole body as a poor ass loaded, as long as it is possible, as long as you are allowed. But if there be a press, and a soldier should lay hold of it, let it go, do not resist, nor murmur; if you do, you will receive blows, and never the less you will also lose the ass. But when you ought to feel thus with respect to the body, consider what remains to be done about all the rest, which is provided for the sake of the body. When the body is an ass, all the other things are bits belonging to the ass, pack-saddles, shoes, barley, fodder. Let these also go: get rid of them quicker and more readily than of the ass. When you have made this preparation, and have practised this discipline, to distinguish that which belongs to another from that which is your own, the things which are subject to hindrance from those which are not, to consider the things free from hindrance to concern yourself, and those which are not free not to concern yourself, to keep your desire steadily fixed to the things which do concern yourself, and turned from the things which do not concern yourself; do you still fear any man? No one. For about what will you be afraid? about the things which are your own, in which consists the nature of good and evil? and who has power over these things? who can take them away? who can impede them? No man can, no more than he can impede God. But will you be afraid about your body and your possessions, about things which are not yours, about things which in no way concern you? and what else have you been studying from the beginning than to distinguish between your own and not your own, the things which are in your power and not in your power, the things subject to hindrance and not subject? and why have you come to the philosophers? was it that you may never the less be unfortunate and unhappy? You will then in this way, as I have supposed you to have done, be without fear and disturbance. And what is grief to you? for fear comes from what you expect, but grief from that which is present. But what further will you desire? For of the things which are within the power of the will, as being good and present, you have a proper and regulated desire: but of the things which are not in the power of the will you do not desire any one, and so you do not allow any place to that which is irrational, and impatient, and above measure hasty. When then you are thus affected towards things, what man can any longer be formidable to you? For what has a man which is formidable to another, either when you see him or speak to him or finally are conversant with him? Not more than one horse has with respect to another, or one dog to another, or one bee to another bee. Things indeed are formidable to every man; and when any man is able to confer these things on another or to take them away, then he too becomes formidable. How then is an acropolis (a stronghold or fortress, the seat of tyranny) demolished? Not by the sword, not by fire, but by opinion. For if we abolish the acropolis which is in the city, can we abolish also that of fever, and that of beautiful women? Can we in a word abolish the acropolis which is in us and cast out the tyrants within us, whom we have daily over us, sometimes the same tyrants, at other times different tyrants? But with this we must begin, and with this we must demolish the acropolis and eject the tyrants, by giving up the body, the parts of it, the faculties of it, the possessions, the reputation, magisterial offices, honours, children, brothers, friends, by considering all these things as belonging to others. And if tyrants have been ejected from us, why do I still shut in the acropolis by a wall of circumvallation, at least on my account; for if it still stands, what does it do to me? why do I still eject (the tyrant’s) guards? For where do I perceive them? against others they have their fasces, and their spears and their swords. But I have never been hindered in my will, nor compelled when I did not will. And how is this possible? I have placed my movements towards action ( ὁρμήν ) in obedience to God. Is it his will that I shall have fever? It is my will also. Is it his will that I should move towards any thing? It is my will also. Is it his will that I should obtain any thing? It is my wish also. Does he not will? I do not wish. Is it his will that I die, is it his will that I be put to the rack? It is my will then to die: it is my will then to be put to the rack. Who then is still able to hinder me contrary to my own judgment, or to compel me? No more than he can hinder or compel Zeus. Thus the more cautious of travellers also act. A traveller has heard that the road is infested by robbers; he does not venture to enter on it alone, but he waits for the companionship on the road either of an ambassador, or of a quaestor, or of a proconsul, and when he has attached himself to such persons he goes along the road safely. So in the world the wise man acts. There are many companies of robbers, tyrants, storms, difficulties, losses of that which is dearest. Where is there any place of refuge? how shall he pass along without being attacked by robbers? what company shall he wait for that he may pass along in safety? to whom shall he attach himself? To what person generally? to the rich man, to the man of consular rank? and what is the use of that to me? Such a man is stripped himself, groans and laments. But what if the fellow companion himself turns against me and becomes my robber, what shall I do? I will be a friend of Caesar: when I am Caesar’s companion no man will wrong me. In the first place, that I may become illustrious, what things must I endure and suffer? how often and by how many must I be robbed? Then, if I become Caesar’s friend, he also is mortal. And if Caesar from any circumstance becomes my enemy, where is it best for me to retire? Into a desert? Well, does fever not come there? What shall be done then? Is it not possible to find a safe fellow traveller, a faithful one, strong, secure against all surprises? Thus he considers and perceives that if he attaches himself to God, he will make his journey in safety. How do you understand attaching yourself to God? In this sense, that whatever God wills, a man also shall will; and what God does not will, a man also shall not will. How then shall this be done? In what other way than by examining the movements ( ὁρμάς , the acts) of God Schweig. expresses his surprise that Epictetus has applied this word ( ὁρμάς ) to God. He says that Wolf has translated it Dei appetitionem, and Upton impetum. He says that he has translated it consilium. It is not unusual for men to speak of God in the same words in which they speak of man. and his administration? What has he given to me as my own and in my own power? what has he reserved to himself? He has given to me the things which are in the power of the will ( τὰ προαιρετικὰ ): he has put them in my power free from impediment and hindrance. How was he able to make the earthy body free from hindrance? He could not, and accordingly he has subjected to the revolution of the whole ( τῇ τῶν ὅλων περιόδῳ ) possessions, household things, house, children, wife. Why then do I fight against God? why do I will what does not depend on the will? why do I will to have absolutely what is not granted to me? But how ought I to will to have things? In the way in which they are given and as long as they are given. But he who has given takes away. Why then do I resist? I do not say that I shall be a fool if I use force to one who is stronger, but I shall first be unjust. For whence had I things when I came into the world?— My father gave them to me—And who gave them to him? and who made the sun? and who made the fruits of the earth? and who the seasons? and who made the connection of men with one another and their fellowship? Then after receiving everything from another and even yourself, are you angry and do you blame the giver if he takes any thing from you? Who are you, and for what purpose did you come into the world? Did not he (God) introduce you here, did he not show you the light, did he not give you fellow workers, and perceptions and reason? and as whom did he introduce you here? did he not introduce you as subject to death, and as one to live on the earth with a little flesh, and to observe his administration, and to join with him in the spectacle and the festival for a short time? Will you not then, as long as you have been permitted, after seeing the spectacle and the solemnity, when he leads you out, go with adoration of him and thanks for what you have heard and seen?—No; but I would still enjoy the feast.—The initiated too would wish to be longer in the initiation: and perhaps also those at Olympia to see other athletes; but the solemnity is ended: go away like a grateful and modest man; make room for others: others also must be born, as you were, and being born they must have a place, and houses and necessary things. And if the first do not retire, what remains? Why are you insatiable? Why are you not content? why do you contract the world?—Yes, but I would have my little children with me and my wife—What, are they yours? do they not belong to the giver, and to him who made you? then will you not give up what belongs to others? will you not give way to him who is superior?—Why then did he introduce me into the world on these conditions?—And if the conditions do not suit you, depart. And is this all the comfort, every serious reader will be apt to say, which one of the best philosophers, in one of his noblest discourses, can give to the good man under severe distress? Either tell yourself that present suffering void of future hope, is no evil, or give up your existence and mingle with the elements of the Universe ! Unspeakably more rational and more worthy of infinite goodness is our blessed Master’s exhortation to the persecuted Christian: Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. Mrs. Carter. I do not think that Mrs. Carter has represented correctly the teaching of Epictetus. He is addressing men who were not Christians, but were, as he assumes, believers in God or in the Gods, and his argument is that a man ought to be contented with things as they are, because they are from God. If he cannot be contented with things as they are, and make the best of them, the philosopher can say no more to the man. He tells him to depart. What else could he say to a grumbler, who is also a believer in God? If he is not a believer, Epictetus might say the same to him also. The case is past help or advice. The Christian doctrine, of which probably Epictetus knew nothing, is very different. It promises future happiness on certain conditions to Christians, but to Christians only, if I understand it right. He has no need of a spectator who is not satisfied. He wants those who join in the festival, those who take part in the chorus, that they may rather applaud, admire, and celebrate with hymns the solemnity. But those who can bear no trouble, and the cowardly he will not unwillingly see absent from the great assembly ( πανήγυρις ); for they did not when they were present behave as they ought to do at a festival nor fill up their place properly, but they lamented, found fault with the deity, fortune, their companions; not seeing both what they had, and their own powers, which they received for contrary purposes, the powers of magimity, of a generous mind, manly spirit, and what we are now inquiring about, freedom.—For what purpose then have I received these things? —To use them—How long?—So long as he who has lent them chooses.—What if they are necessary to me?—Do not attach yourself to them and they will not be necessary: do not say to yourself that they are necessary, and then they are not necessary. This study you ought to practise from morning to evening, beginning with the smallest things and those most liable to damage, with an earthen pot, with a cup. Then proceed in this way to a tunic, to a little dog, to a horse, to a small estate in land: then to yourself, to your body, to the parts of your body, to your children, to your wife, to your brothers. Look all round and throw these things from you (which are not yours). Purge your opinions, so that nothing cleave to you of the things which are not your own, that nothing grow to you, that nothing give you pain when it is torn from you; and say, while you are daily exercising yourself as you do there (in the school), not that you are philosophizing, for this is an arrogant (offensive) expression, but that you are presenting an asserter of freedom: for this is really freedom. To this freedom Diogenes was called by Antisthenes, and he said that he could no longer be enslaved by any man. For this reason when he was taken prisoner, how did he behave to the pirates? Did he call any of them master? and I do not speak of the name, for I am not afraid of the word, but of the state of mind, by which the word is produced. How did he reprove them for feeding badly their captives? How was he sold? Did he seek a master? no; but a slave. And when he was sold how did he behave to his master? Immediately he disputed with him and said to his master that he ought not to be dressed as he was, nor shaved in such a manner; and about the children he told them how he ought to bring them up. And what was strange in this? for if his master had bought an exercise master, would he have employed him in the exercises of the palaestra as a servant or as a master? and sc if he had bought a physician or an architect. And so in every matter, it is absolutely necessary that he who has skill must be the superior of him who has not. Whoever then generally possesses the science of life, what else must he be than master? For who is master in a ship? The man who governs the helm? Why? Because he who will not obey him suffers for it. But a master can give me stripes. Can he do it then without suffering for it? So I also used to think. But because he cannot do it without suffering for it, for this reason it is not in his power: and no man can do what is unjust without suffering for it. And what is the penalty for him who puts his own slave in chains? what do you think that is? The fact of putting the slave in chains:—and you also will admit this, if you choose to maintain the truth, that man is not a wild beast, but a tame animal. For when is a vine doing badly? When it is in a condition contrary to its nature. When is a cock? Just the same. Therefore a man also is so. What then is a man’s nature? To bite, to kick, and to throw into prison and to behead? No; but to do good, to co-operate with others, to wish them well. At that time then he is in a bad condition, whether you chose to admit it or not, when he is acting foolishly. Socrates then did not fare badly?—No; but his judges and his accusers did.—Nor did Helvidius at Rome fare badly?—No; but his murderer did. How do you mean?— The same as you do when you say that a cock has not fared badly when he has gained the victory and been severely wounded; but that the cock has fared badly when he has been defeated and is unhurt: nor do you call a dog fortunate, who neither pursues game nor labours, but when you see him sweating, when you see him in pain and panting violently after running. What paradox (unusual thing) do we utter if we say that the evil in every thing is that which is contrary to the nature of the thing? Is this a paradox? for do you not say this in the case of all other things? Why then in the case of man only do you think differently? But because we say that the nature of man is tame (gentle) and social and faithful, you will not say that this is a paradox? It is not—What then is it a paradox to say that a man is not hurt when he is whipped, or put in chains, or beheaded? does he not, if he suffers nobly, come off even with increased advantage and profit? But is he not hurt, who suffers in a most pitiful and disgraceful way, who in place of a man becomes a wolf, or viper or wasp? Well then let us recapitulate the things which have been agreed on. The man who is not under restraint is free, to whom things are exactly in that state in which he wishes them to be; but he who can be restrained or compelled or hindered, or thrown into any circumstances against his will, is a slave. But who is free from restraint? He who desires nothing that belongs to (is in the power of) others. And what are the things which belong to others? Those which are not in our power either to have or not to have, or to have of a certain kind or in a certain manner. Therefore the body belongs to another, the parts of the body belong to another, possession (property) belongs to another. If then you are attached to any of these things as your own, you will pay the penalty which it is proper for him to pay who desires what belongs to another. This road leads to freedom, this is the only way of escaping from slavery, to be able to say at last with all your soul Lead me, O Zeus, and thou 0 destiny, The way that I am bid by you to go. But what do you say, philosopher? The tyrant summons you to say something which does not become you. Do you say it or do you not? Answer me—Let me consider—Will you consider now? But when you were in the school, what was it which you used to consider? Did you not study what are the things that are good and what are bad, and what things are neither one nor the other?—I did.—What then was our opinion?—That just and honourable acts were good; and that unjust and disgraceful (foul) acts were bad.—Is life a good thing?—No.—Is death a bad thing?—No.—Is prison?—No.—But what did we think about mean and faithless words and betrayal of a friend and flattery of a tyrant?—That they are bad.—Well then, you are not considering, nor have you considered nor deliberated. For what is the matter for consideration, is it whether it is becoming for me, when I have it in my power, to secure for myself the greatest of good things, and not to secure for myself (that is, not to avoid) the greatest evils? A fine inquiry indeed, and necessary, and one that demands much deliberation. Man, why do you mock us? Such an inquiry is never made. If you really imagined that base things were bad and honourable things were good, and that all other things were neither good nor bad, you would not even have approached this enquiry, nor have come near it; but immediately you would have been able to distinguish them by the understanding as you would do (in other cases) by the vision. For when do you inquire if black things are white, if heavy things are light, and do not comprehend the manifest evidence of the senses? How then do you now say that you are considering whether things which are neither good nor bad ought to be avoided more than things which are bad? But you do not possess these opinions; and neither do these things seem to you to be neither good nor bad, but you think that they are the greatest evils; nor do you think those other things (mean and faithless words, etc.) to be evils, but matters which do not concern us at all. For thus from the beginning you have accustomed yourself. Where am I? In the schools: and are any listening to me? I am discoursing among philosophers. But I have gone out of the school. Away with this talk of scholars and fools. Thus a friend is overpowered by the testimony of a philosopher: thus a philosopher becomes a parasite; thus he lets himself for hire for money: thus in the senate a man does not say what he thinks; in private (in the school) he proclaims his opinions. You are a cold and miserable little opinion, suspended from idle words as from a hair. But keep yourself strong and fit for the uses of life and initiated by being exercised in action. How do you hear (the report)?—I do not say, that your child is dead—for how could you bear that?—but that your oil is spilled, your wine drunk up. Do you act in such a way that one standing by you while you are making a great noise, may say this only, Philosopher, you say something different in the school. Why do you deceive us? Why, when you are only a worm, do you say that you are a man? I should like to be present when some of the philosophers is lying with a woman, that I might see how he is exerting himself, and what words he is uttering, and whether he remembers his title of philosopher, and the words which he hears or says or reads. And what is this to liberty? Nothing else than this, whether you who are rich choose or not.—And who is your evidence for this?—who else than yourselves? who have a powerful master (Caesar), and who live in obedience to his nod and motion, and who faint if he only looks at you with a scowling countece; you who court old women and old men, and say, I cannot do this: it is not in my power. Why is it not in your power? Did you not lately contend with me and say that you are free? But Aprulla has hindered me? Tell the truth then, slave, and do not run away from your masters, nor deny, nor venture to produce any one to assert your freedom ( καρπιοτήν ), when you have so many evidences of your slavery. And indeed when a man is compelled by love to do something contrary to his opinion (judgment), and at the same time sees the better, but has not the strength to follow it, one might consider him still more worthy of excuse as being held by a certain violent and in a manner a divine power. But who could endure you who are in love with old women and old men, and wipe the old women’s noses, and wash them and give them presents, and also wait on them like a slave when they are sick, and at the same time wish them dead, and question the physicians whether they are sick unto death? And again, when in order to obtain these great and much admired magistracies and honours, you kiss the hands of these slaves of others, and so you are not the slave even of free men. Then you walk about before me in stately fashion a praetor or a consul. Do I not know how you became a praetor, by what means you got your consulship, who gave it to you? I would not even choose to live, if I must live by help of Felicion and endure his arrogance and servile insolence: for I know what a slave is, who is fortunate, as he thinks, and puffed up by pride. You then, a man may say, are you free? I wish, by the Gods, and pray to be free; but I am not yet able to face my masters, I still value my poor body, I value greatly the preservation of it entire, though I do not possess it entire. But I can point out to you a free man, that you may no longer seek an example. Diogenes was free. How was he free?—not because he was born of free parents, but because he was himself free, because he had cast off all the handles of slavery, and it was not possible for any man to approach him, nor had any man the means of laying hold of him to enslave him. He had everything easily loosed, everything only hanging to him. If you laid hold of his property, he would have rather let it go and be yours, than he would have followed you for it: if you had laid hold of his leg, he would have let go his leg; if of all his body, all his poor body; his intimates, friends, country, just the same. For he knew from whence he had them, and from whom, and on what conditions. His true parents indeed, the Gods, and his real country he would never have deserted, nor would he have yielded to any man in obedience to them and to their orders, nor would any man have died for his country more readily. For he was not used to inquire when he should be considered to have done anything on behalf of the whole of things (the universe, or all the world), but he remembered that every thing which is done comes from thence and is done on behalf of that country and is commanded by him who administers it. Therefore see what Diogenes himself says and writes:— For this reason, he says, Diogenes, it is in your power to speak both with the King of the Persians and with Archidamus the king of the Lacedaemonians, as you please. Was it because he was born of free parents? I suppose all the Athenians and all the Lacedaemonians because they were born of slaves, could not talk with them (these kings) as they wished, but feared and paid court to them. Why then does he say that it is in his power? Because I do not consider the poor body to be my own, because I want nothing, because law is every thing to me, and nothing else is. These were the things which permitted him to be free. And that you may not think that I show you the example of a man who is a solitary person, who has neither wife nor children, nor country, nor friends nor kinsmen, by whom he could be bent and drawn in various directions, take Socrates and observe that he had a wife and children, but he did not consider them as his own; that he had a country, so long as it was fit to have one, and in such a manner as was fit; friends and kinsmen also, but he held all in subjection to law and to the obedience due to it. For this reason he was the first to go out as a soldier, when it was necessary, and in war he exposed himself to danger most unsparingly; and when he was sent by the tyrants to seize Leon, he did not even deliberate about the matter, because he thought that it was a base action, and he knew that he must die (for his refusal), if it so happened. And what difference did that make to him? for he intended to preserve something else, not his poor flesh, but his fidelity, his honourable character. These are things which could not be assailed nor brought into subjection. Then when he was obliged to speak in defence of his life, did he behave like a man who had children, who had a wife? No, but he behaved like a man who has neither. And what did he do when he was (ordered) to drink the poison, and when he had the power of escaping from prison, and when Crito said to him, Escape for the sake of your children, what did Socrates say? did he consider the power of escape as an unexpected gain? By no means: he considered what was fit and proper; but the rest he did not even look at or take into the reckoning. For he did not choose, he said, to save his poor body, but to save that which is increased and saved by doing what is just, and is impaired and destroyed by doing what is unjust. Socrates will not save his life by a base act; he who would not put the Athenians to the vote when they clamoured that he should do so, he who refused to obey the tyrants, he who discoursed in such a manner about virtue and right behaviour. It is not possible to save such a man’s life by base acts, but he is saved by dying, not by running away. For the good actor also preserves his character by stopping when he ought to stop, better than when he goes on acting beyond the proper time. What then shall the children of Socrates do? If, said Socrates, I had gone off to Thessaly, would you have taken care of them; and if I depart to the world below, will there be no man to take care of them? See how he gives to death a gentle name and mocks it. But if you and I had been in his place, we should have immediately answered as philosophers that those who act unjustly must be repaid in the same way, and we should have added, I shall be useful to many, if my life is saved, and if I die, I shall be useful to no man. For, if it had been necessary, we should have made our escape by slipping through a small hole. And how in that case should we have been useful to any man? for where would they have been then staying? or if we were useful to men while we were alive, should we not have been much more useful to them by dying when we ought to die, and as we ought? And now Socrates being dead, no less useful to men, and even more useful, is the remembrance of that which he did or said when he was alive. This is the conclusion about Socrates, whom Epictetus highly valued: the remembrance of what Socrates did and said is even more useful than his life. The life of the dead, says Cicero of Servius Sulpicius, the great Roman jurist and Cicero’s friend, rests in the remembrance of the living. Epictetus has told us of some of the acts of Socrates, which prove him to have been a brave and honest man. He does not tell us here what Socrates said, which means what he taught; but he knew what it was. Modern writers have expounded the matter at length, and in a form which Epictetus would not or could not have used.—Socrates left to others the questions which relate to the material world, and he first taught, as we are told, the things which concern man’s daily life and his intercourse with other men: in other words he taught Ethic (the principles of morality). Fields and trees, he said, will teach me nothing, but man in his social state will; and man then is the proper subject of the philosophy of Socrates. The beginning of this knowledge was as he said, to know himself according to the precept of the Delphic oracle, Know thyself ( γνῶθι σεαυτόν ): and the object of his philosophy was to comprehend the nature of man as a moral being in all relations; and among these the relation of man to God as the father of all, creator and ruler of all, as Plato expresses it. Socrates taught that what we call death is not the end of man; death is only the road to another life. The death of Socrates was conformable to his life and teaching. Socrates died not only with the noblest courage and tranquillity, but he also refused, as we are told, to escape from death, which the laws of the state permitted, by going into exile or paying a fine, because as he said, if he had himself consented to a fine or allowed others to propose it, (Xenophon, Apol. § 22 ), such an act would have been an admission of his guilt. Both (Socrates and Jesus) offered themselves with the firmest resolution for a holy cause, which was so far from being lost through their death that it only served rather to make it the general cause of mankind. (Das Christliche des Platonismus oder Socrates und Christus, by F. C. Baur.) This essay by Baur is very ingenious. Perhaps there are some readers who will disagree with him on many points in the comparison of Socrates and Christus. However the essay is well worth the trouble of reading. The opinion of Rousseau in his comparison of Jesus and Socrates is in some respects more just than that of Baur, though the learning of the Frenchman is very small when compared with that of the German. What prejudices, what blindness must a man have, says Rousseau, when he dares to compare the son of Sophroniscus with the son of Mary!—The death of Socrates philosophising tranquilly with his friends is the most gentle that a man could desire; that of Jesus expiring in torments, insulted, jeered, cursed by a whole people, is the most horrible that: man could dread. Socrates taking the poisoned cup blesses him who presents it and weeps; Jesus in his horrible punishment prays for his savage executioners. Yes, if the life and the death of Socrates are those of a sage, the life and the death of Jesus are those of a God. (Rousseau, Emile, vol. iii. p. 166. Amsterdam, 1765 .) Think of these things, these opinions, these words: look to these examples, if you would be free, if you desire the thing according to its worth. And what is the wonder if you buy so great a thing at the price of things so many and so great? For the sake of this which is called liberty, some hang themselves, others throw themselves down precipices, and sometimes even whole cities have perished: and will you not for the sake of the true and unassailable and secure liberty give back to God when he demands them the things which he has given? Will you not, as Plato says, study not to die only, but also to endure torture, and exile, and scourging and in a word to give up all which is not your own? If you will not, you will be a slave among slaves, even if you be ten thousand times a consul; and if you make your way up to the Palace (Caesar’s residence), you will no less be a slave; and you will feel, that perhaps philosophers utter words which are contrary to common opinion (paradoxes), as Cleanthes also said, but not words contrary to reason. For you will know by experience that the words are true, and that there is no profit from the things which are valued and eagerly sought to those who have obtained them; and to those who have not yet obtained them there is an imagination ( φαντασία ), that when these things are come, all that is good will come with them; then, when they are come, the feverish feeling is the same, the tossing to and fro is the same, the satiety, the desire of things which are not present; for freedom is acquired not by the full possession of the things which are desired, but by removing the desire. And that you may know that this is true, as you have laboured for those things, so transfer your labour to these; be vigilant for the purpose of acquiring an opinion which will make you free; pay court to a philosopher instead of to a rich old man: be seen about a philosopher’s doors: you will not disgrace yourself by being seen; you will not go away empty nor without profit, if you go to the philosopher as you ought, and if not (if you do not succeed), try at least: the trial (attempt) is not disgraceful.'' None |
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76. None, None, nan (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Democritus, and Pythagoreanism • Iamblichus, as source for Pythagoreanism • Numa Pythagorean writings of • Pythagoras and Pythagoreans • Pythagoras/Pythagoreanism • Pythagorean, • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism xxv, Democritus and • Pythagoreans • Pythagorism • tradition, Pythagorean
Found in books: Ando and Ruepke (2006), Religion and Law in Classical and Christian Rome, 63; Bickerman and Tropper (2007), Studies in Jewish and Christian History, 302; Bricault and Bonnet (2013), Panthée: Religious Transformations in the Graeco-Roman Empire, 51; Edelmann-Singer et al. (2020), Sceptic and Believer in Ancient Mediterranean Religions, 248; Edmonds (2019), Drawing Down the Moon: Magic in the Ancient Greco-Roman World, 272; Stephens and Winkler (1995), Ancient Greek Novels: The Fragments: Introduction, Text, Translation, and Commentary, 113; Wolfsdorf (2020), Early Greek Ethics, 276
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77. None, None, nan (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreans
Found in books: Alvarez (2018), The Derveni Papyrus: Unearthing Ancient Mysteries, 32; Beneker et al. (2022), Plutarch’s Unexpected Silences: Suppression and Selection in the Lives and Moralia, 59, 60
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78. Irenaeus, Refutation of All Heresies, 1.27.1, 2.14.2-2.14.3, 2.14.6, 2.33.2, 4.13.3 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras / (neo-)pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreans
Found in books: Joosse (2021), Olympiodorus of Alexandria: Exegete, Teacher, Platonic Philosopher, 230; Lieu (2015), Marcion and the Making of a Heretic: God and Scripture in the Second Century, 326; Novenson (2020), Monotheism and Christology in Greco-Roman Antiquity, 285; Osborne (2001), Irenaeus of Lyons, 197; Ramelli (2013), The Christian Doctrine of Apokatastasis: A Critical Assessment from the New Testament to Eriugena, 212; Rohmann (2016), Christianity, Book-Burning and Censorship in Late Antiquity, 160; Wilson (2012), The Sentences of Sextus, 55; deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 37
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1.27.1 Cerdo was one who took his system from the followers of Simon, and came to live at Rome in the time of Hyginus, who held the ninth place in the episcopal succession from the apostles downwards. He taught that the God proclaimed by the law and the prophets was not the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the former was known, but the latter unknown; while the one also was righteous, but the other benevolent.
2.14.2 And not only are they convicted of bringing forward, as if their own original ideas, those things which are to be found among the comic poets, but they also bring together the things which have been said by all those who were ignorant of God, and who are termed philosophers; and sewing together, as it were, a motley garment out of a heap of miserable rags, they have, by their subtle manner of expression, furnished themselves with a cloak which is really not their own. They do, it is true, introduce a new kind of doctrine, inasmuch as by a new sort of art it has been substituted for the old. Yet it is in reality both old and useless, since these very opinions have been sewed together out of ancient dogmas redolent of ignorance and irreligion. For instance, Thales of Miletus affirmed that water was the generative and initial principle of all things. Now it is just the same thing whether we say water or Bythus. The poet Homer, again, held the opinion that Oceanus, along with mother Tethys, was the origin of the gods: this idea these men have transferred to Bythus and Sige. Anaximander laid it down that infinitude is the first principle of all things, having seminally in itself the generation of them all, and from this he declares the immense worlds which exist were formed: this, too, they have dressed up anew, and referred to Bythus and their AEons. Anaxagoras, again, who has also been surnamed "Atheist," gave it as his opinion that animals were formed from seeds falling down from heaven upon earth. This thought, too, these men have transferred to "the seed" of their Mother, which they maintain to be themselves; thus acknowledging at once, in the judgment of such as are possessed of sense, that they themselves are the offspring of the irreligious Anaxagoras. 2.14.3 Again, adopting the ideas of shade and vacuity from Democritus and Epicurus, they have fitted these to their own views, following upon those teachers who had already talked a great deal about a vacuum and atoms, the one of which they called that which is, and the other that which is not. In like manner, these men call those things which are within the Pleroma real existences, just as those philosophers did the atoms; while they maintain that those which are without the Pleroma have no true existence, even as those did respecting the vacuum. They have thus banished themselves in this world (since they are here outside of the Pleroma) into a place which has no existence. Again, when they maintain that these things below are images of those which have a true existence above, they again most manifestly rehearse the doctrine of Democritus and Plato. For Democritus was the first who maintained that numerous and diverse figures were stamped, as it were, with the forms of things above, and descended from universal space into this world. But Plato, for his part, speaks of matter, and exemplar, and God. These men, following those distinctions, have styled what he calls ideas, and exemplar, the images of those things which are above; while, through a mere change of name, they boast themselves as being discoverers and contrivers of this kind of imaginary fiction.
2.33.2 With reference to these objections, Plato, that ancient Athenian, who also was the first to introduce this opinion, when he could not set them aside, invented the notion of a cup of oblivion, imagining that in this way he would escape this son of difficulty. He attempted no kind of proof of his supposition, but simply replied dogmatically to the objection in question, that when souls enter into this life, they are caused to drink of oblivion by that demon who watches their entrance into the world, before they effect an entrance into the bodies assigned them. It escaped him, that by speaking thus he fell into another greater perplexity. For if the cup of oblivion, after it has been drunk, can obliterate the memory of all the deeds that have been done, how, O Plato, dost thou obtain the knowledge of this fact (since thy soul is now in the body), that, before it entered into the body, it was made to drink by the demon a drug which caused oblivion? For if thou hast a remembrance of the demon, and the cup, and the entrance into life, thou oughtest also to be acquainted with other things; but if, on the other hand, thou art ignorant of them, then there is no truth in the story of the demon, nor in the cup of oblivion prepared with art.
4.13.3 And for this reason did the Lord, instead of that commandment, "Thou shalt not commit adultery," forbid even concupiscence; and instead of that which runs thus, "Thou shalt not kill," He prohibited anger; and instead of the law enjoining the giving of tithes, He told us to share all our possessions with the poor; and not to love our neighbours only, but even our enemies; and not merely to be liberal givers and bestowers, but even that we should present a gratuitous gift to those who take away our goods. For "to him that taketh away thy coat," He says, "give to him thy cloak also; and from him that taketh away thy goods, ask them not again; and as ye would that men should do unto you, do ye unto them:" so that we may not grieve as those who are unwilling to be defrauded, but may rejoice as those who have given willingly, and as rather conferring a favour upon our neighbours than yielding to necessity. "And if any one," He says, "shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain;" so that thou mayest not follow him as a slave, but may as a free man go before him, showing thyself in all things kindly disposed and useful to thy neighbour, not regarding their evil intentions, but performing thy kind offices, assimilating thyself to the Father, "who maketh His sun to rise upon the evil and the good, and sendeth rain upon the just and unjust." Now all these precepts, as I have already observed, were not the injunctions of one doing away with the law, but of one fulfilling, extending, and widening it among us; just as if one should say, that the more extensive operation of liberty implies that a more complete subjection and affection towards our Liberator had been implanted within us. For He did not set us free for this purpose, that we should depart from Him (no one, indeed, while placed out of reach of the Lord\'s benefits, has power to procure for himself the means of salvation), but that the more we receive His grace, the more we should love Him. Now the more we have loved Him, the more glory shall we receive from Him, when we are continually in the presence of the Father.' ' None |
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79. Justin, First Apology, 44, 57 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoreans
Found in books: Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 418, 423; Rohmann (2016), Christianity, Book-Burning and Censorship in Late Antiquity, 160
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44 And the holy Spirit of prophecy taught us this, telling us by Moses that God spoke thus to the man first created: Behold, before your face are good and evil: choose the good. And again, by the other prophet Isaiah, that the following utterance was made as if from God the Father and Lord of all: Wash you, make you clean; put away evils from your souls; learn to do well; judge the orphan, and plead for the widow: and come and let us reason together, says the Lord: And if your sins be as scarlet, I will make them white as wool; and if they be red like as crimson, I will make them white as snow. And if you be willing and obey Me, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you do not obey Me, the sword shall devour you: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. Isaiah 1:16, etc. And that expression, The sword shall devour you, does not mean that the disobedient shall be slain by the sword, but the sword of God is fire, of which they who choose to do wickedly become the fuel. Wherefore He says, The sword shall devour you: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. And if He had spoken concerning a sword that cuts and at once dispatches, He would not have said, shall devour. And so, too, Plato, when he says, The blame is his who chooses, and God is blameless, took this from the prophet Moses and uttered it. For Moses is more ancient than all the Greek writers. And whatever both philosophers and poets have said concerning the immortality of the soul, or punishments after death, or contemplation of things heavenly, or doctrines of the like kind, they have received such suggestions from the prophets as have enabled them to understand and interpret these things. And hence there seem to be seeds of truth among all men; but they are charged with not accurately understanding the truth when they assert contradictories. So that what we say about future events being foretold, we do not say it as if they came about by a fatal necessity; but God foreknowing all that shall be done by all men, and it being His decree that the future actions of men shall all be recompensed according to their several value, He foretells by the Spirit of prophecy that He will bestow meet rewards according to the merit of the actions done, always urging the human race to effort and recollection, showing that He cares and provides for men. But by the agency of the devils death has been decreed against those who read the books of Hystaspes, or of the Sibyl, or of the prophets, that through fear they may prevent men who read them from receiving the knowledge of the good, and may retain them in slavery to themselves; which, however, they could not always effect. For not only do we fearlessly read them, but, as you see, bring them for your inspection, knowing that their contents will be pleasing to all. And if we persuade even a few, our gain will be very great; for, as good husbandmen, we shall receive the reward from the Master. 57 Nor can the devils persuade men that there will be no conflagration for the punishment of the wicked; as they were unable to effect that Christ should be hidden after He came. But this only can they effect, that they who live irrationally, and were brought up licentiously in wicked customs, and are prejudiced in their own opinions, should kill and hate us; whom we not only do not hate, but, as is proved, pity and endeavour to lead to repentance. For we do not fear death, since it is acknowledged we must surely die; and there is nothing new, but all things continue the same in this administration of things; and if satiety overtakes those who enjoy even one year of these things, they ought to give heed to our doctrines, that they may live eternally free both from suffering and from want. But if they believe that there is nothing after death, but declare that those who die pass into insensibility, then they become our benefactors when they set us free from sufferings and necessities of this life, and prove themselves to be wicked, and inhuman, and bigoted. For they kill us with no intention of delivering us, but cut us off that we may be deprived of life and pleasure. ' None |
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80. Justin, Second Apology, 10.6 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreans
Found in books: Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 420; Lieu (2015), Marcion and the Making of a Heretic: God and Scripture in the Second Century, 326
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10.6 Our doctrines, then, appear to be greater than all human teaching; because Christ, who appeared for our sakes, became the whole rational being, both body, and reason, and soul. For whatever either lawgivers or philosophers uttered well, they elaborated by finding and contemplating some part of the Word. But since they did not know the whole of the Word, which is Christ, they often contradicted themselves. And those who by human birth were more ancient than Christ, when they attempted to consider and prove things by reason, were brought before the tribunals as impious persons and busybodies. And Socrates, who was more zealous in this direction than all of them, was accused of the very same crimes as ourselves. For they said that he was introducing new divinities, and did not consider those to be gods whom the state recognised. But he cast out from the state both Homer and the rest of the poets, and taught men to reject the wicked demons and those who did the things which the poets related; and he exhorted them to become acquainted with the God who was to them unknown, by means of the investigation of reason, saying, That it is neither easy to find the Father and Maker of all, nor, having found Him, is it safe to declare Him to all. But these things our Christ did through His own power. For no one trusted in Socrates so as to die for this doctrine, but in Christ, who was partially known even by Socrates (for He was and is the Word who is in every man, and who foretold the things that were to come to pass both through the prophets and in His own person when He was made of like passions, and taught these things), not only philosophers and scholars believed, but also artisans and people entirely uneducated, despising both glory, and fear, and death; since He is a power of the ineffable Father, not the mere instrument of human reason. '' None |
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81. Justin, Dialogue With Trypho, 2.2 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreans
Found in books: Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 257, 258, 420, 421, 423; Lieu (2015), Marcion and the Making of a Heretic: God and Scripture in the Second Century, 21
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2.2 Justin: I will tell you what seems to me; for philosophy is, in fact, the greatest possession, and most honourable before God, to whom it leads us and alone commends us; and these are truly holy men who have bestowed attention on philosophy. What philosophy is, however, and the reason why it has been sent down to men, have escaped the observation of most; for there would be neither Platonists, nor Stoics, nor Peripatetics, nor Theoretics, nor Pythagoreans, this knowledge being one. I wish to tell you why it has become many-headed. It has happened that those who first handled it i.e., philosophy, and who were therefore esteemed illustrious men, were succeeded by those who made no investigations concerning truth, but only admired the perseverance and self-discipline of the former, as well as the novelty of the doctrines; and each thought that to be true which he learned from his teacher: then, moreover, those latter persons handed down to their successors such things, and others similar to them; and this system was called by the name of him who was styled the father of the doctrine. Being at first desirous of personally conversing with one of these men, I surrendered myself to a certain Stoic; and having spent a considerable time with him, when I had not acquired any further knowledge of God (for he did not know himself, and said such instruction was unnecessary), I left him and betook myself to another, who was called a Peripatetic, and as he fancied, shrewd. And this man, after having entertained me for the first few days, requested me to settle the fee, in order that our intercourse might not be unprofitable. Him, too, for this reason I abandoned, believing him to be no philosopher at all. But when my soul was eagerly desirous to hear the peculiar and choice philosophy, I came to a Pythagorean, very celebrated - a man who thought much of his own wisdom. And then, when I had an interview with him, willing to become his hearer and disciple, he said, 'What then? Are you acquainted with music, astronomy, and geometry? Do you expect to perceive any of those things which conduce to a happy life, if you have not been first informed on those points which wean the soul from sensible objects, and render it fitted for objects which appertain to the mind, so that it can contemplate that which is honourable in its essence and that which is good in its essence?' Having commended many of these branches of learning, and telling me that they were necessary, he dismissed me when I confessed to him my ignorance. Accordingly I took it rather impatiently, as was to be expected when I failed in my hope, the more so because I deemed the man had some knowledge; but reflecting again on the space of time during which I would have to linger over those branches of learning, I was not able to endure longer procrastination. In my helpless condition it occurred to me to have a meeting with the Platonists, for their fame was great. I thereupon spent as much of my time as possible with one who had lately settled in our city, - a sagacious man, holding a high position among the Platonists - and I progressed, and made the greatest improvements daily. And the perception of immaterial things quite overpowered me, and the contemplation of ideas furnished my mind with wings, so that in a little while I supposed that I had become wise; and such was my stupidity, I expected immediately to look upon God, for this is the end of Plato's philosophy. "" None |
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82. Philostratus The Athenian, Life of Apollonius, 1.1, 1.4, 1.8, 1.11, 1.20, 1.32 (2nd cent. CE - missingth cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Apollonios of Tyana, neo-Pythagorean and itinerant preacher • Pythagoras and Pythagoreans • Pythagoras, Pythagoreanism, and Apollonius of Tyana • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreans • Silence, Pythagorean silence
Found in books: Bickerman and Tropper (2007), Studies in Jewish and Christian History, 616, 687; Demoen and Praet (2009), Theios Sophistes: Essays on Flavius Philostratus' Vita Apollonii, 8, 194, 195, 306, 365; Manolaraki (2012), Noscendi Nilum Cupido: Imagining Egypt from Lucan to Philostratus, 258; Marek (2019), In the Land of a Thousand Gods: A History of Asia Minor in the Ancient World, 392; McGowan (1999), Ascetic Eucharists: Food and Drink in Early Christian Ritual Meals, 77; Pevarello (2013), The Sentences of Sextus and the Origins of Christian Ascetiscism. 156; Zanker (1996), The Mask of Socrates: The Image of the Intellectual in Antiquity, 262
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1.1 ἰδὼν δὲ ἀθρόον ποτὲ ἐν τῷ βωμῷ αἷμα καὶ διακείμενα ἐπὶ τοῦ βωμοῦ τὰ ἱερὰ τεθυμένους τε βοῦς Αἰγυπτίους καὶ σῦς μεγάλους, καὶ τὰ μὲν δέροντας αὐτούς, τὰ δὲ κόπτοντας, χρυσίδας τε ἀνακειμένας δύο καὶ λίθους ἐν αὐταῖς τῶν ἰνδικωτάτων καὶ θαυμασίων, προσελθὼν τῷ ἱερεῖ “τί ταῦτα;” ἔφη “λαμπρῶς γάρ τις χαρίζεται τῷ θεῷ”. ὁ δὲ “θαυμάσῃ” ἔφη “μᾶλλον, ὅτι μήτε ἱκετεύσας ποτὲ ἐνταῦθα μήτε διατρίψας, ὃν οἱ ἄλλοι χρόνον, μήτε ὑγιάνας πω παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ, μηδ' ἅπερ αἰτήσων ἦλθεν ἔχων, χθὲς γὰρ δὴ ἀφιγμένῳ ἔοικεν, ὁ δ' οὕτως ἀφθόνως θύει. φησὶ δὲ πλείω μὲν θύσειν, πλείω δὲ ἀναθήσειν, εἰ πρόσοιτο αὐτὸν ὁ ̓Ασκληπιός. ἔστι δὲ τῶν πλουσιωτάτων: κέκτηται γοῦν ἐν Κιλικίᾳ βίον πλείω ἢ Κίλικες ὁμοῦ πάντες: ἱκετεύει δὲ τὸν θεὸν ἀποδοῦναί οἱ τὸν ἕτερον τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἐξερρυηκότα.” ὁ δὲ ̓Απολλώνιος, ὥσπερ γεγηρακὼς εἰώθει, τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐς τὴν γῆν στήσας “τί δὲ ὄνομα αὐτῷ;” ἤρετο. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἤκουσε “δοκεῖ μοι,” ἔφη “ὦ ἱερεῦ, τὸν ἄνθρωπον τοῦτον μὴ προσδέχεσθαι τῷ ἱερῷ, μιαρὸς γάρ τις ἥκει καὶ κεχρημένος οὐκ ἐπὶ χρηστοῖς τῷ πάθει, καὶ αὐτὸ δὲ τὸ πρὶν εὑρέσθαί τι παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ πολυτελῶς θύειν οὐ θύοντός ἐστιν, ἀλλ' ἑαυτὸν παραιτουμένου σχετλίων τε καὶ χαλεπῶν ἔργων.” ταῦτα μὲν ὁ ̓Απολλώνιος. ὁ δ' ̓Ασκληπιὸς ἐπιστὰς νύκτωρ τῷ ἱερεῖ “ἀπίτω” ἔφη “ὁ δεῖνα τὰ ἑαυτοῦ ἔχων, ἄξιος γὰρ μηδὲ τὸν ἕτερον τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἔχειν.” ἀναμανθάνων οὖν ὁ ἱερεὺς τὸν ἄνθρωπον, γυνὴ μὲν τῷ Κίλικι τούτῳ ἐγεγόνει θυγατέρα ἔχουσα προτέρων γάμων, ὁ δὲ ἤρα τῆς κόρης καὶ ἀκολάστως εἶχε ξυνῆν τε οὐδ' ὡς λαθεῖν: ἐπιστᾶσα γὰρ ἡ μήτηρ τῇ εὐνῇ τῆς μὲν ἄμφω, τοῦ δὲ τὸν ἕτερον τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἐξέκοψεν ἐναράξασα τὰς περόνας." 1.1 οἱ τὸν Σάμιον Πυθαγόραν ἐπαινοῦντες τάδε ἐπ' αὐτῷ φασιν: ὡς ̓́Ιων μὲν οὔπω εἴη, γένοιτο δὲ ἐν Τροίᾳ ποτὲ Εὔφορβος, ἀναβιοίη τε ἀποθανών, ἀποθάνοι δέ, ὡς ᾠδαὶ ̔Ομήρου, ἐσθῆτά τε τὴν ἀπὸ θνησειδίων παραιτοῖτο καὶ καθαρεύοι βρώσεως, ὁπόση ἐμψύχων, καὶ θυσίας: μὴ γὰρ αἱμάττειν τοὺς βωμούς, ἀλλὰ ἡ μελιττοῦτα καὶ ὁ λιβανωτὸς καὶ τὸ ἐφυμνῆσαι, φοιτᾶν ταῦτα τοῖς θεοῖς παρὰ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς τούτου, γιγνώσκειν τε, ὡς ἀσπάζοιντο τὰ τοιαῦτα οἱ θεοὶ μᾶλλον ἢ τὰς ἑκατόμβας καὶ τὴν μάχαιραν ἐπὶ τοῦ κανοῦ: ξυνεῖναι γὰρ δὴ τοῖς θεοῖς καὶ μανθάνειν παρ' αὐτῶν, ὅπη τοῖς ἀνθρώποις χαίρουσι καὶ ὅπη ἄχθονται, περί τε φύσεως ἐκεῖθεν λέγειν: τοὺς μὲν γὰρ ἄλλους τεκμαίρεσθαι τοῦ θείου καὶ δόξας ἀνομοίους ἀλλήλαις περὶ αὐτοῦ δοξάζειν, ἑαυτῷ δὲ τόν τε ̓Απόλλω ἥκειν ὁμολογοῦντα, ὡς αὐτὸς εἴη, ξυνεῖναι δὲ καὶ μὴ ὁμολογοῦντας τὴν ̓Αθηνᾶν καὶ τὰς Μούσας καὶ θεοὺς ἑτέρους, ὧν τὰ εἴδη καὶ τὰ ὀνόματα οὔπω τοὺς ἀνθρώπους γιγνώσκειν. καὶ ὅ τι ἀποφήναιτο ὁ Πυθαγόρας, νόμον τοῦτο οἱ ὁμιληταὶ ἡγοῦντο καὶ ἐτίμων αὐτὸν ὡς ἐκ Διὸς ἥκοντα, καὶ ἡ σιωπὴ δὲ ὑπὲρ τοῦ θείου σφίσιν ἐπήσκητο: πολλὰ γὰρ θεῖά τε καὶ ἀπόρρητα ἤκουον, ὧν κρατεῖν χαλεπὸν ἦν μὴ πρῶτον μαθοῦσιν, ὅτι καὶ τὸ σιωπᾶν λόγος. καὶ μὴν καὶ τὸν ̓Ακραγαντῖνον ̓Εμπεδοκλέα βαδίσαι φασὶ τὴν σοφίαν ταύτην. τὸ γὰρ χαίρετ', ἐγὼ δ' ὔμμιν θεὸς ἄμβροτος, οὐκέτι θνητός καὶ ἤδη γάρ ποτ' ἐγὼ γενόμην κόρη τε κόρος τε καὶ ὁ ἐν ̓Ολυμπίᾳ βοῦς, ὃν λέγεται πέμμα ποιησάμενος θῦσαι, τὰ Πυθαγόρου ἐπαινοῦντος εἴη ἄν. καὶ πλείω ἕτερα περὶ τῶν τὸν Πυθαγόρου τρόπον φιλοσοφησάντων ἱστοροῦσιν, ὧν οὐ προσήκει με νῦν ἅπτεσθαι σπεύδοντα ἐπὶ τὸν λόγον, ὃν ἀποτελέσαι προὐθέμην:" "
1.4 ̓Απολλωνίῳ τοίνυν πατρὶς μὲν ἦν Τύανα πόλις ̔Ελλὰς ἐν τῷ Καππαδοκῶν ἔθνει, πατὴρ δὲ ὁμώνυμος, γένος ἀρχαῖον καὶ τῶν οἰκιστῶν ἀνημμένον, πλοῦτος ὑπὲρ τοὺς ἐκεῖ, τὸ δὲ ἔθνος βαθύ. κυούσῃ δὲ αὐτὸν τῇ μητρὶ φάσμα ἦλθεν Αἰγυπτίου δαίμονος ὁ Πρωτεὺς ὁ παρὰ τῷ ̔Ομήρῳ ἐξαλλάττων: ἡ δὲ οὐδὲν δείσασα ἤρετο αὐτόν, τί ἀποκυήσοι: ὁ δὲ “ἐμέ” εἶπε. “σὺ δὲ τίς;” εἰπούσης “Πρωτεὺς” ἔφη “ὁ Αἰγύπτιος θεός”. ὅστις μὲν δὴ τὴν σοφίαν ὁ Πρωτεὺς ἐγένετο, τί ἂν ἐξηγοίμην τοῖς γε ἀκούουσι τῶν ποιητῶν, ὡς ποικίλος τε ἦν καὶ ἄλλοτε ἄλλος καὶ κρείττων τοῦ ἁλῶναι, γιγνώσκειν τε ὡς ἐδόκει καὶ προγιγνώσκειν πάντα; καὶ μεμνῆσθαι χρὴ τοῦ Πρωτέως, μάλιστα ἐπειδὰν προϊὼν ὁ λόγος δεικνύῃ τὸν ἄνδρα πλείω μὲν ἢ ὁ Πρωτεὺς προγνόντα, πολλῶν δὲ ἀπόρων τε καὶ ἀμηχάνων κρείττω γενόμενον ἐν αὐτῷ μάλιστα τῷ ἀπειλῆφθαι.
1.4 πολλὰ τοιαῦτα πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα εἰπὼν καὶ τυχὼν αὐτοῦ προθύμου πράττειν ἃ ξυνεβούλευεν, ἔτι καὶ τῆς πρὸς τοὺς μάγους ξυνουσίας ἱκανῶς ἔχων “ἄγε, ὦ Δάμι,” ἔφη “ἐς ̓Ινδοὺς ἴωμεν. οἱ μὲν γὰρ τοῖς Λωτοφάγοις προσπλεύσαντες ἀπήγοντο τῶν οἰκείων ἠθῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ βρώματος, ἡμεῖς δὲ μὴ γευόμενοί τινος τῶν ἐνταῦθα καθήμεθα πλείω χρόνον τοῦ εἰκότος τε καὶ ξυμμέτρου.” “κἀμοὶ” ἔφη ὁ Δάμις “ὑπερδοκεῖ ταῦτα: ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐνεθυμούμην τὸν χρόνον, ὃν ἐν τῇ λεαίνῃ διεσκέψω, περιέμενον ἀνυσθῆναι αὐτόν: οὔπω μὲν οὖν ἐξήκει πᾶς, ἐνιαυτὸς γὰρ ἡμῖν ἤδη καὶ μῆνες τέτταρες: εἰ δὲ ἤδη κομιζοίμεθα, εὖ ἂν ἔχοι;” “οὐδὲ ἀνήσει ἡμᾶς,” ἔφη “ὦ Δάμι, ὁ βασιλεὺς πρότερον ἢ τὸν ὄγδοον τελευτῆσαι μῆνα: χρηστὸν γάρ που ὁρᾷς αὐτὸν καὶ κρείττω ἢ βαρβάρων ἄρχειν.”' "
1.8 ἡγουμένου δὲ αὐτὸν τοῦ Εὐξένου μεγάλης διανοίας ἅπτεσθαι καὶ ἐρομένου, ὁπόθεν ἄρξοιτο “ὅθεν περ οἱ ἰατροί”, ἔφη “καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι καθαίροντες τὰς γαστέρας τοὺς μὲν οὐδὲ νοσεῖν ἐῶσι, τοὺς δὲ ἰῶνται.” καὶ εἰπὼν τοῦτο τὰς μὲν ἐμψύχους βρώσεις ὡς οὔτε καθαρὰς καὶ τὸν νοῦν παχυνούσας παρῃτήσατο, τραγήματα δὲ καὶ λάχανα ἐσιτεῖτο, καθαρὰ εἶναι φάσκων, ὁπόσα ἡ γῆ αὐτὴ δίδωσι, καὶ τὸν οἶνον καθαρὸν μὲν ἔφασκεν εἶναι πῶμα ἐκ φυτοῦ οὕτως ἡμέρου τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἥκοντα, ἐναντιοῦσθαι δὲ τῇ τοῦ νοῦ συστάσει διαθολοῦντα τὸν ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ αἰθέρα. μετὰ δὲ τὴν κάθαρσιν τῆς γαστρὸς τοιαύτην γενομένην ἀνυποδησίαν τε ποιεῖται κόσμημα καὶ λίνου ἐσθῆτα ἀμπίσχεται παραιτησάμενος τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν ζῴων, ἀνῆκέ τε τὴν κόμην καὶ ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ ἔζη. ἐκπεπληγμένων δὲ αὐτὸν τῶν περὶ τὸ ἱερὸν καὶ τοῦ ̓Ασκληπιοῦ ποτε πρὸς τὸν ἱερέα φήσαντος, ὡς χαίροι θεραπεύων τοὺς νοσοῦντας ὑπὸ ̓Απολλωνίῳ μάρτυρι, ξυνῄεσαν ἐς τὰς Αἰγὰς ἐφ' ἱστορίᾳ Κίλικές τε αὐτοὶ καὶ οἱ πέριξ, ὅ τε Κιλίκιος λόγος ποῖ τρέχεις; ἦ ἐπὶ τὸν ἔφηβον; ἐπ' ἐκείνῳ τε ἐλέγετο καὶ παροιμιώδη τιμὴν ἔσχεν." "
1.11 τό γε μὴν θύοντας ἢ ἀνατιθέντας μὴ ὑπερβάλλειν τὸ μέτριον ὧδε αὐτῷ ἐφιλοσοφεῖτο: πλειόνων γάρ ποτε ξυνεληλυθότων ἐς τὸ ἱερὸν ἄρτι ἐξεληλαμένου τοῦ Κίλικος ἤρετο τὸν ἱερέα οὑτωσί: “ἆρα” ἔφη “οἱ θεοὶ δίκαιοι;” “δικαιότατοι μὲν οὖν” εἶπε. “τί δέ: ξυνετοί;” “καὶ τί” ἔφη “ξυνετώτερον τοῦ θείου;” “τὰ δὲ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἴσασιν, ἢ ἄπειροι αὐτῶν εἰσι;” “καὶ μὴν τοῦτ'” ἔφη “πλεονεκτοῦσι μάλιστα οἱ θεοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὅτι οἱ μὲν ὑπ' ἀσθενείας οὐδὲ τὰ ἑαυτῶν ἴσασι, τοῖς δὲ γιγνώσκειν ὑπάρχει τὰ ἐκείνων τε καὶ τὰ αὑτῶν.” “πάντα” ἔφη “ἄριστα, ὦ ἱερεῦ, καὶ ἀληθέστατα. ἐπεὶ τοίνυν πάντα γιγνώσκουσι, δοκεῖ μοι τὸν ἥκοντα ἐς θεοῦ καὶ χρηστὰ ἑαυτῷ ξυνειδότα τοιάνδε εὐχὴν εὔχεσθαι: ὦ θεοί, δοίητέ μοι τὰ ὀφειλόμενα: ὀφείλεται γάρ που, ὦ ἱερεῦ, τοῖς μὲν ὁσίοις τὰ ἀγαθά, τοῖς δὲ φαύλοις τἀναντία, καὶ οἱ θεοὶ οὖν εὖ ποιοῦντες, ὃν μὲν ἂν ὑγιᾶ τε καὶ ἄτρωτον κακίας εὕρωσι, πέμπουσι δήπου στεφανώσαντες οὐ χρυσοῖς στεφάνοις, ἀλλ' ἀγαθοῖς πᾶσιν, ὃν δ' ἂν κατεστιγμένον ἴδωσι καὶ διεφθορότα, καταλείπουσι τῇ δίκῃ, τοσοῦτον αὐτοῖς ἐπιμηνίσαντες, ὅσον ἐτόλμησαν καὶ ἱερὰ ἐσφοιτᾶν μὴ καθαροὶ ὄντες.” καὶ ἅμα ἐς τὸν ̓Ασκληπιὸν βλέψας “φιλοσοφεῖς,” ἔφη “ὦ ̓Ασκληπιέ, τὴν ἄρρητόν τε καὶ συγγενῆ σαυτῷ φιλοσοφίαν μὴ συγχωρῶν τοῖς φαύλοις δεῦρο ἥκειν, μηδ' ἂν πάντα σοι τὰ ἀπὸ ̓Ινδῶν καὶ Σαρδῴων ξυμφέρωσιν: οὐ γὰρ τιμῶντες τὸ θεῖον θύουσι ταῦτα καὶ ἀνάπτουσιν, ἀλλ' ὠνούμενοι τὴν δίκην, ἣν οὐ ξυγχωρεῖτε αὐτοῖς δικαιότατοι ὄντες.” πολλὰ τοιαῦτα ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ ἐφιλοσόφει ἐν ἐφήβῳ ἔτι. κἀκεῖνα τῆς ἐν Αἰγαῖς διατριβῆς:" "
1.32 καὶ ἀνεχώρησε τῆς θυσίας, ὡς μὴ κοινωνοίη τοῦ αἵματος. μετὰ δὲ τὴν θυσίαν προσῆλθε καὶ “ὦ βασιλεῦ,” ἔφη “τὴν φωνὴν τὴν ̔Ελλάδα πᾶσαν γιγνώσκεις, ἢ σμικρὰ αὐτῆς ὑπὲρ τοῦ εὐξυμβόλου ἴσως καὶ τοῦ μὴ ἀηδὴς δοκεῖν, εἴ τις ἀφίκοιτο ̔́Ελλην;” “πᾶσαν” εἶπεν “ἴσα τῇ ἐγχωρίῳ ταύτῃ, καὶ λέγε ὅ τι βούλει, διὰ τοῦτο γάρ που ἐρωτᾷς:” “διὰ τοῦτο” ἔφη “καὶ ἄκουε: ἡ μὲν ὁρμή μοι τῆς ἀποδημίας ̓Ινδοί εἰσι, παρελθεῖν δὲ οὐδ' ὑμᾶς ἐβουλήθην, σέ τε ἀκούων ἄνδρα, οἷον ἐξ ὄνυχος ἤδη ὁρῶ, σοφίαν τε, ἥπερ ὑμῖν ἐστιν ἐπιχώριος μελετωμένη μάγοις ἀνδράσι, κατιδεῖν δεόμενος, εἰ τὰ θεῖα, ὡς λέγονται, σοφοί εἰσι: σοφία δὲ ἐμοὶ Πυθαγόρου Σαμίου ἀνδρός, ὃς θεούς τε θεραπεύειν ὧδέ με ἐδιδάξατο καὶ ξυνιέναι σφῶν ὁρωμένων τε καὶ οὐχ ὁρωμένων φοιτᾶν τε ἐς διάλεξιν θεῶν καὶ γηίνῳ τούτῳ ἐρίῳ ἐστάλθαι, οὐ γὰρ προβάτου ἐπέχθη, ἀλλ' ἀκήρατος ἀκηράτων φύεται ὕδατός τε καὶ γῆς δῶρα ὀθόνη: καὶ αὐτὸ δὲ τὸ ἄνετον τῆς κόμης ἐκ Πυθαγόρου ἐπήσκησα, καὶ τὸ καθαρεύειν ζῴου βορᾶς ἐκ τῆς ἐκείνου μοι σοφίας ἥκει. ξυμπότης μὲν δὴ καὶ κοινωνὸς ῥᾳστώνης ἢ τρυφῆς οὔτ' ἄν σοι γενοίμην οὔτ' ἂν ἑτέρῳ οὐδενί, φροντίδων δὲ ἀπόρων τε καὶ δυσευρέτων δοίην ἂν λύσεις οὐ γιγνώσκων τὰ πρακτέα μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ προγιγνώσκων.” ταῦτα ὁ Δάμις μὲν διαλεχθῆναί φησι τὸν ἄνδρα, ̓Απολλώνιος δὲ ἐπιστολὴν αὐτὰ πεποίηται, πολλὰ δὲ καὶ ἄλλα τῶν ἑαυτῷ ἐς διάλεξιν εἰρημένων ἐς ἐπιστολὰς ἀνετυπώσατο."" None | sup>
1.1 The votaries of Pythagoras of Samos have this story to tell of him, that he was not an Ionian at all, but that, once on a time in Troy, he had been Euphorbus, and that he had come to life after death, but had died as the songs of Homer relate. And they say that he declined to wear apparel made from dead animal products and, to guard his purity, abstained from all flesh diet, and from the offering of animals in sacrifice. For that he would not stain the altars with blood; nay, rather the honey-cake and frankincense and the hymn of praise, these they say were the offerings made to the Gods by this man, who realized that they welcome such tribute more than they do the hecatombs and the knife laid upon the sacrificial basket. For they say that he had of a certainty social intercourse with the gods, and learnt from them the conditions under which they take pleasure in men or are disgusted, and on this intercourse he based his account of nature. For he said that, whereas other men only make conjectures about divinity and make guesses that contradict one another concerning it, — in his own case he said that Apollo had come to him acknowledging that he was the god in person; and that Athena and the Muses and other gods, whose forms and names men did not yet know, had also consorted with him though without making such acknowledgment. And the followers of Pythagoras accepted as law any decisions communicated by him, and honored him as an emissary from Zeus, but imposed, out of respect for their divine character, a ritual silence on themselves. For many were the divine and ineffable secrets which they had heard, but which it was difficult for any to keep who had not previously learnt that silence also is a mode of speech.Moreover they declare that Empedocles of Acragas had trodden this way of wisdom when he wrote the lineRejoice ye, for I am unto you an immortal God, and no more mortal.And this also:For erewhile, I already became both girl and boy.And the story that he made at Olympia a bull of pastry and sacrificed it to the god also shows that he approved of the sentiments of Pythagoras. And there is much else that they tell of those sages who observe the rule of Pythagoras; but I must not now enter upon such points, but hurry on to the work which I have set myself to complete.' "
1.4 APOLLONIUS' home, then, was Tyana, a Greek city amidst a population of Cappadocians. His father was of the same name, and the family descended from the first settlers. It excelled in wealth the surrounding families, though the district is a rich one. To his mother, just before he was born, there came an apparition of Proteus, who changes his form so much in Homer, in the guise of an Egyptian demon. She was in no way frightened, but asked him what sort of child she would bear. And he answered: Myself. And who are you? she asked. Proteus, answered he, the god of Egypt. Well, I need hardly explain to readers of the poets the quality of Proteus and his reputation as regards wisdom; how versatile he was, and for ever changing his form, and defying capture, and how he had a reputation of knowing both past and future. And we must bear Proteus in mind all the more, when my advancing story shows its hero to have been more of a prophet than Proteus, and to have triumphed over many difficulties and dangers in the moment when they beset him most closely." 1.8 Now Euxenus realized that he was attached to a lofty ideal, and asked him at what point he would begin it. Apollonius answered: At the point at which physicians begin, for they, by purging the bowels of their patients prevent some from being ill at all, and heal others. And having said this he declined to live upon a flesh diet, on the ground that it was unclean, and also that it made the mind gross; so he partook only of dried fruits and vegetables, for he said that all the fruits of the earth are clean. And of wine he said that it was a clean drink because it is yielded to men by so well-domesticated a plant as the vine; but he declared that it endangered the mental balance and system and darkened, as with mud, the ether which is in the soul. After then having thus purged his interior, he took to walking without shoes by way of adornment and clad himself in linen raiment, declining to wear any animal product; and he let his hair grow long and lived in the Temple. And the people round about the Temple were struck with admiration for him, and the god Asclepius one day said to the priest that he was delighted to have Apollonius as witness of his cures of the sick; and such was his reputation that the Cilicians themselves and the people all around flocked to Aegae to visit him. Hence the Cilician proverb: Whither runnest thou? Is it to see the stripling? Such was the saying that arose about him, and it gained the distinction of becoming a proverb.' "
1.11 AGAIN he inculcated the wise rule that in our sacrifices or dedications we should no go beyond the just mean, in the following way. On one occasion several people had flocked to the Temple, not long after the expulsion of the Cilician, and he took the occasion to ask the priest the following questions: Are then, he said, the gods just? Why, of course, most just, answered the priest. Well, and are they wise? And what, said the other, can be wiser than the godhead? But do they know the affairs of men, or are they without experience of them? Why, said the other, this is just the point in which the gods excel mankind, for the latter, because of their frailty, do not understand their own concerns, whereas the gods have the privilege of understanding the affairs both of men and of themselves. All your answers, said Apollonius, are excellent, O Priest, and very true. Since then, they know everything, it appears to me that a person who comes to the house of God and has a good conscience, should put up the following prayer: “O ye gods, grant unto me that which I deserve.' For, he went on, the holy, O Priest, surely deserve to receive blessings, and the wicked the contrary. Therefore the gods, as they are beneficent, if they find anyone who is healthy and whole and unscarred by vice, will send him on his way, surely, after crowning him, not with golden crowns, but with all sorts of blessings; but if they find a man branded with sin and utterly corrupt, they will hand him over and leave him to justice, after inflicting their wrath upon him all the more, because he dared to invade their Temple without being pure. And at the same moment he looked towards Asclepius, and said: O Asclepius, the philosophy you teach is secret and congenial to yourself, in that you suffer not the wicked to come hither, not even if they pour into your lap all the wealth of India and Sardes. For it is not out of reverence for the divinity that they sacrifice these victims and suspend these offerings, but in order to purchase a verdict, which you will not concede to them in your perfect justice. And much similar wisdom he delivered himself of in this Temple, while he was still a youth." 1.20 SUCH was the companion and admirer that he had met with, and in common with him most of his travels and life were passed. And as they fared on into Mesopotamia, the tax-gatherer who presided over the Bridge (Zeugma) led them into the registry and asked them what they were taking out of the country with them. And Apollonius replied: I am taking with me temperance, justice, virtue, continence, valor, discipline. And in this way he strung together a number of feminine nouns or names. The other, already scenting his own perquisites, said: You must then write down in the register these female slaves. Apollonius answered: Impossible, for they are not female slaves that I am taking out with me, but ladies of quality.Now Mesopotamia is bordered on one side by the Tigris, and on the other by the Euphrates, rivers which flow from Armenia and from the lowest slopes of Taurus; but they contain a tract like a continent, in which there are some cities, though for the most part only villages, and the races that inhabit them are the Armenian and the Arab. These races are so shut in by the rivers that most of them, who lead the life of nomads, are so convinced that they are islanders, as to say that they are going down to the sea, when they are merely on their way to the rivers, and think that these rivers border the earth and encircle it. For they curve around the continental tract in question, and discharge their waters into the same sea. But there are people who say that the greater part of the Euphrates is lost in a marsh, and that this river ends in the earth. But some have a bolder theory to which they adhere, and declare that it runs under the earth to turn up in Egypt and mingle itself with the Nile. Well, for the sake of accuracy and truth, and in order to leave out nothing of the things that Damis wrote, I should have liked to relate all the incidents that occurred on their journey through these barbarous regions; but my subject hurries me on to greater and more remarkable episodes. Nevertheless, I must perforce dwell upon two topics: on the courage which Apollonius showed, in making a journey through races of barbarians and robbers, which were not at that time even subject to the Romans, and at the cleverness with which after the matter of the Arabs he managed to understand the language of the animals. For he learnt this on his way through these Arab tribes, who best understand and practice it. For it is quite common for the Arabs to listen to the birds prophesying like any oracles, but they acquire this faculty of understanding them by feeding themselves, so they say, either on the heart or liver of serpents.
1.32 And he quitted the scene of sacrifice in order not to be present at the shedding of blood. But after the sacrifice was over he approached and said: O king, do you know the Greek tongue thoroughly, or have you a smattering of it perhaps, in order to be able to express yourself and appear polite in case any Greek arrives? I know it thoroughly, replied the king, as well as I do my native language; so say you what you like, for this I suppose is the reason why you put the question to me. It was my reason, said the other; so listen. The goal of my voyage is India, but I had no intention of passing you by; for I heard that you were such a man as from a slight acquaintance I already perceive you to be, and was desirous also of examining the wisdom which is indigenous among you and is cultivated by the Magi, and of finding out whether they are such wise theologians as they are reported to be. Now my own system of wisdom is that of Pythagoras, a man of Samos, who taught me to worship the gods in the way you see, and to be aware of them whether they are seen or not seen, and to be frequent in my converse with them, and to dress myself in this land-wool; for it was never worn by sheep, but is the spotless product of spotless parents, the gift of water and of earth, namely linen. And the very fashion of letting my hair grow long, I have learnt from Pythagoras as part of his discipline, and also it is a result of his wisdom that I keep myself pure from animal food. I cannot therefore become either for you or for anybody else a companion in drinking or an associate in idleness and luxury; but if you have problems of conduct that are difficult and hard to settle, I will furnish you with solutions, for I not only know matters of practice and duty, but I even know them beforehand. Such was the conversation which Damis declares the sage to have held; and Apollonius himself composed a letter containing them, and has sketched out in his epistles much else of what he said in conversation.'' None |
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83. None, None, nan (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Empedocles, and Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreans • cosmology, Pythagorean
Found in books: Horkey (2019), Cosmos in the Ancient World, 31, 36; Wolfsdorf (2020), Early Greek Ethics, 62
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84. None, None, nan (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras, Pythagoreans • Pythagoreans
Found in books: Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 426; Waldner et al. (2016), Burial Rituals, Ideas of Afterlife, and the Individual in the Hellenistic World and the Roman Empire, 69
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85. None, None, nan (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagorean/Neopythagorean • Pythagoreans
Found in books: Blidstein (2017), Purity Community and Ritual in Early Christian Literature, 81; McGowan (1999), Ascetic Eucharists: Food and Drink in Early Christian Ritual Meals, 165
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86. None, None, nan (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagorean/Neopythagorean • Sotion, Pythagorean, Metriopatheia
Found in books: Blidstein (2017), Purity Community and Ritual in Early Christian Literature, 32; Sorabji (2000), Emotion and Peace of Mind: From Stoic Agitation to Christian Temptation, 196
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87. None, None, nan (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Philo ‘the Pythagorean’, Neo-Pythagoreanism • Pythagoras / (neo-)pythagoreanism • Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans, and metempsychosis • Pythagorean Symbols • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism xxv, Table of Opposites • Pythagoreanism xxv, acumsatici and mathematici • Pythagoreanism xxv, and mystery cults • acusmata (Pythagorean) • acusmata (Pythagorean), history of interpretation • acusmata (Pythagorean), interpretation of ethical allegories • acusmata (Pythagorean), religious precepts • death, in Pythagorean acusmata • funerary practices, Pythagorean • harmony, in Pythagoreanism • killing, in Pythagoreanism • marriage, in Pythagorean acusmata • oaths, in Pythagorean acusmata • religion, in Pythagorean acusmata
Found in books: Lieu (2015), Marcion and the Making of a Heretic: God and Scripture in the Second Century, 131; Tor (2017), Mortal and Divine in Early Greek Epistemology, 238; Wilson (2012), The Sentences of Sextus, 214, 421; Wolfsdorf (2020), Early Greek Ethics, 6, 9, 14, 15; deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 60, 106, 206, 242; Černušková, Kovacs and Plátová (2016), Clement’s Biblical Exegesis: Proceedings of the Second Colloquium on Clement of Alexandria , 23, 63, 65, 98
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88. None, None, nan (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoreanism xxv, Table of Opposites • Pythagoreanism/Pythagoreans/Pythagorean • acusmata (Pythagorean) • acusmata (Pythagorean), dietary taboos • acusmata (Pythagorean), interpretation of ethical allegories • diet, in Pythagorean acusmata • harmony, in Pythagoreanism • justice (dikē), in Pythagorean acusmata • marriage, in Pythagorean acusmata • metempsychosis (transmigration of soul, reincarnation), Pythagoreanism • oaths, in Pythagorean acusmata • religion, in Pythagorean acusmata
Found in books: Geljon and Runia (2019), Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary, 238; Wolfsdorf (2020), Early Greek Ethics, 12, 14
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89. None, None, nan (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras and Pythagoreans • Pythagoreanism xxv, and mystery cults • acusmata (Pythagorean) • acusmata (Pythagorean), dietary taboos • acusmata (Pythagorean), religious precepts • daimones, in Pythagoreanism • diet, in Pythagorean acusmata • fire, in Pythagorean acusmata • funerary practices, Pythagorean • heroes, in Pythagoreanism • killing, in Pythagoreanism • metempsychosis (transmigration of soul, reincarnation), Pythagoreanism • natural phenomena, in Pythagorean acusmata • religion, in Pythagorean acusmata • sacrifice, in Pythagorean acusmata
Found in books: Munn (2006), The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. 71; Wolfsdorf (2020), Early Greek Ethics, 9, 10, 11
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90. None, None, nan (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Aristoxenus, On the Pythagorean Way of Life • Pythagoreans
Found in books: Huffman (2019), A History of Pythagoreanism, 39; McGowan (1999), Ascetic Eucharists: Food and Drink in Early Christian Ritual Meals, 70
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91. None, None, nan (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreans
Found in books: Lieu (2015), Marcion and the Making of a Heretic: God and Scripture in the Second Century, 91; Rohmann (2016), Christianity, Book-Burning and Censorship in Late Antiquity, 34
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92. None, None, nan (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras/Pythagorean/Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism
Found in books: Dieleman (2005), Priests, Tongues, and Rites: The London-Leiden Magical Manuscripts and Translation in Egyptian Ritual (100–300 CE), 245; Fowler (2014), Plato in the Third Sophistic, 51
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93. None, None, nan (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras, Pythagoreans • Pythagorean transmigration of souls • soul, Pythagorean transmigration of
Found in books: Goldhill (2022), The Christian Invention of Time: Temporality and the Literature of Late Antiquity, 56; Waldner et al. (2016), Burial Rituals, Ideas of Afterlife, and the Individual in the Hellenistic World and the Roman Empire, 79
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94. None, None, nan (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pseudo-Pythagorean corpus • Pythagoras/Pythagorean/Pythagoreanism • Pythagorean • Pythagorean doctrine • Pythagorean source • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreans
Found in books: Erler et al. (2021), Authority and Authoritative Texts in the Platonist Tradition, 60, 127, 134; Fowler (2014), Plato in the Third Sophistic, 179; Rasimus (2009), Paradise Reconsidered in Gnostic Mythmaking: Rethinking Sethianism in Light of the Ophite Evidence, 98
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95. Diogenes Laertius, Lives of The Philosophers, 1.118, 2.130, 3.57, 7.88, 7.129, 7.157, 8.1, 8.4-8.7, 8.9-8.10, 8.12, 8.14-8.15, 8.17-8.21, 8.23-8.36, 8.46, 8.54, 8.77, 9.18, 9.21 (3rd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Aristotle, relationship to Pythagorean Precepts • Aristoxenus, On the Pythagorean Way of Life • Aristoxenus, as a Pythagorean • Aristoxenus, connection to Pythagoreanism • Diogenes Laertius, as source for Pythagoreanism • Empedocles, and Pythagoreanism • Iamblichus, as source for Pythagoreanism • Plato, on Pythagoreanism • Plato, relationship to Pythagorean Precepts • Porphyry, as source for Pythagoreanism • Pseudo-Pythagorean corpus • Pythagoras / (neo-)pythagoreanism • Pythagoras and Pythagoreanism • Pythagoras and Pythagoreans • Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans • Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans, a social and political force in South Italy • Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans, and metempsychosis • Pythagoras, Pythagorean philosophy • Pythagoras, Pythagoreans • Pythagoras, pythagoreanism • Pythagoras/Pythagorean/Pythagoreanism • Pythagoras/Pythagoreans • Pythagorean • Pythagorean Notes • Pythagorean Precepts (Aristoxenus) • Pythagorean Precepts (Aristoxenus), sources and influences • Pythagorean Precepts, characteristics of • Pythagorean pseudepigrapha • Pythagorean quietude • Pythagorean quietude, the katabasis of Pythagoras • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism xxv • Pythagoreanism xxv, Plato and • Pythagoreanism xxv, Table of Opposites • Pythagoreanism xxv, acumsatici and mathematici • Pythagoreanism xxv, and definitional inquiry • Pythagoreanism xxv, and friendship • Pythagoreanism xxv, and mystery cults • Pythagoreanism xxv, metempsychosis • Pythagoreanism, Romans and • Pythagoreanism/Pythagoreans/Pythagorean • Pythagoreans • Pythagoreans, • Pythagoreans, division of mathematici and acousmati • Pythagoreans, structure of daily activities • Pythagoreans, writings of • Silence, Pythagorean silence • Stobaeus, as source for Pythagoreanism • Wehrli, F., edition of Aristoxenus works on the Pythagoreans • Wehrli, F., edition of the Pythagorean Precepts • acusmata (Pythagorean) • acusmata (Pythagorean), definitional • acusmata (Pythagorean), dietary taboos • acusmata (Pythagorean), history of interpretation • acusmata (Pythagorean), interpretation of ethical allegories • acusmata (Pythagorean), religious precepts • anger, in Pythagorean acusmata • aretē/-a (virtue, excellence), in Pythagorean acusmata • cosmology, Pythagorean • courage (andreia), in Pythagorean acusmata • daimones, in Pythagoreanism • death, in Pythagorean acusmata • diet, in Pythagorean acusmata • fire, in Pythagorean acusmata • friendship (philia), Pythagorean • funerary practices, Pythagorean • happiness, in Pythagorean acusmata • harmony, in Pythagoreanism • heroes, in Pythagoreanism • justice (dikē), in Pythagorean acusmata • killing, in Pythagoreanism • marriage, in Pythagorean acusmata • metempsychosis (transmigration of soul, reincarnation), Pythagoreanism • natural phenomena, in Pythagorean acusmata • oaths, in Pythagorean acusmata • pleasure (ἡδονή), in Pythagorean acusmata • precepts, in the Pythagorean tradition • pseudo-Pythagorean writings • religion, in Pythagorean acusmata • sacrifice, in Pythagorean acusmata • symbola, Pythagorean
Found in books: Alvarez (2018), The Derveni Papyrus: Unearthing Ancient Mysteries, 25; Ayres and Ward (2021), The Rise of the Early Christian Intellectual, 112; Birnbaum and Dillon (2020), Philo of Alexandria: On the Life of Abraham: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary, 151; Cohen (2010), The Significance of Yavneh and other Essays in Jewish Hellenism, 85; Despotis and Lohr (2022), Religious and Philosophical Conversion in the Ancient Mediterranean Traditions, 223; Edmonds (2004), Myths of the Underworld Journey: Plato, Aristophanes, and the ‘Orphic’ Gold Tablets, 96; Eidinow and Kindt (2015), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Greek Religion, 418, 561; Erler et al. (2021), Authority and Authoritative Texts in the Platonist Tradition, 116, 117; Fowler (2014), Plato in the Third Sophistic, 12, 115; Geljon and Runia (2019), Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary, 121, 164; Gruen (2011), Rethinking the Other in Antiquity, 346; Horkey (2019), Cosmos in the Ancient World, 26, 36; Hubbard (2014), A Companion to Greek and Roman Sexualities, 168; Huffman (2019), A History of Pythagoreanism, 10, 39, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 58, 61, 63, 64, 69, 70, 83, 86, 281, 336, 441, 585, 601; Inwood and Warren (2020), Body and Soul in Hellenistic Philosophy, 138, 193, 195; Iribarren and Koning (2022), Hesiod and the Beginnings of Greek Philosophy, 95, 128, 329; König (2012), Saints and Symposiasts: The Literature of Food and the Symposium in Greco-Roman and Early Christian Culture, 238; Lloyd (1989), The Revolutions of Wisdom: Studies in the Claims and Practice of Ancient Greek Science, 33; Long (2006), From Epicurus to Epictetus Studies in Hellenistic and Roman Philosophy, 86; Long (2019), Immortality in Ancient Philosophy, 22, 82; McGowan (1999), Ascetic Eucharists: Food and Drink in Early Christian Ritual Meals, 70; Motta and Petrucci (2022), Isagogical Crossroads from the Early Imperial Age to the End of Antiquity, 46; Munn (2006), The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. 48, 51, 53, 71; Petrovic and Petrovic (2016), Inner Purity and Pollution in Greek Religion, 64; Pevarello (2013), The Sentences of Sextus and the Origins of Christian Ascetiscism. 155, 157, 162; Tor (2017), Mortal and Divine in Early Greek Epistemology, 151, 274, 275, 276, 323; Wardy and Warren (2018), Authors and Authorities in Ancient Philosophy, 164, 165; Wilson (2010), Philo of Alexandria: On Virtues: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary, 278; Wolfsdorf (2020), Early Greek Ethics, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 60, 61, 562, 571, 700, 702; deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 120
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1.118 The man gave the message; a day later the Ephesians attacked and defeated the Magnesians; they found Pherecydes dead and buried him on the spot with great honours. Another version is that he came to Delphi and hurled himself down from Mount Corycus. But Aristoxenus in his work On Pythagoras and his School affirms that he died a natural death and was buried by Pythagoras in Delos; another account again is that he died of a verminous disease, that Pythagoras was also present and inquired how he was, that he thrust his finger through the doorway and exclaimed, My skin tells its own tale, a phrase subsequently applied by the grammarians as equivalent to getting worse, although some wrongly understand it to mean all is going well.
2.130 The tyrant having replied to this by saying that on this day he had the leisure to hear philosophers, he pressed the point still more stubbornly, declaring, while the feast was going on, that any and every occasion should be employed in listening to philosophers. The consequence was that, if a certain flute-player had not got them away, they would have been put to death. Hence when they were in a storm in the boat Asclepiades is reported to have said that the fluteplayer through good playing had proved their salvation when the free speech of Menedemus had been their undoing.He shirked work, it is said, and was indifferent to the fortunes of his school. At least no order could be seen in his classes, and no circle of benches; but each man would listen where he happened to be, walking or sitting, Menedemus himself behaving in the same way.
3.57 Now, says Thrasylus, the genuine dialogues are fifty-six in all, if the Republic be divided into ten and the Laws into twelve. Favorinus, however, in the second book of his Miscellaneous History declares that nearly the whole of the Republic is to be found in a work of Protagoras entitled Controversies. This gives nine tetralogies, if the Republic takes the place of one single work and the Laws of another. His first tetralogy has a common plan underlying it, for he wishes to describe what the life of the philosopher will be. To each of the works Thrasylus affixes a double title, the one taken from the name of the interlocutor, the other from the subject.
7.88 And this is why the end may be defined as life in accordance with nature, or, in other words, in accordance with our own human nature as well as that of the universe, a life in which we refrain from every action forbidden by the law common to all things, that is to say, the right reason which pervades all things, and is identical with this Zeus, lord and ruler of all that is. And this very thing constitutes the virtue of the happy man and the smooth current of life, when all actions promote the harmony of the spirit dwelling in the individual man with the will of him who orders the universe. Diogenes then expressly declares the end to be to act with good reason in the selection of what is natural. Archedemus says the end is to live in the performance of all befitting actions.
7.129 Neither do they think that the divergence of opinion between philosophers is any reason for abandoning the study of philosophy, since at that rate we should have to give up life altogether: so Posidonius in his Exhortations. Chrysippus allows that the ordinary Greek education is serviceable.It is their doctrine that there can be no question of right as between man and the lower animals, because of their unlikeness. Thus Chrysippus in the first book of his treatise On Justice, and Posidonius in the first book of his De officio. Further, they say that the wise man will feel affection for the youths who by their countece show a natural endowment for virtue. So Zeno in his Republic, Chrysippus in book i. of his work On Modes of Life, and Apollodorus in his Ethics.
7.157 Zeno of Citium and Antipater, in their treatises De anima, and Posidonius define the soul as a warm breath; for by this we become animate and this enables us to move. Cleanthes indeed holds that all souls continue to exist until the general conflagration; but Chrysippus says that only the souls of the wise do so.They count eight parts of the soul: the five senses, the generative power in us, our power of speech, and that of reasoning. They hold that we see when the light between the visual organ and the object stretches in the form of a cone: so Chrysippus in the second book of his Physics and Apollodorus. The apex of the cone in the air is at the eye, the base at the object seen. Thus the thing seen is reported to us by the medium of the air stretching out towards it, as if by a stick.
8.1 BOOK 8: 1. PYTHAGORASPythagoras Having now completed our account of the philosophy of Ionia starting with Thales, as well as of its chief representatives, let us proceed to examine the philosophy of Italy, which was started by Pythagoras, son of the gem-engraver Mnesarchus, and according to Hermippus, a Samian, or, according to Aristoxenus, a Tyrrhenian from one of those islands which the Athenians held after clearing them of their Tyrrhenian inhabitants. Some indeed say that he was descended through Euthyphro, Hippasus and Marmacus from Cleonymus, who was exiled from Phlius, and that, as Marmacus lived in Samos, so Pythagoras was called a Samian.' "
8.4 This is what Heraclides of Pontus tells us he used to say about himself: that he had once been Aethalides and was accounted to be Hermes' son, and Hermes told him he might choose any gift he liked except immortality; so he asked to retain through life and through death a memory of his experiences. Hence in life he could recall everything, and when he died he still kept the same memories. Afterwards in course of time his soul entered into Euphorbus and he was wounded by Menelaus. Now Euphorbus used to say that he had once been Aethalides and obtained this gift from Hermes, and then he told of the wanderings of his soul, how it migrated hither and thither, into how many plants and animals it had come, and all that it underwent in Hades, and all that the other souls there have to endure." '8.5 When Euphorbus died, his soul passed into Hermotimus, and he also, wishing to authenticate the story, went up to the temple of Apollo at Branchidae, where he identified the shield which Menelaus, on his voyage home from Troy, had dedicated to Apollo, so he said: the shield being now so rotten through and through that the ivory facing only was left. When Hermotimus died, he became Pyrrhus, a fisherman of Delos, and again he remembered everything, how he was first Aethalides, then Euphorbus, then Hermotimus, and then Pyrrhus. But when Pyrrhus died, he became Pythagoras, and still remembered all the facts mentioned.' "8.6 There are some who insist, absurdly enough, that Pythagoras left no writings whatever. At all events Heraclitus, the physicist, almost shouts in our ear, Pythagoras, son of Mnesarchus, practised inquiry beyond all other men, and in this selection of his writings made himself a wisdom of his own, showing much learning but poor workmanship. The occasion of this remark was the opening words of Pythagoras's treatise On Nature, namely, Nay, I swear by the air I breathe, I swear by the water I drink, I will never suffer censure on account of this work. Pythagoras in fact wrote three books. On Education, On Statesmanship, and On Nature." '8.7 But the book which passes as the work of Pythagoras is by Lysis of Tarentum, a Pythagorean, who fled to Thebes and taught Epaminondas. Heraclides, the son of Serapion, in his Epitome of Sotion, says that he also wrote a poem On the Universe, and secondly the Sacred Poem which begins:Young men, come reverence in quietudeAll these my words;thirdly On the Soul, fourthly of Piety, fifthly Helothales the Father of Epicharmus of Cos, sixthly Croton, and other works as well. The same authority says that the poem On the Mysteries was written by Hippasus to defame Pythagoras, and that many others written by Aston of Croton were ascribed to Pythagoras.
8.9 The contents in general of the aforesaid three treatises of Pythagoras are as follows. He forbids us to pray for ourselves, because we do not know what will help us. Drinking he calls, in a word, a snare, and he discounteces all excess, saying that no one should go beyond due proportion either in drinking or in eating. of sexual indulgence, too, he says, Keep to the winter for sexual pleasures, in summer abstain; they are less harmful in autumn and spring, but they are always harmful and not conducive to health. Asked once when a man should consort with a woman, he replied, When you want to lose what strength you have.' "
8.10 He divides man's life into four quarters thus: Twenty years a boy, twenty years a youth, twenty years a young man, twenty years an old man; and these four periods correspond to the four seasons, the boy to spring, the youth to summer, the young man to autumn, and the old man to winter, meaning by youth one not yet grown up and by a young man a man of mature age. According to Timaeus, he was the first to say, Friends have all things in common and Friendship is equality; indeed, his disciples did put all their possessions into one common stock. For five whole years they had to keep silence, merely listening to his discourses without seeing him, until they passed an examination, and thenceforward they were admitted to his house and allowed to see him. They would never use coffins of cypress, because the sceptre of Zeus was made from it, so we are informed by Hermippus in his second book On Pythagoras."
8.12 and further that Pythagoras spent most of his time upon the arithmetical aspect of geometry; he also discovered the musical intervals on the monochord. Nor did he neglect even medicine. We are told by Apollodorus the calculator that he offered a sacrifice of oxen on finding that in a right-angled triangle the square on the hypotenuse is equal to the squares on the sides containing the right angle. And there is an epigram running as follows:What time Pythagoras that famed figure found,For which the noble offering he brought.He is also said to have been the first to diet athletes on meat, trying first with Eurymenes – so we learn from Favorinus in the third book of his Memorabilia – whereas in former times they had trained on dried figs, on butter, and even on wheatmeal, as we are told by the same Favorinus in the eighth book of his Miscellaneous History.
8.14 He was the first, they say, to declare that the soul, bound now in this creature, now in that, thus goes on a round ordained of necessity. He too, according to Aristoxenus the musician, was the first to introduce weights and measures into Greece. It was he who first declared that the Evening and Morning Stars are the same, as Parmenides maintains. So greatly was he admired that his disciples used to be called prophets to declare the voice of God, besides which he himself says in a written work that after two hundred and seven years in Hades he has returned to the land of the living. Thus it was that they remained his staunch adherents, and men came to hear his words from afar, among them Lucanians, Peucetians, Messapians and Romans.
8.15 Down to the time of Philolaus it was not possible to acquire knowledge of any Pythagorean doctrine, and Philolaus alone brought out those three celebrated books which Plato sent a hundred minas to purchase. Not less than six hundred persons went to his evening lectures; and those who were privileged to see him wrote to their friends congratulating themselves on a great piece of good fortune. Moreover, the Metapontines named his house the Temple of Demeter and his porch the Museum, so we learn from Favorinus in his Miscellaneous History. And the rest of the Pythagoreans used to say that not all his doctrines were for all men to hear, our authority for this being Aristoxenus in the tenth book of his Rules of Pedagogy,' "
8.17 The following were his watchwords or precepts: don't stir the fire with a knife, don't step over the beam of a balance, don't sit down on your bushel, don't eat your heart, don't help a man off with a load but help him on, always roll your bed-clothes up, don't put God's image on the circle of a ring, don't leave the pan's imprint on the ashes, don't wipe up a mess with a torch, don't commit a nuisance towards the sun, don't walk the highway, don't shake hands too eagerly, don't have swallows under your own roof, don't keep birds with hooked claws, don't make water on nor stand upon your nail-and hair-trimmings, turn the sharp blade away, when you go abroad don't turn round at the frontier." "
8.18 This is what they meant. Don't stir the fire with a knife: don't stir the passions or the swelling pride of the great. Don't step over the beam of a balance: don't overstep the bounds of equity and justice. Don't sit down on your bushel: have the same care of to-day and the future, a bushel being the day's ration. By not eating your heart he meant not wasting your life in troubles and pains. By saying do not turn round when you go abroad, he meant to advise those who are departing this life not to set their hearts' desire on living nor to be too much attracted by the pleasures of this life. The explanations of the rest are similar and would take too long to set out." 8.19 Above all, he forbade as food red mullet and blacktail, and he enjoined abstinence from the hearts of animals and from beans, and sometimes, according to Aristotle, even from paunch and gurnard. Some say that he contented himself with just some honey or a honeycomb or bread, never touching wine in the daytime, and with greens boiled or raw for dainties, and fish but rarely. His robe was white and spotless, his quilts of white wool, for linen had not yet reached those parts. 8.20 He was never known to over-eat, to behave loosely, or to be drunk. He would avoid laughter and all pandering to tastes such as insulting jests and vulgar tales. He would punish neither slave nor free man in anger. Admonition he used to call setting right. He used to practise divination by sounds or voices and by auguries, never by burnt-offerings, beyond frankincense. The offerings he made were always iimate; though some say that he would offer cocks, sucking goats and porkers, as they are called, but lambs never. However, Aristoxenus has it that he consented to the eating of all other animals, and only abstained from ploughing oxen and rams. 8.21 The same authority, as we have seen, asserts that Pythagoras took his doctrines from the Delphic priestess Themistoclea. Hieronymus, however, says that, when he had descended into Hades, he saw the soul of Hesiod bound fast to a brazen pillar and gibbering, and the soul of Homer hung on a tree with serpents writhing about it, this being their punishment for what they had said about the gods; he also saw under torture those who would not remain faithful to their wives. This, says our authority, is why he was honoured by the people of Croton. Aristippus of Cyrene affirms in his work On the Physicists that he was named Pythagoras because he uttered the truth as infallibly as did the Pythian oracle.
8.23 And he further bade them to honour gods before demi-gods, heroes before men, and first among men their parents; and so to behave one to another as not to make friends into enemies, but to turn enemies into friends. To deem nothing their own. To support the law, to wage war on lawlessness. Never to kill or injure trees that are not wild, nor even any animal that does not injure man. That it is seemly and advisable neither to give way to unbridled laughter nor to wear sullen looks. To avoid excess of flesh, on a journey to let exertion and slackening alternate, to train the memory, in wrath to restrain hand and tongue, 8.24 to respect all divination, to sing to the lyre and by hymns to show due gratitude to gods and to good men. To abstain from beans because they are flatulent and partake most of the breath of life; and besides, it is better for the stomach if they are not taken, and this again will make our dreams in sleep smooth and untroubled.Alexander in his Successions of Philosophers says that he found in the Pythagorean memoirs the following tenets as well. 8.25 The principle of all things is the monad or unit; arising from this monad the undefined dyad or two serves as material substratum to the monad, which is cause; from the monad and the undefined dyad spring numbers; from numbers, points; from points, lines; from lines, plane figures; from plane figures, solid figures; from solid figures, sensible bodies, the elements of which are four, fire, water, earth and air; these elements interchange and turn into one another completely, and combine to produce a universe animate, intelligent, spherical, with the earth at its centre, the earth itself too being spherical and inhabited round about. There are also antipodes, and our down is their up. 8.26 Light and darkness have equal part in the universe, so have hot and cold, and dry and moist; and of these, if hot preponderates, we have summer; if cold, winter; if dry, spring; if moist, late autumn. If all are in equilibrium, we have the best periods of the year, of which the freshness of spring constitutes the healthy season, and the decay of late autumn the unhealthy. So too, in the day, freshness belongs to the morning, and decay to the evening, which is therefore more unhealthy. The air about the earth is stagt and unwholesome, and all within it is mortal; but the uppermost air is ever-moved and pure and healthy, and all within it is immortal and consequently divine.' "8.27 The sun, the moon, and the other stars are gods; for, in them, there is a preponderance of heat, and heat is the cause of life. The moon is illumined by the sun. Gods and men are akin, inasmuch as man partakes of heat; therefore God takes thought for man. Fate is the cause of things being thus ordered both as a whole and separately. The sun's ray penetrates through the aether, whether cold or dense – the air they call cold aether, and the sea and moisture dense aether – and this ray descends even to the depths and for this reason quickens all things." '8.28 All things live which partake of heat – this is why plants are living things – but all have not soul, which is a detached part of aether, partly the hot and partly the cold, for it partakes of cold aether too. Soul is distinct from life; it is immortal, since that from which it is detached is immortal. Living creatures are reproduced from one another by germination; there is no such thing as spontaneous generation from earth. The germ is a clot of brain containing hot vapour within it; and this, when brought to the womb, throws out, from the brain, ichor, fluid and blood, whence are formed flesh, sinews, bones, hairs, and the whole of the body, while soul and sense come from the vapour within. 8.29 First congealing in about forty days, it receives form and, according to the ratios of harmony, in seven, nine, or at the most ten, months, the mature child is brought forth. It has in it all the relations constituting life, and these, forming a continuous series, keep it together according to the ratios of harmony, each appearing at regulated intervals. Sense generally, and sight in particular, is a certain unusually hot vapour. This is why it is said to see through air and water, because the hot aether is resisted by the cold; for, if the vapour in the eyes had been cold, it would have been dissipated on meeting the air, its like. As it is, in certain lines he calls the eyes the portals of the sun. His conclusion is the same with regard to hearing and the other senses. 8.30 The soul of man, he says, is divided into three parts, intelligence, reason, and passion. Intelligence and passion are possessed by other animals as well, but reason by man alone. The seat of the soul extends from the heart to the brain; the part of it which is in the heart is passion, while the parts located in the brain are reason and intelligence. The senses are distillations from these. Reason is immortal, all else mortal. The soul draws nourishment from the blood; the faculties of the soul are winds, for they as well as the soul are invisible, just as the aether is invisible. 8.31 The veins, arteries, and sinews are the bonds of the soul. But when it is strong and settled down into itself, reasonings and deeds become its bonds. When cast out upon the earth, it wanders in the air like the body. Hermes is the steward of souls, and for that reason is called Hermes the Escorter, Hermes the Keeper of the Gate, and Hermes of the Underworld, since it is he who brings in the souls from their bodies both by land and sea; and the pure are taken into the uppermost region, but the impure are not permitted to approach the pure or each other, but are bound by the Furies in bonds unbreakable. 8.32 The whole air is full of souls which are called genii or heroes; these are they who send men dreams and signs of future disease and health, and not to men alone, but to sheep also and cattle as well; and it is to them that purifications and lustrations, all divination, omens and the like, have reference. The most momentous thing in human life is the art of winning the soul to good or to evil. Blest are the men who acquire a good soul; they can never be at rest, nor ever keep the same course two days together. 8.33 Right has the force of an oath, and that is why Zeus is called the God of Oaths. Virtue is harmony, and so are health and all good and God himself; this is why they say that all things are constructed according to the laws of harmony. The love of friends is just concord and equality. We should not pay equal worship to gods and heroes, but to the gods always, with reverent silence, in white robes, and after purification, to the heroes only from midday onwards. Purification is by cleansing, baptism and lustration, and by keeping clean from all deaths and births and all pollution, and abstaining from meat and flesh of animals that have died, mullets, gurnards, eggs and egg-sprung animals, beans, and the other abstinences prescribed by those who perform rites in the sanctuaries.' "8.34 According to Aristotle in his work On the Pythagoreans, Pythagoras counselled abstinence from beans either because they are like the genitals, or because they are like the gates of Hades . . . as being alone unjointed, or because they are injurious, or because they are like the form of the universe, or because they belong to oligarchy, since they are used in election by lot. He bade his disciples not to pick up fallen crumbs, either in order to accustom them not to eat immoderately, or because connected with a person's death; nay, even, according to Aristophanes, crumbs belong to the heroes, for in his Heroes he says:Nor taste ye of what falls beneath the board !Another of his precepts was not to eat white cocks, as being sacred to the Month and wearing suppliant garb – now supplication ranked with things good – sacred to the Month because they announce the time of day; and again white represents the nature of the good, black the nature of evil. Not to touch such fish as were sacred; for it is not right that gods and men should be allotted the same things, any more than free men and slaves." '8.35 Not to break bread; for once friends used to meet over one loaf, as the barbarians do even to this day; and you should not divide bread which brings them together; some give as the explanation of this that it has reference to the judgement of the dead in Hades, others that bread makes cowards in war, others again that it is from it that the whole world begins.He held that the most beautiful figure is the sphere among solids, and the circle among plane figures. Old age may be compared to everything that is decreasing, while youth is one with increase. Health means retention of the form, disease its destruction. of salt he said it should be brought to table to remind us of what is right; for salt preserves whatever it finds, and it arises from the purest sources, sun and sea.' "8.36 This is what Alexander says that he found in the Pythagorean memoirs. What follows is Aristotle's.But Pythagoras's great dignity not even Timon overlooked, who, although he digs at him in his Silli, speaks ofPythagoras, inclined to witching works and ways,Man-snarer, fond of noble periphrase.Xenophanes confirms the statement about his having been different people at different times in the elegiacs beginning:Now other thoughts, another path, I show.What he says of him is as follows:They say that, passing a belaboured whelp,He, full of pity, spake these words of dole:Stay, smite not ! 'Tis a friend, a human soul;I knew him straight whenas I heard him yelp !"
8.46 For the last of the Pythagoreans, whom Aristoxenus in his time saw, were Xenophilus from the Thracian Chalcidice, Phanton of Phlius, and Echecrates, Diocles and Polymnastus, also of Phlius, who were pupils of Philolaus and Eurytus of Tarentum.There were four men of the name of Pythagoras living about the same time and at no great distance from one another: (1) of Croton, a man with tyrannical leanings; (2) of Phlius, an athlete, some say a trainer; (3) of Zacynthus; (4) our subject, who discovered the secrets of philosophy, and to whom was applied the phrase, The Master said (Ipse dixit), which passed into a proverb of ordinary life.
8.54 That he belonged to Agrigentum in Sicily he himself testifies at the beginning of his Purifications:My friends, who dwell in the great city sloping down to yellow Acragas, hard by the citadel.So much for his family.Timaeus in the ninth book of his Histories says he was a pupil of Pythagoras, adding that, having been convicted at that time of stealing his discourses, he was, like Plato, excluded from taking part in the discussions of the school; and further, that Empedocles himself mentions Pythagoras in the lines:And there lived among them a man of superhuman knowledge, who verily possessed the greatest wealth of wisdom.Others say that it is to Parmenides that he is here referring.
8.77 The sun he calls a vast collection of fire and larger than the moon; the moon, he says, is of the shape of a quoit, and the heaven itself crystalline. The soul, again, assumes all the various forms of animals and plants. At any rate he says:Before now I was born a boy and a maid, a bush and a bird, and a dumb fish leaping out of the sea.His poems On Nature and Purifications run to 5000 lines, his Discourse on Medicine to 600. of the tragedies we have spoken above.' "
9.18 2. XENOPHANESXenophanes, a native of Colophon, the son of Dexius, or, according to Apollodorus, of Orthomenes, is praised by Timon, whose words at all events are:Xenophanes, not over-proud, perverter of Homer, castigator.He was banished from his native city and lived at Zancle in Sicily and having joined the colony planted at Elea taught there. He also lived in Catana. According to some he was no man's pupil, according to others he was a pupil of Boton of Athens, or, as some say, of Archelaus. Sotion makes him a contemporary of Anaximander. His writings are in epic metre, as well as elegiacs and iambics attacking Hesiod and Homer and denouncing what they said about the gods. Furthermore he used to recite his own poems. It is stated that he opposed the views of Thales and Pythagoras, and attacked Epimenides also. He lived to a very great age, as his own words somewhere testify:" 9.21 3. PARMENIDESParmenides, a native of Elea, son of Pyres, was a pupil of Xenophanes (Theophrastus in his Epitome makes him a pupil of Anaximander). Parmenides, however, though he was instructed by Xenophanes, was no follower of his. According to Sotion he also associated with Ameinias the Pythagorean, who was the son of Diochaetas and a worthy gentleman though poor. This Ameinias he was more inclined to follow, and on his death he built a shrine to him, being himself of illustrious birth and possessed of great wealth; moreover it was Ameinias and not Xenophanes who led him to adopt the peaceful life of a student.He was the first to declare that the earth is spherical and is situated in the centre of the universe. He held that there were two elements, fire and earth, and that the former discharged the function of a craftsman, the latter of his material.'' None |
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96. Iamblichus, Life of Pythagoras, 30.186, 31.196 (3rd cent. CE - 4th cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Amphiaraos, Pythagorean influences on cult • Aristaeus (Pythagorean) • Aristombrotos (Pythagorean) • Aristoxenus, On the Pythagorean Way of Life • Aristoxenus, and the catalogue of Pythagoreans • Asklepios, Pythagorean influences on cult • Boulagoras (Pythagorean) • Brontinus (Pythagorean) • Bryson (Pythagorean) • Butherus (Pythagorean) • Charondas (Pythagorean) • Clinias (Pythagorean) • Criton (Pythagorean) • Diocles (Pythagorean) • Dios (Pythagorean) • Diotogenes (Pythagorean) • Eccelus (Pythagorean) • Echecrates (Pythagorean) • Ecphantus (Pythagorean) • Euryphamus (Pythagorean) • Eurytus (Pythagorean) • Gartydas (Pythagorean) • Iamblichus as Pythagorean/on Pythagoreanism • Metopus (Pythagorean) • Mnemarchus (Pythagorean) • Myia (Pythagorean) • Ocellus (Pythagorean) • Onatas (Pythagorean) • Pempelus (Pythagorean) • Phanto (Pythagorean) • Philosophical schools, Pythagoras/Pythagoreanism • Phyntis (Pythagorean) • Polymnastus (Pythagorean) • Pseudo-Pythagorean corpus • Pythagoras / (neo-)pythagoreanism • Pythagoras and Pythagoreans • Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans, and metempsychosis • Pythagorean • Pythagorean Precepts, general in nature • Pythagorean Precepts, lack of examples • Pythagorean Precepts, no mention of individual Pythagoreans • Pythagorean Precepts, order of • Pythagorean doctrine • Pythagorean mathematics/mathematical • Pythagorean scholarchs • Pythagorean tradition • Pythagorean women • Pythagorean, Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreans • Pythagoreans, • Pythagoreans, Neopythagoreans • Pythagoreans, Vegetarianism, and sparse diet • Pythagoreans, division of mathematici and acousmati • Pythagoreans, structure of daily activities • Pythagoreans, writings of • Sthenidas (Pythagorean) • Theano (Pythagorean) • Thearides (Pythagorean) • Wehrli, F., edition of Aristoxenus works on the Pythagoreans • Wehrli, F., edition of the Pythagorean Precepts • Xenophilus (Pythagorean) • Zaleucus (Pythagorean) • precepts, in the Pythagorean tradition • pseudo-Pythagorean writings • symbola, Pythagorean
Found in books: Bickerman and Tropper (2007), Studies in Jewish and Christian History, 302, 498, 541; Dillon and Timotin (2015), Platonic Theories of Prayer, 195; Edmonds (2004), Myths of the Underworld Journey: Plato, Aristophanes, and the ‘Orphic’ Gold Tablets, 79; Erler et al. (2021), Authority and Authoritative Texts in the Platonist Tradition, 6, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127; Horkey (2019), Cosmos in the Ancient World, 31, 234; Hubbard (2014), A Companion to Greek and Roman Sexualities, 168; Huffman (2019), A History of Pythagoreanism, 13, 14, 41, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 52, 55, 56, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 152, 324, 571, 585; Jouanna (2012), Greek Medicine from Hippocrates to Galen, 35; Malherbe et al. (2014), Light from the Gentiles: Hellenistic Philosophy and Early Christianity: Collected Essays of Abraham J, 720; McGowan (1999), Ascetic Eucharists: Food and Drink in Early Christian Ritual Meals, 70; Petrovic and Petrovic (2016), Inner Purity and Pollution in Greek Religion, 60, 61, 66, 113; Pevarello (2013), The Sentences of Sextus and the Origins of Christian Ascetiscism. 93; Renberg (2017), Where Dreams May Come: Incubation Sanctuaries in the Greco-Roman World, 626; Sorabji (2000), Emotion and Peace of Mind: From Stoic Agitation to Christian Temptation, 235, 271; Stephens and Winkler (1995), Ancient Greek Novels: The Fragments: Introduction, Text, Translation, and Commentary, 133; Tor (2017), Mortal and Divine in Early Greek Epistemology, 238; Wardy and Warren (2018), Authors and Authorities in Ancient Philosophy, 164; Wilson (2010), Philo of Alexandria: On Virtues: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary, 292, 293; Wilson (2012), The Sentences of Sextus, 263; d'Hoine and Martijn (2017), All From One: A Guide to Proclus, 211, 212; deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 85, 120, 203, 288
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30.186 With respect to justice, however, we shall learn in the best manner, how he cultivated and delivered it to mankind, if we survey it from its first principle, and from what first causes it germinates, and also direct our attention to the first cause of injustice. For thus we shall discover how he avoided the latter, and what methods he adopted in order that the former might be properly ingenerated in the soul. The principle of justice therefore, is the common and the equal, through which, in a way most nearly approximating to one body and one soul, all men may be co-passive, and may call the same thing mine and thine; as is also testified by Plato, who learnt this from the Pythagoreans. This therefore, Pythagoras effected in the best manner, exterminating every thing private in manners, but increasing that which is common as far as to ultimate possessions, which are the causes of sedition and tumult. For all things with his disciples were common and the same to all, and no one possessed any thing private. And he indeed, who approved of this communion, used common 123possessions in the most just manner; but he who did not, received his own property, which he brought to the common stock, with an addition to it, and departed. And thus he established justice in the best manner, from the first principle of it.In the next place, therefore, association with men introduces justice; but alienation, and a contempt of the common genus, produce injustice. Wishing therefore to insert this familiarity from afar in men, he also ordained that his disciples should extend it to animals of the same genus, and commanded them to consider these as their familiars and friends; so as neither to injure, nor slay, nor eat any one of them. He therefore who associates men with animals, because they consist of the same elements as we do, and participate with us of a more common life, will in a much greater degree establish fellowship with those who partake of a soul of the same species, and also of a rational soul. From this also it is evident that he introduced justice produced from the most proper principle. Since likewise the want of riches, sometimes compels many to do something contrary to justice, he well foresaw that this would be the case, and through economy procured for himself liberal expenses, and what was just in sufficient abundance. For again, a just arrangement of domestic concerns is the principle of all good order in cities. For cities are constituted from houses. It is said therefore, that Pythagoras 124himself was the heir of the property of Alcæus, who died after performing an embassy to the Lacedæmonians, but that notwithstanding this, he was no less admired for his economy than for his philosophy. When also he was married, he so educated the daughter that was born to him, and who was afterwards married to Meno the Crotonian, that when she was a virgin she was the leader of choirs, but when a wife she held the first place among those that approached to altars. It is likewise said, that the Metapontines preserving the remembrance of Pythagoras after his time, made his house a temple of Ceres, but the street in which he lived a museum.Because also insolence, luxury, and a contempt of the laws, frequently impel men to injustice, on this account he daily exhorted his disciples to give assistance to law, and to be hostile to illegality. Hence he made such a division as the following: that what is called luxury, is the first evil that usually glides into houses and cities; that the second is insolence; and the third destruction. That hence luxury should by all possible means be excluded and expelled from every house and city, and that men should be accustomed from their birth to a temperate and manly life. He farther added, that it is requisite to be purified from all malediction, whether it be that which is lamentable, or that which excites hostility, and whether 125it be of a reviling, or insolent, or scurrilous nature.Besides these, likewise, he established another most beautiful species of justice, viz. the legislative; which orders indeed what ought to be done; but forbids what ought not to be done. This species, however, is more excellent than the judicial form of justice. For it resembles medicine which heals those that are diseased. It differs from it however in this, that it does not suffer disease to commence, but pays attention from afar to the health of the soul. This therefore being the case, the best of all legislators came from the school of Pythagoras: in the first place, indeed, Charondas the Catanæan; and in the next place, Zaleucus and Timaratus, who wrote laws for the Locrians. Besides these likewise there were Theætetus and Helicaon, Aristocrates, and Phytius, who became the legislators of the Rhegini. All these likewise obtained from their citizens honors similar to those of the Gods. For Pythagoras did not act like Heraclitus, who said that he would write laws for the Ephesians, and also petulantly39 said, that in those laws he would order the citizens to 126hang themselves. But Pythagoras endeavoured to establish laws, with great benevolence and political science. Why however is it requisite to admire these men? For Zamolxis being a Thracian, and the slave of Pythagoras, after he had heard the discourses of Pythagoras, having obtained his liberty, and returned to Getæ, gave laws to them, as we have before observed in the beginning of this work, and exhorted the citizens to fortitude, having persuaded them that the soul is immortal. Hence even at present, all the Galatæ, and Trallians, and many others of the Barbarians, persuade their children that the soul cannot be destroyed; but that it remains after death, and that death is not to be feared, but danger is to be encountered with a firm and manly mind. Having therefore instructed the Getæ in these things, and written laws for them, he was considered by them as the greatest of the Gods.Farther still, he apprehended that the dominion of the Gods was most efficacious to the establishment of justice, and supernally from this he constituted a polity and laws, and also justice. It will not however be foreign to the purpose, to add particularly the manner in which he thought we ought to conceive of divinity; viz. that we should conceive that he exists, and that he is so disposed towards the human race, that be inspects and does not neglect it. And this conception which the Pythagoreans 127derived from Pythagoras, they apprehended to be of great utility. For we require an inspection of this kind, which we do not in any thing think fit to resist. But such as this is the inspective government of divinity. Fop if a divine nature is a thing of this kind, it deserves to have the empire of the universe. For it was rightly said by the Pythagoreans, that man is an animal so far as pertains to his irrational part, naturally insolent, and various, according to impulses, desires, and the rest of the passions. He requires therefore transcendent inspection and government of this kind, from which a certain castigation and order may be derived. Hence they thought that every one being conscious of the variety of his nature, should never he forgetful of piety towards, and the worship of divinity; but should always place him before the eye of the mind, as inspecting and diligently observing the conduct of mankind. But after divinity and the dæmoniacal nature, they thought that every one should pay the greatest attention to his parents and the laws, and should be obedient to them, not feignedly, but faithfully. And universally, they thought it necessary to believe, that nothing is a greater evil than anarchy; since the human race is not naturally adapted to be saved, when no one rules over it.These men also thought it right to adhere to the customs and legal institutes of their ancestors, even 128though they should be somewhat inferior to other customs and laws. For to fly from the existing laws, and to be studious of innovation, is by no means profitable and salutary. Pythagoras therefore gave many other specimens of piety to the Gods, evincing that his life was conformable to his doctrines. Nor will it be foreign to the purpose to mention one of them, which may serve to elucidate the rest. But I will relate what Pythagoras said and did relative to the embassy from Sybaris to Crotona, about demanding the return of the exiles. For some of his associates were slain by order of the ambassadors, one of whom slew a part of them with his own hands; but another was the son of one of those who had excited the sedition, and who died through disease. When the Crotonians therefore were deliberating how they should act in this affair, Pythagoras said to his disciples, that he was not willing the Crotonians should be so greatly discordant in this affair, and that in his opinion, the ambassadors should not even lead victims to the altars, much less ought they to drag suppliants i. e. the exiles from them. But when the Sybarites came to him with their complaints, and the man who had slain some of his associates with his own hands, was defending his conduct, Pythagoras said, that he should not answer an homicide. Hence, some persons accused him of asserting that he was Apollo, because prior to this 129some one having asked him about a certain object of inquiry, why the thing was so; he in his turn asked the interrogator, if he would think fit to inquire of Apollo when he was delivering oracles to him, why he delivered them? But to another of the ambassadors who appeared to him to deride his school, in which he taught the return of souls to the supernal realms, and who said that he would give him an epistle to his father, as he was about to descend into Hades, and exhorted him to bring another letter in answer, from his father, when he returned; Pythagoras replied, that he was not about to descend into the abode of the impious, where he clearly knew that murderers were punished. But the ambassadors reviling him, he proceeded to the sea, many persons following him, and there sprinkled himself with marine water. Some one however of the Crotonian counsellors, after reviling the rest of the ambassadors, observed that he understood they had defamed Pythagoras, whom not even a brute would dare to blaspheme, though all animals should again utter the same voice as men, which fables report they did in the beginning of things.Pythagoras likewise discovered another method of restraining men from injustice, through the judgment of souls, truly knowing indeed that this method may be taught, and also knowing that it is useful to the suppression of justice through fear. 130He asserted therefore, that it is much better to be injured than to kill a man; for that judgment is deposited in Hades, where the soul, and its essence, and the first nature of beings, are properly estimated. Being desirous, however, to exhibit in things unequal, without symmetry and infinite, a definite, equal, and commensurate justice, and to show how it ought to be exercised, he said, that justice resembles that figure, which is the only one among geometrical diagrams, that having indeed infinite compositions of figures, but dissimilarly disposed with reference to each other, yet has equal demonstrations of power.40 Since also, there is a certain justice in making use of another person, such a mode of it as the following, is said to have been delivered by the Pythagoreans: of associations with others, one kind is seasonable, but another is unseasonable. These likewise are distinguished from each other by difference of age, desert, the familiarity of alliance, and of beneficence, and 131whatever else there may be of the like kind in the different associations of men with each other. For there is a species of association, viz. of a younger with a younger person, which does not appear to be unseasonable; but that of a younger with an elderly person is unseasonable. For no species of anger, or threatening, or boldness, is becoming in a younger towards an elderly man, but all unseasonable conduct of this kind should be cautiously avoided. A similar reasoning likewise should be adopted with respect to desert. For it is neither decorous, nor seasonable, to use an unrestrained freedom of speech, or to adopt any of the above-mentioned modes of conduct, towards a man who has arrived at the true dignity of consummate virtue. Conformably to this also, was what he said respecting the association with parents, and likewise with benefactors. He added, that there is a certain various and multiform use of an opportune time. For of those that are enraged and angry, some are so seasonably, but others unseasonably. And again, of those that aspire after, desire, and are impelled to any thing appetible, an opportune time is the attendant on some, and an unseasonable time on others. And the same thing may be said concerning other passions and actions, dispositions, associations, and meetings. He farther observed, that an opportune time is to a certain extent, to be taught, and also, that what happens 132contrary to expectation, is capable of receiving an artificial discussion; but that when it is considered universally and simply, none of the above-mentioned particulars pertain to it. Nearly, however, such things are the attendants on it, as follow the nature of opportune time, viz. what is called the florid, the becoming, the adapted, and whatever else there may be homogeneous to these. He likewise asserted, that principle or the beginning is in the universe unity, and is the most honorable of things; and that in a similar manner it is so in science, in experience, and in generation. And again, that the number two is most honorable in a house, in a city, in a camp, and in all such like systems. But that the nature of principle is difficult to be surveyed and apprehended in all the above-mentioned particulars. For in sciences, it is not the province of any casual understanding to learn and judge, by well surveying the parts of things, what the nature is of the principle of these. He added, that it makes a great difference, and that there is danger with respect to the knowledge of the whole of things, when principle is not rightly assumed. For none, in short, of the consequent conclusions can be sane, when the true principle is unknown. The same thing may also be said respecting a principle of another kind. For neither can a house, or a city, be well instituted, unless each has a true ruler, who governs those that 133voluntarily submit to him. For it is necessary that in both these the governor should be willing to rule, and the governed to obey. Just as with respect to disciplines, when they are taught with proper effect, it is necessary that there should be a concurrence in the will both of the teacher and learner. For if there is a resistance on the part of either, the proposed work will never be accomplished in a proper manner. Thus therefore, he proved, that it was beautiful to be persuaded by rulers, and to be obedient to preceptors. But he exhibited the following as the greatest argument through deeds, of the truth of his observations. He went from Italy to Delos, to Pherecydes the Syrian, who had been his preceptor, in order that he might afford him some assistance, as he was then afflicted with what is called the morbus pedicularis, and he carefully attended him to the time of his death, and piously performed whatever rites were due to his dead preceptor. So diligent was he in the discharge of his duties to him from whom he had received instruction.Moreover, with respect to compacts and the veracity pertaining to them, Pythagoras so prepared his disciples for the observance of them, that, as it is said, Lysis having once performed his adorations in the temple of Juno, met, as he was departing from it, about the vestibules with Euryphamus the Syracusan, who was one of his fellow disciples, and 134was then entering into the temple. Euryphamus therefore desiring Lysis to wait for him, till he also had adored the Goddess, Lysis sat down on a stone seat which was placed there. Euryphamus however having finished his adoration, and becoming absorbed in certain profound conceptions, forgot his appointment, and went out of the temple through another gate. But Lysis waited for him without quitting his seat, the remainder of that day and the following night, and also the greater part of the next day. And perhaps he would have staid there for a still longer time, unless Euryphamus on the following day, had heard in the auditory, that Lysis was wanted by his associates. Recollecting therefore his compact, he came to Lysis, and liberated him from his engagement, at the same time telling him the cause of his forgetfulness, and added, “Some God produced in me this oblivion, as a trial of your firmness in preserving your compacts.” Pythagoras likewise ordained abstinence from animal food, for many other reasons, and likewise because it is productive of peace. For those who are accustomed to abominate the slaughter of animals as iniquitous and preternatural, will think it to be much more unlawful to kill a man, or engage in war. But war is the leader and legislator of slaughter. For by this it is increased, and becomes strong and powerful. Not to step also above the beam of the balance, is an exhortation to 135justice, announcing, that whatever is just should be cultivated, as will be shown when we discuss the Pythagoric symbols. It appears therefore, through all these particulars, that Pythagoras paid great attention to the exercise of justice, and to the delivery of it to mankind, both in deeds and in words.
31.196 It follows, in the next place, that we should speak of temperance, and show how it was cultivated by Pythagoras, and how he delivered it to his associates. We have already therefore narrated the common precepts concerning it, in which it is said that every thing incommensurate should be cut off with fire and sword. The abstinence also from animal food, is a precept of the same species; and likewise from certain foods calculated to produce intemperance, and impeding the vigilance and genuine energies of the reasoning power. Farther still, to this species the precept belongs, that sumptuous food should indeed be introduced in banquets, but should shortly after be sent away, and given to the servants, being placed on the table 136merely for the sake of punishing the desires. Likewise, that no liberal and ingenuous woman should wear gold, but only harlots. And again, the exercise of taciturnity, and perfect silence, for the purpose of governing the tongue. Likewise a strenuous and assiduous resumption and investigation of the most difficult theorems. But on account of all these, we must refer to the same virtue i. e. to temperance, abstinence from wine; paucity of food and sleep; an inartificial contempt of renown, wealth, and the like; a sincere reverence towards those to whom reverence is due, but an unfeigned similitude of behaviour and benevolence towards those of the same age; an animadversion and exhortation of those that are younger, without envy; and every thing else of the like kind.The temperance also of those men, and how Pythagoras taught this virtue, may be learnt from what Hippobotus and Neanthes narrate of Myllias and Timycha who were Pythagoreans. For they say that Dionysius the tyrant could not obtain the friendship of any one of the Pythagoreans, though he did every thing to accomplish his purpose; for they had observed, and carefully avoided his monarchical disposition. He sent therefore to the Pythagoreans, a troop of thirty soldiers, under the command of Eurymenes the Syracusan, who was the brother of Dion, in order that by treachery their accustomed migration from Tarentum to Metapontum, 137might be opportunely effected for his purpose. For it was usual with them to change their abode at different seasons of the year, and they chose such places as were adapted to this migration. In Phalæ therefore, a craggy part of Tarentum, through which the Pythagoreans must necessarily pass in their journey, Eurymenes insidiously concealed his troop, and when the Pythagoreans, expecting no such thing, came to that place about the middle of the day, the soldiers rushed upon them with shouts, after the manner of robbers. But the Pythagoreans being disturbed and terrified at an attack so unexpected, and at the superior number of their enemies (for the whole number of the Pythagoreans was but ten), and considering also that they must be taken captive, as they were without arms, and had to contend with men who were variously armed,—they found that their only safety was in flight, and they did not conceive that this was foreign to virtue. For they knew that fortitude, according to the decision of right reason, is the science of things which are to be avoided and endured. And this they now obtained. For those who were with Eurymenes, being heavy-armed, would have abandoned the pursuit of the Pythagoreans, if the latter in their flight had not arrived at a certain field sown with beans, and which were in a sufficiently florishing condition. Not being willing therefore to violate the dogma which ordered 138them not to touch beans, they stood still, and from necessity attacked their pursuers with stones and sticks, and whatever else they happened to meet with, till they had slain some, and wounded many of them. All the Pythagoreans however, were at length slain by the spearmen, nor would any one of them suffer himself to be taken captive, but preferred death to this, conformably to the mandates of their sect.Eurymenes therefore, and his soldiers, were beyond measure disturbed on finding that they should not be able to bring one of the Pythagoreans alive to Dionysius, though they were sent by him for this purpose alone. Hence, having piled earth on the slain, and buried them in that place in a common sepulchre, they turned their steps homeward. As they were returning, however, they happened to meet with Myllias the Crotonian, and his wife Timycha the Lacedæmonian, whom the other Pythagoreans had left behind, because Timycha being pregt, was now in her sixth41 month, and on this account walked leisurely. These therefore, the soldiers gladly made captive, and led them to the tyrant, paying every attention to them, in order that 139they might be brought to him safe. But the tyrant having learnt what had happened, was greatly dejected, and said to the two Pythagoreans, You shall obtain from me honors transcending all others in dignity, if you will consent to reign in conjunction with me. All his offers however being rejected by Myllias and Timycha; If then, said he, you will only teach me one thing, I will dismiss you with a sufficiently safe guard. Myllias therefore asking him what it was he wished to learn; Dionysius replied, It is this, why your companions chose rather to die, than to tread on beans? But Myllias immediately answered, My companions indeed submitted to death, in order that they might not tread upon beans, but I would rather tread on them, than tell you the cause of this. Dionysius therefore, being astonished at this answer, ordered him to be forcibly taken away, but commanded Timycha to be tortured: for he thought, that as she was a woman, pregt, and deprived of her husband, she would easily tell him what he wanted to know, through fear of the torments. The heroic woman, however, grinding her tongue with her teeth, bit it off, and spit it at the tyrant; evincing by this, that though her sex being vanquished by the torments might be compelled to disclose something which ought to be concealed in silence, yet the member subservient to the developement of it, should be entirely cut off. So much difficulty did they make 140in admitting foreign friendships, even though they should happen to be royal.Similar to these also, were the precepts concerning silence, and which tended to the exercise of temperance. For the subjugation of the tongue, is of all other continence the most difficult. The persuading likewise the Crotonians to abstain from the profane and spurious association with harlots, pertains to the same virtue. And besides this, the correction through music, by means of which Pythagoras restored a young man to temperance, who had become furious through love. The exhortation also, which leads from lascivious insolence, must be referred to the same virtue. And these things Pythagoras delivered to the Pythagoreans, he himself being the cause of them. For they so attended to their bodies, that they might always remain in the same condition, and not at one time be lean, but at another, abounding in flesh. For they considered this to be an indication of an anomalous life. In a similar manner also with respect to the mind, they were careful that they might not be at one time cheerful, and at another sad, but that they might be mildly joyful with uniformity. But they expelled rage, despondency, and perturbation. And it was a precept with them, that no human casualties ought to be unexpected by those who are endued with intellect, but that they should expect every thing may happen which it is not in their 141power to prevent. But if at any time they were in a rage, or oppressed with sorrow, or any thing else of this kind, they separated themselves from the rest of their associates, and each by himself alone, endeavoured to digest and heal the passion.This also is said of the Pythagoreans, that no one of them when angry, either punished a servant, or admonished any free man, but each of them waited till his mind was restored to its former tranquil condition. But they called to admonish, pædartan. For they accomplished this waiting by employing silence and quiet. Hence Spintharus relates of Archytas the Tarentine, that returning after a certain time from the war which the city of Tarentum waged against the Messenians, to inspect some land which belonged to him, and finding that the bailiff and the other servants, had not paid proper attention to the cultivation of it, but had greatly neglected it, being enraged, he was so indigt, that he told his servants it was well for them he was angry; since, if this had not happened, they would not have escaped the punishment due to so great an offence. Spintharus likewise says that a similar thing is related of Clinias. For he also deferred all admonitions and punishments, till his mind was restored to tranquillity.It is farther related of the Pythagoreans, that they expelled from themselves lamentation, weeping, and every thing else of this kind; and that 142neither gain, nor desire, nor anger, nor ambition, nor any thing of a similar nature, became the cause of dissension among them; but that all the Pythagoreans were so disposed towards each other, as a worthy father is towards his offspring. This also is a beautiful circumstance, that they referred every thing to Pythagoras, and called it by his name, and that they did not ascribe to themselves the glory of their own inventions, except very rarely. For there are very few whose works are acknowledged to be their own. The accuracy too, with which they preserved their writings is admirable. For in so many ages, no one appears to have met with any of the commentaries of the Pythagoreans, prior to the time of Philolaus. But he first published those three celebrated books, which Dion the Syracusan is said to have bought, at the request of Plato, for a hundred mina. For Philolaus had fallen into a certain great and severe poverty; and from his alliance to the Pythagoreans, was a partaker of their writings.With respect also to opinion,42 it is related that they spoke of it as follows: That it is the province of a stupid man to pay attention to the opinion of every one, and especially to that of the multitude. 143Far it belongs to a few only to apprehend and opine rightly; since it is evident that this pertains to the intelligent alone. But they are few. It is manifest therefore, that a power of this kind does not extend itself to the multitude. But it is also stupid to despise the opinion of every one. For it will happen that he who is so disposed will be unlearned and incorrigible. It is however necessary that he who is destitute of science should learn those things of which he is ignorant, and has no scientific knowledge. And it is likewise necessary that the learner should pay attention to the opinion of him who possesses science, and is able to teach. And universally, it is necessary that those young men who wish to be saved, should attend to the opinion of their elders, and of those who have lived well. But in the whole of human life there are certain ages (denominated by them as it is said endedasmenæ) which it is not in the power of any casual person to connect with each other. For they are expelled by each other, unless some one conducts a man from his birth, in a beautiful and upright manner. It is necessary therefore, when a child is educated well, and is formed to temperance and fortitude, that a great part of his education should be given to the age of adolescence which is that of a lad. In a similar manner also, when a lad is formed to temperance and fortitude, it is necessary that a great part of his education should be transferred 144to the age of manhood. For that which happens to the multitude is absurd and ridiculous. For they fancy it is requisite that boys should be orderly and temperate, and should abstain from every thing which appears to be troublesome and indecorous; but that when they have arrived at adolescency, they may for the most part do whatever they please. Hence there is nearly a conflux of both kinds of errors into this age. For lads commit many faults which are both puerile and virile. For, in short, to avoid every kind of sedulity and order, and to pursue every species of sport, and puerile intemperance and insolence, are most adapted to the age of a boy. Such a disposition therefore as this, is derived from the puerile into the following age. But the genus of strong desires, and of different species of ambition, and in a similar manner the remaining impulses and dispositions, when they are of a severe and turbulent nature, are derived from the virile age into that of adolescency. Hence this of all the ages demands the greatest attention. And universally, no man ought to be suffered to do whatever he pleases, but it is always necessary that there should be a certain inspection, and a legal and elegantly-formed government, to which each of the citizens is obedient. For the animal, when left to itself and neglected, rapidly degenerates into vice and depravity.It is likewise said, that the Pythagoreans frequently 145inquired and doubted why we accustom boys to take their food in an orderly and commensurate manner, and show them that order and symmetry are beautiful; but that the contraries to these, disorder and incommensuration, are base; and that he who is given to wine and is insatiable, is held in great disgrace. For if no one of these is useful to us when we have arrived at the age of virility, it was in vain that we were accustomed, when boys, to an order of this kind. And there is also the same reason concerning the other manners to which we are accustomed when boys. This, therefore, is not seen to happen in other animals which are disciplined by men; but immediately from the first, a whelp and a colt are accustomed to, and learn those things which it is requisite for them to do when they have arrived at the perfection of their nature. And universally, it is said that the Pythagoreans exhorted both those they happened to meet, and their familiars, to avoid pleasure as a thing that required the greatest caution. For nothing so much deceives us, or precipitates us into error, as this passion. In short, as it seems, they contended that we should never do any thing with a view to pleasure as the end. For this scope is, for the most part, indecorous and noxious. But they asserted, that especially looking to the beautiful and decorous, we should do whatever 146is to be done.43 And that in the second place we should look to the advantageous and the useful. These things, however, require no casual judgment.With respect to what is called desire, these men are said to have asserted as follows: That desire indeed, itself, is a certain tendency, impulse, and appetite of the soul, in order to be filled with something, or to enjoy something present, or to be disposed according to some sensitive energy; but that there is also a desire of the contraries to these, and this is a desire of the evacuation and absence, and of having no sensible perception of certain things. That this passion likewise is various, and is nearly the most multifarious of all those that pertain to man. But that many human desires are adscititious, and procured by men themselves. Hence 147this passion requires the greatest attention, and no casual care and corporeal exercise. For that the body when empty should desire food, is natural: and again, it is also natural, that when filled, it should desire an appropriate evacuation. But to desire superfluous nutriment, or superfluous and luxurious garments or coverlids, or habitations, is adscititious. They also reasoned in the same manner concerning furniture, vessels, servants, and cattle subservient to food. And universally, with respect to human passions, they are nearly things of such a kind, as to be nowhere permanent, but to proceed to infinity. Hence attention should be paid to youth from the earliest period, in order that they may aspire after such things as are proper, may avoid vain and superfluous desires, and thus be undisturbed by, and purified from, such-like appetites, and may despise those who are objects of contempt, because they are bound to all-various desires. But it must be especially observed, that vain, noxious, superfluous, and insolent desires subsist with those who have the greatest power. For there is not any thing so absurd, which the soul of such boys, men, and women, does not incite them to perform. In short, the variety of food which is assumed, is most manifold. For there are an infinite number of fruits, and an infinite multitude of roots, which the human race uses for food. It likewise uses all-various kinds of flesh; 148and it is difficult to find any terrestrial, aerial, or aquatic animal, which it does not taste. It also employs all-various contrivances in the preparation of these, and manifold mixtures of juices. Hence it properly follows that the human tribe is insane and multiform, according to the motion of the soul, for each kind of food that is introduced into the body, becomes the cause of a certain peculiar disposition.We however perceive that some things become immediately the cause of a great change in quality, as is evident in wine. For when it is drank abundantly, it makes men at first more cheerful, but afterwards more insane and indecorous. But men are ignorant of those things which do not exhibit a power of this kind; though every thing that is eaten is the cause of a certain peculiar disposition. Hence it requires great wisdom, to be able to know and perceive, what kind and what quantity of food ought to be used. This science, however, was at first unfolded by Apollo and Pæon; but afterwards by Esculapius and his followers.With respect to generation also, the Pythagoreans are said to have made the following observations. In the first place, they thought it necessary to guard against what is called untimely offspring. For neither untimely plants, nor animals, are good; but prior to their bearing fruit, it is necessary that a certain time should intervene, in order that seeds 149and fruit may be produced from strong and perfect bodies. It is requisite, therefore, that boys and virgins should be accustomed to labors and exercises, and appropriate endurance, and that food should be given to them adapted to a life of labor, temperance, and endurance. But there are many things of this kind in human life, which it is better to learn at a late period, and among these is the use of venery. It is necessary, therefore, that a boy should be so educated, as not to seek after such a connexion as this, within the twentieth year of his age. But when he arrives at this age, he should use venery rarely. This however will be the case, if he thinks that a good habit of body is an honorable and beautiful thing. For intemperance and a good habit of body, are not very much adapted to subsist together in the same person. It is also said, that those laws were praised by the Pythagoreans, which existed prior to their time in Grecian cities, and which prohibited the having connexion with a woman who is a mother, or a daughter, or a sister, either in a temple, or in a public place. For it is beautiful and advantageous that there should be numerous impediments to this energy. These men also apprehended, as it seems, that preternatural generations, and those which are effected in conjunction with wanton insolence, should be entirely prevented from taking place; but that those should be suffered to remain, which are 150according to nature, and subsist with temperance, and which take place in the chaste and legal procreation of children.They likewise were of opinion that great providential attention should be paid by those who beget children, to the future progeny. The first, therefore, and the greatest care which should be taken by him who applies himself to the procreation of children is, that he lives temperately and healthfully, that he neither fills himself with food unseasonably, nor uses such aliments as may render the habits of the body worse than they were, and above all things, that he avoids intoxication. For they thought that depraved seed was produced from a bad, discordant, and turbid temperament. And universally they were of opinion, that none but an indolent and inconsiderate person would attempt to produce an animal, and lead it into existence, without providing with all possible diligence that its ingress into being and life might be most elegant and pleasing. For those that are lovers of dogs, pay every possible attention to the generation of whelps, in order that they may be produced from such things as are proper, and when it is proper, and in such a way as is proper, and thus may become a good offspring. The same attention also is paid by those who are lovers of birds. And it is evident that others also who are studious about the procreation of generous animals, endeavour by all 151possible means, that the generation of them may not be in vain. It would be absurd therefore that men should pay no attention to their own offspring, but should both beget them casually and with perfect carelessness, and, after they are begotten, nourish and educate them with extreme negligence. For this is the most powerful and most manifest cause of the vice and depravity of the greater part of mankind. For with the multitude the procreation of children is undertaken in a beastly and rash manner. And such were the assertions, and such the doctrine of these men, which they verified both in words and deeds, respecting temperance; these precepts having been originally received by them from Pythagoras himself, like certain oracles delivered by the Pythian Apollo.' ' None |
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97. Origen, Against Celsus, 1.32, 4.83, 6.22, 8.28, 8.30, 8.53 (3rd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras / (neo-)pythagoreanism • Pythagoras, Pythagoreans • Pythagorean/Neopythagorean • Pythagoreans
Found in books: Blidstein (2017), Purity Community and Ritual in Early Christian Literature, 81, 209; Pevarello (2013), The Sentences of Sextus and the Origins of Christian Ascetiscism. 10, 23; Ramelli (2013), The Christian Doctrine of Apokatastasis: A Critical Assessment from the New Testament to Eriugena, 8; Waldner et al. (2016), Burial Rituals, Ideas of Afterlife, and the Individual in the Hellenistic World and the Roman Empire, 210; deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 213, 214, 341, 351
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1.32 But let us now return to where the Jew is introduced, speaking of the mother of Jesus, and saying that when she was pregt she was turned out of doors by the carpenter to whom she had been betrothed, as having been guilty of adultery, and that she bore a child to a certain soldier named Panthera; and let us see whether those who have blindly concocted these fables about the adultery of the Virgin with Panthera, and her rejection by the carpenter, did not invent these stories to overturn His miraculous conception by the Holy Ghost: for they could have falsified the history in a different manner, on account of its extremely miraculous character, and not have admitted, as it were against their will, that Jesus was born of no ordinary human marriage. It was to be expected, indeed, that those who would not believe the miraculous birth of Jesus would invent some falsehood. And their not doing this in a credible manner, but (their) preserving the fact that it was not by Joseph that the Virgin conceived Jesus, rendered the falsehood very palpable to those who can understand and detect such inventions. Is it at all agreeable to reason, that he who dared to do so much for the human race, in order that, as far as in him lay, all the Greeks and Barbarians, who were looking for divine condemnation, might depart from evil, and regulate their entire conduct in a manner pleasing to the Creator of the world, should not have had a miraculous birth, but one the vilest and most disgraceful of all? And I will ask of them as Greeks, and particularly of Celsus, who either holds or not the sentiments of Plato, and at any rate quotes them, whether He who sends souls down into the bodies of men, degraded Him who was to dare such mighty acts, and to teach so many men, and to reform so many from the mass of wickedness in the world, to a birth more disgraceful than any other, and did not rather introduce Him into the world through a lawful marriage? Or is it not more in conformity with reason, that every soul, for certain mysterious reasons (I speak now according to the opinion of Pythagoras, and Plato, and Empedocles, whom Celsus frequently names), is introduced into a body, and introduced according to its deserts and former actions? It is probable, therefore, that this soul also, which conferred more benefit by its residence in the flesh than that of many men (to avoid prejudice, I do not say all), stood in need of a body not only superior to others, but invested with all excellent qualities.
4.83 After Celsus has finished speaking of the bees, in order to depreciate (as far as he can) the cities, and constitutions, and governments, and sovereignties not only of us Christians, but of all mankind, as well as the wars which men undertake on behalf of their native countries, he proceeds, by way of digression, to pass a eulogy upon the ants, in order that, while praising them, he may compare the measures which men take to secure their subsistence with those adopted by these insects, and so evince his contempt for the forethought which makes provision for winter, as being nothing higher than the irrational providence of the ants, as he regards it. Now might not some of the more simple-minded, and such as know not how to look into the nature of all things, be turned away (so far, at least, as Celsus could accomplish it) from helping those who are weighed down with the burdens (of life), and from sharing their toils, when he says of the ants, that they help one another with their loads, when they see one of their number toiling under them? For he who needs to be disciplined by the word, but who does not at all understand its voice, will say: Since, then, there is no difference between us and the ants, even when we help those who are weary with bearing their heavy burdens, why should we continue to do so to no purpose? And would not the ants, as being irrational creature, be greatly puffed up, and think highly of themselves, because their works were compared to those of men? While men, on the other hand, who by means of their reason are enabled to hear how their philanthropy towards others is contemned, would be injured, so far as could be effected by Celsus and his arguments: for he does not perceive that, while he wishes to turn away from Christianity those who read his treatise, he turns away also the sympathy of those who are not Christians from those who bear the heaviest burdens (of life). Whereas, had he been a philosopher, who was capable of perceiving the good which men may do each other, he ought, in addition to not removing along with Christianity the blessings which are found among men, to have lent his aid to co-operate (if he had it in his power) with those principles of excellence which are common to Christianity and the rest of mankind. Moreover, even if the ants set apart in a place by themselves those grains which sprout forth, that they may not swell into bud, but may continue throughout the year as their food, this is not to be deemed as evidence of the existence of reason among ants, but as the work of the universal mother, Nature, which adorned even irrational animals, so that even the most insignificant is not omitted, but bears traces of the reason implanted in it by nature. Unless, indeed, by these assertions Celsus means obscurely to intimate (for in many instances he would like to adopt Platonic ideas) that all souls are of the same species, and that there is no difference between that of a man and those of ants and bees, which is the act of one who would bring down the soul from the vault of heaven, and cause it to enter not only a human body, but that of an animal. Christians, however, will not yield their assent to such opinions: for they have been instructed before now that the human soul was created in the image of God; and they see that it is impossible for a nature fashioned in the divine image to have its (original) features altogether obliterated, and to assume others, formed after I know not what likeness of irrational animals. ' "
6.22 After this, Celsus, desiring to exhibit his learning in his treatise against us, quotes also certain Persian mysteries, where he says: These things are obscurely hinted at in the accounts of the Persians, and especially in the mysteries of Mithras, which are celebrated among them. For in the latter there is a representation of the two heavenly revolutions - of the movement, viz., of the fixed stars, and of that which take place among the planets, and of the passage of the soul through these. The representation is of the following nature: There is a ladder with lofty gates, and on the top of it an eighth gate. The first gate consists of lead, the second of tin, the third of copper, the fourth of iron, the fifth of a mixture of metals, the sixth of silver, and the seventh of gold. The first gate they assign to Saturn, indicating by the 'lead' the slowness of this star; the second to Venus, comparing her to the splendour and softness of tin; the third to Jupiter, being firm and solid; the fourth to Mercury, for both Mercury and iron are fit to endure all things, and are money-making and laborious; the fifth to Mars, because, being composed of a mixture of metals, it is varied and unequal; the sixth, of silver, to the Moon; the seventh, of gold, to the Sun - thus imitating the different colors of the two latter. He next proceeds to examine the reason of the stars being arranged in this order, which is symbolized by the names of the rest of matter. Musical reasons, moreover, are added or quoted by the Persian theology; and to these, again, he strives to add a second explanation, connected also with musical considerations. But it seems to me, that to quote the language of Celsus upon these matters would be absurd, and similar to what he himself has done, when, in his accusations against Christians and Jews, he quoted, most inappropriately, not only the words of Plato; but, dissatisfied even with these, he adduced in addition the mysteries of the Persian Mithras, and the explanation of them. Now, whatever be the case with regard to these - whether the Persians and those who conduct the mysteries of Mithras give false or true accounts regarding them - why did he select these for quotation, rather than some of the other mysteries, with the explanation of them? For the mysteries of Mithras do not appear to be more famous among the Greeks than those of Eleusis, or than those in Ægina, where individuals are initiated in the rites of Hecate. But if he must introduce barbarian mysteries with their explanation, why not rather those of the Egyptians, which are highly regarded by many, or those of the Cappadocians regarding the Comanian Diana, or those of the Thracians, or even those of the Romans themselves, who initiate the noblest members of their senate? But if he deemed it inappropriate to institute a comparison with any of these, because they furnished no aid in the way of accusing Jews or Christians, why did it not also appear to him inappropriate to adduce the instance of the mysteries of Mithras? " 8.28 We shall now proceed to the next statement of Celsus, and examine it with care: If in obedience to the traditions of their fathers they abstain from such victims, they must also abstain from all animal food, in accordance with the opinions of Pythagoras, who thus showed his respect for the soul and its bodily organs. But if, as they say, they abstain that they may not eat along with demons, I admire their wisdom, in having at length discovered, that whenever they eat they eat with demons, although they only refuse to do so when they are looking upon a slain victim; for when they eat bread, or drink wine, or taste fruits, do they not receive these things, as well as the water they drink and the air they breathe, from certain demons, to whom have been assigned these different provinces of nature? Here I would observe that I cannot see how those whom he speaks of as abstaining from certain victims, in accordance with the traditions of their fathers, are consequently bound to abstain from the flesh of all animals. We do not indeed deny that the divine word does seem to command something similar to this, when to raise us to a higher and purer life it says, It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby your brother stumbles, or is offended, or is made weak; and again, Destroy not him with your meat, for whom Christ died; and again, If meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world stands, lest I make my brother to offend.
8.30 For that which is offered to idols is sacrificed to demons, and a man of God must not join the table of demons. As to things strangled, we are forbidden by Scripture to partake of them, because the blood is still in them; and blood, especially the odour arising from blood, is said to be the food of demons. Perhaps, then, if we were to eat of strangled animals, we might have such spirits feeding along with us. And the reason which forbids the use of strangled animals for food is also applicable to the use of blood. And it may not be amiss, as bearing on this point, to recall a beautiful saying in the writings of Sextus, which is known to most Christians: The eating of animals, says he, is a matter of indifference; but to abstain from them is more agreeable to reason. It is not, therefore, simply an account of some traditions of our fathers that we refrain from eating victims offered to those called gods or heroes or demons, but for other reasons, some of which I have here mentioned. It is not to be supposed, however, that we are to abstain from the flesh of animals in the same way as we are bound to abstain from all race and wickedness: we are indeed to abstain not only from the flesh of animals, but from all other kinds of food, if we cannot partake of them without incurring evil, and the consequences of evil. For we are to avoid eating for gluttony, or for the mere gratification of the appetite, without regard to the health and sustece of the body. We do not believe that souls pass from one body to another, and that they may descend so low as to enter the bodies of the brutes. If we abstain at times from eating the flesh of animals, it is evidently, therefore, not for the same reason as Pythagoras; for it is the reasonable soul alone that we honour, and we commit its bodily organs with due honours to the grave. For it is not right that the dwelling-place of the rational soul should be cast aside anywhere without honour, like the carcasses of brute beasts; and so much the more when we believe that the respect paid to the body redounds to the honour of the person who received from God a soul which has nobly employed the organs of the body in which it resided. In regard to the question, How are the dead raised up, and with what body do they come? we have already answered it briefly, as our purpose required.
8.53 Having said so much on this subject, let us proceed to another statement of Celsus: Since men are born united to a body, whether to suit the order of the universe, or that they may in that way suffer the punishment of sin; or because the soul is oppressed by certain passions until it is purged from these at the appointed period of time - for, according to Empedocles, all mankind must be banished from the abodes of the blessed for 30,000 periods of time - we must therefore believe that they are entrusted to certain beings as keepers of this prison-house. You will observe that Celsus, in these remarks, speaks of such weighty matters in the language of doubtful human conjecture. He adds also various opinions as to the origin of man, and shows considerable reluctance to set down any of these opinions as false. When he had once come to the conclusion neither indiscriminately to accept nor recklessly to reject the opinions held by the ancients, would it not have been in accordance with that same rule of judging, if, when he found himself not disposed to believe the doctrines taught by the Jewish prophets and by Jesus, at any rate to have held them as matters open to inquiry? And should he not have considered whether it is very probable that a people who faithfully served the Most High God, and who ofttimes encountered numberless dangers, and even death, rather than sacrifice the honour of God, and what they believed to be the revelations of His will, should have been wholly overlooked by God? Should it not rather be thought probable that people who despised the efforts of human art to represent the Divine Being, but strove rather to rise in thought to the knowledge of the Most High, should have been favoured with some revelation from Himself? Besides, he ought to have considered that the common Father and Creator of all, who sees and hears all things, and who duly esteems the intention of every man who seeks Him and desires to serve Him, will grant unto these also some of the benefits of His rule, and will give them an enlargement of that knowledge of Himself which He has once bestowed upon them. If this had been remembered by Celsus and the others who hate Moses and the Jewish prophets, and Jesus, and His faithful disciples, who endured so much for the sake of His word, they would not thus have reviled Moses, and the prophets, and Jesus, and His apostles; and they would not have singled out for their contempt the Jews beyond all the nations of the earth, and said they were worse even than the Egyptians, - a people who, either from superstition or some other form of delusion, went as far as they could in degrading the Divine Being to the level of brute beasts. And we invite inquiry, not as though we wished to lead any to doubt regarding the truths of Christianity, but in order to show that it would be better for those who in every way revile the doctrines of Christianity, at any rate to suspend their judgment, and not so rashly to state about Jesus and His apostles such things as they do not know, and as they cannot prove, either by what the Stoics call apprehensive perception, or by any other methods used by different sects of philosophers as criteria of truth. '' None |
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98. Porphyry, Letter To Marcella, 23-24, 35 (3rd cent. CE - 4th cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Archytas, Pythagorean • Pythagorean, Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreans
Found in books: Dillon and Timotin (2015), Platonic Theories of Prayer, 34; Pevarello (2013), The Sentences of Sextus and the Origins of Christian Ascetiscism. 93, 194; Sorabji (2000), Emotion and Peace of Mind: From Stoic Agitation to Christian Temptation, 241
| sup>24 No god is responsible for a man's evils, for he has chosen his lot himself. The prayer which is accompanied by base actions is impure, and |45 therefore not acceptable to God; but that which is accompanied by noble actions is pure, and at the same time acceptable. There are four first principles that must be upheld concerning God—faith, truth, love, hope. We must have faith that our only salvation is in turning to God. And having faith, we must strive with all our might to know the truth about God. And when we know this, we must love Him we do know. And when we love Him we must nourish our souls on good hopes for our life, for it is by their good hopes good men are superior to bad ones. Let then these four principles be firmly held." " None |
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99. Porphyry, On Abstinence, 2.19, 2.28, 3.26.1, 4.7 (3rd cent. CE - 4th cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras and Pythagoreans • Pythagoras and Pythagoreans, and metempsychosis • Pythagoras and Pythagoreans, on pollution • Pythagoras and Pythagoreans, on sacrifice • Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans, and metempsychosis • Pythagorean/Neopythagorean • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism, revived under Ptolemies, and abstinence • Pythagoreans • eschatology. See mystery initiations and entries under Empedocles, Euripides, Homer, Parmenides, Pindar, Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans, aethereal • pollution, Pythagoreans on • soul. See entries on soul or metempsychosis under Empedocles, Heraclitus, Homer, Parmenides, Pindar, Plato, Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans, as divine • symbola, Pythagorean
Found in books: Blidstein (2017), Purity Community and Ritual in Early Christian Literature, 31; Griffiths (1975), The Isis-Book (Metamorphoses, Book XI), 291; McGowan (1999), Ascetic Eucharists: Food and Drink in Early Christian Ritual Meals, 77; Mikalson (2010), Greek Popular Religion in Greek Philosophy, 69; Petrovic and Petrovic (2016), Inner Purity and Pollution in Greek Religion, 64; Simmons(1995), Arnobius of Sicca: Religious Conflict and Competition in the Age of Diocletian, 305, 313; Tor (2017), Mortal and Divine in Early Greek Epistemology, 244
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2.19 19.But those who have written concerning sacred operations and sacrifices, admonish us to be accurate in preserving what pertains to the popana, because these are more acceptable to the Gods than the sacrifice which is performed through the mactation of animals. Sophocles also, in describing a sacrifice which is pleasing to divinity, says in his Polyidus: The skins of sheep in sacrifice were used, Libations too of wine, grapes well preserved, And fruits collected in a heap of every kind; The olive's pinguid juice, and waxen work Most variegated, of the yellow bee. Formerly, also, there were venerable monuments in Delos of those who came from the Hyperboreans, bearing handfuls of fruits. It is necessary, therefore, that, being purified in our manners, we should make oblations, offering to the Gods those sacrifices which are pleasing to them, and not such as are attended with great expense. Now, however, if a man's body is not pure and invested with a splendid garment, he does not think it is qualified for the sanctity of sacrifice. But when he has rendered his body splendid, together with his garment, though his soul at the same time is not, purified from vice, yet he betakes himself to sacrifice, and thinks that it is a thing of no consequence; as if divinity did not especially rejoice in that which is most divine in our nature, when it is in a pure condition, as being allied to his essence. In Epidaurus, therefore, there was the following inscription on the doors of the temple: Into an odorous temple, he who goes Should pure and holy be; but to be wise In what to sanctity pertains, is to be pure. 2.28 28.The truth of this may also be perceived from the altar which is even now preserved about Delos, which, because no animal is brought to, or is sacrificed upon it, is called the altar of the pious. So that the inhabitants not only abstain from sacrificing animals, but they likewise conceive, that those who established, are similarly pious with those who use the altar. Hence, the Pythagoreans having adopted this mode of sacrifice, abstained from animal food through the whole of life. But when they distributed to the Gods a certain animal instead of themselves, they merely tasted of it, living in reality without touching other |61 animals. We, however, do not act after this manner; but being filled with animal diet, we have arrived at this manifold illegality in our life by slaughtering animals, and using them for food. For neither is it proper that the altars of the Gods should be defiled with murder, nor that food of this kind should be touched by men, as neither is it fit that men should eat one another; but the precept which is still preserved at Athens, should be obeyed through the whole of life.
3.26.1 26.By making pleasure, therefore, the end of life, that which is truly justice cannot be preserved; since neither such things as are primarily useful according to nature, nor all such as are easily attainable, give completion to felicity. For, in many instances, the motions of the irrational nature, and utility and indigence, have been, and still are the sources of injustice. For men became indigent as they pretended of animal food, in order that they might preserve, as they said, the corporeal frame free from molestation, and without being in want of those things after which the animal nature aspires. But if an assimilation to divinity is the end of life, an innoxious conduct towards all things will be in the most eminent degree preserved. As, therefore, he who is led by his passions is innoxious only towards his children and his wife, but despises and acts fraudulently towards other persons, since in consequence of the irrational part predominating in him, he is excited to, and astonished about mortal concerns; but he who is led by reason, preserves an innoxious conduct towards his fellow-citizens, and still more so towards strangers, and towards all men, through having the irrational part in subjection, and is therefore more rational and divine than the former character; - thus also, he who does not confine harmless conduct to men alone, but extends it to other animals, is more similar to divinity; and if it was possible to extend it even to plants, he would preserve this image in a still greater degree. As, however, this is not possible, we may in this respect lament, with the ancients 18, the defect of our nature, that we consist of such adverse and discordant principles, so that we are unable to preserve our divine part incorruptible, and in all respects innoxious. For we are not unindigent in all things: the cause of which is generation, and our becoming needy through the abundant corporeal efflux which we sustain. But want procures safety and ornament from things of a foreign nature, which are necessary to the existence of our mortal part. He, therefore, who is indigent of a greater number of externals, is in a greater degree agglutinated to penury; and by how much his wants increase, by so much is he destitute of divinity, |108 and an associate of penury. For that which is similar to deity, through this assimilation immediately possesses true wealth. But no one who is truly rich and perfectly unindigent injures any thing. For as long as any one injures another, though he should possess the greatest wealth, and all the acres of land which the earth contains, he is still poor, and has want for his intimate associate. On this account, also, he is unjust, without God, and impious, and enslaved to every kind of depravity, which is produced by the lapse of the soul into matter, through the privation of good. Every thing, therefore, is nugatory to any one, as long as he wanders from the principle of the universe; and he is indigent of all things, while he does not direct his attention to Porus or the source of true abundance. He likewise yields to the mortal part of his nature, while he remains ignorant of his real self. But Injustice is powerful in persuading and corrupting those that belong to her empire, because she associates with her votaries in conjunction with Pleasure. As, however, in the choice of lives, he is the more accurate judge who has obtained an experience of both the better and the worse kind of life, than he who has only experienced one of them; thus also, in the choice and avoidance of what is proper, he is a safer judge who, from that which is more, judges of that which is less excellent, than he who from the less, judges of the more excellent. Hence, he who lives according to intellect, will more accurately define what is eligible and what is not, than he who lives under the dominion of irrationality. For the former has passed through the irrational life, as having from the first associated with it; but the latter, having had no experience of an intellectual life, persuades those that resemble himself, and acts with nugacity, like a child among children. If, however, say our opponents, all men were persuaded by these arguments, what would become of us? Is it not evident that we should be happy, injustice, indeed, being exterminated from men, and justice being conversant with us, in the same manner as it is in the heavens? But now this question is just the same as if men should be dubious what the life of the Danaids would be, if they were liberated from the employment of drawing water in a sieve, and attempting to fill a perforated vessel. For they are dubious what would be the consequence if we should cease to replenish our passions and desires, the whole of which replenishing continually flows away through the want of real good; since this fills up the ruinous clefts of the soul more than the greatest of external necessaries. Do you therefore ask, O man, what we should do? We should imitate those that lived in the golden age, we should imitate those of that period who were truly free. For with them modesty, Nemesis, and Justice associated, because they were satisfied with the fruits of the earth. |109 The fertile earth for them spontaneous yields Abundantly her fruits 19. But those who are liberated from slavery, obtain for themselves what they before procured for their masters. In like manner, also, do you, when liberated from the servitude of the body, and a slavish attention to the passions produced through the body, as, prior to this, you nourished them in an all-various manner with externals, so now nourish yourself all-variously with internal good, justly assuming things which are properly your own, and no longer by violence taking away things which are foreign to your true nature and real good. Footnotes moved to the end and numbered 1.* This external reason (&
4.7 7.It was not lawful for them therefore to meddle with the esculent and potable substances, which were produced out of Egypt, and this contributed much to the exclusion of luxury from these priests. But they abstained from all the fish that was caught in Egypt, and from such quadrupeds as had solid, or many-fissured hoofs, and from such as were not horned; and likewise from all such birds as were carnivorous. Many of them, however, entirely abstained from all animals; and in purifications this abstinence was adopted by all of them, for then they did not even eat an egg. Moreover, they also rejected other things, without being calumniated for so doing. Thus, for instance, of oxen, they rejected the females, and also such of the males as were twins, or were speckled, or of a different colour, or alternately varied in their form, or which were now tamed, as having been already consecrated to labours, and resembled animals that are honoured, or which were the images of any thing that is divine, or those that had but one eye, or those that verged to a similitude of the human form. There are also innumerable other observations pertaining to the art of those who are called mosxofragistai, or who stamp calves with a seal, and of which books have been composed. But these observations are still more curious respecting birds; as, for instance, that a turtle should not be eaten; for it is said that a hawk frequently dismisses this bird after he has seized it, and preserves its life, as a reward for having had connexion with it. The Egyptian priests, therefore, that they might not ignorantly meddle with a turtle of this kind, avoided the whole species of those birds. And these indeed were certain common religious ceremonies; but there were different ceremonies, which varied according to the class of the priests that used them, and were adapted to the several divinities. But chastity and purifications were common to all the priests. When also the time arrived in which they were to perform something pertaining to the sacred rites of religion, they spent some days in preparatory ceremonies, some indeed forty-two, but others a greater, and |118 others a less number of days; yet never less than seven days; and during this time they abstained from all animals, and likewise from all pot-herbs and leguminous substances, and, above all, from a venereal connexion with women; for they never at any time had connexion with males. They likewise washed themselves with cold water thrice every day; viz. when they rose from their bed, before dinner, and when they betook themselves to sleep. But if they happened to be polluted in their sleep by the emission of the seed, they immediately purified their body in a bath. They also used cold bathing at other times, but not so frequently as on the above occasion. Their bed was woven from the branches of the palm tree, which they call bais; and their bolster was a smooth semi-cylindric piece of wood. But they exercised themselves in the endurance of hunger and thirst, and were accustomed to paucity of food through the whole of their life. |
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100. Porphyry, Life of Plotinus, 16 (3rd cent. CE - 4th cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagorean • Pythagoreanism
Found in books: Eidinow and Kindt (2015), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Greek Religion, 221; Rasimus (2009), Paradise Reconsidered in Gnostic Mythmaking: Rethinking Sethianism in Light of the Ophite Evidence, 32
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16 Many Christians of this period--amongst them sectaries who had abandoned the old philosophy, men of the schools of Adelphius and Aquilinus--had possessed themselves of works by Alexander of Libya, by Philocomus, by Demostratus, and bby Lydus, and exhibited also Revelations bearing the names of Zoroaster, Zostrianus, Nicotheus, Allogenes, Mesus, and others of that order. Thus they fooled many, themselves fooled first; Plato, according to them, had failed to penetrate into the depth of Intellectual Being. Plotinus fequently attacked their position at the Conferences and finally wrote the treatise which I have headed Against the Gnostics: he left to us of the circle the task of examining what he himself passed over. Amelius proceeded as far as a fortieth treatise in refutation of the book of Zostrianus: I myself have shown on many counts that the Zoroastrian volume is spurious and modern, concocted by the sectaries in order to pretend that the doctrines they had embraced were those of the ancient sage. '' None |
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101. Porphyry, Life of Pythagoras, 1-2, 11, 19, 30-32, 34-47, 57 (3rd cent. CE - 4th cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Empedocles, and Pythagoreanism • Golden Verses, Pythagorean • Iamblichus, as source for Pythagoreanism • Plato, relationship to Pythagorean Precepts • Pseudo-Pythagorean corpus • Pythagoras / (neo-)pythagoreanism • Pythagoras and Pythagoreans • Pythagoras and Pythagoreans, and metempsychosis • Pythagoras and Pythagoreans, on pollution • Pythagoras and Pythagoreans, on sacrifice • Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans, and metempsychosis • Pythagoras, Pythagoreanism • Pythagoras, Pythagoreans • Pythagoras, pythagoreanism • Pythagorean Precepts (Aristoxenus) • Pythagorean Precepts (Aristoxenus), ethical principles of • Pythagorean Precepts, general in nature • Pythagorean/Neopythagorean • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism xxv • Pythagoreanism xxv, Plato and • Pythagoreanism xxv, acumsatici and mathematici • Pythagoreanism xxv, and friendship • Pythagoreanism xxv, and mystery cults • Pythagoreans • Pythagoreans, Exercises • Pythagoreans, Giving upmeal, reviewing the day, hard bed, cold baths, anger makes you ugly • Pythagoreans, division of mathematici and acousmati • Pythagoreans, writings of • Wehrli, F., edition of Aristoxenus works on the Pythagoreans • acusmata (Pythagorean) • acusmata (Pythagorean), dietary taboos • acusmata (Pythagorean), history of interpretation • acusmata (Pythagorean), interpretation of ethical allegories • acusmata (Pythagorean), religious precepts • anger, in Pythagorean acusmata • aretē/-a (virtue, excellence), in Pythagorean acusmata • cosmology, Pythagorean • courage (andreia), in Pythagorean acusmata • daimones, in Pythagoreanism • death, in Pythagorean acusmata • diet, in Pythagorean acusmata • fire, in Pythagorean acusmata • friendship (philia), Pythagorean • funerary practices, Pythagorean • harmony, in Pythagoreanism • heroes, in Pythagoreanism • justice (dikē), in Pythagorean acusmata • killing, in Pythagoreanism • law (nomos), in Pythagorean Precepts • marriage, in Pythagorean acusmata • metempsychosis (transmigration of soul, reincarnation), Pythagoreanism • music, and Pythagorean Precepts on desire and procreation • natural phenomena, in Pythagorean acusmata • oaths, in Pythagorean acusmata • pleasure (ἡδονή), in Pythagorean acusmata • pollution, Pythagoreans on • precepts, in the Pythagorean tradition • religion, in Pythagorean acusmata • sacrifice, in Pythagorean acusmata • symbola, Pythagorean
Found in books: Bickerman and Tropper (2007), Studies in Jewish and Christian History, 1015; Blidstein (2017), Purity Community and Ritual in Early Christian Literature, 32; Erler et al. (2021), Authority and Authoritative Texts in the Platonist Tradition, 116, 117; Huffman (2019), A History of Pythagoreanism, 52, 53, 54, 56, 57, 58, 336, 571; Iribarren and Koning (2022), Hesiod and the Beginnings of Greek Philosophy, 95, 210; Long (2019), Immortality in Ancient Philosophy, 19; McGowan (1999), Ascetic Eucharists: Food and Drink in Early Christian Ritual Meals, 71; Mikalson (2010), Greek Popular Religion in Greek Philosophy, 69; Petrovic and Petrovic (2016), Inner Purity and Pollution in Greek Religion, 113; Pevarello (2013), The Sentences of Sextus and the Origins of Christian Ascetiscism. 162, 186; Pollmann and Vessey (2007), Augustine and the Disciplines: From Cassiciacum to Confessions, 78; Sorabji (2000), Emotion and Peace of Mind: From Stoic Agitation to Christian Temptation, 213; Stephens and Winkler (1995), Ancient Greek Novels: The Fragments: Introduction, Text, Translation, and Commentary, 112, 114, 133; Tor (2017), Mortal and Divine in Early Greek Epistemology, 151, 323; Wardy and Warren (2018), Authors and Authorities in Ancient Philosophy, 164; Wolfsdorf (2020), Early Greek Ethics, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 60, 61, 570, 707; deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 120
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1 Many think that Pythagoras was the son of Mnesarchus, but they differ as to the latter's race; some thinking him a Samian, while Neanthes, in the fifth book of his Fables states he was a Syrian, from the city of Tyre. As a famine had arisen in Samos, Mnesarchus went thither to trade, and was naturalized there. There also was born his son Pythagoras, who early manifested studiousness, but was later taken to Tyre, and there entrusted to the Chaldeans, whose doctrines he imbibed. Thence he returned to Ionia, where he first studied under the Syrian Pherecydes, then also under Hermodamas the Creophylian who at that time was an old man residing in Samos. 2 Neanthes says that others hold that his father was a Tyrrhenian, of those who inhabit Lemnos, and that while on a trading trip to Samos was there naturalized. On sailing to Italy, Mnesarchus took the youth Pythagoras with him. Just at this time this country was greatly flourishing. Neanthes adds that Pythagoras had two older brothers, Eunostus and Tyrrhenus. But Apollonius, in his book about Pythagoras, affirms that his mother was Pythais, a descendant, of Ancaeus, the founder of Samos. Apollonius adds that he was said to be the off-spring of Apollo and Pythais, on the authority of Mnesarchus; and a Samian poet sings: "Pythais, of all Samians the most fair; Jove-loved Pythagoras to Phoebus bare!" This poet says that Pythagoras studied not only under Pherecydes and Hermodamas, but also under Anaximander.
1
1 He sent the boy to a lute-player, a wrestler and a painter. Later he sent him to Anaximander at Miletus, to learn geometry and astronomy. Then Pythagoras visited the Egyptians, the Arabians, the Chaldeans and the Hebrews, from whom he acquired expertery in the interpretation of dreams, and he was the first to use frankincense in the worship of divinities.
19 Through this he achieved great reputation, he drew great audiences from the city, not only of men, but also of women, among whom was a specially illustrious person named Theano. He also drew audiences from among the neighboring barbarians, among whom were magnates and kings. What he told his audiences cannot be said with certainty, for he enjoined silence upon his hearers. But the following is a matter of general information. He taught that the soul was immortal and that after death it transmigrated into other animated bodies. After certain specified periods, the same events occur again; that nothing was entirely new; that all animated beings were kin, and should be considered as belonging to one great family. Pythagoras was the first one to introduce these teachings into Greece.
30 He soothed the passions of the soul and body by rhythms, songs and incantations. These he adapted and applied to his friends. He himself could hear the harmony of the Universe, and understood the universal music of the spheres, and of the stars which move in concert with them, and which we cannot hear because of the limitations of our weak nature. This is testified to by these characteristic verses of Empedocles: "Amongst these was one in things sublimest skilled,His mind with all the wealth of learning filled, Whatever sages did invent, he sought;And whilst his thoughts were on this work intent,All things existent, easily he viewed,Through ten or twenty ages making search." 3
1 Indicating by sublimest things, and, he surveyed all existent things, and the wealth of the mind, and the like, Pythagoras \'s constitution of body, mind, seeing, hearing and understanding, which was exquisite, and surpassingly accurate, Pythagoras affirmed that the nine Muses were constituted by the sounds made by the seven planets, the sphere of the fixed stars, and that which is opposed to our earth, called "anti-earth." He called Mnemosyne, or Memory, the composition, symphony and connexion of then all, which is eternal and unbegotten as being composed of all of them. 32 Diogenes, setting forth his daily routine of living, relates that he advised all men to avoid ambition and vain-glory, which chiefly excite envy, and to shun the presences of crowds. He himself held morning conferences at his residence, composing his soul with the music of the lute, and singing certain old paeans of Thales. He also sang verses of Homer and Hesiod, which seemed to soothe the mind. He danced certain dances which he conceived conferred on the body agility and health. Walks he took not promiscuously, but only in company of one or two companions, in temples or sacred groves, selecting the quietest and pleasantest places.
34 As to food, his breakfast was chiefly of honey; at dinner he used bread made of millet, barley or herbs, raw and boiled. Only rarely did he eat the flesh of victims; nor did he take this from every part of the anatomy. When he intended to sojourn in the sanctuaries of the divinities, he would eat no more than was necessary to still hunger and thirst. To quiet hunger, he made a mixture of poppy seed and sesame, the skin of a sea-onion, well washed, till entirely drained of the outward juice; of the flower of the daffodil, and the leaves of mallows, of paste of barley and pea; taking an equal weight of which, and chopping it small, with Hymettian honey he made it into mass. Against thirst he took the seed of cucumbers, and the best dried raisins, extracting the seeds, and the flower of coriander, and the seeds of mallows, purselain, scraped cheese, meal and cream; these he made up with wild honey. 35 He claimed that this diet had, by Demeter, been taught to Hercules, when he was sent into the Libyan deserts. This preserved his body in an unchanging condition; not at one time well, and at another time sick, nor at one time fat, and at another lean. Pythagoras's countece showed the same constancy was in his soul also. For he was neither more elated by pleasure, nor dejected by grief, and no one ever saw him either rejoicing or mourning. 36 When Pythagoras sacrificed to the Gods, he did not use offensive profusion, but offered no more than barley bread, cakes and myrrh; least of all, animals, unless perhaps cocks and pigs. When he discovered the proposition that the square on the hypotenuse of a right angled triangle was equal to the squares on the sides containing the right angle, he is said to have sacrificed an ox, although the more accurate say that this ox was made of flour. 37 His utterances were of two kinds, plain or symbolical. His teaching was twofold: of his disciples some were called Students, and others Hearers. The Students learned the fuller and more exactly elaborate reasons of science, while the Hearers heard only the chief heads of learning, without more detailed explanations. 38 He ordained that his disciples should speak well and think reverently of the Gods, muses and heroes, and likewise of parents and benefactors; that they should obey the laws; that they should not relegate the worship of the Gods to a secondary position, performing it eagerly, even at home; that to the celestial divinities they should sacrifice uncommon offerings; and ordinary ones to the inferior deities. (The world he Divided into) opposite powers; the "one" was a better monad, light, right, equal, stable and straight; while the "other" was an inferior duad, darkness, left, unequal, unstable and movable. 39 Moreover, he enjoined the following. A cultivated and fruit-bearing plant, harmless to man and beast, should be neither injured nor destroyed. A deposit of money or of teachings should be faithfully preserved by the trustee. There are three kinds of things that deserve to be pursued and acquired; honorable and virtuous things, those that conduce to the use of life, and those that bring pleasures of the blameless, solid and grave kind, of course not the vulgar intoxicating kinds. of pleasures there were two kinds; one that indulges the bellies and lusts by a profusion of wealth, which he compared to the murderous songs of the Sirens; the other kind consists of things honest, just, and necessary to life, which are just as sweet as the first, without being followed by repentance; and these pleasures he compared to the harmony of the Muses. 40 He advised special regard to two times; that when we go to sleep, and that when we awake. At each of these we should consider our past actions, and those that are to come. We ought to require of ourselves an account of our past deeds, while of the future we should have a providential care. Therefore he advised everybody to repeat to himself the following verses before he fell asleep: "Nor suffer sleep to close thine eyes Till thrice thy acts that day thou hast run o\'er;How slipt? What deeds? What duty left undone?" On rising: "As soon as ere thou wakest, in order lay The actions to be done that following day" 4
1 Such things taught he, though advising above all things to speak the truth, for this alone deifies men. For as he had learned from the Magi, who call God Oremasdes, God's body is light, and his soul is truth. He taught much else, which he claimed to have learned from Aristoclea at Delphi. Certain things he declared mystically, symbolically, most of which were collected by Aristotle, as when he called the sea a tear of Saturn; the two bear (constellations) the hand of Rhea; the Pleiades, the lyre of the Muses; the Planets, the dogs of Persephone; and he called be sound caused by striking on brass the voice of a genius enclosed in the brass. 42 He had also another kind of symbol, such as, pass not over a balance; that is, Shun avarice. Poke not the fire with a sword, that is, we ought not to excite a man full of fire and anger with sharp language. Pluck not a crown, meant not to violate the laws, which are the crowns of cities. Eat not the heart, signified not to afflict ourselves with sorrows. Do not sit upon a pack-measure, meant, do not live ignobly. On starting a journey, do not turn back, meant, that this life should not be regretted, when near the bourne of death. Do not walk in the public way, meant, to avoid the opinions of the multitude, adopting those of the learned and the few. Receive not swallows into your house, meant, not to admit under the same roof garrulous and intemperate men. Help a man to take up a burden, but not to lay it down, meant, to encourage no one to be indolent, but to apply oneself to labor and virtue. Do not carry the images of the Gods in rings, signified that one should not at once to the vulgar reveal one's opinions about the Gods, or discourse about them. offer libations to the Gods, just to the ears of the cup, meant, that we ought to worship and celebrate the Gods with music, for that penetrates through the ears. Do not eat those things that are unlawful, sexual or increase, beginning nor end, nor the first basis of all things. 43 He taught abstention from the loins, testicle, pudenda, marrow, feet and heads of victims. The loins he called basis, because on them as foundations living beings are settled. Testicles and pudenda he called generation, for no one is engendered without the help of these. Marrow he called increase as it is the cause of growth in living beings. The beginning was the feet, and the head the end; which have the most power in the government of the body. He likewise advised abstention from beans, as from human flesh. 44 Beans were interdicted, it is said, because the particular plants grow and individualize only after (the earth) which is the principle and origin of things, is mixed together, so that many things underground are confused, and coalesce; after which everything rots together. Then living creatures were produced together with plants, so that both men and beans arose out of putrefaction whereof he alleged many manifest arguments. For if anyone should chew a bean, and having ground it to a pulp with his teeth, and should expose that pulp to the warm sun, for a short while, and then return to it, he will perceive the scent of human blood. Moreover, if at the time when beans bloom, one should take a little of the flower, which then is black, and should put it into an earthen vessel, and cover it closely, and bury in the ground for ninety days, and at the end thereof take it up, and uncover it, instead of the bean he will find either the head of an infant, or the pudenda of a woman. 45 He also wished men to abstain from other things, such as a swine\'s paunch, a mullet, and a sea-fish called a "nettle," and from nearly all other marine animals. He referred his origin to those of past ages, affirming that he was first Euphorbus, then Aethalides, then Hermotimus, then Pyrrhus, and last, Pythagoras. He showed to his disciples that the soul is immortal, and to those who were rightly purified he brought back the memory of the acts of their former lives. 46 He cultivated philosophy, the scope of which is to free the mind implanted within us from the impediments and fetters within which it is confined; without whose freedom none can learn anything sound or true, or perceive the unsoundedness in the operation of sense. Pythagoras thought that mind alone sees and hears, while all the rest are blind and deaf. The purified mind should be applied to the discovery of beneficial things, which can be effected by, certain artificial ways, which by degrees induce it to the contemplation of eternal and incorporeal things, which never vary. This orderliness of perception should begin from consideration of the most minute things, lest by any change the mind should be jarred and withdraw itself, through the failure of continuousness in its subject-matter. 47 That is the reason he made so much use of the mathematical disciplines and speculations, which are intermediate between the physical and the incorporeal realm, for the reason that like bodies they have a threefold dimension, and yet share the impassibility of incorporeals; as degrees of preparation to the contemplation of the really existent things; by an artificial reason diverting the eyes of the mind from corporeal things, whose manner and state never remain in the same condition, to a desire for true (spiritual) food. By means of these mathematical sciences therefore, Pythagoras rendered men truly happy, by this artistic introduction of truly consistent things.
57 Pythagoras fled to the temple of the Muses, in Metapontum. There he abode forty days, and starving, died. Others however state that his death was due to grief at the loss of all his friends who, when the house in which they were gathered was burned, in order to make a way for their master, they threw themselves into the flames, to make a bridge of safety for him, whereby indeed he escaped. When died the Pythagoreans, with them also died their knowledge, which till then than they had kept secret, except for a few obscure things which were commonly repeated by those who did not understand them. Pythagoras himself left no book; but some little sparks of his philosophy, obscure and difficult, were preserved by the few who were preserved by being scattered, as were Lysis and Archippus. |
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102. None, None, nan (3rd cent. CE - 4th cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoreanism • Silence, Pythagorean silence
Found in books: Pevarello (2013), The Sentences of Sextus and the Origins of Christian Ascetiscism. 161; Simmons(1995), Arnobius of Sicca: Religious Conflict and Competition in the Age of Diocletian, 13
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103. None, None, nan (3rd cent. CE - 4th cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras / (neo-)pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism
Found in books: Simmons(1995), Arnobius of Sicca: Religious Conflict and Competition in the Age of Diocletian, 294; deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 225
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104. None, None, nan (3rd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagorean/Neopythagorean • Pythagoreans
Found in books: Blidstein (2017), Purity Community and Ritual in Early Christian Literature, 32; Pevarello (2013), The Sentences of Sextus and the Origins of Christian Ascetiscism. 176
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105. None, None, nan (3rd cent. CE - 4th cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras, Pythagoreans • Pythagorism
Found in books: Bricault and Bonnet (2013), Panthée: Religious Transformations in the Graeco-Roman Empire, 77; Waldner et al. (2016), Burial Rituals, Ideas of Afterlife, and the Individual in the Hellenistic World and the Roman Empire, 214
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106. None, None, nan (3rd cent. CE - 4th cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoreans
Found in books: Lloyd (1989), The Revolutions of Wisdom: Studies in the Claims and Practice of Ancient Greek Science, 296; Motta and Petrucci (2022), Isagogical Crossroads from the Early Imperial Age to the End of Antiquity, 190, 191
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107. None, None, nan (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras, Pythagoreans • Pythagoras/Pythagoreans
Found in books: Inwood and Warren (2020), Body and Soul in Hellenistic Philosophy, 198; Long (2019), Immortality in Ancient Philosophy, 82
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108. None, None, nan (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras, Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism,
Found in books: Beduhn (2013), Augustine's Manichaean Dilemma, vol. 1, 255, 354; Pollmann and Vessey (2007), Augustine and the Disciplines: From Cassiciacum to Confessions, 73, 78, 79
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109. None, None, nan (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Aristotles criticism of Pythagorean(ism)/(Neo)Pythagoreans • Iamblichus as Pythagorean/on Pythagoreanism • On Pythagoreanism • Pythagoras / (neo-)pythagoreanism • Pythagoras/Pythagorean/Pythagoreanism
Found in books: Fowler (2014), Plato in the Third Sophistic, 64; d'Hoine and Martijn (2017), All From One: A Guide to Proclus, 21, 170, 213; deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 97
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110. None, None, nan (5th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreans
Found in books: Pevarello (2013), The Sentences of Sextus and the Origins of Christian Ascetiscism. 23, 35, 60; Wilson (2012), The Sentences of Sextus, 243
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111. None, None, nan (5th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreans
Found in books: Pevarello (2013), The Sentences of Sextus and the Origins of Christian Ascetiscism. 1, 21, 22, 137, 204; Wilson (2012), The Sentences of Sextus, 9
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112. None, None, nan (6th cent. CE - 6th cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras/Pythagorean/Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreanism
Found in books: Fowler (2014), Plato in the Third Sophistic, 88; Joosse (2021), Olympiodorus of Alexandria: Exegete, Teacher, Platonic Philosopher, 182, 221
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113. Septuagint, 4 Maccabees, 5.25
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras, Pythagorean, NeoPythagoean(s) • Pythagorean/Neopythagorean
Found in books: Blidstein (2017), Purity Community and Ritual in Early Christian Literature, 48; Potter Suh and Holladay (2021), Hellenistic Jewish Literature and the New Testament: Collected Essays, 631
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5.25 Therefore we do not eat defiling food; for since we believe that the law was established by God, we know that in the nature of things the Creator of the world in giving us the law has shown sympathy toward us.'' None |
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114. Valerius Maximus, Memorable Deeds And Sayings, 1.1.12
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoreans • Pythagorism
Found in books: Bricault and Bonnet (2013), Panthée: Religious Transformations in the Graeco-Roman Empire, 51; Rohmann (2016), Christianity, Book-Burning and Censorship in Late Antiquity, 228
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1.1.12 Great also was the care of preserving religion among our ancestors, when Publius Cornelius and Baebius Tamphilus were consuls. For the labourers that were digging a field of L. Petillius the scribe, at the foot of Janiculum, delving somewhat deeper than ordinary, found two little stone-chests; in one whereof was some writing, declaring that it was the body of Numa Pompilius, son of Pomponius. In the other were seven books in the Latin language, treating of the law of the pontiffs; and as many books in Greek, discoursing of wisdom. For the preservation of the Latin books they took especial care; but the Greek ones, (for there seemed to be some things therein prejudicial to their religion) Q. Petillius the praetor by decree of senate caused to be burnt in a public fire made by the attendants of the sacrifices: for the ancient Romans could not endure that anything should be kept in the city, which might be a means to draw the minds of men from the worship of the gods.'' None |
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115. None, None, nan (missingth cent. CE - 5th cent. CE)
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoreans
Found in books: Erler et al. (2021), Authority and Authoritative Texts in the Platonist Tradition, 163; Novenson (2020), Monotheism and Christology in Greco-Roman Antiquity, 271
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116. None, None, nan
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagor(as)(eans) • Pythagoras, Pythagoreans
Found in books: Frey and Levison (2014), The Holy Spirit, Inspiration, and the Cultures of Antiquity Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 45; Long (2019), Immortality in Ancient Philosophy, 82
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117. None, None, nan
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoreans • Pythagoreans,
Found in books: Pevarello (2013), The Sentences of Sextus and the Origins of Christian Ascetiscism. 105, 111, 112; Wilson (2010), Philo of Alexandria: On Virtues: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary, 105
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118. None, None, nan
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoreanism xxv, and friendship • Pythagoreans • acusmata (Pythagorean) • acusmata (Pythagorean), interpretation of ethical allegories • anger, in Pythagorean acusmata • courage (andreia), in Pythagorean acusmata • death, in Pythagorean acusmata • friendship (philia), Pythagorean • pleasure (ἡδονή), in Pythagorean acusmata
Found in books: Pevarello (2013), The Sentences of Sextus and the Origins of Christian Ascetiscism. 91; Wolfsdorf (2020), Early Greek Ethics, 13
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119. None, None, nan
Tagged with subjects: • Pythagoras, pythagoreanism • Pythagoreans
Found in books: Horkey (2019), Cosmos in the Ancient World, 28; Iribarren and Koning (2022), Hesiod and the Beginnings of Greek Philosophy, 129
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120. None, None, nan
Tagged with subjects: • Golden Verses (Ps.-Pythagorean) • Pythagoras / (neo-)pythagoreanism • Pythagoras/Pythagoreanism, and reincarnation • Pythagorean
Found in books: Despotis and Lohr (2022), Religious and Philosophical Conversion in the Ancient Mediterranean Traditions, 133; McClay (2023), The Bacchic Gold Tablets and Poetic Tradition: Memory and Performance. 41; deJauregui (2010), Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, 39, 291
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