Porphyry

R. Joseph Hoffmann

Prominent among the pagan critics of the early Christians was Porphyry of Trre (ca. 232-305), scholar, philosopher, and student of religions. His Against the Christians, condemned to be burned in 448, was a work of admirable historical criticism. The surviving fragments of this work, newly translated by Biblical scholar Hoffmann, present Porphyry's most trenchant comments on key figures, beliefs, and doctrines of Christianity.

The Literary Remains

Porphyry's Against the Christians

On Abstinence from Killing Animals (Ancient Commentators on Aristotle)

Plotinus

Porphyrius

PLOTINUS (A.D. 204/5-270), possibly of Roman descent, but certainly a Greek in education and environment, was the first and greatest of Neoplatonic philosophers. Practically nothing is known of his early life, but at the age of 28 he came to Alexandria, and studied philosophy with Ammonius 'Saccas' for 11 years. Wishing to learn the philosophy of the Persians and Indians he joined the expedition of Gordian III against the Persians in 243, not without subsequent danger. Aged 40 he came to Rome and taught philosophy there till shortly before his death. In 253 he began to write and continued to do so till the last year of his life. His writings were edited by his disciple Porphyry, who published them many years after his master's death in six sets of nine treatises each (the Enneads). He regarded Plato as his master, and his own philosophy is a profoundly original development of the Platonism of the first two centuries of the Christian era and the closely related thought of the Neophthagoreans, with some influences from Aristotle and his followers and the Stoics, whose writings he knew well but used critically. There is no real trace of Oriental influence on his thought, and he was passionately opposed to Gnosticism. He is a unique combination of mystic and Hellenic rationalist. He was deeply respected by many members of the Roman aristocracy and a personal friend of the Emperor Gallienus and his wife. He devoted much of his time to the care of orphan children to whom he had been appointed guardian. But before his death his circle of friends had broken up, and he died alone except for his faithful friend and doctor Eustochius. His thought dominated later Greek philosophy and influenced both Christians and Moslems, and is still alive today because of its union of rationality and intense religious experience.

Enneads

Yury Arzhanov

The Syriac treatise published in the present volume is in many respects a unique text. Though it has been preserved anonymously, there remains little doubt that it belongs to Porphyry of Tyre. Accordingly, it enlarges our knowledge of the views of the most famous disciple of Plotinus. The text is an important witness to Platonist discussions on First Principles and on Plato’s concept of Prime Matter in the Timaeus. It contains extensive quotations from Atticus, Severus, and Boethus. This text thus provides us with new textual witnesses to these philosophers, whose legacy remains very poorly attested and little known. Additionally, the treatise is a rare example of a Platonist work preserved in the Syriac language. The Syriac reception of Plato and Platonic teachings has left rather sparse textual traces, and the question of what precisely Syriac Christians knew about Plato and his philosophy remains a debated issue. The treatise provides evidence for the close acquaintance of Syriac scholars with Platonic cosmology and with philosophical commentaries on Plato’s Timaeus.

A Syriac Version of a Lost Greek Text with an English Translation, Introduction, and Glossaries

Porphyry, ›On Principles and Matter‹

Flavius Josephus

Thomas Taylor

Tacitus

Diodorus of Sicily

Celsus

Emperor Julian

Against the Christians is a literary critique of Christianity. Its incisive remarks extend to key figures, philosophies, and dogmas. The divinity of Jesus is questioned, as is the truthfulness of the apostles and the Christian concept of God on a larger scale. It rejects the gospels as the work of frauds who attributed their own writings to late disciples of Jesus.

Writings Against Christians

Porphyrii Quaestionum Homericarum ad Odysseam pertinentium reliquias

Luc Brisson

Il est apparu que le dernier mot n'avait pas ete dit sur ce texte de Porphyre, capital pour notre connaissance de la personne et de l'ecole de Plotin, et plus largement de la vie philosophique au IIIe siecle de notre ere. Car on est en presence d'un document dont la simplicite est illusoire: la traduction meme en est herissee de difficultes, qui, dans nombre de cas, semblent avoir jusqu'ici echappe a l'attention; d'autre part, la valeur historique de cette biographie, indubitable en apparence, ne cesse en verite de faire probleme par suite de l'application de Porphyre a se donner en toute circonstance le beau role. De telles considerations, et d'autres encore, ont donne a penser que l'on ne perdrait pas son temps en reprenant l'etude de ce vieux texte sur des bases entierement nouvelles.

La vie de Plotin: Travaux préliminaires et index grec complet

Porphyry's "Homeric Questions" was written in the 3rd century A.D. in response to a friend's request that the philosopher try to recall some of their leisure discussions about problems arising from their readings of Homer. Such literary discussions were commonplace among the educated in antiquity and survive in several works from that period. While Aristotle's "Homeric Problems" has been lost, fragments do survive, as does a solution offered by Alexander the Great. Most of the discussion, in Porphyry concern the meanings of words and phrases, but some turn to appreciations of the poet's art, such as simile and metaphor, discussions which at times anticipate modern criticism. The present work is a translation with notes and a brief preface to the philosopher's labor of love.

The Homeric Questions

John A. MacPhail

The Homeric Questions of the philosopher Porphyry (3rd cent. CE) is an important work in the history of Homeric criticism. Porphyry applies the dictum that the poet explains himself to solve questions of interpretation in Homer. This new edition of the Questions on the Iliad eliminates much that was wrongly attributed to Porphyry in the old edition (1880). In the interest of the non-specialist, the new text has a facing translation in English. The commentary explains Porphyry s arguments and the editor s textual decisions. "

Text, Translation, Commentary

Porphyry's Homeric Questions on the Iliad

Wynne Tyson

On Abstinence from Animal Food

Porphyrii Philosophi Platonici Opuscula Selecta

Porphyrii ... opuscula tria (Πυθαγορου Βιος, Περι Ἀποχης Ἐμψυχων, Προς Μαρκελλαν) recognovit A. Nauck. Gr

Iamblichus

Iamblichus on the Mysteries of the Egyptians, Chaldeans, and Assyrians

These two texts are fundamental for the understanding not only of Neoplatonism but also of the conventions of biography in late antiquity. Neither has received such extensive annotation before in English, and this new commentary makes full use of recent scholarship. The long introduction is intended both as a beginner’s guide to Neoplatonism and as a survey of ancient biographical writing.

The Lives of Plotinus and Proclus by Their Students

Neoplatonic Saints

Porphyry

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