Product Description
Proclus' Commentary on Plato's dialogue Timaeus is arguably the most important commentary on a text of Plato, offering unparalleled insights into eight centuries of Platonic interpretation. This edition offers the first new English translation of the work for nearly two centuries, building on significant recent advances in scholarship on Neoplatonic commentators. It provides an invaluable record of early interpretations of Plato's dialogue, while also presenting Proclus' own views on the meaning and significance of Platonic philosophy. The present volume, the first in the edition, deals with what may be seen as the prefatory material of the Timaeus. In it Socrates gives a summary of the political arrangements favoured in the Republic, and Critias tells the story of how news of the defeat of Atlantis by ancient Athens had been brought back to Greece from Egypt by the poet and politician Solon. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This work studies the hymns composed by the Neoplatonist Proclus in the context of his philosophy. Its main claim is that the hymns should be understood in the context of theurgy, the ritual art adopted by the Neoplatonists in order to obtain mystical experiences. ... Read more

Product Description
This is the first comparative study of lived Utopian communities in antiquity. The examined communities provide examples of somewhat successful utopian experiments that believe the twentieth century notion that the application of utopian ideals must always lead to dystopia or not work at all. Strong-minded individuals whose conversion to religious and philosophical ideas led them to reject their former world created radically communitarian groups based on their conception of the ideal life. Through their charismatic personalities, Pythagoras, the 'Teacher of righteousness' (an Essene), Pachomius and Proclus inspired groups of dedicated followers to live according to these same values. As leaders they simultaneously justified their religious authority and strengthened the moral and common purpose of the members of their community through education. Gradually their powerful ideals and the resulting communal practices seem to have mutually influenced one other. Over time each founder modified his community and its ideals according to its unique environment. Soon each community became larger and different roles within it became more specialized.However, it proved the Pythagoreans, Esseneans, Pachomians and late pagan Athenians attempted to always combine their ideals with concrete practice. Ancient communities continually strove to reach their founder's ideals. As each began to form, it required the dedication, hard work and financial support of its relatively few members. Ancient utopias were neither constructed in paradise nor through idleness. Mentoring future leadership constituted a crucial element in some of these communities. These regulations further transformed and regimented the daily living arrangements of members in each community. Hierarchy later became an important form of leadership but was also a source of friction within each utopian community. Certainly each community was defined by good and bad characteristics and achieved some measure of success. But their success in creating a framework within which members could achieve a considerable degree of concord would seem to be confirmed by their abilities to endure, at least for much of the time. As a result therefore of their perceived successes these communities inspired and influenced later ones.Each community survived for varying lengths of time depending on various internal and external factors. However, hostility from outsiders often proved detrimental to some ancient utopian communities. ... Read more

Product Description
This book examines Proclus' doctrine of evil in light of the tradition of exegesis of Plato's treatment of evil within the schools of ancient Platonism, from Middle Platonism to early Neoplatonism. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a post-Aristotelian Greek philosophical text, written at a crucial moment in the defeat of paganism by Christianity, AD 529, when the Emporor Justinian closed the pagan Neoplatonist school in Athens. Philoponus in Alexandria was a brilliant Christian philosopher, steeped in Neoplatanism, who turned the pagans' ideas against them. Here he attacks the most devout of the earlier Athenian pagan philosophers, Proclus, defending the distinctively Christian view that the universe had a beginning against Proclus' eighteen arguments to the contrary, which are discussed in eighteen chapters. Chapters 1-5 are translated in this volume. ... Read more

Product Description
In Two Volumes. To Which Are Added A History Of The Restoration Of Platonic Theology, By The Latter Platonists; And A Translation From The Greek Of Proclus's Theological Elements. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Insightful study of a neglected Neoplatonic work
We have four main sources on the interpretation of myths by the Neoplatonists: Porphyry's exegesis on a passage of Homer's Odyssey, Sallustius' On the Gods and the World, Macrobius' Commentary on the Dream of Scipio, and Proclus' Commentary on Plato's Republic (by far the longest of the four). This Commentary is not one of Proclus' better-known works, but it is nonetheless a crucial text. Sheppard's book studies two of the Commentary's dissertations, both vital to one's understanding of Proclus' philosophy of myth. This aspect of his thought is not often written about, mostly because it is presumed to be unoriginal; it is in fact multi-faceted and very personal, tying with many key elements of the Neoplatonic tradition (the positive use of mania, the importance of mysteries, rites and theurgy, hierarchical levels of knowledge, etc.). Sheppard first analyzes the form of these two essays, and then the fundamental issues they raise: Proclus' possible debt to his master Syrianus; his interpretation of Plato; the link between the allegorical interpretation of myths and mysteries. Some familiarity with ancient Greek helps, but it is not absolutely necessary. This is the only book-length study on this particular facet of Proclus' thought, and on his seminal Commentary; it is a very helpful tool for those who wish to pursue studies on such a topic. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
In this treatise Proclus discusses ten problems on providence and fate, foreknowledge of the future, human responsibility, evil and punishment (or seemingly absence of punishment), social and individual responsibility for evil, and the unequal fate of different animals.These problems, he admits, had been discussed a thousand times in and outside philosophical schools. Yet, as he put it: we too have to discuss them, not because we imagine that the philosophers before us have said anything valuable, but because our soul desires 'to speak and hear about these problems and wants to turn to itself and to discuss as it were with itself and is not willing to take arguments about these issues only from authorities outside'. Proclus exhorts his readers: we are to use his treatise as an opportunity to investigate these problems for ourselves 'in the secret recess of our soul' and 'exercise ourselves in the solutions of problems'. In fact, it makes no difference whether what we discuss has been said before by philosophers, so long as we express what corresponds to our own views. This exhortation may be the best presentation of the translation of this wonderful treatise from late antiquity. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's large-scale digitization efforts. The Library seeks to preserve the intellectual content of items in a manner that facilitates and promotes a variety of uses. The digital reformatting process results in an electronic version of the original text that can be both accessed online and used to create new print copies. The Library also understands and values the usefulness of print and makes reprints available to the public whenever possible. This book and hundreds of thousands of others can be found in the HathiTrust, an archive of the digitized collections of many great research libraries. For access to the University of Michigan Library's digital collections, please see http://www.lib.umich.edu and for information about the HathiTrust, please visit http://www.hathitrust.org ... Read more

Product Description
This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's large-scale digitization efforts. The Library seeks to preserve the intellectual content of items in a manner that facilitates and promotes a variety of uses. The digital reformatting process results in an electronic version of the original text that can be both accessed online and used to create new print copies. The Library also understands and values the usefulness of print and makes reprints available to the public whenever possible. This book and hundreds of thousands of others can be found in the HathiTrust, an archive of the digitized collections of many great research libraries. For access to the University of Michigan Library's digital collections, please see http://www.lib.umich.edu and for information about the HathiTrust, please visit http://www.hathitrust.org ... Read more

Product Description
This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's preservation reformatting program. The Library seeks to preserve the intellectual content of items in a manner that facilitates and promotes a variety of uses. The digital reformatting process results in an electronic version of the text that can both be accessed online and used to create new print copies. This book and thousands of others can be found in the digital collections of the University of Michigan Library. The University Library also understands and values the utility of print, and makes reprints available through its Scholarly Publishing Office. ... Read more