This volume is the first monograph devoted to the philosophy of Taurus of Beirut, and provides a long-awaited analysis of his texts and their first English translation. Through close examination of the extant witnesses, Petrucci gives a new account of Middle Platonism based on a fresh approach to the theological and cosmological view of Taurus. In this way, the book contributes substantially to the debate on Post-Hellenistic Platonism from the point of view of both exegetical methods and philosophical doctrines, and (...) offers a starting point for a new understanding of many aspects of ancient thought. (shrink)

All disciplines can count on a noble founder, and the representation of this founder as an authority is key in order to construe a discipline's identity. This book sheds light on how Plato and other authorities were represented in one of the most long-lasting traditions of all time. It leads the reader through exegesis and polemics, recovery of the past and construction of a philosophical identity. From Xenocrates to Proclus, from the sceptical shift to the re-establishment of dogmatism, from the (...) Mosaic of the Philosophers to the Neoplatonist Commentaries, the construction of authority emerges as a way of access to the core of the Platonist tradition. (shrink)

TheMenexenusis usually described as a ‘riddle’ or ‘puzzle’. The difficulties it poses have given rise to a multitude of exegeses, revolving around two antithetical readings. On the one hand, some scholars tend to consider the dialogue an ironic critique of Athenian democracy and/or of democratic rhetoric. According to this perspective, Plato expressed this criticism through a paradoxical and somehow feverishepitaphios. On the other hand, some scholars consider the funeral oration to be quite serious. According to this perspective, Plato aimed at (...) reforming the genre and at introducing his theory of the ideal stateorhis theory of virtue. In this paper I will be moving beyond these standard readings in an attempt to supplement them by identifying the real moral issue behind theMenexenus. (shrink)

Journal Name: Philologus Issue: Ahead of print.

_ Source: _Volume 61, Issue 1, pp 43 - 59 Contemporary debate on Plato’s cosmogony often assumes that the ‘literal’ reading of the _Timaeus_ yields an account of creation, while the view that the cosmos always existed is non-literal. In antiquity, Taurus has been seen as a forerunner of the ‘non-literal’ interpretation. This paper shows, on the contrary, that Taurus’ argument for the sempiternity of the cosmos is a literalist one, relying on a strict linguistic analysis of _Timaeus_ 28b6-8.

The aim of this paper is to provide a new reading of Plato’s precosmos (Ti. 52d2–53c3). More specifically, I shall argue that the precosmos is populated by bodies deriving from random complexes of properties, and that this is the effect of the Receptacle’s full precosmic participation in the Paradigm. This will turn out to be consistent with a robust notion of ‘precosmic generation’ and will reveal why Plato may have sought to refer to this otherwise puzzling scenario: representing the precosmos (...) in this way allows Plato to effectively justify why the Demiurge is responsible only for the goodness and perfection of the universe, and why it is properly the best possible cause. (shrink)

All disciplines can count on a noble founder, and the representation of this founder as an authority is key in order to construe a discipline's identity. This book sheds light on how Plato and other authorities were represented in one of the most long-lasting traditions of all time. It leads the reader through exegesis and polemics, recovery of the past and construction of a philosophical identity. From Xenocrates to Proclus, from the sceptical shift to the re-establishment of dogmatism, from the (...) Mosaic of the Philosophers to the Neoplatonist Commentaries, the construction of authority emerges as a way of access to the core of the Platonist tradition. (shrink)

This book explores how introductory methods shaped intellectual activity in various fields of thought of the post-Hellenistic Age and Late Antiquity by framing them in a wider interdisciplinary framework.

Is music just matter of hearing and producing notes? And is it of interest just to musicians? By exploring different authors and philosophical trends of the Roman Empire, from Philo of Alexandria to Alexander of Aphrodisias, from the rebirth of Platonism with Plutarch to the last Neoplatonists, this book sheds light on different ways in which music and musical notions were made a crucial part of philosophical discourse. Far from being mere metaphors, notions such as harmony, concord and attunement became (...) key philosophical tools in order to better grasp and conceptualise fundamental notions in philosophical debates from cosmology to ethics and from epistemology to theology. The volume is written by a distinguished international team of contributors. (shrink)

Burnet's text at Pl. Ti. 55c7–d6 is at least questionable, and opting for a different reading at 55d5 would shed light on an intriguing argumentative aspect of Plato's cosmological account: God confirms the metaphysical reasons why there is just one perfect world.

Journal Name: Apeiron Issue: Ahead of print.

Journal Name: Apeiron Issue: Ahead of print.

Theon of Smyrna was a professor of Platonism and, as the Platonists of his age, an exegete of the Timaeus. The only work we have, the Expositio rerum mathematicarum ad legendum Platonem utilium, is complete and consistent: it discusses the foundations and the characteristics of the τάξις that makes the world well structured. Theon found this doctrine in the Timaeus and in the Epinomis, and he argued it again through mathematical illustrations with the aim of demonstrating, according to Plato, the (...) presence of harmony both in the incorporeal and in the corporeal realm: Theon’s purpose can’t be grasped without referring to his platonic exegetical activity. (shrink)

Theon of Smyrna was a professor of Platonism and, as the Platonists of his age, an exegete of the Timaeus. The only work we have, the Expositio rerum mathematicarum ad legendum Platonem utilium, is complete and consistent: it discusses the foundations and the characteristics of the τάξις that makes the world well structured. Theon found this doctrine in the Timaeus and in the Epinomis, and he argued it again through mathematical illustrations with the aim of demonstrating, according to Plato, the (...) presence of harmony both in the incorporeal and in the corporeal realm: Theon’s purpose can’t be grasped without referring to his platonic exegetical activity. (shrink)

In a number of passages of the Timaeus Plato states that the world is generated in such a way as to effectively reproduce the intelligible paradigm. The aim of this chapter is to understand in which sense the world is indeed a likeness of the paradigm, especially with regard to three aspects: its unicity, its completeness/perfection (i.e., its being τέλειον), its (a)temporality. My overall claim is that the key feature of the paradigm that the world is meant to reproduce is (...) not its simplicity or stability, but its dynamic and holistic structure. More specifically, I shall argue that: the world is unique because the intelligible structure of the paradigm is holistic in a qualified way; the world is complete/perfect not in the sense that it encompasses the reproduction of all forms, but since it reproduces at the best possible level the rational motion and life of the intelligible world, and this is what Plato actually means by his definition of “time”. This will effectively explain why it is really good for the demiurge to take the intelligible realm as a paradigm, and why Plato can effectively state that the generated world is not a shadowy half-being, but a venerable god. (shrink)

The classification of 9/8 as epimoric ratio is not only a basic arithmetical notion, but also an important technical ground for Pythagorean- Platonic musical theory. Why then does Theon of Smyrna avoid this point? The common explanation, which refers to Theon's inadequate technical knowledge, is unsatisfactory and aprioristic. A better solution can be found in the exegetical nature of the Expositio. Theon's technical perspective is inspired by a distinctive understanding of the "musical theory'' of the Timaeus.

The classification of 9/8 as epimoric ratio is not only a basic arithmetical notion, but also an important technical ground for Pythagorean- Platonic musical theory. Why then does Theon of Smyrna avoid this point? The common explanation, which refers to Theon's inadequate technical knowledge, is unsatisfactory and aprioristic. A better solution can be found in the exegetical nature of the Expositio. Theon's technical perspective is inspired by a distinctive understanding of the "musical theory'' of the Timaeus.