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Storytime: Reading Damascius’ Philosophic History, Part II: Theurgy and Philosophy at Late-Antique Athens and Alexandria

The nymphæon in House C at the Athenian Agora, a possible site for the final teaching activities of the Athenian Academy

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We begin our read-through. Damascius takes us on a fascinating, fragmentary journey into the culture of (what he regards as) the Golden Chain at Athens and Alexandria up to the 470s. It was a simpler time, but already dark clouds gathered: Hypatia was killed, Hierocles persecuted.

Many extraordinary scholars studied under Proclus, including Damascius’ own mentor, Isidoros, who did a stint at Athens in the 470s. We learn about them. We also learn about an amulet against horniness, a poetry-loving donkey, strange, possibly-theurgic visions, and more.

Works Cited in this Episode:

Our special episode David Hernández de la Fuente on Nonnus of Panopolis.

Primary:

Heliodorus’ astrological writing: see Æ. Boer, O. Neugebauer, and D. D. Pingree, editors. Heliodori, ut dicitur, in Paulum Alexandrinum commentarium. Teubner, Leipzig, 1962.

Herodotos of Halikarnasos on the Egyptian and Orphic notion of metempsychōsis: Herodotos (2.81) makes the earliest surviving reference to Orphism, either to `rites called Orphic and Bacchic’ (although, he asserts, they are in fact Egyptian and Pythagorean) or, if the shorter version in the Florentine MS is preferred, to `Orphics and Pythagoreans’.

Nonnos’ Dionysiaka: Koechly’s Teubner edition of the Dionysiaka is now way out of copyright, and available online here and here. The three volumes of W.H.D. Rouse’s Loeb Greek/English edition are also freely available online here, here, and here.

Plato on the antiquity of Egyptian culture: Tim. 21e, up to the ‘All the Greeks are children’ bit.

Simplikios on Asklepiodotos, Proclus’ most gifted student: In Phys. 795 11-17.

Zacharias’ Life of Severus: see M.A. Kugener, editor. Zacharie le Scholastique, Vie de Sévère. Number II.1.6 in Patrologia Orientalis. Brepols, Turnhout, 1993.

Secondary:

Ada Adler, ed. Suidæ lexicon. Teubner, Leipzig, 1928–1938.

J. R. Martindale. The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Volume II: A.D. 395-527. The University Press, Cambridge, 1980.

A chart of the Athenian and Alexandrian schools in late antiquity.