Plotinus said that our task is not to be good, but to be god. In this interview we explore what that meant to later Platonists, from Iamblichus to Olympiodorus and taking in a host of thinkers in-between. The answer given is apophatic, but we also learn that divinisation may be closer than we suspect.
We follow Damascius' tale from the final flowering of the Golden Chain at Athens in the 470's through a decline and fall of philosophic teaching at Alexandria, and chaos at Athens following the death of Proclus. Our book ends in disjointed fragments, which is weirdly appropriate.
We begin our read-through, exploring the philosophic and religious cultures at Athens and Alexandria from the days of Hypatia down to the height of Proclus' career. Come for the prosopography of many extraordinary religious and philosophical characters of late antiquity, stay for Isidore's theurgic bird-imitations.
We look further into Proclus' esoteric doings, as a sage whose privileged status is marked by inspirations and epiphanies, omens and miracles. We then attempt a (shamefully oversimplified) summary of some important aspects of his (meta)physics.
We let the tape run and explore some further aspects of the life and work of the great Proclus with Dylan Burns, looking in particular at his relationship to Christianity. Come for the scholarly debate, stay for the sacrificed piglet.
We welcome Dylan Burns back to the podcast to discuss the life, works, and philosophy of Proclus the Successor. ‘All in all, but appropriately to each’
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