Table Of Content

Brill’s Companion to the Reception of Plato in Antiquity Brill’s Companions to Classical Reception Series Editor Kyriakos N. Demetriou (University of Cyprus) volume 13 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/bccr Brill’s Companion to the Reception of Plato in Antiquity Edited by Harold Tarrant, Danielle A. Layne, Dirk Baltzly and François Renaud leiden | boston Cover illustration: Group IX/SUW, No. 1: The Swan, No. 1, by Hilma af Klint. Photo by Albin Dahlström, courtesy of Moderna Museet-Stockholm. The image was chosen by the volume editors for the swan as a symbol of Plato’s elusive nature, see chapter 9. The painting also suggests the Platonic theme of reflections, while white and black swans symbolize cooperation across the hemispheres. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Tarrant, Harold, editor. Title: Brill’s companion to the reception of Plato in antiquity / edited by Harold Tarrant, University of Newcastle Australia, Danielle A. Layne, Gonzaga University, Dirk Baltzly, University of Tasmania and Monash University, and François Renaud, Universite de Moncton. Description: Boston : Brill, 2018. | Series: Brill's companions to classical reception, ISSN 2213-1426 ; volume 13 | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2017041340 | ISBN 9789004270695 (hardback : alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Plato. Classification: LCC B395 .B7535 2017 | DDC 184–dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017041340 Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface. ISSN 2213-1426 ISBN 978-90-04-27069-5 (hardback) ISBN 978-90-04-35538-5 (e-book) Copyright 2018 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi, Brill Sense and Hotei Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner. Contents Acknowledgements ix Abbreviations x Notes on Contributors xvi Introduction 1 part i Early Developments in Reception Introduction: The Old Academy to Cicero 10 1 Speusippus and Xenocrates on the Pursuit and Ends of Philosophy 29 Phillip Sidney Horky 2 The Influence of the Platonic Dialogues on Stoic Ethics from Zeno to Panaetius of Rhodes 46 Francesca Alesse 3 Plato and the Freedom of the New Academy 58 Charles E. Snyder 4 Return to Plato and Transition to Middle Platonism in Cicero 72 François Renaud part ii Early Imperial Reception of Plato Introduction: Early Imperial Reception of Plato 92 5 From Fringe Reading to Core Curriculum: Commentary, Introduction and Doctrinal Summary 101 Harold Tarrant 6 Philo of Alexandria 115 Sami Yli-Karjanmaa vi contents 7 Plutarch of Chaeronea and the Anonymous Commentator on the Theaetetus 130 Mauro Bonazzi 8 Theon of Smyrna: Re-thinking Platonic Mathematics in Middle Platonism 143 Federico M. Petrucci 9 Cupid’s Swan from the Academy (De Plat. 1.1, 183): Apuleius’ Reception of Plato 156 Geert Roskam 10 Alcinous’ Reception of Plato 171 Carl S. O’Brien 11 Numenius: Portrait of a Platonicus 183 Polymnia Athanassiadi 12 Galen and Middle Platonism: The Case of the Demiurge 206 Julius Rocca 13 Variations of Receptions of Plato during the Second Sophistic 223 Ryan C. Fowler part iii Early Christianity and Late Antique Platonism Introduction: Early Christianity and Late Antique Platonism 252 14 Origen to Evagrius 271 Ilaria Ramelli 15 Sethian Gnostic Appropriations of Plato 292 John D. Turner 16 Plotinus and Platonism 316 Lloyd P. Gerson 17 Porphyry 336 Michael Chase contents vii 18 The Anonymous Commentary on the Parmenides 351 Dennis Clark 19 Iamblichus, the Commentary Tradition, and the Soul 366 John Finamore 20 Amelius and Theodore of Asine 381 Dirk Baltzly 21 Plato’s Political Dialogues in the Writings of Julian the Emperor 400 Dominic J. O’Meara 22 Plato’s Women Readers 411 Crystal Addey 23 Calcidius 433 Christina Hoenig 24 Augustine’s Plato 448 Gerd Van Riel 25 Orthodoxy and Allegory: Syrianus’ Metaphysical Hermeneutics 470 Sarah Klitenic Wear 26 Hermias: On Plato’s Phaedrus 486 Harold Tarrant and Dirk Baltzly 27 Proclus and the Authority of Plato 498 Jan Opsomer 28 Damascius the Platonic Successor: Socratic Activity and Philosophy in the 6th Century CE 515 Sara Ahbel-Rappe 29 The Anonymous Prolegomena to Platonic Philosophy 533 Danielle A. Layne 30 Olympiodorus of Alexandria 555 Michael Griffin viii contents 31 Simplicius of Cilicia: Plato’s Last Interpreter 569 Gary Gabor Conclusion 580 Bibliography 583 General Index 639 Index Locorum 647 Acknowledgements The Editors would like first to thank contributors for their patience and cooperation during the completion of this volume. Cooperation and collaboration are the key to the success of any composite volume with this kind of scope. Secondly, thanks to Kyriakos Demetriou for his encouragement and help. Funding has not been an issue for the actual work of editing, but it has been of major importance in equipping members of the team to undertake a project of this magnitude. Tarrant and Baltzly have since 1999 benefitted from the gen- erous funding of the Australian Research Council under their Discovery grant scheme. One recent grant (2009–12: DP0986334, ‘Academies under Stress’) included Renaud also. A further grant (2012–15: DP120102425, ‘Plato’s Myth Voice’) was led by Professor Benitez but also included Tarrant and Baltzly. Though the latter grant had different work in view, it has kept our minds fo- cused on Platonic reception in antiquity and, in particular, facilitated Baltzly’s work on Hermias. Renaud would like also to acknowledge the assistance of two three-year research grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for work on Cicero and Olympiodorus, both as Platonic ex- egetes. One of the most helpful things to come from this funding and the sheer encouragement that it has offered is the various collaborations between members of this team, without which Tarrant would have had neither the courage not the expertise to be involved in such a scheme. Layne is in debt to the sup- port she has received from the College of Arts and Sciences and the Philosophy Department of Gonzaga University. Of course, each of us have family, friends, and colleagues, too many to be enumerated for each of our number, who are not forgotten either. Without them none of us would have the stamina or phil- osophical friendships that help inspire and sustain our work. Friendship, ge- niality and collegiality should not be underestimated. Abbreviations Alcinous Did. Didaskalikos Anonymous Comm. Commentary on the Parmenides Anonymous Proleg. Prolegomena Philosophiae Platonicae Anonymous in Tht. in Theaetetum Apuleius Apol. Apology De Plat. De Platone et eius Dogmate DDS De Deo Socratis Flor. Florida Aristotle DA De Anima EN Ethica Nicomachea Gen. An. De Generatione Animalium Metaph. Metaphysica Phys. Physica Pol. Politica Rhet. Ars Rhetorica Top. Topica Augustine Acad. Contra Academicos Ciu. Dei De civitate Dei Conf. Confessiones De Trin. De trinitate De uera relig. De uera religion Epist. Epistulae Calcidius in Tim. Timaeus a Calcidio translatus commentarioque instructus