The Golden Chain: An Anthology of Pythagorean and Platonic Philosophy (Treasures of the World's Religions)

362 Pages·2004·1.46 MB·english

by  Algis Uzdavinys

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reveal that ancient tradition.… This is ancient philosophy at
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its finest.… The Golden Chain and the perennial wisdom it
imparts is a much-needed clarion call to character and service

to the community, one in which words like truth, justice, and
compassion are not just paid lip-service, but are living, breathing,
ensouled, and embodied.… I cannot praise this book too highly.”
—M.A.B. Mineo, Dowling College
“…The Golden Chain will surely be of great help in the revival of
the Neoplatonic spiritual tradition.…”
—Jay Bregman, University of Maine, and author of Synesius of
Cyrene, Philosopher-Bishop
“… For those who think that philosophy is mere cogitation, this
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World Wisdom
Algis Uždavinys
Selected and edited by
World
Foreword by John F. Finamore
Wisdom
$ 21.95 US / $ 29.95 CAN
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World Wisdom
The Library of Perennial Philosophy
The Library of Perennial Philosophy is dedicated to the exposition of the time-
less Truth underlying the diverse religions. This Truth, often referred to as the
Sophia Perennis—or Perennial Wisdom—finds its expression in the revealed
Scriptures as well as the writings of the great sages and the artistic creations of the
traditional worlds.
The Perennial Philosophy provides the intellectual principles capable of
explaining both the formal contradictions and the transcendent unity of the great
religions.
Ranging from the writings of the great sages of the past, to the perennialist
authors of our time, each series of our Library has a different focus. As a whole,
they express the inner unanimity, transforming radiance, and irreplaceable values
of the great spiritual traditions.
The Golden Chain: An Anthology of Pythagorean and Platonic Philosophyappears as
one of our selections in the Treasures of the World’s Religions series.
(cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:3)(cid:4)(cid:5)
Treasures of the World’s Religions series
This series of anthologies presents scriptures and the writings of the
great spiritual authorities of the past on fundamental themes. Some titles
are devoted to a single spiritual tradition, while others have a unifying
topic that touches upon tradition from both the East and West, such as
prayer and virtue. Some titles have a companion volume within the
Perennial Philosophy series.
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Cover: The Acropolis, Athens
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The Golden Chain
An Anthology of Pythagorean
and Platonic Philosophy
Selected and edited by
Algis U‹zdavinys
Foreword by
John F. Finamore
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The Golden Chain: An Anthology of Pythagorean and Platonic Philosophy
© 2004 World Wisdom, Inc.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be used or reproduced
in any manner without written permission,
except in critical articles and reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The golden chain : an anthology of Pythagorean and Platonic philosophy /
selected and edited by Algis U‹zdavinys ; foreword by John F. Finamore.
p. cm. -- (Treasures of the world's religions)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-941532-61-5 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Philosophy, Ancient. I. U‹zdavinys, Algis. II. Series.
B171.G65 2004
182’.2--dc22
2004018009
Printed on acid-free paper in Canada
For information address World Wisdom, Inc.
P.O. Box 2682, Bloomington, Indiana 47402-2682
www.worldwisdom.com
GoldenChainJuly27 - altered.qxd 8/27/2004 12:50 PM Page v
Table of Contents
Foreword by John F. Finamore vii
Introduction by Algis U‹zdavinys xi
PART I
TRADITIONAL ACCOUNTS ON THE LIFE
AND TEACHINGS OF PYTHAGORAS 1
1. Anonymous The Life of Pythagoras 3
2. Diogenes Laertius The Life of Pythagoras 6
3. Porphyry The Life of Pythagoras 8
4. Iamblichus On the Pythagorean Life 13
PART II
TESTIMONIES OF PYTHAGOREAN AND
NEOPYTHAGOREAN TRADITION 33
1. The Golden Verses of Pythagoras 34
2. Pythagorean Sentences: 37
i. The Sentences of Sextus the Pythagorean 38
ii. Pythagorean Sentences from Iamblichus 42
iii. Pythagorean Sentences from Stobaeus 44
iv. Pythagorean Sentences from Clement of Alexandria47
3. Fragments of Philolaus 48
4. Pythagorean Pseudepigrapha: 51
i. Fragments of Archytas 53
ii. Timaeus of Locri On the World and the Soul 54
iii. Theages On the Virtues 59
iv. Euryphamus Concerning Human Life 61
v. Crito On Prudence and Prosperity 63
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PART III
PLATO: PHILOSOPHY AS THE
REGROWTH OF WINGS 65
1. Plato’s Dialogues and Letters: 68
i. Seventh Letter 69
ii. Timaeus 72
iii. Phaedrus 82
iv. Phaedo 92
v. Theaetetus 96
vi. Symposium 98
PART IV
NEOPLATONIC HERMENEUTICS
AND THE WAY TO GOD 109
1. Porphyry On the Life of Plotinus 114
2. Plotinus Enneads 118
3. Porphyry Letter to Marcella 140
4. Iamblichus Exhortation to Philosophy 148
5. Iamblichus On the Mysteries of the Egyptians 166
6. Hierocles Commentary on the Golden Verses 177
7. Hermeias Commentary on Plato’s Phaedrus 188
8. Marinus Proclus or About Happiness 195
9. Proclus Commentary on Plato’s Alcibiades I 201
10. Proclus Theology of Plato 209
11. Proclus Commentary on the Timaeus of Plato 224
12. Proclus Commentary on the Chaldean Oracles 244
13. Proclus Commentary on Plato’s Parmenides 249
14. Damascius Commentary on Plato’s Phaedo 272
15. Damascius On the First Principles 282
Glossary 289
Select Bibliography for Further Reading 315
Biographical Notes 318
Index 319
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FOREWORD
Plato compares philosophy with preparing for death (Phaedo 67cd)
and its goal with becoming like god (Theaetetus 176b). This view of
philosophy implies two doctrines central to the Platonic tradition:
the immortality of the soul and the community (koinonia) of the
human and divine. These ideas were not new with Plato nor did
they die with him. It is the nature of the philosophical endeavor to
borrow and transform the ideas of others and to pass these ideas on
for others to use and adapt. Plato is arguably the single most impor-
tant ancient Greek thinker, although his strength lies not merely in
his innovation but also, and perhaps especially, in his critical under-
standing of the philosophical tradition.
The Golden Chain provides important texts in the history of
Platonism. It begins, perhaps startlingly but certainly correctly, with
excerpts about Pythagoras, moves through the Pythagorean tradi-
tion, then comes to Plato himself, and continues with excerpts from
the major Neoplatonist writers. What unfolds is an evolution of a
philosophy, a Platonic philosophy, one that starts before Plato is
born and continues to grow after his death—and indeed well
beyond the times and writings of the pagan Neoplatonists present-
ed here.
We do not know much about Pythagoras. Given his fame and
large numbers of followers, that may seem strange. We know of mul-
tiple biographies of him (four of which are excerpted in Part I,
below), but they are all late and suspect. As is the case with all
famous individuals, the history of Pythagoras took on a life of its
own. Stories of miracles, of divine genealogy, and of superhuman
wisdom became associated with the philosopher. Making the matter
murkier, others began writing treatises under his name. (See the
works collected in Part II, below.) It is therefore very difficult to
separate truth from fiction, Pythagoras’ doctrine from later addi-
tions.
This wealth of information, however, is not so troubling. All phi-
losophy evolves over time, but there are kernels of original doc-
trines present. We may not know precisely what Pythagoras taught
his students, but we can be sure that his teachings included the
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The Golden Chain
soul’s immortality, the cycle of birth, and the existence and benefi-
cence of the gods.
Plato traveled to Sicily and southern Italy and studied with
Pythagoreans. He had already imbibed philosophy from Socrates
and was devoting himself to the major ethical questions to which
Socrates had introduced him. We do not know what impelled Plato
to study with Pythagoreans, but we can certainly make some edu-
cated guesses. Plato was concerned with ethics and politics, to be
sure, but also with their relation to the human life, to the soul. His
own beliefs in immortality and perhaps already in transmigration
would have been piqued by what he had read and heard about
Pythagorean philosophy. Philosophers are by nature curious and
eager to learn. Plato would have been no different.
The later Pythagoreans and the later Platonists (“Neopythago-
reans,” “Middle Platonists,” and “Neoplatonists,” we call them)
came to believe that Plato was a Pythagorean. We need not be so
naïve. Plato studied Pythagorean texts and held discussions with
Pythagorean philosophers, but he was far too independent a
thinker to adopt their philosophy wholesale. He was clearly taken
with their ideas of the soul’s immortality, for example, but his initial
beliefs certainly pre-dated his encounter with Pythagoreans. Their
doctrines shaped his to some degree, but he also would have
reworked theirs to fit his own grand view. Here I am thinking espe-
cially of Plato’s evolving doctrine of the Forms, which is certainly
not Pythagorean but was probably fine-tuned in accordance with
their doctrines of rebirth. Moreover, I would argue that their doc-
trine of transmigration is not the same as Plato’s. The Platonic ver-
sion stresses philosophical wisdom in a way that I see as foreign to
the more religious thinking of the Pythagoreans. For Plato it is the
rational soul that serves the individual in the time between its tak-
ing on human bodies. In the Myth of Er, it is the soul’s philosophi-
cal aptitude that allows it to make a wise choice of life. In the
Phaedrus, it is the rational part of the soul that makes possible a clear
vision of the Forms and an eventual escape from the cycle of
rebirth. We thus see Plato adopting and adapting the Pythagorean
doctrines and fitting them into his own larger philosophical struc-
ture.
The Middle Platonists and Neoplatonists continued to expand
Plato’s philosophy. (See Part IV, below.) The crucial thinker in this
ever-evolving melting pot of Platonism is Iamblichus, who lived dur-
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Foreword
ing a time of major crisis in ancient philosophy. The world was
changing. Christianity was coming to the fore, presenting what to
pagan philosophers seemed like new and impious doctrines.
(Porphyry, an older contemporary of Iamblichus, wrote a detailed
attack of the new religion. Christian religious authorities deemed it
so dangerous that it was publicly burned in later years and exists
now only in fragments.) Iamblichus presented a unified theory of
paganism. He not only saw Plato as a Pythagorean, but he saw both
philosophers (and indeed all pagan Greek philosophers, with the
exception of the materialists) as part of a continuing source of true
knowledge. His unified theory included not only Greek philoso-
phers and poets, but also Egyptians, Chaldeans, and other non-
Greek pagans. All were teaching the same Truth, which the upstart
Christians had abandoned.
The later pagan Neoplatonists (Hierocles, Proclus, Damascius,
and others) embraced Iamblichus’ vision, while of course tinkering
with some of his philosophical doctrines. (Philosophers cannot
help themselves from making such revisions.) Whether or not
Iamblichus ever used the phrase, it is certain that Proclus adapted
the Homeric “Golden Chain” to the Neoplatonic heritage of wis-
dom. Platonism now stood in the proper relation to thousands of
years of human thought. It was part of the Golden Chain of knowl-
edge, ultimately secured from the highest realms of the universe,
from the gods and the One itself. Pythagoras, Plato, and the
ancients had tapped this source of wisdom, kept it alive, and passed
it on to the Neoplatonists, who continued to keep the flame of truth
burning.
John F. Finamore
University of Iowa
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