The Theological and Philosophical Works Hermes Trismegistus, Christian Neoplatonist

201 Pages·2017·11.62 MB·English

THE
THEOLOGICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS
2
HERMES TRISMEGISTUS
,
CHRISTIAN NEOPLATON IST.
TRA N SL A TED FROM THE ORIGIN A L GREEK WITH
,
PREFA CE N OTES A N D IN DIGES .
, ,
JO HN DA V ID CHA MBER S M.A .
, ,
OF OBIEL COLLEGE OXFORD RECORDER OF N EW BARUH.
, ,
E D IN B U R GH
T. T. CL A R K 38 GEO R GE S TR EET.
, ,
MDOOCLXXXII.
‘
fl
l
L
m I
d
i
V
PR IN TED BY TH! OOH IR OIA L PR IN TIN G COI PAN Y
T. T. C L A R K E DIN BUR G H.
,
L ON DON sum mon m u s urn co.
, , ,
DUBL KN cacao: 113 3 3 3 3 1 .
,
r
N EW YOR K scams“ . nu) wxuoan.
,
CON T E N T S.
PA R T I.
POEMA N DRES .
CR A P.
Poem and r es
,
II. To Ascle ius. Catholic Discourse
p ,
III. S acred Discourse
,
IV. To his own so Tat. Discourse : The Crater or
n
Monas
,
To his own S on Tat. That the Invisible God ismost
Manifest
,
V I. That m The God alone 1sThe Good and b no m eans
, y
an where else
y ,
V II. That the reatest evilamon m en isi norance of The
g g g
God .
,
V III. That none of the Entities erish but mankind err o
;
p
neousl callthe chan esd estructionsand d eaths
y g ,
IX. Concernin Und erstand in and S ense and that in The
g g ,
God onl isThe Beautifuland The Good but else
y ,
where not at all
,
The K e . To hisS on Tat
y ,
XI. Mind to Hermes
,
XII. R es ectin Comm on Mind
. To Tat
p g ,
XIII. To his S on Tat. On a Mountain. S ecret Discourse
about R e eneration and Profession of S ilence
g ,
S ecret H mnod
y y,
XIV . To A
scle ius. To be ri htl m se
p g y ,
PA R T II.
EXCERPTS FROM HERMES BY S TOBE US .
I. Of Truth. From the thin sto Tat
g ,
II. Of Death. From Ascle ius
p ,
III. Of God . From the thin sto Tat
,
g
CON TEN TS .
From S tobmus Ph sica 134
, y , ,
Hermesto the S on
,
Concernin the Econom of the Universe.
g y
Herm esfrom those to Ammon
,
Of Herm esfrom those to Amm on
,
Of Herm esfrom the thin sto Tat
g ,
Of Herm esfrom the thin sto Tat
g ,
Of Hermesfrom that to Tat
,
Of Herm esfrom the thin sto Amm on
,
g
Of Herm esfrom the thin sto Tat
g ,
Of Herm esfrom those to Ammon
,
Of Herm esfrom those to Ammon to Tat
,
Of Herm es
,
Of Herm es
,
Of the S am e
,
Of the Same
,
Of the Same
,
A sto the S acred Book
[ ]
Of Hermes
,
XXI. Of Herm esfr om that to Tat
,
A sto the Decans
[ ]
PA R T III.
N OTICES OF HERMES IN THE FATHER S .
1. Justin Mart r
y ,
II. Tertullian
,
III. C rian
yp ,
IV . EusebiusPam hilus
p ,
V . ClemensAlexand rinus
,
V I. FirmianusLactantius
,
VII. A rnobius
,
VIII. Auustine of Hi o
g pp ,
IX. C rillusAlexand rinus
y ,
X. S nid es
,
IN DEX .
,
A d d end um to N ote 2 on a e 9
p g
It is ossible also that Hermes ma here refer to the trad itional
p y
Seven Wise Men mentioned b Philo Jud wus in his Treatise
y ,
”
Ever man virtuousalso free ch. xi whom he s eaks of as then
y , , p
bein ver ancient.
g y
PREFACE.
HE Mercuriusor HermesTrisme istusof le end w
asa
g g
persona e an E yptian sa e or succession of
sa es
g , g g ,
g
who sm ee the time of Plato hasbeen identified with the
, ,
Thoth the nam e of the month S eptember of that people
.
( )
This Thoth is the reputed author of the R itualof
the
“
Dead or asstyled in E yptian phraseolo y the Manifes
, ,
g g ,
”
tation of L i ht to the S oulwho throu h it declared th
e
,
g g
willof the Gods and the mysterious nature of Div
ine
1
thin sto Man. Dr Pietschmann in hiswork on Herm
es
,
g ,
2
which exhaustively treats of this subject ives a list of
,
g
authorities for these facts ran in from Plato down to
,
g g
S yncellus cir ca A .D. 790. He states however p. that
, ,
(
-
by the time that the so called Hermeneuticalwritin swere
g
collected to ether the identity of Herm eswith Thoth was
,
g
for otten and Thoth becam e his son Tat and A sclepius
, ,
g
hisdisciple both of whom he instructs in the writin snow
,
g
translated. S ubsequently Pietschmann informs us quot
,
”
3
in L etronne that the epithet Trisme istus appears
,
g g
first in the second century of the Christian era and that
, ,
b efore that period Hermeswas desi nated by the repeti
,
g
“
tion of the
p é
yocg, p éyag, p éyag only, as on the R osetta
S tone.
He was considered to be the impersonation of the reli
ion art learnin and sacerdotaldiscipline of the E yptian
g , , g, g
riesthood. He was by severalof the Fathers and in
, , ,
p
’
1
R awlinson sE t i. 136 and the authoritiesthere quoted .
gyp , ,
2
-
L ei sic En elmann 1875 . 3 1 33.
p , g , , pp
”
3
Ibid . . 35 Inscri tion Grec ue d e R osette L etronne Paris
p , p q , , ,
1841.
viii PREFA CE .
m odern tim es by three of his earliest editors suppose
d to
, ,
have existed before the tim es of Moses and to have o
h
,
”
tained the appellation of Thrice reatest from hi
s th ree
,
g
1
fold learnin and rank of Philosopher Priest and K
in
g , , ,
g
”
“
and that of Hermes or Mercu
,
authoritative interpreter of divine In the Hi
e ro
l hics he like Horus is represented by a bird with a
, ,
g yp
’
hawk s head and to him was sacred the Ibis and th
e
,
2
Moon.
—
ThisHerm es and there wasbut one amon the anci
ent
g
‘
3
—
E yptians was worshipped as a od by them . Ter tul
g g
‘
lian says In ancient tim esm ost authorswere supposed
,
-
to be I willnot sa od like but actually ods as for
,
y g , g ; ,
instance the E y tian Herm es to whom Plato paid ver
, ,
g p
y
”
reat deference.
g
5
Clem ent of A lexandria writes Hermes of Thebes and
,
Escula ius of Memphis ea: vats Deus and he subs
e
p
-
quently ives a detailed account of his works forty two
,
g
—
in number four of astrolo y othersof astronomy eolo
g , , g gy,
-
and hiero lyphics and thirty six of philosophy hym ns
, ,
g
6
to God reli ious ceremonies and sacerdotaldiscipline.
, ,
g
7
L actantius expresses himself thus quotin Cicero De
( g ,
”
“
N aturaDeorum L ib. A lthou h a man he was of
, g ,
reat antiquity and built Hermopolis and is there wor
, ,
g
shipped aswellasat Pheneus. He wasmost fully imbued
with every kind of learnin so that the knowled
e of
,
g g
many subjects and arts acquired for him the nam e of
1
S ee th e ed ition of the works of Herm es b Fran ois d e Foix
y c
,
Com te d e Cand alle assisted b the oun er S cali er.
, y y g g
2
Cham ollion the oun er Panthé on S everalhier
o
p y g
l hicalre resentationsof him und er variousE tian names
are
g yp p , gyp ,
iven b Pietschmann . l.
g y , p
3
S ee Pietschmann ibid . . 35 36.
, pp ,
”
4
De Anima ch. 2 .
,
5
S tromata
, I., ch. 2 1, p. 389 Oxfor d Ed ition, L ib. vi.
, ch. 4, p. 757 .
The R itualof the Dead vularl attributed to Herm es asa
t
, g y ,
resent d iscovered consistsof three Booksred ivid ed into 2 3 ortion
s
,
p p
’
and about 165 cha ters. S ee Rawlinson sE t i. 138.
p gyp ,
7
L ib. i. ch. 6.
,
PREPA CE .
ix
‘
Trisme istus. Further S . A u ustine relates He the
g , g , ,
fifth Mercury as L actantius had thou ht also and his
( g ),
friend Escula ius or A sclepius randson of the first were
,
p ( g )
men and became ods Mercurius and E scula ius after
,
g , p ,
"
”
the Greek fashion. Cyrilof A lexandria Contr. Julia
n
,
i. 30a cir ca speaks of Hermes in eneralthus
,
g
ThisHermes then him of E ypt althou h bein initia
, g ,
g g
tor
(n Amnig), and having presided at the fanes of idols, is
always found mindfulof the thin s of Moses &c. and
g , ;
mad e mention of him in his own writin s which bein
, ,
g g
’
composed for the A thenians are called Hermaica fifteen
, ,
”
books. A nd subsequently I speak of Herm es him
, ,
2
havin sojourned third in E ypt L ib. v. 17Gb .
g , , g ( , )
The majority of the Fathers in their uncriticalmode
, ,
even Lactantius himself confounded the ori inalHermes
,
g
with our author in the sam e wa that they ascribed to
,
y
the S billine verses a far too hi h antiquity and the later
y g ;
Fathers moreover especially L actantius made no d istinc
, , ,
tion between the enuine works of our Herm esand others
g
which falsely bear his name some of them as for ih
; , ,
”
stance A sclepius havin been written at least a century
, , g
later and those as for instance The Sacred Book and
; , , ,
’
the Dialo ue between Isisand Horus S tobaaus Physica
,
,
g (
92 8 1070 ed it Meineke i. 2 8 1 to which it isim os
, , , ,
p
sible to assi n a date are allindiscriminately ascribed
,
g
to the same Hermes althou h it is absolutely certain
,
g
that the author of Poemand res never can have written
What isstran e is that severalof the learned editors of
,
g
the works of our Herm es consider him to have lived before
Moses. Ver icius in his preface to the edition printed at
,
g
Paris by Turnebus in 1554 states this. Flussas
,
after discussion leaves the question as to hisa e und eter
,
g
m ined but Patricias Patrizzi in his N ova de Universis
; (
),
”
Philosophia printed at Ferrara in 1591 and at Venice
, ,
”
City of God vifi. 2 3 2 6.
, ,
3
S ee the extracts from Cyrilof Alexand ria ost Part III. and the
, p , ,
note fr om Pietschmann there.
1593 says that Hermes lived some time before Moses and
, ,
quotesEusebius in his Chronicle as statin that O ath
g
or Tat his son flourished in the first year of A rmeus kin
,
g
of E ypt which was twenty years before the death of
,
g
Moses. On the other hand John Albert Fabricius the
, ,
learned author of the Bibliotheca G reece publish
ed
(
“ ”
1705 has rele ated allthe Hermaica in hi
s
,
g
”
Historia L iteraria to the later times of Jamblicbus
and
,
Porphyry. Even Pietschmann whose dissertation has
,
been already mentioned makes no distinction between
,
”
the le endary Hermesand the author of Poemand r es.
g
N otwithstandin these opinions it is certain that th
e
,
g
Herm es who was the author of the works here translated
m ust as Causabon and later writers such as L . Menard
,
( ,
who thinks he was probably contemporaneous with S t.
John have shown have been a Greek livin at Alexandria
) , g ,
s
ubsequently to Philo Jud mus and Josephus in the en d
,
of the first and be innin of the second century who it
; ,
g g
would seem assumed the nam e of Herm es in order to ive
,
g
reater wei ht to his teachin . The Fathers above quoted
g g g ,
Lactantiushimself and the editorsof Hermesabove nam ed
, ,
ma have been misled as to his reat antiquity by the
y g
hiero lyphicalrepresentations of him but the facts the n
g ; ,
unknown but now dem onstrated that the use of these
, ,
characters lasted in E ypt down to the tenth year of
g
Diocletian he died A .D. 313 at the least and that as
( ) , ,
Henry Brusch and later investi ators have shown th
e
g g ,
ordinary writin on papyrus in the N ationalL ibrary at
g
Paris some of which is entirely in Greek characters i
s
, ,
not earlier than the times of N ero refute their supposi
,
tions. It is moreover quite impossible that an author
, ,
who showsan intimate acquaintance with the phraseolo
gy
of Plato with the Hebrew S criptures as extant in the
,
S eptua int version sometimes usin th
e very expressions
g (
g
therein contained
, who reproduces the lan ua e of the
) g g
S ermon on the Mount and of the Go
spelEpistles and
, ,
R evelation of S t. John and sometimes of
S t. Paul can
, ,
have flourished at so early a period.
PREFA CE
. xi
These same facts serve also to indicate his actual
1
epoc . A lthou h as De R ou e has shown very early
h g , g ,
E y tian monuments now at Berlin and elsewhere
g p
express or insinuate the idea of the EternalFather
Creator and of his Son be otten before the worlds et
, g , y
the do ma of the Holy Trinity is as we shallfind
, ,
g
expressed in far m ore cate oricalterms and alm ost in
,
g
the very words of S t. John by our Hermes in his Poem
,
andres so also the doctr ine of Baptism and the R e enera
; g
tion or new birth as set forth by S t. John in the third
,
chapter of his Gospelas d ue to The Man the only Son
, ,
of God.
A sclepius wassaid to be the randson of Herm es and
g ,
the work which bears that nam e refers unmistakably to
times near to those of Constantine when the ancient reli
,
ion of E ypt was totterin to its fall. Moreover that
g g g ,
author refers therein repeatedly to A mmonias Sacoes who
,
is called the founder of the N eo latonic S chooland who
,
p
died circa A .D. 2 41. On the other hand the clear refer
,
ence by Justin Martyr to the teachin of Hermes as to
, , g
2
the Unity of the Godhead and the identity almost verbal
, , ,
of a passa e in that Father with a passa e in the Poem
g g
”
andres and the m ention of him by Tertullian demonstrate
, ,
that he wrote before or contemporaneously with the earlier
of these Fathers. Many of the works of our Hermes are
probably stillentombed in the libraries on the Continent
;
but those which have come to li ht and are now trans
,
g
lated are most remarkable and of very considerable im
,
portance since they are the only treatises we possess of
,
the kind belon in to that epoch. The emphatic prai
se
g g
3
bestowed upon them by the Fathers
, from Justin Martyr
downwards ou ht to comm end them to our notice. The
,
g
“
eulo ium of Lactantius Trisme istus who I k
now not
g } g ,
”
how investi ated almost alltruth and ashe and Cyr il
,
g ;
”
1 “
Etud e sur le R itualFunéraire d esE tians Revue A rché o
gyp ,
” ’
lo i ue 1860 . 357 and see Rawlinson sE y t i. 3 2 0 .
g q , , p ; g p ,
3 3
S ee Part III. ost. S ee Part III. ost.
, p , p
”
4
Divin. Instit iv. 9.
,