Aidesios (Neoplatonist)

Aidesios ( Greek Αἰδέσιος Aidésios ; * between 280 and 290; † between 352 and 355) was a late antique philosopher of the Neoplatonic direction. He was a student of Iamblichus and founded a philosophy school in Pergamon .

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Apart from mentions in Simplikios and Libanios , the detailed information from Eunapios of Sardis is the only source. A few decades after Aidesios's death, Eunapios wrote a boastful, literarily embellished description of his life in the writing Descriptions of the Life of the Philosophers and the Sophists . Eunapios did not know Aidesios personally, but obtained his knowledge from his teacher Chrysanthios of Sardis , a student of the philosopher. Nothing is known of the works of Aidesios.

Life

Aidesios came from Cappadocia . His family was very distinguished, but not very well off. His father sent him to Greece, where he was to be trained as a businessman. However, he decided to become a philosopher, which his father accepted after initial resistance. According to an anecdote, the father wanted to chase him away first and asked what profit philosophy would bring him. Aidesios replied that he had a great gain from philosophy, namely the ability to show deference to his father even when he was chased away by him.

Aidesios later went to Syria and entered the school of the famous Neo-Platonist Iamblichus, which was very likely in Apamea on the Orontes . After the death of Iamblichus (around 320/325) Aidesios and Sopatros of Apamea were the most respected members of the school. Aidesios seems to have succeeded Sopatros as headmaster after Sopatros' departure, but the group of students apparently soon disbanded and the philosophers dispersed throughout the empire. Aidesios first settled in his Cappadocian homeland, where he led the secluded life of a goatherd on a small estate for a while. There, however, he was found by eager students who did not want to put up with the fact that he kept his knowledge to themselves. Their insistence following he decided to teach and to operate in a community of teachers and students, although his oracle , the contemplative had loneliness recommended as a better way of approaching the divine realm. He entrusted his goods to a relative, the philosopher Eustathios , who was also a student of Iamblichus. He left Cappadocia and went to Pergamon. There he founded his own philosophy school and enjoyed a high reputation. Later, Eustathios' wife Sosipatra - apparently after a separation from her husband - also came to Pergamum and gave philosophy lessons there, and Aidesios took care of the upbringing of her three sons. The students regularly attended both his and her classes. For him, learning was in the foreground, with her the religious aspect of the Neoplatonic striving for knowledge was emphasized.

The entire school of Iamblichus was decidedly pagan and thus stood in opposition to the then growing Christianity promoted by imperial power. Like the other Neoplatonists of this direction, Aidesios was a staunch supporter of the ancient Greek religion. However, he exercised restraint in the arguments between "Gentiles" and Christians, and he was discreet about his own religious practice.

Eunapios reports that Aidesios tried to promote a sense of the "human" ( to anthrópinon, to anthrópeion ) and social responsibility in his students , as he noticed that their education led them to arrogance and lost interest in everyday life . To this end, after class he would go with them through the streets of Pergamon and talk to businessmen and craftsmen about their affairs.

Prominent philosophers emerged from his school: Maximos of Ephesus , Chrysanthios of Sardis, Eusebios of Myndos and Priscus . Aidesios's reputation led the future emperor Julian to visit him in 351. Julian took part in the lessons of the elderly Aidesios, was enthusiastic about it and wanted to give his teacher plenty of presents, which the philosopher refused. Later, because of his advanced age, Aidesios gave his disciples Chrysanthios and Eusebios the task of instructing Julian; Maximos was then in Ephesus, Priscos in Greece. Aidesios is supposed to have said - taking up a remark from Plotinus - that if Julian had reached the wisdom of the hidden teachings, he would be ashamed of having been born and being called a man. Finally Julian went to Ephesus to continue his philosophical training with Maximos. When Julian was made Caesar in November 355 , Aidesios was no longer alive.

Source edition

• Giuseppe Giangrande (ed.): Eunapii vitae sophistarum . Istituto poligrafico dello stato, Rome 1956

literature

• Richard Goulet: Aidésius de Cappadoce . In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques . Volume 1, CNRS, Paris 1989, ISBN 2-222-04042-6 , pp. 75-77

Web links

• Eunapios on Aidesios (English translation)

Remarks

1. ^ Matthias Becker: Eunapios from Sardes , Stuttgart 2013, pp. 88 f., 245–247; Richard Goulet: Aidésius de Cappadoce . In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques , Volume 1, Paris 1989, pp. 75–77, here: 75.
2. ^ Robert J. Penella: Greek Philosophers and Sophists in the Fourth Century AD Studies in Eunapius of Sardis , Leeds 1990, pp. 49 f., 64; Matthias Becker: Eunapios from Sardes , Stuttgart 2013, pp. 244 f., 247 f.
3. ↑ See Matthias Becker: Eunapios from Sardes , Stuttgart 2013, pp. 93, 269–277.
4. ↑ On the presumed course of these events, see Robert J. Penella: Greek Philosophers and Sophists in the Fourth Century AD Studies in Eunapius of Sardis , Leeds 1990, pp. 53–56. Cf. Garth Fowden: The Platonist philosopher and his circle in late antiquity , in: ΦΙΛΟΣΟΦΙΑ 7, 1977, pp. 359-383, here: 375-377; Matthias Becker: Eunapios from Sardes , Stuttgart 2013, pp. 310-312.
5. ^ Matthias Becker: Eunapios from Sardes , Stuttgart 2013, pp. 99, 310-313.
6. ^ Matthias Becker: Eunapios from Sardes , Stuttgart 2013, pp. 89, 249 f.
7. ↑ Eunapius, Vitae sophistarum 8,1,5-8. See Matthias Becker: Eunapios from Sardes , Stuttgart 2013, pp. 113 f., 406 f., 410-413.
8. ^ Matthias Becker: Eunapios from Sardes , Stuttgart 2013, pp. 104 f., 107, 359–363, 378.