Harpokration of Argos

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Harpocration of Argos was a Greek philosopher ( Platonist ). He lived in the second half of the 2nd century AD and is assigned to Middle Platonism .

Life

All that is known about Harpokration's origin is that he came from Argos . He was a student of the Middle Platonist Attikos . The Suda according to which he was a confidant (symbiōtḗs) of an emperor; whether Marcus Aurelius is meant is doubtful. His earlier considered identification with a grammarian of the same name and teacher of the emperor Lucius Verus is rejected by more recent research because it is chronologically inconsistent. On the other hand, it is possible to identify with a rhetorician and philosopher Harpokration, who is extolled in a grave inscription from the 3rd century in Athens.

Works

Only sparse fragments of Harpokration's works have survived. In the Suda two writings are ascribed to him: a commentary on the works of Plato (Hypómnēma eis Plátōna) in 24 books and a Plato lexicon ( Léxeis Plátōnos "Plato's vocabulary") in two books. The fragments come from Plato's commentary. The dialogues laid out in this extensive work included Alkibiades I , Phaedo , Phaedrus , Politeia and Timaeus .

Teaching

Although Harpokration was a pupil of Attikos, his philosophical views show some similarities with those of the Middle Platonist Numenios . Like Numenios, he assumes three gods or three aspects of deity, namely the supreme, non-active god and the creator god ( demiurge ), whom he regards as double or divided into two aspects. On the other hand, in the controversial question of creation, like Attikos, he represents the opinion rejected by Numenios that the world creation described in Timaeus is to be understood as a real process in time, i.e. not purely metaphorical . Like Attikos, he considers the world as something created to be potentially transitory, but imperishable by the will of the Creator. Like Numenios and Kronios , he regards every incarnation of the soul as an evil, because in the body he sees the source of evil in the soul. He attributes immortality not only to human souls, but also to those of animals.

Aftermath

The late antique Neo-Platonist Proclus names harpocration in a list of important Platonists and criticizes his theology. Other neo-Platonists from late antiquity ( Iamblichus , Hermeias of Alexandria , Damascios , Olympiodorus the Younger ) and the Christian Aeneas of Gaza also mention him.

Source editions and translations

  • John Dillon : Harpocration's Commentary on Plato: Fragments of a Middle Platonic Commentary . In: California Studies in Classical Antiquity 4, 1971, pp. 125–146 (Greek texts and commentary)
  • Adriano Gioè (Ed.): Filosofi medioplatonici del II secolo dC Testimonianze e frammenti , Bibliopolis, Napoli 2002, ISBN 88-7088-430-9 , pp. 435-485 (Greek texts with Italian translation and commentary)
  • Marie-Luise Lakmann (Ed.): Platonici minores. 1st century BC - 2nd century AD. Prosopography, fragments and testimony with German translation (= Philosophia antiqua , volume 145). Brill, Leiden / Boston 2017, ISBN 978-90-04-31533-4 , pp. 122–126, 474–491

literature

  • George Boys-Stones: Harpocration of Argos: Etymology and Metaphysics in the Platonist Revival . In: The Journal of Hellenic Studies 132, 2012, pp. 1-6
  • John Dillon: The Middle Platonists. A Study of Platonism 80 BC to AD 220 . Duckworth, London 1977, ISBN 0-7156-1091-0 , pp. 258-262
  • Franco Ferrari: Harpocration of Argos. In: Christoph Riedweg et al. (Hrsg.): Philosophy of the imperial era and late antiquity (= outline of the history of philosophy . The philosophy of antiquity. Volume 5/1). Schwabe, Basel 2018, ISBN 978-3-7965-3698-4 , pp. 601–604, 690
  • John Whittaker: Harpocration d'Argos . In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques , Vol. 3, CNRS Editions, Paris 2000, ISBN 2-271-05748-5 , pp. 503-504

Remarks

  1. ^ John Dillon: The Middle Platonists , London 1977, p. 259.
  2. ↑ See, for example, John Dillon: The Middle Platonists , London 1977, pp. 258f.
  3. ↑ Leendert Gerrit Westerink : The Greek Commentaries on Plato's Phaedo , Vol. 1, Amsterdam 1976, p. 13; John Whittaker: Harpocration d'Argos . In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques , Vol. 3, Paris 2000, pp. 503–504, here: 504; John Dillon: The Middle Platonists , London 1977, pp. 258-261. George Boys-Stones, Harpocration of Argos: Etymology and Metaphysics in the Platonist Revival, rejects the overestimation of Numenios' influence on harpocration . In: The Journal of Hellenic Studies 132, 2012, pp. 1-6.
personal data
SURNAME Harpokration of Argos
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Greek platonist
DATE OF BIRTH 2nd century
DATE OF DEATH 2nd century or 3rd century