Priskianos Lydos

This article deals with the philosopher of late antiquity. For other namesake see Priscianus .

Priskianos Lydos ( Greek  Πρισκιανός Λυδός Priskianós Lydós , also Priskianos of Lydia , Latin Priscianus Lydus ; † after 532) was a late ancient Greek philosopher of the Neoplatonic direction.

Life

Little is known about the life of the Priskiano. It is only known that he came from Lydia and belonged to the Neoplatonic school of philosophy in Athens . This school, which followed the tradition of the Platonic Academy , was headed by the important philosopher Damascius from 515 at the latest . Traditionally, it firmly adhered to the ancient Greek religion and thus stood in opposition to Christianity, which was the state religion of the Eastern Roman Empire at that time . The religious conflict led to Emperor Justinian I banning pagan teaching in 529 ; then the school was closed. Perhaps as early as 531, or 532 at the latest, Damascius emigrated to the Persian Sasanid Empire with six other Neoplatonists, including Priskianos . It was there that the Great King Chosrau I, who had ruled since 531, accepted them at his court. But the philosophers were dissatisfied with the conditions in exile and therefore soon returned to the Eastern Roman Empire, although Chosrau wanted them to remain at his court. When a peace was made between the Sassanids and the Romans in the autumn of 532 , the great king insisted on an assurance from the Roman side that the philosophers could return home unmolested and cling to their religion for the rest of their lives. Where the Neo-Platonists then settled is unknown. According to one appealing but controversial hypothesis, when they returned they lived in the city of Carrhae , where the majority of the inhabitants still professed the old religion.

Works and teaching

Priskianos wrote a text on behalf of King Chosrau that has only survived in a Latin translation under the title “Solutions to the problems raised by the Persian king Chosroem ” ( Solutiones eorum, de quibus dubitavit Chosroes Persarum rex , in short: Solutiones ad Chosroem ) . It discusses a number of questions from different fields of knowledge; topics include the soul , sleep and dreams, the seasons, poisonous animals and winds. He also wrote a commentary on a lost natural history work by the Peripatetic Theophrastus ; only a part of it, which deals with aspects of Theophrast's theory of the soul from a Neoplatonic point of view, is incompletely preserved under the title " Paraphrase of Theophrast's teachings on perception" ( Metáphrasis tōn Theophrástou perí aisthḗseōs ). The topics are sensory perception, imagination and intellect ( nous ). Since Priskiano offers quotations from the annotated work, his commentary is helpful for its reconstruction.

The question of whether a comment on the writing De anima by Aristotle, traditionally attributed to the philosopher Simplikios , comes from Priskianos is highly controversial in research . The hypothesis of his authorship is represented in particular by Carlos Steel, while Ilsetraut Hadot pleads for the attribution to Simplikios. A third research opinion is that both attributions are not plausible, the author (pseudo-Simplikios) remains unknown.

In the theory of the soul, Priskianos refers to the neo-Platonists Iamblichos and Plutarch of Athens , in whom he sees the authentic interpreters of the Aristotelian theory of the soul. According to the view prevailing in late ancient Neo-Platonism, he strives to harmonize Platonic and Aristotelian philosophy.

reception

In an anonymously handed down list ( canons ) of recommended authors from late antiquity , the name of Priskianos is mentioned in the list of "particularly useful" explanations of Plato's philosophy. There it is also reported that John Philoponos fought against his teachings.

In the early Middle Ages Priskianos' script addressed to King Chosrau was translated into Latin. Whether this happened before the Carolingian era or whether the translator is to be found in the vicinity of the Irish scholar Eriugena (9th century) or even to be identified with Eriugena, is disputed in research. In the 13th century, the scholar Vinzenz von Beauvais added quotations from the Solutiones ad Chosroem to his encyclopedic work Speculum naturale , confusing Priskianos with the famous grammarian Priscian von Caesarea.

In the eighties of the 15th century the humanist Marsilio Ficino translated Priskiano's Theophrastus commentary into Latin. He also wrote a Latin commentary on it. His translation was published by Aldo Manuzio in Venice in 1497 . In 1541 the Greek text of this work was first printed in Basel as part of a Theophrastus edition; this output is very buggy.

The Solutiones ad Chosroem were apparently lost for centuries in the early modern period . They were not rediscovered until the 19th century by Jules Quicherat and were partially edited in 1853.

In his commentary on Aristotle's De anima , published in 1602 , in which he also dealt with the commentary on this work ascribed to Simplikios, the averroistic scholar Francesco Piccolomini came to the conclusion that the author was not Simplikios but Priskianos. This hypothesis fell into oblivion in the following centuries, but in the 20th century it was put forward again and thoroughly justified; the question is still controversial today.

Editions

• Ingram Bywater (Ed.): Prisciani Lydi quae extant: Metaphrasis in Theophrastum et solutionum ad Chosroem liber (= Supplementum Aristotelicum . Volume 1 Part 2). Georg Reimer, Berlin 1886 (critical edition)
• Michael Hayduck (Ed.): Simplicii in libros Aristotelis de anima commentaria (= Commentaria in Aristotelem Graeca Vol. 11). Georg Reimer, Berlin 1882 (critical edition, authorship of the Priskianos disputed)

Translations

• Pamela Huby, Sten Ebbesen , David Langslow, Donald Russell, Carlos Steel, Malcolm Wilson (translator): Priscian: Answers to King Khosroes of Persia. Bloomsbury Academic, London et al. 2016, ISBN 978-1-47258-413-7
• James O. Urmson (translator): Simplicius: On Aristotle's On the Soul 1.1–2.4. Cornell University Press, Ithaca (NY) 1995, ISBN 0-8014-3160-3 (authorship of the Priskiano disputed)
• Pamela Huby, Carlos Steel (translator): Priscian: On Theophrastus on Sense-Perception, with 'Simplicius': On Aristotle On the Soul 2.5–12. 2nd edition, Bloomsbury, London 2014, ISBN 978-1-4725-5847-3 ("About the soul": the authorship of the Priskiano disputed)
• Henry J. Blumenthal (translator): "Simplicius": On Aristotle, On the Soul 3.1-5. Duckworth, London 2000, ISBN 0-7156-2896-8 (authorship of the Priskiano disputed)

literature

• Frans AJ de Haas: Priscian of Lydia and Pseudo-Simplicius On the Soul. In: Lloyd P. Gerson (Ed.): The Cambridge History of Philosophy in Late Antiquity. Volume 2, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2010, ISBN 978-0-521-19484-6 , pp. 756-763, 1147-1149
• Christoph Helmig , Carlos Steel: Priskianos Lydos. In: Christoph Riedweg et al. (Ed.): Philosophy of the Imperial Era and Late Antiquity (= Outline of the history of philosophy . The philosophy of antiquity. Volume 5/3). Schwabe, Basel 2018, ISBN 978-3-7965-3700-4 , pp. 2112-2118, 2190-2192
• Matthias Perkams : Priscien de Lydie. In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques , Vol. 5, Part 2, CNRS Éditions, Paris 2012, ISBN 978-2-271-07399-0 , pp. 1514-1521
• Charles B. Schmitt: Priscianus Lydus. In: Ferdinand Edward Cranz, Paul Oskar Kristeller (eds.): Catalogus Translationum et Commentariorum . Volume 3, The Catholic University of America Press, Washington (DC) 1976, pp. 75-82
• Carlos G. Steel: The Changing Self. A Study on the Soul in Later Neoplatonism: Iamblichus, Damascius and Priscianus . Koninklijke Academie voor Wetenschappen, Letteren en Schone Kunsten, Brussels 1978

Web links

• Victoria Erhart: The Context and Contents of Priscianus of Lydia's Solutionum ad Chosroem

Remarks

1. ↑ For the dating see Udo Hartmann : Geist im Exil. Roman philosophers at the court of the Sasanids . In: Monika Schuol et al. (Ed.): Border crossing. Forms of contact between Orient and Occident in antiquity , Stuttgart 2002, pp. 123–160, here: 135–138; Ilsetraut Hadot: Dans quel lieu le neoplatonicien Simplicius at-il fondé son école de mathématiques, et où a pu avoir lieu son entretien avec un manichéen? In: The International Journal of the Platonic Tradition 1, 2007, pp. 42-107, here: 44-49.
2. ↑ An overview of the older research discussion is provided by Philippe Hoffmann: Damascius . In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques . Vol. 2, Paris 1994, pp. 541-593, here: 562 f. See also Polymnia Athanassiadi: Persecution and response in late paganism: the evidence of Damascius . In: Journal of Hellenic Studies Vol. 113, 1993, pp. 1–29, here: 24–27; Udo Hartmann: Spirit in Exile. Roman philosophers at the court of the Sasanids . In: Monika Schuol et al. (Ed.): Border crossing. Forms of contact between Orient and Occident in antiquity . Stuttgart 2002, pp. 123-160, here: 138 f .; Edward Watts: Where to Live the Philosophical Life in the Sixth Century? Damascius, Simplicius, and the Return from Persia . In: Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies . Vol. 45, 2005, pp. 285-315. Robin Lane Fox is one of the opponents of the hypothesis : Harran, the Sabians and the late Platonist "movers" . In: Andrew Smith (Ed.): The Philosopher and Society in Late Antiquity . Swansea 2005, pp. 231-244.
3. ↑ For Simplikios: Ilsetraut Hadot: The life and work of Simplicius in Greek and Arabic sources . In: Richard Sorabji (Ed.): Aristotle Transformed. The Ancient Commentators and Their Influence , 2nd, revised edition, London 2016, pp. 295–326, here: 312–316 (cf. pp. XXXII f.); Ilsetraut Hadot: Simplicius or Priscianus? On the Author of the Commentary on Aristotle's De Anima (CAG XI): A Methodological Study . In: Mnemosyne Vol. 55, 2002, pp. 159-199. For Priskianos: Carlos Steel in: Pamela Huby, Carlos Steel (translator): Priscian: On Theophrastus on Sense-Perception, with 'Simplicius': On Aristotle On the Soul 2.5–12 , 2nd edition, London 2014, pp. 105– 140; Matthias Perkams: Priscian of Lydia, Commentator on the De anima in the Tradition of Iamblichus . In: Mnemosyne . Vol. 58, 2005, pp. 510-530; Matthias Perkams: Self- Confidence in Late Antiquity . Berlin 2008, pp. 149–153. Against both attributions: John F. Finamore, John M. Dillon (eds.): Iamblichus De anima . Leiden 2002, pp. 18-24; Henry J. Blumenthal (translator): "Simplicius": On Aristotle, On the Soul 3.1-5 , London 2000, pp. 1-7; Pamela Huby: Theophrastus of Eresus. Sources for his life, writings, thought and influence. Commentary , Vol. 4: Psychology (Texts 265-327) . Leiden 1999, p. 65.
4. ^ Daniela Patrizia Taormina: Dynamiques de l'écriture et processus cognitif dans le neoplatonisme . In: Monique Dixsaut (Ed.): Contre Platon . Vol. 1, Paris 1993, pp. 215-245, here: 228-238. On the doctrine of the soul see also Stephen Gersh: Middle Platonism and Neoplatonism. The Latin Tradition . Vol. 2, Notre Dame 1986, pp. 770-775; on Priskianos' Iamblichos reception Pamela M. Huby: Priscian of Lydia as Evidence for Iamblichus . In: Henry J. Blumenthal, Gillian Clark (Eds.): The Divine Iamblichus . London 1993, pp. 5-13; Carlos G. Steel: The Changing Self. A Study on the Soul in Later Neoplatonism: Iamblichus, Damascius and Priscianus , Brussels 1978, pp. 11-20, 52, 55-59, 153 f.
5. ^ Greek text and German translation by Heinrich Dörrie , Matthias Baltes : Der Platonismus in der Antike . Vol. 3, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt 1993, pp. 20-21 (and commentary on pp. 153-155).
6. ↑ Stephen Gersh: Middle Platonism and Neoplatonism. The Latin Tradition . Vol. 2, Notre Dame 1986, p. 769; Marie-Thérèse d'Alverny: Les "Solutiones ad Chosroem" by Priscianus Lydus et Jean Scot . In: Jean Scot Érigène et l'histoire de la philosophie . Paris 1977, pp. 145-160.
7. ↑ Francesco Piccolomini: Expositio in tres libros Aristotelis de anima , Venice 1602, fol. 216r. See Bruno Nardi: Saggi sull'Aristotelismo padovano dal secolo XIV al XVI . Vol. 1, Firenze 1958, p. 431 f.