Secundus the silent one

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Secundus the Silent was supposedly an ancient Greek philosopher . He is said to have lived in Athens in the early 2nd century AD at the time of Emperor Hadrian . Since the only evidence of its existence is a legendary biography, it cannot be determined with certainty whether it is actually a historical figure. The philosopher Secundus should not be confused with the Athenian rhetor of the same name , whose pupils included Herodes Atticus . The nickname “the silent one” is modern; in the sources he is called "the philosopher Secundus" or "the silent philosopher Secundus".

Legend

In the biography of Secundus, which an anonymous author wrote in the 2nd or early 3rd century, his life is described as follows. Secundus grew up as a foster child far from his parents' home. He often heard the claim that every woman can be bought and that chastity is only possible if she lives in secret. When he grew up to be a man, he returned to his homeland after the death of his father and led the life of a philosopher of the Cynical direction. He went to his parents' house where no one recognized him. In order to check the correctness of that statement about women, he made his mother an offer of 50 gold pieces for one night through one of her maids. She accepted the supposed stranger's suggestion and he spent the night with her, but without intercourse. In the morning he revealed to her that he was her son. Then she felt so ashamed that she hanged herself. When Secundus saw that his words had caused her death, he decided to spend the rest of his life in silence. He kept this resolution until the end of his life. The biographer describes this way of life as the "Pythagorean", which is not true, because the Pythagoreans did not remain silent for life, but - if at all - only during a probationary period before acceptance into the closer community.

When the Emperor Hadrian came to Athens, he sent for Secundus to test the philosopher's steadfastness and asked him to explain his teaching. Secundus remained silent. Thereupon he was sentenced to death for disregarding the emperor. Hadrian gave the executioners instructed to bring the convicted person on the way to the execution site to talk. If this succeeds, he should behead him, but otherwise bring him back unharmed. Secundus did not break his silence until the end, although he was promised a pardon. Therefore, he was returned to the emperor. Hadrian now suggested that he answer on a writing board. Secundus accepted this suggestion. He answered twenty questions from the emperor in this way. His answers make up the rest of the biography; one learns nothing of his further fate.

All questions follow the same scheme: “What is the universe?” “What is the ocean?” “What is God?” Etc .; the last one is: “What is death?” Secundus answers every question with a few short definitions or characterizations or sometimes poetic paraphrases in the style of aphorisms ( gnomes ). He makes ample use of the stylistic device oxymoron . In terms of content, the answers cannot consistently be assigned to a specific philosophical school.

The course of action is influenced by the Oedipus myth.

reception

The oldest evidence of the existence of the Greek biography is a papyrus fragment from the 3rd century. The complete text has only survived in a single manuscript from the 11th century; the other Greek manuscripts contain only the answer to the questions. Magister Willelmus Medicus, who later became a monk in the Abbey of Saint-Denis , brought the complete manuscript from Constantinople to France in 1167. He made a Latin translation ( Vita Secundi philosophi ), which became popular, as the numerous manuscripts show. In the 13th century, Vincent de Beauvais included an abridged version of this translation in his popular encyclopedia Speculum historiale . In the Liber de vita et moribus philosophorum from the early 14th century, a doxographic- biographical presentation of the non-Christian ancient spiritual life that was extremely popular in the late Middle Ages , a chapter is dedicated to Secundus. He was so well known that his bust was carved with a quote (answer to the question “What is God?”) In the late Gothic choir stalls of Ulm Minster . The popularity of the material in the Middle Ages was due, among other things, to the fact that Secundus' willingness to die reminded readers of the time of the attitude of Christian martyrs. In addition, collections of short questions and answers were also common in Latin and vernacular medieval literature.

Two late medieval German adaptations are based on the Latin text of the biography: one in Thuringia in 518 rhyming verses and one in prose in the table on Christian Faith and Life , the German version of a work by the Dutch Dominican Dirk van Delft (15th century). In the 16th century, Hans Sachs wrote a comprehensive version of the story. Two old Spanish, six old French, one Icelandic and four Italian versions come from the late Middle Ages, some of which are translations, others more or less free arrangements (some as part of larger works).

Translations into other languages ​​also testify to the popularity of the material in the Middle Ages: into Syrian, Armenian, Arabic and Ethiopian. The Ethiopian version is based on an Arabic version, which is a free adaptation of the original Greek version; both were only widespread in Christian circles and contain extensive additions to the original Greek text.

Text output

  • Ben Edwin Perry (Ed.): Secundus the Silent Philosopher . Ithaca (NY) 1964 (edition of the Greek text with English translation as well as Latin, Syrian, Armenian and Arabic versions, the last three each with English translation; Ethiopian version based on an older edition with Latin translation)
  • Lloyd William Daly , Walther Suchier (ed.): Altercatio Hadriani Augusti et Epicteti philosophi . Urbana (Illinois) 1939 (p. 147–160 edition of the Latin second biography, p. 162–166 manuscript index)

literature

  • Simone Follet, Oliver Overwien: Secundus le Taciturne. In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques. Volume 6, CNRS Éditions, Paris 2016, ISBN 978-2-271-08989-2 , pp. 166–170. Addendum in Volume 7, CNRS Éditions, Paris 2018, ISBN 978-2-271-09024-9 , p. 894
  • Oliver Overwien : Secundus the silent philosopher: A life between myth and cosmos . In: Würzburg Yearbooks for Classical Studies New Series 28 b, 2004, pp. 105–129
  • Burghart Wachinger : Secundus . In: Author's Lexicon , 2nd edition, Volume 11, Berlin 2004, Sp. 1402–1408

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Ben Edwin Perry (ed.): Secundus the Silent Philosopher , Ithaca (NY) 1964, pp. 2f. However, Burghart Wachinger considers the possibility that the original core of the Secundus legend was an incident in the life of the rhetorician Secundus: Burghart Wachinger: Secundus . In: Author's Lexicon , 2nd edition, Vol. 11, Berlin 2004, Sp. 1402–1408, here: 1406. See also Lloyd William Daly in: Lloyd William Daly, Walther Suchier (ed.): Altercatio Hadriani Augusti et Epicteti philosophi , Urbana (Illinois) 1939, pp. 44f.
  2. ↑ Oliver Overwien: Secundus the silent philosopher: A life between myth and cosmos . In: Würzburg Yearbooks for Classical Studies New Series 28 b, 2004, pp. 105–129, here: 110f.
  3. ↑ Ben Edwin Perry (ed.): Secundus the Silent Philosopher . Ithaca (NY) 1964, pp. 6f., 63.
  4. ↑ Hans Sachs: The Secundus .
  5. ↑ On the Italian Secundus tradition, see Alfonso d'Agostino: Una versione italiana inedita dei Detti di Secondo . In: Acme 30, 1977, pp. 185-212.
personal data
SURNAME Secundus the silent one
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Secundus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION ancient Greek philosopher
DATE OF BIRTH 1st century or 2nd century
DATE OF DEATH 2nd century