Priscian of Lydia was one of the Athenian philosophers who took refuge in 531 AD with King Khosroes I of Persia, after the Christian Emperor Justinian stopped the teaching of the pagan Neoplatonist school in Athens. This was one of the earliest examples of the sixth-century diffusion of the philosophy of the commentators to other cultures.
Tantalisingly, Priscian fully recorded in Greek the answers provided by the Athenian philosophers to the kingâs questions on philosophy and science. But these answers survive only in a later Latin translation which understood both the Greek and the subject matter very poorly. Our translators have often had to reconstruct from the Latin what the Greek would have been, in order to recover the original sense.
The answers start with subjects close to the Atheniansâ hearts: the human soul, on which Priscian was an expert, and sleep and visions. But their interest may have diminished when the king sought their expertise on matters of physical science: the seasons, celestial zones, medical effects of heat and cold, the tides, displacement of the four elements, the effect of regions on living things, why only reptiles are poisonous, and winds. At any rate, in 532 AD, they moved on from the palace, but still under Khosroesâ protection. This is the first translation of the record they left into English or any modern language.
This English translation is accompanied by an introduction and comprehensive commentary notes, which clarify and discuss the meaning and implications of the original philosophy. Part of the Ancient Commentators on Aristotle series, the edition makes this philosophical work accessible to a modern readership and includes additional scholarly apparatus such as a bibliography, glossary of translated terms and a subject index.
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Abbreviations
Conventions
Introduction Richard Sorabji
- The Sixth Century Diffusion of Greek Neoplatonism
- Priscian and the Athenian Philosophersâ Refuge with King Khosroes in Persia
- Khosroesâ Interest in Greek Philosophy and Freedom of Discussion
- The Atheniansâ Move from Khosroes in Ctesiphon
- The Need for Retrotranslation Back to the Original Greek from the Surviving Latin Translation
- Who was Responsible for the Unintelligibilities in the Latin?
- The Contributors to Overcoming the Unintelligibilities of the Latin
Translation
- Preface
- Chapter 1: About the Soul, and Especially the Human
- Chapter 2: On Sleep
- Chapter 3: On Dreams as a Source of Prophecy
- Chapter 4: Astronomy and Climate
- Chapter 5: On the Efficacy of Contrary Medical Prescriptions
- Chapter 6: The Tides
- Chapter 7: How Elemental Bodies get Displaced
- Chapter 8: How Location Affects the Character of Living Things
- Chapter 9: Why do Things in a Good Universe Harm Each Other?
- Chapter 10: Of What is the Wind Made and Where Does its Motion Come From?
Notes
Bibliography
EnglishâLatin Glossary
LatinâEnglish Index
LatinâGreek Index
Subject Index
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A translation of Priscian's Conversations with King Khosroes I of Persia accompanied by extensive commentary notes, introduction and indexes.
A unique modern-language translation of an ancient philosophical work
The Ancient Commentators on Aristotle series is a prestigious scholarly project, which translates into English the principal works of the Neoplatonist commentators on Aristotle. The translation in each volume is accompanied by an introduction, comprehensive commentary notes, bibliography, glossary of translated terms and a subject index.
Praise for the series:
"A truly breathtaking achievement, with few parallels in the history of scholarly endeavour"
Times Literary Supplement
"Well-known and renowned"
Bryn Mawr Classical Review
"One of the great scholarly achievements of our time"
British Journal for the History of Philosophy
"Without any doubt, it is this enterprise of R. Sorabji which has had the greatest impact among historians of ancient philosophy."
Ilsetraut Hadot in Le NÊoplatonicien Simplicius à la lumière des recherches contemporaines
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781472584137
Publisert
2016-08-11
Utgiver
Vendor
Bloomsbury Academic
Vekt
426 gr
Høyde
234 mm
Bredde
156 mm
AldersnivĂĽ
U, 05
SprĂĽk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Innbundet
Antall sider
176