08:56 pm - The death of the Platonic Academy in Athens and the completion of the Christianization of Greek philosophy
In 529, Emperor Justinian issued a law prohibiting pagans, among other things, from engaging in teaching activities - they had to either be baptized or be subject to confiscation of property and exile (Cod. Just. I. 5. 18. 4; I. 11. 10. 2). John Malala in his historical essay additionally reports that at the same time a decree was sent to Athens banning the teaching of philosophy: “To the consulate of the same Decius, the basileus sent a decree to Athens, ordering that no one should teach philosophy, interpret laws or set up a gambling den in any of the cities "(Chronography, book XVIII).
On this basis, 529 is traditionally considered the year of the closure of Plato's Academy in Athens and almost the end of all Greek philosophy. How justified is such a view? Indeed, about two years after Justinian's decree, at the end of 531 - beginning of 532, seven Athenian philosophers, led by Diadochos Damascius, head of the Academy, left Athens and went to Persia. They were attracted there by rumors that Khosrow (the future Anushirvan), who ascended the Persian throne in September 531, was the embodiment of the ideal of the philosopher king that Plato dreamed of. Agathius of Mirinea recounts this story in detail:
“...The Damascus Syrian, Simplicius the Cilician, Eulalius the Phrygian, Priscian the Lydian, Hermias and Diogenes the Phoenicians represented, in poetic language, the flower and pinnacle of all those engaged in philosophy in our time. They did not accept the prevailing Roman doctrine of divinity and believed that the Persian state was much better, being convinced of what was instilled in them by many, namely, that there the government was more just, such as Plato describes, when philosophy and kingdom are united into one whole that the subjects, without exception, are reasonable and honest, that there are no thieves or robbers there and do not suffer any other injustice, so that if someone left his valuable property in the most deserted place, then no one who happened in that place will take it place, but it will remain intact, if not guarded, for the one who left it when he returns. They were convinced of this as the truth. In addition, they were forbidden by law, as those who did not accept established beliefs, to remain safe at home. Therefore, they immediately gathered and went to strangers who lived according to completely different customs, in order to live there in the future. There they all soon saw that the leaders were too proud, excessively pompous, they felt disgusted with them and blamed them. Then they saw many thieves and robbers, some of whom were caught, others were hiding. All sorts of other lawlessness happened. The rich oppressed the poor. In their relations with each other [the Persians] were usually cruel and inhuman, and, what is most senseless of all, they did not abstain from adultery, although everyone is allowed to have as many wives as they like, and they actually have them. For all these reasons, the philosophers were unhappy and blamed themselves for the migration.
When they talked with the king, they were deceived in their hopes, having found a man who boasted of his knowledge of philosophy, but had not heard anything about the sublime. Their opinions did not coincide. He held other [views] that I have already mentioned. Unable to bear the fury of incestuous relations, they returned as quickly as possible, although he respected them and invited them to stay. They believed that it would be better for them to enter the Roman borders immediately, if this happened, and die, than [while remaining there] to receive the greatest honors. So, they all returned home, saying goodbye to the barbarian's hospitality. However, they also received benefits from being outside the fatherland and [in a matter] not short-term and small, but thanks to this, their entire subsequent life proceeded peacefully and in accordance with their desires. When at this time the Romans and Persians concluded a peace treaty between themselves, the terms of the peace included the provision that these people, upon returning to their own, should live in the future without any fear and so that they would not be forced to change their beliefs, accept any -or beliefs, except those that they themselves approve of. Khosrow stipulated that the peace would be valid only on this condition.”
About the reign of Justinian. II, 30-31
So, having become disillusioned with the Persians and their king, the Athenian Platonists returned to the Roman Empire by the end of 532. How did they develop further fate? There is no direct information about this in the sources, but educated guesses can be made about at least two of them.
The Greek Anthology contains several poems under the name of Diadochi Damaskia, including an epigram on the tombstone of a slave girl. At the beginning of the twentieth century. this tombstone was found near the city of Emesa in Syria. Fortunately, it turned out to be dated - 538. Damascus was born in Syria, in the vicinity of Damascus. It is reasonable to conclude that upon returning from his Persian trip in 532, being at an advanced age (about 80 years old), he decided to remain in his native land.
The most prominent of Damascus's students was Simplicius. After returning from Persia, he wrote an extensive series of commentaries on Aristotle (several thousand pages), which are among the most erudite ancient works on this topic. At the same time, he extensively quotes his sources from the originals, and not from the doxographic tradition, as has been customary for many centuries (for example, he mentions a copy of Parmenides’ poem that was in his possession). It follows from this that Simplicius had access to a philosophical library that was unique in its richness.
The presence of such libraries in the 6th century. one can only assume very small quantity places, the list of which is limited to Constantinople, Alexandria and Athens. There are no hints in the sources about the residence of Simplicius in Constantinople, and it is impossible to assume that an inveterate pagan decided to settle in the very center of the Christian authorities, to whose persecution he was subjected.
Alexandria is also excluded on the following grounds. In his writings, Simplicius fiercely disputes from the pagan positions of his younger contemporary, the Christian John Philoponus, who lived his entire life in Alexandria. Moreover, in his commentary on Aristotle’s essay “On Heaven,” he mentions that he never met Philoponus in person. Living in Alexandria and studying philosophy, Simplicius could not help but meet with Philoponus. Athens remains.
Evidence that after 532 the Platonic Academy in Athens resumed its work came to us in the writings of Olympiodorus, who headed the department of philosophy in Alexandria in the middle of the 6th century. In his commentary on Plato's dialogue Alcibiades, he states that Plato did not charge his students tuition fees, being a wealthy man, "which is why funds for the maintenance of the head of the school (diadochicus) are available to this day, despite the numerous seizures that occur" (In Alc. 141.1-3).
In the same commentary, Olympiodor mentions an incident that took place during the period when Hephaestus was the Augustal of Alexandria (i.e., in 546-551), and from his words it is clear that quite a lot of time has passed since this incident. On this basis, Olympiodorus's commentary on Alcibiades can hardly be attributed to a time earlier than 560, from which it follows that the Platonic Academy in Athens still existed and had its own financial resources. At the time of Proclus, the diadochika was 1000 gold solidi per year. It is known that under Justinian, rhetoricians and grammarians in Carthage received 70 solidi per year. From this it is clear that even taking into account the confiscations of the Academy there should have been enough funds to ensure at least a comfortable life for its head.
In none of his writings is Simplicius called a diadochos. Perhaps he did not formally bear this title, being a de facto diadochi and receiving the funds due to this position. The year of his death is unknown. The last of his works may have been written in the 560s, when he must have been about seventy years old. Thus, there is no reason to exclude that Olympiodorus’ remark refers specifically to Simplicius.
But what about Justinian’s decree of 529 banning pagans from teaching? It must be borne in mind that the adoption of most late Roman laws meant, as one historian put it, little more than that “the abuses they were intended to eliminate were known to the central government.” An excellent illustration of this thesis is the fate of the already mentioned Alexandrian philosopher Olympiodorus.
From him, 3 commentaries on Plato (on “Alcibiades”, “Gorgias” and “Phaedo”) and 2 commentaries on Aristotle (on “Categories” and “Meteorology”) have been preserved, which are student notes of his lectures. The latest dated of them, a commentary on Meteorology, is definitely dated to a time after 565. From these records it is clear that Olympiodorus was a pagan and made no secret of it.
For example, in his commentary on the Gorgias, after explaining the goddess Hera allegorically as air or the rational soul, Olympiodorus states: “In consequence of this you should not so superficially interpret the doctrines presented in the form of myth; in fact, we, for our part, also understand perfectly well that there is only one first cause, God, because many first causes are impossible” (In Gorg. 32.15-33.3). He goes on to defend the pagans against accusations of idolatry: “Do not think that philosophers pay divine worship to stones or idols. In fact, given that we live in a sensory world, as a result of which incorporeal and immaterial power is unattainable for us, idols were invented as a reminder to us of this type of existence, so that we, looking at these idols and worshiping them, would thereby be led to comprehension of incorporeal and immaterial forces” (In Gorg. 246.7-12).
Unlike Athens, the department of philosophy in Alexandria was state and its head received support from the city authorities. After Justinian's anti-pagan decree of 529, decrees against pagans were repeated in 545-546 and 562. And after all these decrees, in the mid-560s, the state department of philosophy in Alexandria was headed by an open pagan who allowed himself to freely defend his own views before his predominantly Christian audience! Against this background, the continued existence of the Platonic Academy in Athens in the 560s. looks totally possible.
Alexandria also provides an excellent example of how the Christianization of Greek philosophy was predominantly natural and not violent. Olympiodor's student and successor in the philosophy department was Aelius, who bore the honorary title of apoeparch. From him, prolegomena to the philosophy of Aristotle, a commentary on the “Categories”, a commentary on Porphyry’s “Introduction” and several smaller philosophical works have been preserved.
Elijah's successor was David, usually falsely identified with his namesake, an Armenian theologian who lived a century earlier. From David, referred to in the manuscripts as “the most God-loving and God-minded philosopher,” commentaries on Aristotle’s “Analytics” and Porphyry’s “Introduction” have been preserved.
Judging by the names and titles of Elijah and David, they were both already Christians. However, the records of their lectures indicate that they continued to teach in a completely traditional spirit, expressing ideas about the eternity of the world, the divinity of celestial bodies, unreasonable avenging spirits, long-lived nymphs, etc., characteristic of non-Christian Aristotelism and Platonism.
It can be assumed that the same process of gradual natural Christianization took place in Athens, which is also evidenced, which will be discussed below. The consequence of this process should have been the complete Christianization of the Platonic Academy, if its existence had not been interrupted, this time finally, around 580 during the catastrophic defeat of Athens by the Slavs who invaded the empire:
Menander Protector:
...In the fourth year of the reign of Tiberius Constantine Caesar, it happened that in Thrace the people of the Slavs, about one hundred thousand, plundered Thrace and many other [regions]... Hellas was devastated by the Slavs and dangers loomed over it from all sides, one after another...
Story. Fr. 47, 48John of Ephesus:
In the third year after the death of Tsar Justin and the reign of the victorious Tiberius, the deceitful Slavs emerged. And they quickly passed through all of Hellas, along the borders of Thessalonica and all of Thrace. They captured many cities and fortresses: they devastated, and burned, and captured, and began to rule the earth and live on it, ruling as if they were their own, without fear, for four years... As long as God is on their side, they , of course, they devastate, and burn, and plunder [everything] right up to the outer wall.
Church history. VI, 25
Historians contemporary to these events report nothing about the fate of Athens specifically, but their silence is compensated by the eloquent evidence of archeology:
Excavations at the Athenian Agora clearly demonstrate that at the end of the sixth century the peaceful course of urban life in Athens was disrupted. It is known, for example, that a number of buildings were burned at that time and abandoned temporarily or forever. Findings of coins, apparently hidden in a hurry or abandoned in a panic, make it possible to date events that would otherwise be very difficult to place in a specific historical context, although they are well attested by historical discoveries. Byzantine chroniclers report a Slavic invasion of Greece in late 578 or early 579, as a result of which large numbers of Slavs settled in Greece for several years or permanently. There can be little doubt that some of the destruction in the Athenian Agora dating from the years immediately following the invasion was the work of the Slavs.
D.M. Metcalf. The Slavonic Threat to Greece circa 580: Some Evidence from Athens // Hesperia. Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Vol. XXI, No. 2. April-June 1962. P. 134Excavation data indicate large-scale devastation of the Agora area at this time, most likely in the 80s of the sixth century. There can be little doubt that these destructions were associated with a particularly brutal invasion of the Slavic tribes. After a short time, at least some of the buildings were repaired and returned to use, as evidenced in several cases by dramatic rises in floor levels. But their inhabitants led a miserable existence in an environment of uncertainty and the constant threat of barbarian invasion... Coins and ceramics indicate the presence of a number of inhabitants until the second half of the seventh century. This was followed by a period of almost complete abandonment, lasting until the tenth century, when the area was converted into a residential area.
Homer A. Thompson. Athenian Twilight: A.D. 267-600 // The Journal of Roman Studies. Vol. XLIX, 1959. Parts I & II. P. 70The threat [of a Slavic invasion], in fact, soon became a reality, and sometime between 580 and 585. the city suffered a general catastrophe. Medieval historians are generally indifferent to events in Athens (Theophanes does not mention them at all in the sixth and seventh centuries, and only indirectly in the fifth), including this disaster of the 580s, but the event left its own documentation in the form of charred ruins and coin hoards in different places, both north and south of the Acropolis. Like their Heruli predecessors, these enemies apparently did not attempt to occupy the city, but were content to leave behind a heap of ruins that lay more or less untouched until the early seventh century.
Although the entire Balkan Peninsula was subject to Slavic invasions in the late sixth and early seventh centuries, it is unlikely that Athens itself was occupied at any point during this period. They were in the hands of the Byzantines and were apparently considered a safe place in 662-663, when Constans II wintered in them, and although there is evidence of serious threats during the reign of Heraclius, there is absolutely no evidence of interruptions in habitation such as that experienced place in the 580s. The city was apparently in decline, but there is increasing evidence of a period of revival in the seventh century, which delayed the onset of the darkest times until the end of the century. The volume of coins of Phocas, Heraclius, Constans II and Constantine IV found in the Athenian Agora (1127 in total for the period 602-685) provides an impressive contrast to the paltry twenty-five coins recorded in the immediately preceding twenty years, when Athens was reeling from the aftermath of the Slavic invasion.
Alison Frantz. From Paganism to Christianity in the Temples of Athens // Dumbarton Oaks Papers. No. 19. 1965. P. 197-198
It was in the area of the southern slope of the Acropolis, which, among others, was subjected to Slavic defeat, that it was located in the 5th-6th centuries. Platonov Academy. Its original building, located a mile north of the city walls of Athens, dates back to 86 BC. destroyed by Sulla. From about 400, the Academy was located in a house specially built for it by the Diadochus Plutarch. Its location is described by Marin in the Life of Proclus: “...This house, where he lived, and his parent Sirian, and his ancestor (as he put it) Plutarch, was located very conveniently next to the temple of Asclepius, glorified by Sophocles, and the temple of Dionysus , which is near the theater, in full view and in every possible proximity to the acropolis of Athena itself.” In the 1960s Greek archaeologists discovered the remains of a building matching this description. Among the finds was a bust of a philosopher - probably Proclus or one of the other diadochi.
Thus, the Athenian Platonic Academy, which managed to survive the persecution of the Christian imperial authorities, perished at the hands of the pagans. The fact that the level of philosophical education in Athens on the eve of its defeat by the Slavs continued to remain very high is evidenced by the example of the last philosopher born in this city - Stephen of Athens or Alexandria, who ended his career as head of the department of philosophy at the University of Constantinople.
The earliest event from Stephen’s biography is mentioned in the “Ecclesiastical History” of Dionysius of Telmar and dates back to 581, when the Monophysite Patriarch of Antioch Peter arrived in Alexandria. The learned theologians accompanying him entered into a dispute there with the sophist Stephen, who had previously been a Monophysite, but then began to spread a teaching that contradicted their views and was expelled from the Monophysite church.
John Moschus (died 622) in The Spiritual Meadow (Paterikon Sinai) tells how he and his friend the sophist Sophronius during their first stay in Alexandria between 581 and 584. attended the lessons of the sophist and philosopher Stephen, which he gave in the annex to the Church of the Mother of God, called Dorothea, built by Eulogius (Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria in 581-608): “And my Lord Sophronius and Idokhova in the house of the philosopher Stephen, let us abide: smoothing Living, going to the Holy Mother of God, from the south, blessed are Pope Eulogius to the east of the great Tetrafol” (Homily 99).
From Stephen's philosophical works, commentaries on “On Interpretation” and the 3rd book of “On the Soul” by Aristotle and on “Introduction” by Porphyry have been preserved. He also owns commentaries on the “Prognosticon” and “Aphorisms” of Hippocrates and “Therapeutics to Glaucon” by Galen and several treatises on private medical topics. The fact that Stephen was engaged in mathematics and astronomy is evidenced by the introduction he wrote to Theon of Alexandria's small commentary on Ptolemy's Tables. A number of astrological and alchemical treatises are also attributed to him.
In the titles of a number of manuscripts, Stephen is called a native of Athens, which is also indirectly confirmed by his own writings. The approximate time of his birth is 550-555. In Athens, apparently, he received in the 560-570s. and my first education. It is difficult to say whether he found Simplicius alive, but, in any case, he was quite able to learn from his students. In 581 we find him already in Alexandria. It is unlikely that his move there had anything to do with the Slavic threat to Athens that arose in the late 570s.
The range of interests and some features of Stephen's writings indicate that in Alexandria he became close to the followers of John Philoponus. This explains why he, apparently born into a Christian Orthodox Athenian family, for some time joined Monophysitism in Alexandria. Having discovered logical inconsistencies in the teachings of the Monophysites, he entered into a dispute with them, was excommunicated from their church and returned to the Chalcedonites. Stephen's philosophical gift was noticed by the Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria, Eulogius, who provided him with a place to live and teach in an annex to the Church of the Virgin Mary, where his classes were attended, among others, by John Moschos and the sophist Sophronius.
In the introduction to Theon's commentary, Stephen refers to himself as "the great philosopher of Alexandria" and mentions his teaching of mathemata in Constantinople under the emperor Heraclius (610-641). The introduction is dated to the 9th year of the reign of Heraclius, i.e. September 618 - August 619. In his revision of Theon's work, written in Alexandria, Stephen adapted his data to the realities of Constantinople, using tables for the climate of Byzantium, using Julian months and describing a method for calculating the date of Easter.
The Armenian scientist Anania Shirakatsi (610-685) in his autobiography says that his teacher Tychicus came to Constantinople around 612-613, “where he met famous person, a teacher from Athens, the city of philosophers, who taught to the philosophers of that city." This Athenian philosopher was undoubtedly Stephen. Apparently, he was invited to Constantinople from Alexandria to head the department of philosophy at the Imperial University, restored by Heraclius after the overthrow of the usurper Phocas in 610. These events are mentioned in the dialogue between Philosophy and History that opens The History of Theophylact Simocatta (c. 630):
“Philosophy: Long ago, my child, you died after the invasion of the royal palace by this Calydonian tyrant, bound in iron, this half-barbarian from the Cyclopean tribe, this dissolute centaur, clothed in the pure majesty of royal purple, for whom royal power was only an arena for drunkenness. I will keep silent about everything else, ashamed of both my modesty and my respectable listeners. I myself, my daughter, was then expelled from royal palace, and I was denied access to the borders of Attica when my lord Socrates was executed by this Thracian Anytus. Subsequently, the Heraclides saved me, returned my dominion to me, and cleansed the most holy house of the kings from this fiend. It was then that they settled me again in the monastery of the emperors. My voice sounded again in the palace, ancient and Attic speeches dedicated to the muses were heard again.”
One of the surviving philosophical works of Stephen, a commentary on the “Introduction” of Porphyry (its author was previously called Pseudo-Elius or Pseudo-David), is a traditional recording of lectures (praxeis) for the Alexandrian philosophical school, made from the ears (apo phones) by students already during his teaching in Constantinople. It is noteworthy that in his philosophical comments Stephen, like his Christian predecessors Aelius and David, without any refutation, expresses traditional philosophical ideas contrary to Christianity, including the eternity of the world (“according to Aristotle”), the fifth element (“as some say”), the pre-existence of human souls and the impassibility of intelligent celestial bodies.
From the story of Ananias Shirakatsi about his teacher Tychicus, who studied with Stephen, we can conclude that Stephen died during the lifetime of Emperor Heraclius (i.e., before 641) and Patriarch Sergius of Constantinople (i.e., before 638). Thus, he did not live to see the capture of Alexandria by the Arabs in 641, which put an end to the existence of its philosophical school.
In the history of Greek philosophy of late antiquity and the early Middle Ages, Stephen represents one of the most significant transitional figures. Born and received elementary education in Athens, having reached philosophical maturity and fame in Alexandria, he survived the death of the first philosophical school and did not live long to see the death of the second philosophical school. His move to Constantinople marked the final cessation of that city as the center of Greek learning, and his active and undoubtedly sincere participation in theological debates marked the final Christianization of Greek thought. Let us remember that the greatest Greek philosopher of the 7th century. Maximus the Confessor was born and educated in Constantinople and before his monastic tonsure in 630 he served as secretary to Emperor Heraclius, i.e. could hardly have avoided apprenticeship with Stephen.
During the 7th century. notes of philosophical lectures (their last known example is Stephen's commentary on Porphyry's Introduction) are completely replaced as the main genre of Greek philosophical literature by the logical compendium or collection of philosophical definitions with examples. Here Stephen again turns out to be a connecting link, because a number of his logical formulations were included at the end of the seventh century in the anti-Monophysite collection “The Teaching of the Fathers on the Incarnation of the Word.” The most famous example of such a logical compendium is the Dialectics of John of Damascus, which is based, among other things, on the traditions of Alexandrian Aristotelianism, including Stephen's commentaries.
List of used literature:
Cameron, Alan. La Fin de l’Académie // Le Néoplatonisme. Paris, 1971
The Last Days of the Academy at Athens // Cameron, Alan. Literature and Society in the Early Byzantine World. Variorum Reprints. L., 1985
Thompson, Homer A. Athenian Twilight: A.D. 267-600 // The Journal of Roman Studies. Vol. XLIX, 1959. Parts I & II
Frantz, Alison. From Paganism to Christianity in the Temples of Athens // Dumbarton Oaks Papers. No. 19. 1965
Metcalf, D.M. The Slavonic Threat to Greece circa 580: Some Evidence from Athens // Hesperia. Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Vol. XXI, No. 2. April-June 1962
Westerink, L.G., Segonds, A.Ph., Trouillard, J. Prolégomènes à la philosophie de Platon. Paris, 1990
Wolska-Conus, W. Stéphanos d'Athènes et Stéphanos d'Alexandrie. Essai d’identification et de biographie // Revue des études byzantines. No. 47. 1989
Roueché, Mossman. Byzantine Philosophical Texts of the Seventh Century // Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Byzantinistik. 23. Band. 1974
Roueché, Mossman. A Middle Byzantine Handbook of Logic Terminology // Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Byzantinistik. 29. Band. 1980
Named after the public gymnasium, which probably existed since the time of Solon (beginning of the 6th century BC) in the north-west. suburb of Athens on the site of a sanctuary in honor of the local hero Akademos. After the first Sicilian trip, when Plato met Dion (387), the courtier of the tyrant of Syracuse Dionysius the Elder, he acquired a small estate (κηπίδιον - Diog. L. III 19-20) not far from A.P. and taught classes either at his place or in the gymnasium, and here and there Plato built sanctuaries in honor of the Muses. Apparently, Plato's school is a circle of like-minded people created on his personal initiative, who formed a kind of unofficial. a political club and together honoring the memory of the divinely marked teacher of philosophy Socrates, was formed in the 80s, and in it, on the initiative and following the example of Plato, they began to write dialogues (with the obligatory participation of Socrates), polemicize with other Socratics, sophists and rhetoricians, conduct debates and do mathematics. When Plato travels to Sicily for the second time (367-366), Aristotle appears in A.P., during which the element of disputes develops and the system of lit. expands. and lecture genres (dialogues with the participation of contemporaries, reports, lecture courses, treatises).
The sequence of A.P.’s scholararchs after the death of Plato (347) is restored on the basis, first of all, of the “List of Academicians” by Philodemus (Academicorum index Herculanensis), Book IV. Diogenes Laertius and the articles Πλάτων from the "Judgment". With Philo of Larisa, who left Athens in 88 without leaving a successor (Seneca. Nat. quaest. VII 32, 2), the chain of direct succession of the schoolarchs A.P. is broken. Philo’s student Antiochus of Ascalon breaks with his teacher even during his life and founded his own school (Numenius. Frg. 28, 11-12 des Places: ἑτέρας ἄρξας ̓Ακαδημίας), calling it Ancient AP (Cic. Brut. 315; Luc. 70), to which he attributed Plato and his closest followers, contrasting it with the skepticism of Arcesilaus; in this double division of the history of A.P. he was followed by Cicero.
The triple division of A.P. is presented in the “List of Academicians” (XXI 37-42): The middle begins with Arcesilaus, the New - with Lacis (cf. Diog. L. I 14; I 19; IV 59; Suda, s. v. Λακύδης; aberration connected with the fact that Lacides began to teach in a new place called Lacidaion); however, a new meaningful stage in the development of A.P. begins with Carneades, whom Sextus Empiricus calls the founder of the New A.P. (Pyrrh. I 220; cf. Ps.-Gal. Hist. Phil. 3; Clem. Alex. Strom. I 14, 64, 1).
According to the same Sextus, the circle of Philo and Charmides constituted the 4th A.P. (Pyrrh. Hyp. I 220; cf. 235), which sought to emphasize the unity of A.P. (Cic. Acad. I 13), which made it possible to gradually transition to dogmatism. The school of Antiochus Sextus (Pyrrh. Hyp. I 220, cf. 235) calls the 5th A.P.
The brother of Antiochus of Ascalon Aristus is mentioned by Cicero in “Brutus” (332), written in 46 as the head (heres) of the Ancient A.P., but already in the fall of 45 he was probably not alive, because his son Cicero listened only to Aristus's student, the peripatetic Cratippus. Dr. a student of the Ancient Academy, Ariston of Alexandria, also moved to Peripata (Aristotle’s school, which received this name after Aristotle’s successor Theophrastus acquired a peripata, a covered gallery, for classes). According to Plutarch (Brut. 2, 3), Marcus Junius Brutus in Aug. 44 listened to Cratippus and the “academician Theomnestus” in Athens. This is the last philosopher who lived and taught in Athens, whom sources call an “academician”: there is no reason to consider him the successor of Aristus, although it cannot be said that he continued the tradition of the skeptical A.P., who probably turned to Pyrrhonism after Philo of Larissa.
With Arista, therefore, the history of the Ancient Academy founded by Antiochus of Ascalon ends, the very name of which was a clear indication of the return impulse of the philosophical thought of antiquity, which during the period of the so-called. Middle Platonism sought identity in increasing attention to the texts of the founder of the school and gradually led to the emergence of several. centers for the study and development of Plato's heritage outside Athens. And yet, when the Athenian Platonists in the IV-VI centuries. considered themselves “diadochi” of Plato and spoke of the “golden chain” of his adherents, this was not only a “sentimental construction” (Görler, p. 982), but also a statement of the only path along which ancient Platonism was able to bring the most an impressive result of the entire development of pagan thought and preserve its legacy for Byzantium, the Arabs and the West. Europe.
For Christians authors A.P. and academicians are primarily representatives of the skeptical period of the Platonic school, opposed to Plato: for example, St. Justin, repeatedly quoting Plato and showing that his teaching goes back to Moses (Admonition to the Hellenes, 20 ff.), does not in any way correlate him with A.P. And Tertullian in his famous question “What is Athens to Jerusalem? What is the Academy - the Church? (On Prescription against Heretics. 7) is referring specifically to the skeptical A.P., and not to the “philanthropic Plato” (To the Gentiles. II 3), who “from nature itself” knew about the immortality of the soul (On the resurrection of the flesh). Meanwhile, Christ. writers both in Greek and Latin. the story of A.P. was well known to tradition: Eusebius of Caesarea in the “Gospel Preparation” (XIV 4 ff.) reproduces in detail op. Numenia “On the divergence of the academicians from Plato.” blzh. Augustine, in his treatise “Against the Academicians,” also sets out in detail the history of A.P. (II 6. 13-15), relying on Cicero’s “Academicorum libri”; emphasizing the opposition between A.P. and Plato (III 17. 37-41), Augustine shows that academic and dialectical tricks were needed by Plato’s followers only in order to hide Plato’s profound teaching from the unenlightened crowd, which was inaccessible to him, and , in particular, to challenge the teachings of the materialist Zeno (cf.: Clem. Alex. Strom. II 21, 129, 9: the younger representatives of A.P. consider their goal to abstain from judgment against the fantastic ideas of the Platonists). This forced position led, according to Augustine, to disputes within A.P. itself, which ultimately came to naught, since “the face of Plato, the purest and brightest of those that exist in philosophy, shone, through the clouds of errors, especially brightly in Plotinus, the Platonist philosopher, who was found to be so similar to Plato that it seemed as if... one lived in the other” (Contra Acad. III 18.41). Thus, Augustine, in the 33rd year of his life, resolves within himself the disagreements between A.P. and its founder and, freeing himself from the temptation of academic skepticism, intends by faith never to deviate “from the authority of Christ,” and with his mind to rely on “the Platonists, whose views do not contradict our sacraments” (III 20.43).
Source: Filodemo. Storia dei filosofi. Platone e l "Academia (Pap. Herc. 1021 e 164) / Ed., trad. e comm. a cura di T. Dorandi. Napoli, 1991.
Lit.: Lynch J. P. Aristotle's School: A study of a Greek Educational Institution.Berkely, 1972; Glucker J. Antiochus and the Late Academy. Gött., 1978; Billot M.-F. Académic //Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques. P., 1989. 1. P. 693-789 (P. 780-787: Platon et l "École Académicienne à l "Académie); Dorandi T. Ricerche sulla cronologia dei filosofi ellenistici., 1991; . Basel, 1994. Bd. 4: Die Hellenistische Philosophie. S. 717-1168. Älterer Pyrrhonismus, Akademie, Antiochus aus Askalon.
Yu. A. Shichalin
Plato's school got its name from the fact that classes took place in the halls of a gymnasium in the vicinity of Athens, called the Academy (named after the Greek hero Academus). Near this gymnasium, Plato acquired a small plot of land where members of his school could gather and live. Access to the school was open to everyone.
Origins. While studying at the Academy, Plato combined the teachings of Socrates and the teachings of the Pythagoreans, whom he met during his first trip to Sicily. From Socrates he adopted the dialectical method, irony, and interest in ethical problems; from Pythagoras - inherited the ideal of the common life of philosophers and the idea of education with the help of symbols, based on mathematics, as well as the possibility of applying this science to the knowledge of nature.
Political orientation. Plato meant by politics not only the education of capable statesmen, but also simply noble and just people, because the duty of a philosopher is to act. And for such education, an intellectual and spiritual community was necessary, which was entrusted with the task of forming new people, no matter how long it took. The members of the Academy constituted a community of people free and equal, for they equally strived for virtue and for common research.
Convinced that a decent life can only be led in a perfect state, Plato creates for his students the conditions of an ideal state, so that for now - in the absence of the opportunity to govern any real state - they would govern themselves according to the norms of an ideal state.
“Justice preserves the state as much as it protects the human soul, therefore, since it is impossible to always maintain the correct state structure, it is necessary to build it within yourself.”
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Training at the Academy
In his dialogue “Symposium,” Plato gives an image of love as a desire for birth and the acquisition of immortality. And he speaks about the category of people who are fertile not in their body, but in their soul, and who give birth to their creations in art, science or legislation. However, such a birth requires a union of close souls. According to the philosopher L. Robin, “a fertile soul bears fruit only in communication with another soul in which it recognizes the necessary qualities; communication is unthinkable without the living word, without daily conversations that presuppose a common life organized for spiritual purposes... - in a word, without a philosophical school similar to the one that was conceived and created by Plato..."
In Plato's school, education was carried out within a community, a group, a close circle of friends, where sublime love reigned. The members of the Academy were divided into two groups: the older ones - scientists and teachers, and the younger ones - students, because, according to Plato, real philosophy can only exist in conditions of constant dialogue between teachers and students within the walls of the school.
A necessary element of the teaching system at the Academy was dialectics. But what it meant was not a technique of argument (as was common in the time of Plato), but a spiritual exercise that involved internal transformation. Genuine dialogue is possible only when speakers strive for dialogue. Dialogue teaches not to impose your opinion on another person, but to put yourself in the other person’s place and overcome the limitations of your own point of view. And, overcoming ourselves, gain the experience of striving for truth and Good. Thus, what was important was not so much the subject of the dispute as the very possibility of human transformation.
Philosophical way of life
The main goal of Plato's pedagogical activity was the formation of a harmoniously developed person - through everyday efforts and a philosophical lifestyle. Plato describes this way of life this way: you need to love virtue more than pleasures, give up sensual pleasures, observe, in particular, moderation in food, live every day in such a way as to have as much power over yourself as possible.
The Academy also practiced spiritual exercises, these include preparing for sleep, which Plato talks about when he talks about unconscious desires, about the terrible and wild impulses for violence that lurk in every person. In order not to have such dreams, you need to prepare yourself every time in the evening, going to bed, awakening the rational principle of the soul with the help of inner speech and reasoning about sublime objects and indulging in reflection. Plato advised little sleep: And whoever of us cares most about the rationality of life should stay awake as long as possible, while observing what is beneficial to his health. If this becomes a habit, then people's sleep will be short.
Another exercise is to remain calm in adversity and not become indignant; To do this, we should call for help maxims that can change our inner mood. Thus, we must explain to ourselves that the good and bad sides of these misfortunes are unknown to us, that grumbling will lead to nothing, that none of human affairs deserves to be taken especially seriously and we must, like when playing dice, accept things as they are, and act in accordance with what has befallen us.
Thus, the spiritual exercises practiced by the students of the Academy represented physical and spiritual asceticism: overcoming passions for the sake of purifying the mind and developing cognitive abilities.
The real birth of mathematics is associated with the Academy. Geometry and other mathematical sciences were of paramount importance in teaching. But they constituted only the first stage in the formation of the future philosopher. They also performed a kind of ethical function, since they made it possible to clear the mind of sensory ideas.
Plato's Academy was a brotherhood of people whose unity consisted in choosing a single way of life, a form of life given by the great teacher. The Academy will be famous among posterity both for the merits of its students and for the perfection of its organization. The memory of this philosophical school will be preserved throughout the subsequent history of philosophy, and Plato's Academy will become a role model for many other schools.
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It was not an official legal institution and was not tied to the state or church. Plato's Academy in Florence is a free community of free people, formed from different strata, having different professions, coming from different places, who are in love with Plato, Neoplatonism, Philosofia Perennis.
Spiritual representatives (bishops, canons), secular people, poets, painters, architects, republican rulers, and so-called businessmen of that era came here.
The Platonic Academy in Florence (photo below) acted as a kind of fraternity of versatile talented individuals who later became famous. These include: Cristoforo Landino, Angelo Poliziano, Michelangelo Buanarotti, Pico de la Mirandola, Lorenzo the Magnificent, Francesco Catania, Botticelli, etc.
So, in this article we will talk directly about the brotherhood of geniuses, which was called “Plato’s Academy in Florence” (the leader is Ficino).
Prerequisites for its creation
The impetus for revival has been brewing for quite some time. Despite the fact that the time boundaries of that era are considered to be the 12th - mid-17th centuries, its culmination, its apotheosis, still occurs in the 15th -16th centuries. The center was Italy, more precisely, Florence.
At this time she was in the very depths of European social and cultural life. It was there that people came from Germany to study art and science. In Paris, innovations from Florence attracted the attention of Sorbonne professors, who regarded them almost as a “new Gospel.”
The important role played by this city in the era under consideration was described by R. Marcel. He believed that it was worth recognizing the lack of conditions for this kind of revival elsewhere. It was Florence - as the center of humanism, a center of light - that was able to attract all the riches of the human spirit without exception. This was the place where the most precious manuscripts were collected, where one could meet outstanding scholars. In addition, he identified Florence with a gigantic artistic workshop, where everyone contributed their existing talent.
Thus, there are no questions left as to why it was the Platonic Academy in Florence, whose leader is Ficino, that showed the world unique geniuses whose works made an incomparable contribution to various areas of our life.
Athens of the West
Florence was named this way due to the fact that after the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks, cultural and spiritual riches flocked there. From a single “mystical stem,” a unique phenomenon appeared both in history and in Europe as a whole, called “Plato’s Academy in Florence.” Ficino, a Platonist philosopher, headed it. Another name for the academy is “Platonov’s family”; it had a short, but quite brilliant history of its existence. The famous rulers of Florence - and his grandson Lorenzo - significantly helped this.
A Brief History of "Plato's Family"
The Platonic Academy in Florence was founded in 1470 by the aforementioned Cosimo. The peak of prosperity occurs during the reign of his grandson, who serves as its member. Despite the short-lived heyday of the academy (10 years), it had a significant influence on the culture and thought of Europe. Plato's Academy in Florence inspired the most famous thinkers, artists, philosophers, scientists, politicians, and poets of its era. It was not just a meeting place for highly spiritual, talented and intelligent people. It is safe to say that the Platonic Academy in Florence is a brotherhood of like-minded people, the criterion for uniting which was dreams of something new, better world, a man, a future, so to speak, golden age, worthy of attempts at revival. Many call it philosophizing, and sometimes even a way of life. A specific state of consciousness, soul...
The Platonic Academy in Florence, whose ideological leader is Ficino, creates a new spiritual climate, thanks to which models (ideas) were developed and deployed, which are still recognized as the main ideas of the era. The wealth left by the “Platonov family” is colossal. Plato's Academy in Florence is the bearer of what is called the myth of the Renaissance. We can say that her story is the story of the Great Dream.
Platonic Academy in Florence: M. Ficino
He was a philosopher, a scientist, a theologian, and an outstanding thinker of the Renaissance, who had a significant influence on the evolution of philosophy in the 17th - 18th centuries.
Marsilio was born near Florence (10/19/1433). He studied Latin and Greek, medicine, and philosophy. Quite early on he showed interest in Plato (his school). The patronage of Cosimo de' Medici and his successors played a significant role in the fact that Ficino devoted himself entirely to scientific knowledge.
In 1462, he was recognized as the ideological leader of the Platonic Academy in Florence, and in 1473 he became a priest and held a number of high-ranking church posts. His life was interrupted in Careggi, near Florence (10/01/1499).
Honored works of Ficino
Marsilio owns incomparable translations into Latin of Plato and Plotinus. Their complete collections (published in 1484/1492) were widely in demand until the 18th century.
He also translated other Neoplatonists, such as Iamblichus, Porphyry, Proclus Diadochos, etc., treatises of the Hermetic Code. His outstanding commentaries on the works of Plato and Plotinus were also popular, and one of them (to Plato’s dialogue called “The Symposium”) became a source large number reasoning regarding love among thinkers, writers, poets of the Renaissance.
According to Marsilio, Plato regarded love as a spiritual relationship between so-called human beings, which is based on their original inner love for the Lord.
Plato's theology of the immortality of the soul
This is the most important philosophical work of Ficino (1469-74, 1st edition - 1482). It is a metaphysical treatise (sophisticated), where the teachings of Plato and his followers are presented in accordance with existing Christian theology. This work (a highly systematic work of Italian Platonism throughout the entire Renaissance) reduces the entire Universe to 5 fundamental principles, namely:
The main theme of the treatise is the immortality of the human soul. Ficino believed that the task of our soul is contemplation, which ends with the direct vision of God, however, due to the rare achievement of this goal within the Earth, its future life must be accepted as a postulate where it achieves its purpose.
Famous works of Ficino in the field of religion, medicine and astrology
Such a treatise as “The Book of the Christian Religion” (1474) gained wide popularity. Marsilio's correspondence is a rich source of historical and biographical information. Most of the letters are in fact philosophical treatises.
If we consider other works that are devoted to medicine and astrology, we can highlight “Three Books on Life” (1489). Marsilio Ficino is one of the leading thinkers of the emerging Renaissance, significant representatives of Renaissance Platonism.
Ficino's Perception of God
According to Erwin Panofsky, his system is somewhere in the middle between scholasticism (God as the transcendence of the finite Universe) and the latest pantheistic theories (God as the identity of the infinite world). Like Plotinus, he understands the Lord as the inexpressible One. His perception of God comes down to the fact that the Lord is uniform, diverse. It is reality, but not a primitive movement.
According to Ficino, God created our world by “thinking himself,” since within its framework, existing, thinking, desiring are all one. The Lord is not in the entire Universe, which has no boundaries and is therefore infinite. But God is at the same time in it due to the fact that he fills it, without being filled himself, since he is fullness itself. This is what Marsilio writes in one of his dialogues.
Ficino: the last years of his life
In 1480-90 Marsilio continues to study "pious philosophy." He translates into Latin and comments on Plotinus' Enneads (1484-90, published in 1492), Porphyrian works, as well as Iamblichus, the Areopagite, Proclus (1490-92), Psellus and others.
He has a strong interest in the field of astrology. In 1489, Ficino published a medical and astrological treatise entitled “On Life,” after which a conflict brewed with the highest clergy of the Catholic Church, more precisely, with Pope Innocent VIII. And only serious patronage saves Ficino from accusations of heresy.
Then, in 1492, Marsilio wrote a treatise entitled “On the Sun and Light,” which was published in 1493, and in next year completes interpretations of Plato's dialogues. The life of the leader of “Plato’s Family” ended while commenting on the work “Epistle to the Romans” (Apostle Paul).
Plato's Academy in Florence: Landino
He was a professor of rhetoric. Even in his youth, Cristoforo distinguished himself in a poetry competition (1441). Landino was Ficino's friend and advisor. Cristoforo is recognized as the first of the most famous commentators on Virgil, Dante, and Horace. He directly publishes the great Dante, thanks to him the world learns about another dream (concern) of the academy: to rehabilitate this poet, to do everything so that people recognize him as one of the incomparable poets, geniuses, who is worthy of veneration in the same way as Virgil, other creators of the ancient world.
Cristoforo records a number of conversations at Plato's Academy, which is why they have survived to our times.
Landino, with his outstanding treatises, makes an incomparable contribution to such a problem as “the relationship between active life and contemplative life” - the first of the main issues that were actively discussed by the philosophers of the Renaissance.
Finally, it is worth recalling that the article examined the outstanding community of like-minded people of the Renaissance, known as Plato's Academy in Florence (ideological leader - Marsilio Ficino).
