Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/563

Rh TAMBLICHUS. was educated at Babylon, and did not become ac- quainted with the Greek language till a late period of his life. After having lived at Babylon for a number of years, he was taken prisoner and sold as a slave to a Syrian, who, however, appears lo have set him free again. He is said to have acquired such a perfect knowledge of Greek, that he even distinguished himself as a rhetorician. (Suidas, s. V. 'idfJieAixos ; Schol. ad Phot. Bill Cod. 94, p. 73, ed. Bekker.) He was the author of a love story in Greek, which, if not the earliest, was at least one of the first productions of this kind in Greek literature. It bore the title BaSvXwviKoi, and contained the story of two lovers, Sinonis and Rhodanes. According to Suidas, it consisted of 39 books; but Photius {Bihl. Cod. 94), who gives a tolerably full epitome of the work, mentions only 17. (Comp. Phot. Bitt. Cod. 166; Suid. s. vv. ydpfios, (pdcr/xa.) A perfect copy of the work in MS. existed down, to the year 1671, when it was destroyed by fire. A few fragments of the original work are still extant, and a new one of some length has recently been discovered by A. Mai. {Nov. Collect. Script. Vet. vol. ii. p. 349, &c.) The epitome of Photius and the fragments are collected in Chardon de la Rochette's Melanges de Critiqiie et de Philologie, pp. 1(5, &c., 34, &c., 53, &c., and in Passow's Corpus Erotic, vol. i. ; comp. Fabric. Bibl. Grace, vol. viii. p. 1.52, &c. ; Vossius, De Hist. Graec. p, 275, ed. Westermann. 2. A celebrated Neo- Platonic philosopher, was born at Chalcis in Coele-Syria, and was perhaps a descendant of No. 1. He was a pupil of Anatolius and Porphyrins. Respecting his life we know very little beyond the fact that he resided in Syria till his death, making every year an excursion to the hot springs of Gadara. He died in the reign of Constantino the Great, and probably before A. D. 333. (Suidas, s,w. "'lafx^Kixos Eunapius, /rt77;W«(A.) He had studied with great zeal the philosophy of Plato and Pythagoras, and was also acquainted with the theology and philosophy of the Chaldaeans and Egyptians. The admiration which he enjoyed among his contemporaries was so great that they declared him to be equal to Plato himself, and that the difference of time was the only one existing between them. (Julian, Orat. iv. p. 146, Epist. 40.) We cannot join in this admiration, for al- though he pretended to be a follower of Plato, his Platonism was so much mixed up with notions and doctrines derived from the East, and with those of other Greek philosophers, especially Pythagoras, that it may justly be termed a syncretic philosophy. By means of this philosophy, which was further combined with a great deal of the superstition of the time, he endeavoured to oppose and check the progress of Christianit3 He did not acquiesce in the doctrines of the earlier New Platonists, Por- phyrins and Plotinus, who regarded the perception and comprehension of the Deity, by means of ecsta- sies, as the object of all philosophy ; but his opinion was that man could be brought into direct commu- nion with the Deity through the medium oi theurgic rites and ceremonies, whence he attached parti- cular importance to mysteries, initiations, and the like. lamblichus was the author of a considerable number of works, of which a few only have come down to us. The most important among them arc : 1 . Ilept TiuQaySpov alpeaeus, on the philosophy of Pythagoras. It was intended as a preparation for TAMBLICHUS. 549 the stud}' of Plato, and consisted originally often books, of which five only are extant. The first of them, entitled Hepl rod TIvdayopiKov ^iov, contains a detailed account of the life of Pythagoras and his school, but is an uncritical compilation from earlier works ; as howeverthese works are lost, thecompila- tion of lamblichus is not without its peculiar value to us. This life of Pythagoras Avas first edited by J. Arcerius Theodoretus in Greek and Latin, Franeker, 1598, 4to. The most recent and best editions are those of L. Kuster (Amsterdam, 1707, 4to.) and Th. Kiessling (Leipzig, 1815, 2 vols. 8vo,) The second book, entitled UpoTpeirnKol Koyoi els (piAococpiav, forms a sort of introduction to the study of Plato, and is, like the former, for the most part compiled from the works of earlier writers, and almost without any plan or system. The last chapter contains an explanation of 39 Pythagorean symbols. The first edition is that of Arcerius Theodoretus, and the best that of Th. Kiessling, Leipzig, 1813, 8vo. The third book is entitled Hepl kolv^s iJLa67]/jLaTiici]s ewiaTriiJ.r)s, and contains many fragments of the works of early Pythagoreans, especially Philolaus and Archytas. It exists in MS. in various libraries, but for a long time only fragments were published, until at length Villoison in his Anecdota Graeca (vol.ii. p., 188, &c.) printed the whole of it, after which it was edited separately by J. G. Fries, Copenhagen, 1790, 4to. The fourth book, entitled Tlepl rrjs l<i iKofiaxov dpiOfirfTiKris ela-ayuyris, was first edited by San?. Tennulius, Deventer and Arnheim, 1668, 4to The fifth and sixth books, which treated on phj'sics and ethics, are lost ; but the seventh, entitled Tot ^eoXoyovjXiva rrjs dpLOixrjTitcrjs, is still extant, and has been published by Ch. Wechel (Paris, 1543, 4to) and Fr. Ast (Leipzig, 1817, 8vo.). With regard to the other books of this work, we know that the eighth contained an introduction to music (Iambi. Vit. Fijtlu 120, ad Nicom. Arithm. pp. 73, 77, 172, 176), the ninth an introduction to geo- metry {ad Nicom. Arithm. pp. 141, 176), and the tenth the spheric theory of Pythagoras {ad Nicom. Arithm. p. 176). 2. Tlepl i^ivaTrjpiocv, in one book. An Egyptian priest of the name of Abammon is there introduced as replying to a letter of Porphyrins. [Porphy- Rius.] He endeavours to refute various doubts respecting the truth and purity of the Egyptian religion and worship, and to prove the divine origin of the Egyptian and Chaldaean theology, as well as that men, through theurgic rites, may com- mune with the Deity. Many critics have endea- voured to show that this work is not a production of lamblichus, while Tennemann and others have vindicated its authenticity; and there are ap- parently no good reasons why the authorship should be denied to lamblichus. The work has been edited by Ficnius (Venice, 1483, 4to, with a Lat. translation), N. Scutelliu8(Rome, 1556, 4to.), and Th. Gale (Oxford, 1678, fol., with a Lat. transla- tion). Besides these works, we have mention of one, Ufpl xl/vxvs, of which a fragment is preserved in Stobaeus {Flor. tit. 25, 6), Epistles, seVeral of which are quoted by Stobaeus, on the gods and other works, among which we may notice a great one, Uepl rijs reXeiordTr]s XoAKiSat/cTjs (piAo(TO(piaSy of which some fragments are preserved by Damas- cius in his work, Ilepl dpxoSv. lamblichus further wrote commentaries on some of Plato's dialogues^ viz., on the Parmenides, Timaeus and Phaedon, N N 3