Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/513

Rh PORPHYRIUS. Graee. vol, v. p. 748, &c), has compiled a list of about 250 authors quoted by him in those portions of his writings which we still possess. A great degree of critical and philosophical acumen was not to be expected in one so ardently attached to the enthusiastic and somewhat fanatical system of Plotinus. His attempt to prove the identity of the Platonic and Aristotelic systems would alone be sufficient to show this. Nevertheless, his acquaintance with the authors whom he quotes was manifestly far from superficial ; but his judg- ment in using the stores of learning which he possessed was but small. Cyril (Adv. Jul. vi. init.) quotes a passage from his history of philosophers, from which it appears that his account of Socrates was a mere farrago of the most absurd and calum- nious stories respecting that philosopher. Indeed, his object would seem to have been to magnify Pythagoras at the expense of every other philo- sopher. Though far less confused and unintelli- gible than Plotinus, his statements of his own metaphysical views are often far from comprehen- sible. (See especially his Upos to j/OTjra dcpopfiai.) Of the very numerous writings of Porphyrius the following are extant: — 1. Hvdayopou filos ; supposed by many to be a fragment of his larger history of philosophers. 2. Tlfpl UAwTiuuv fiiov Koi T7JS rdleus twv fii§iciov avrov. [Plotinus]. 3. Ilefii diToxvs t£v e/x|/uxw, in four books, dedi- cated to his friend and fellow-disciple Firmus Castricius. 4. Fragments of his epistle Upos work are made by Eusebius in his Fraeparatio EvangeMca. 5. Upos to. uo-nrci dcpopfiai. 6. 'Ofxr]- piHo, f'rjTij/xoTa, addressed to Anatolius. 7. Ilepi rou iv 'OSvaaeia tc3v 'NviJ.cpwu dvrpov, a fanciful allegorical interpretation of the description of the cave of the nymphs in the Odyssey, showing both the ingenuity and the recklessness with which Por- phyrius and other writers of his stamp pressed writers and authorities of all kinds into their ser- vice, as holders of the doctrines of their school. 8. A fragment from a treatise U.ep Sruyds, pre- served by Stobaeus. 9. ££0-070)77), or Ile^i rwv Trevre (pwvwu, addressed to Chrysaorius, and written by Porphyrius while in Sicily. It is commonly prefixed to the Organon of Aristotle. 10. A Com- mentary on the Categories of Aristotle, in questions and answers. 11. Some fragments of a Commen- tary on Aristotle's books Ilepl (pucriKrjs aKpodcrecas. 12. A Commentary on the Harmonica of Ptole- maeus, leaving oft* at the seventh chapter of the second book. 13. Uepl tvpoacfSias (see Villoison, Anecd. Graeca.^ vol. ii. p. 103 — 118). 14. Scholia on the Iliad, preserved at Leyden, among the books and papers of Is. Vossius. A portion of them was published by Valckenaer, in an appendix to Ursi- nus's Virgil, with a copious account of the scholia generally. Other scholia on the Iliad, preserved in the Vatican library, were published by Villoison {Anecd. Gr. ii. p. 266, &c.), and in his edition of the Iliad. 15. Portions of a Commentary, appa- rently on the Ethics of Aristotle, and of one on the Organon. 16. Two books on the philosophy of Plato were affirmed to be extant by Gesner. 1 7. An epistle to his wife Marcella, This piece was discovered by Angelo Mai, in the Ambrosian library, and published at Milan, in 1816. The letter is not quite complete, as the end of the MS. is mu- tilated. The contents of it are of a general pliilo- sophical character, designed to incite to the practice PORPHYRIUS. 501 of virtue and self-restraint, and the study of philo- soph}'. The sentiments are a little obscure here and there, but many of the maxims and remarks exhibit great wisdom, and a considerable depth of very pure religious feeling. He considers sorrow to be a more wholesome discipline for the mind than pleasures (c. 7). With great energy and some eloquence he urges the cultivation of the soul and the practice of virtue, in preference to attention to the body. His views of the Deit}^, of his operations, and the right mode of contemplating and worsliip- ping him, are of a very exalted kind, some remind- ing the reader strongly of passages in the Scriptures. The laws under which man is placed he distin- guishes into natural, civil, and divine, and marks out their respective provinces with considerable beauty and clearness. 18. A poetical fragment, from the tenth book of a work entitled Yl^p ttjs e/c Ko'y[(jiv (piXocrocpias, is published at the end of the preceding work. 19. An introduction to the Tetrabiblos of Ptolemaeus is also attributed by some to Porphyrius, by others to Antiochus. The enho/jLos Sn]yr]ais els rds iiaG" 'Ojxi/ipov irXdvas TOV 'OSvo-o-ecDS, the production of Nicephorus Gregoras, has also been attributed by some to Porphyrius. Besides these we have mention of the following lost works of Porphyrius : — 20. Hept dyakadTwv (Euseb. Praep. Ev. iii. 7 ; Stob. Eel Fhys. i. 25). 21. TlepX dvdhov ^vxn^ (August, de Civ. Dei, x. 910, &c.). 22. Ileplrov filav elvai tt)!/ HKdTcopo^ Koi 'ApiaroTeAovs dipecriv. (Siiid. s. v. Uop(p.) 23. A commentary on Aristotle's treatise Uefl epixit]vdas. (Boethius, in loc. ii.). 24. Tlpds 'ApKTTOTeKrjv, irepl tov ilvai ttjj/ ^vxW et'TeAe- Xetcij/ (Suid.). 25. 'Eipfiyqcns tuv KaTrjyopiwv, dedicated to Gedalius. (Eustath. ad II. iii. p. 293.) 26. Ilepl dpx^i^. (Suid.) 27. Hep! dawixdrwv. (Suid.) 28. Tlepl tov yvwdi aeavTov. (Suid.) 29. TpafifxaTiKol diropiat. (Suid.) 30. A reply to the Apology for Alcibiades in the Symposium of Plato, by Diophanes (Porph. Vit. Plot. 15). 31. 'EinypdiJ.fx,aTa. (Eustath.) 32. Ilept rov t(^' 77/x?j', dedicated to Chrysaorius. (Stob. Ed.) 33. A treatise against a spurious work attributed to Zoroaster (Porph. Vit. Plot. 16). 34. Uepl Seiwj/ dvofxdrwv. (Suid.) 35. Ets to QeocppdaTov Trepl KaTucpdaeoos Kal diT0(pda-€ws. (Boethius in Arist. de Interpr.) 36. Eis t6 &ovkvUSov irpo- oijLLLOu^irpos 'Api(TT€l87}U' (Suid.) 37. Uepl ISewu, irpos Aoyylvov. (Porph. Vit. Plot. 20.) 38. 'O Upos ydfxos, a poem composed for the birth-day of Plato. (Ibid. 15.) 39. Els ttJj/ tov 'lov~ Xiavov XaXSaiov (piXoaScpov IffTopiav. (Suid.) 40. Els TTiv yiivovKiavov Tix^w. (Suid.) 41. 'O TTpos 'HfiixepTiov x6yos. (Cyrill. c. Julian, iii. p. 79, &c.) It appears to have been a treatise on the providence ot God. 42. "Oti e|w tow vov v<p4(TTr)K€ TO v6r]ixa. (Porph. Vit. Plot. 18.) 43. TLtpl ttjs 'Ofj-vpov (piKoffocpias. (Suid.) 44. Uepi ttjs €| 'Ofxripov u(pe€ias tcSu ^aaiXewy, in ten books, (Suid.) 45. Hepl irapaAeKeiiu.fxevcov T(f iroirjTfi dvofidToov. This and the two preceding were, pro- bably, only parts of a larger work. 46. HepX twv KUTa nivSapov tov NeiAou Trrjywv. (Suid.) 47. Commentaries on sceral of the works of Plotinus. (Eunap. Vit. Porph.) 48. Els tov So^iVttjj/ toO UAaTwvos. (Boethius, de Divis. Praef. ) 49. St^M- fxiKTa ^TjTTjyuaTo, in seven books. (Suid.) 50. Td els TOV Ttp-aiov vnopivififxaTa^ a commentary on the Tiraaeus of Plato. (Macrob. in Somn. Scip. ii. 3 ; K K 3
 * Kve€Q Tov AlyinTiov. Large quotations from this