Orpheus and the Roots of Platonism - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Orpheus and the Roots of Platonism write by Algis Uždavinys. This book was released on 2011. Orpheus and the Roots of Platonism available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. A book on the religious, mystic origins and substance of philosophy. This is a critical survey of ancient and modern sources and of scholarly works dealing with Orpheus and everything related to this major figure of ancient Greek myth, religion and philosophy. Here poetic madness meets religious initiation and Platonic philosophy. This book contains fascinating insights into the usually downplaid relations between Egyptian initiation, Greek mysteries and Plato's philosophy and followers, right into Hellenistic Neoplatonic and Hermetic developments.
Redefining Ancient Orphism
Redefining Ancient Orphism - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Redefining Ancient Orphism write by Radcliffe G. Edmonds III. This book was released on 2013-11-07. Redefining Ancient Orphism available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. In a paradigm shift, this book redefines Orphism as a polemical label for extra-ordinary religion, good or bad.
Orpheus and Greek Religion
Orpheus and Greek Religion - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Orpheus and Greek Religion write by William Keith Guthrie. This book was released on 1993-10-10. Orpheus and Greek Religion available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. The tales told of Orpheus are legion. He is said to have been an Argonaut--and to have saved Jason's life. Rivers are reported to have stopped their flow to listen to the sounds of his lyre and his voice. Plato cites his poetry and Herodotus refers to "practices that are called Orphic." Did Orpheus, in fact, exist? His influence on Greek thought is undeniable, but his disciples left little of substance behind them. Indeed, their Orphic precepts have been lost to time. W.K.C. Guthrie attempts to uncover and define Orphism by following its circuitous path through ancient history. He tackles this daunting task with the determination of a detective and the analytical rigor of a classical scholar. He ferries his readers with him on a singular voyage of discovery.
Plotinus: Road to Reality
Plotinus: Road to Reality - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Plotinus: Road to Reality write by John M. Rist. This book was released on 1967. Plotinus: Road to Reality available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. This 1967 study begins with a brief biography of Plotinus, and goes on to discuss Plotinus' concept of the one, the logos and free will.
Philosophy and Theurgy in Late Antiquity
Philosophy and Theurgy in Late Antiquity - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Philosophy and Theurgy in Late Antiquity write by Algis Uždavinys. This book was released on 2010. Philosophy and Theurgy in Late Antiquity available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. The ancient philosophy, in its original Orphico-Pythagorean and Platonic form, is not simply a way of life in accordance with the divine or human intellect (nous), but also the way of alchemical transformation and mystical illumination achieved through initiatic 'death' and subsequent restoration at the level of divine light. To use another mythical image, philosophy restores the soul's wings and leads the purified lover of wisdom to Heaven. As a means of spiritual reintegration and unification, ancient philosophy is inseparable from the hieratic rites. Therefore those scholars who themselves follow the anagogic path of Platonic tradition are more or less firmly convinced that their philosophy ultimately derives from the Egyptian and Mesopotamian temple liturgies and rituals, reinterpreted and revived by the Neoplatonists under the name of 'theurgy' in late antiquity. The theurgic 'animation' of statues appears to be among the main keys for understanding how various royal and priestly practices, related to the daily ritual service and encounter with the divine presence in the temples, developed into the Neoplatonic mysticism of late antiquity. The traditional theory of symbolism still stands on the Neoplatonic foundation established by Iamblichus, Proclus, and Damascius. "This book clearly establishes three things: that traditional myth (as the Neoplatonists maintained) is the symbolic expression of metaphysics, as metaphysics is the exegesis of myth; that Greek philosophy was not an isolated 'miracle' but a reinterpretation of perennial themes common to the ancient Near Eastern, Mesopotamian, Indian, and especially Egyptian religions; and that Platonic philosophical discourse was but one-half of a whole which included an invocatory/contemplative practice known as 'theurgy'. It was not merely the ancestor of western speculative philosophy, but an askesis, a yoga-a way of realization (though no longer a living tradition) worthy to be included among the great spiritual methods of all places and times." Charles Uupton, author of Knowings "In this most stimulating and wide-ranging work, Algis Uzdavinys, drawing on the resources of his enormous learning, leads Neoplatonic theurgy back to its roots in Ancient Egypt, thereby setting Platonic philosophy in a new and wider context. Students of Neoplatonism will find themselves much indebted to him for this, and all readers will find their outlook on life significantly changed.- Prof. John M. Dillon, Trinity College, Dublin, author of Middle Platonists
