Cambridge University Press

978-0-521-19849-3 - Interpreting Proclus: From Antiquity to the Renaissance

Edited by Stephen Gersh
Frontmatter
More information

I N T E R P R E T I N G P RO C LU S

This is the first book to provide an account of the influence of Proclus,

a member of the Athenian Neoplatonic School, during more than
one thousand years of European history (c. 5001600). Proclus was
the most important philosopher of late antiquity, a dominant (albeit
controversial) voice in Byzantine thought, the second most influential
Greek philosopher in the later western Middle Ages (after Aristotle),
and a major figure (together with Plotinus) in the revival of Greek
philosophy in the Renaissance. Proclus was also intensively studied
in the Islamic world of the Middle Ages and was a major influence
on the thought of medieval Georgia. The volume begins with a substantial essay by the editor summarizing the entire history of Proclus
reception. This is followed by chapters by more than a dozen of the
worlds leading authorities in the various specific areas covered.
s t e p h e n g e r s h is Professor of Medieval Studies and Concurrent
Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. Specializing
in the Platonic tradition, he is the author of numerous monographs on
ancient, medieval, and modern philosophy of which the most recent
are Reading Plato Tracing Plato (2005); Neoplatonism after Derrida:
Parallelograms (2006); and Being Different: More Neoplatonism after
Derrida (2014). He has edited, among other books, Medieval and
Renaissance Humanism: Realism, Representation, and Reform (with Bert
Roest, 2003); and Eriugena, Berkeley, and the Idealist Tradition (with
Dermot Moran, 2006).

in this web service Cambridge University Press

www.cambridge.org

Cambridge University Press

978-0-521-19849-3 - Interpreting Proclus: From Antiquity to the Renaissance
Edited by Stephen Gersh
Frontmatter
More information

in this web service Cambridge University Press

www.cambridge.org

Cambridge University Press

978-0-521-19849-3 - Interpreting Proclus: From Antiquity to the Renaissance
Edited by Stephen Gersh
Frontmatter
More information

I N T ERPRETI N G PROCLU S
From Antiquity to the Renaissance

edited by
STEPHEN GERSH

in this web service Cambridge University Press

www.cambridge.org

Cambridge University Press

978-0-521-19849-3 - Interpreting Proclus: From Antiquity to the Renaissance
Edited by Stephen Gersh
Frontmatter
More information

University Printing House, Cambridge cb2 8bs, United Kingdom

Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge.
It furthers the Universitys mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of
education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence.
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521198493
Cambridge University Press 2014
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without the written
permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 2014
Printed in the United Kingdom by Clays, St Ives plc
A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data
Interpreting Proclus : from antiquity to the renaissance / edited by Stephen Gersh.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-521-19849-3 (hardback)
1. Proclus, approximately 410485. I. Gersh, Stephen.
b701.z7i58 2014
186 .4 dc23
2014009559
isbn 978-0-521-19849-3 Hardback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of
urls for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication,
and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain,
accurate or appropriate.

in this web service Cambridge University Press

www.cambridge.org

Cambridge University Press

978-0-521-19849-3 - Interpreting Proclus: From Antiquity to the Renaissance
Edited by Stephen Gersh
Frontmatter
More information

Contents

List of contributors
Note on editions and translations of Proclus works
One thousand years of Proclus: an introduction to his reception

page vii
viii
1

Stephen Gersh

31

part i proclus
1 Proclus life, works, and education of the soul

33

Lucas Siorvanes

2 Proclus as exegete

57

Anne Sheppard

3 Proclus as theologian

80

Stephen Gersh

part ii the influence of proclus

109

ii.1 Late antiquity

4 Dionysius the Areopagite

111

John M. Dillon

Excursus 4a Damascius and Boethius

125

Stephen Gersh

ii.2 Medieval Islamic philosophy

5 The Liber de causis

137

Cristina DAncona

in this web service Cambridge University Press

www.cambridge.org

Cambridge University Press

978-0-521-19849-3 - Interpreting Proclus: From Antiquity to the Renaissance
Edited by Stephen Gersh
Frontmatter
More information

vi

Contents
ii.3 Medieval Byzantine philosophy

6 Michael Psellos

165

Dominic J. OMeara

7 Eleventh- to twelfth-century Byzantium

182

Michele Trizio

Excursus 7a George Gemistos Plethon

216

Stephen Gersh

ii.4 Medieval Georgian philosophy

8 Ioane Petritsi

229

Lela Alexidze

ii.5 Medieval Western philosophy

9 William of Moerbeke, translator of Proclus

247

Carlos Steel

10 The University of Paris in the thirteenth century

264

Pasquale Porro

11 Dietrich of Freiberg and Berthold of Moosburg

299

Markus Fuhrer and Stephen Gersh

12 Nicholas of Cusa

318

Stephen Gersh

ii.6 The Renaissance

13 Marsilio Ficino

353

Michael J. B. Allen

14 Francesco Patrizi

380

Thomas Leinkauf

Index of names
Index of subjects

in this web service Cambridge University Press

403
407

www.cambridge.org

Cambridge University Press

978-0-521-19849-3 - Interpreting Proclus: From Antiquity to the Renaissance
Edited by Stephen Gersh
Frontmatter
More information

Contributors

lela alexidze, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Georgia

michael j. b. allen, University of California, Los Angeles
cristina dancona, Universit`a degli Studi di Pisa
john m. dillon, Trinity College Dublin
markus f u hrer, Augsburg College
stephen gersh, University of Notre Dame
thomas leinkauf, Westfalische Wilhelms-Universitat Munster
dominic j. omeara, University of Fribourg
pasquale porro, Universite de Paris-Sorbonne
anne sheppard, Royal Holloway, University of London
lucas siorvanes, Kings College London
carlos steel, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
michele trizio, Universit`a degli Studi di Bari

vii

in this web service Cambridge University Press

www.cambridge.org

Cambridge University Press

978-0-521-19849-3 - Interpreting Proclus: From Antiquity to the Renaissance
Edited by Stephen Gersh
Frontmatter
More information

Note on editions and translations of Proclus works

In this volume, the writings of Proclus are cited according to the editions
and using the abbreviations noted in the following list. This list also notes
the English translations that are currently available. Items marked with an
asterisk * include translations into French.
De aeternitate mundi, fragments in Philoponus, De aeternitate mundi contra
Proclum, edited by H. Rabe, Leipzig 1899.
On the Eternity of the World, introduction, translation, and commentary by
H. S. Lang and A. D. Macro, Berkeley and Los Angeles 2001.
De arte sacrificali, in Catalogue des manuscrits alchimiques grecs, vol. vi, edited by
J. Bidez, Brussels 1928 (= De arte sacr.).
On the Priestly Art according to the Greeks, translated by B. Copenhaver, in
I. Merkel and A. G. Debus (eds.), Hermeticism and the Renaissance, Intellectual
History and the Occult in Early Modern Europe, Washington, DC and London
1988, 103105.
De philosophia chaldaica (Eclogae) in *Oracles chaldaques, avec un choix de com des Places, Paris 1971, 205212 (= De phil.
mentaires anciens, edited by E.
chald.).
Elementatio theologica, The Elements of Theology, A Revised Text with Translation,
Introduction, and Commentary, edited by E. R. Dodds, Oxford 1933; second
edition, Oxford 1963 (= El. theol.).
Hymni, edited by E. Vogt, Wiesbaden 1957 (= Hymn.).
Translated by R. M. van den Berg, in Proclus Hymns, Essays, Translations,
Commentary, Leiden 2001.
*In primum Alcibiadem, edited by A.-Ph. Segonds, 2 vols., Paris 19851986 (= In
Alc.).
Proclus, Alcibiades I, translation and commentary by W. ONeill, The Hague
1965.
In Platonis Cratylum commentaria, edited by G. Pasquali, Leipzig 1908 (= In
Crat.).
On Platos Cratylus, translated by B. M. Duvick, Ithaca, NY 2007.
In primum Euclidis Elementorum librum commentarii, edited by G. Friedlein,
Leipzig 1873 (= In Eucl.).
viii

in this web service Cambridge University Press

www.cambridge.org

Cambridge University Press

978-0-521-19849-3 - Interpreting Proclus: From Antiquity to the Renaissance
Edited by Stephen Gersh
Frontmatter
More information

Editions and translations of Proclus works

ix

A Commentary on the First Book of Euclids Elements, translation, introduction,

and notes by G. R. Morrow, Princeton 1970.
In Platonis Parmenidem commentaria, edited by C. Steel, 3 vols., Oxford 2007
2009 (= In Parm.).
*Commentaire sur le Parmenide de Platon, edited by C. Luna and A.-Ph. Segonds,
Paris 2007.
Commentaire sur le Parmenide de Platon, traduction de Guillaume de Moerbeke,
edited by C. Steel, 2 vols., Leuven and Leiden 19821985.
Commentary on Platos Parmenides, translation, introduction, and notes by
G. R. Morrow and J. M. Dillon, Princeton 1987.
In Platonis Rem Publicam commentarii, edited by W. Kroll, 2 vols., Leipzig 1899
1901 (= In Remp.).
In Platonis Timaeum commentaria, edited by E. Diehl, 3 vols., Leipzig 19031906
(= In Tim.).
Commentary on Platos Timaeus, translated by D. Baltzly, H. Tarrant, D. T.
Runia, and M. Share, Cambridge 2007
*Theologia Platonica, Theologie platonicienne, edited by H.-D. Saffrey and L. G.
Westerink, 6 vols., Paris 19681997 (= Theol. Plat.).
Translated by T. Taylor, London 1816. Reprinted Kew Gardens, NY 1985.
Tria opuscula:
*Decem dubitationes circa providentiam, Dix probl`emes concernant la providence, in

Trois Etudes
sur la Providence, vol. i, edited by D. Isaac, Paris 1977 (= De
dec. dub.).
Ten Doubts concerning Providence and a Solution of Those Doubts; and On the
Subsistence of Evil, translated by T. Taylor, London 1833. Reprinted Chicago
1980.

*De malorum subsistentia, De lexistence du mal, in Trois Etudes,

vol. iii, edited by
D. Isaac, Paris 1982 (= De mal. sub.).
On the Existence of Evils, translated by J. Opsomer and C. Steel, Ithaca, NY
2003.

*De providentia et fato, Providence, fatalite, liberte, in Trois Etudes,

vol. ii, edited
by D. Isaac, Paris 1979 (= De prov.).
On Providence, translated by C. Steel, Ithaca, NY 2007.

in this web service Cambridge University Press

www.cambridge.org