Religion and Identity in Porphyry of Tyre: The Limits of Hellenism in Late Antiquity

386 Pages·2013·3.71 MB·English

by  Aaron P. Johnson

more information - www.cambridge.org/9781107012738

RELIGION AND IDENTITY IN
PORPHYRY OF TYRE
Porphyry,anativeofPhoeniciaeducatedinAthensandRomeduring
thethirdcenturyad,wasoneofthemostimportantPlatonicphiloso-
phersofhisage.Inthisbook,ProfessorJohnsonrejectstheprevailing
modern approach to his thought, which has posited an early stage
dominatedby“Oriental”superstitionandirrationalityfollowedbya
secondrationalizingorHellenizingphaseconsequentuponhismove
WestandexposuretoNeoplatonism.Basedonacarefultreatmentof
alltherelevantremainsofPorphyry’soriginallyvastcorpus(muchof
whichnowsurvivesonlyinfragments),hearguesforacomplexunity
ofthoughtintermsofphilosophicaltranslation.Thebookexplores
thisphilosopher’scriticalengagementwiththeprocessesofHellenism
in late antiquity. It provides the first comprehensive examination of
all the strands of Porphyry’s thought that lie at the intersection of
religion,theology,ethnicity,andculture.
aaron p. johnsonisAssistantProfessorofHumanitiesandClas-
sicsatLeeUniversity,workingontheintellectualandculturalhistory
oflateantiquity.HeisalsotheauthorofEthnicityandArgumentin
Eusebius’PraeparatioEvangelica(2006).
greek culture in the roman world
Editors
susan e. alcock, BrownUniversity
jas´ elsner, CorpusChristiCollege,Oxford
simon goldhill, UniversityofCambridge
TheGreekcultureoftheRomanEmpireoffersarichfieldofstudy.Extraordinaryinsights
canbegainedintoprocessesofmulticulturalcontactandexchange,politicalandideological
conflict,andthecreativityofachanging,polyglotempire.Duringthisperiod,manyfun-
damentalelementsofWesternsocietywerebeingsetinplace:fromtheriseofChristianity,
toaninfluentialsystemofeducation,tolong-livedartisticcanons.Thisseriesisthefirst
to focus on the response of Greek culture to its Roman imperial setting as a significant
phenomenoninitsownright.Tothisend,itwillpublishoriginalandinnovativeresearch
intheart,archaeology,epigraphy,history,philosophy,religion,andliteratureoftheempire,
withanemphasisonGreekmaterial.
Recenttitlesintheseries:
GalenandtheWorldofKnowledge
EditedbyChristopherGill,TimWhitmarsh,andJohnWilkins
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EditedbyTimWhitmarsh
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Greco-RomanandEarlyChristianCulture
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TheSocialWorldofIntellectualsintheRomanEmpire:Sophists,Philosophers,andChristians
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RELIGION AND IDENTITY
IN PORPHYRY OF TYRE
The Limits of Hellenism in Late Antiquity
AARON P. JOHNSON
cambridge university press
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Johnson,AaronP.
ReligionandidentityinPorphyryofTyre:thelimitsofHellenisminlateantiquity/
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Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
isbn978-1-107-01273-8
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Contents
Acknowledgments pageviii
Noteonabbreviations ix
1 AtthelimitsofHellenism:anintroduction 1
part i a world full of gods: porphyry
the theologian
2 Porphyry’staxonomyofthedivine 53
3 Salvation,translation,andthelimitsofcult 102
4 Themasterreader:contextsoftranslation 146
part ii a world full of nations: porphyry the
ethnographer
5 Knowledgeandnations:Porphyry’sethnicargumentation 189
6 EthnicparticularismandthelimitsofHellenism 222
7 Thewayhome:transcendingparticularism 258
Epilogue:translationafterPorphyry 300
Appendix1:Annotatedtableofselectfragments 307
Appendix2:Translationofselectfragments 331
Workscited 347
Index 372
vii
Acknowledgments
Porphyrymademanyenemiesinantiquity;Ihavebeenfortunatetohave
metmanyfriendswhileworkingonPorphyry.Thisbookandtheresearch
onwhichitrestshavebeensustainedbythekindnessandencouragement
of colleagues, students, and friends. For a myriad of stimulating conver-
sations, criticisms, and advice I am grateful to Chris Faraone, Sebastien
Morlet, Margaret Mitchell, Noel Lenski, Scott Johnson, Jack Tannous,
JosephMiller,JanghoJo,JohnGrangerCook,ArianeMagny,KateCooper,
JaredWielfaert,andGillianClark.HeidiMarx-Wolf,ToddKrulak,Aude
Busine, Ilinca Tanaseanu-Do¨bler, and Isha Gamlath kindly provided me
with prepublication versions of their own research. Heidi Johnson, Guy
Stroumsa,HeidiMarx-Wolf,ToddKrulak,andJohnDillonreadportions
of this book and gave much useful insight on improving its shortcom-
ings. Of the series editors, Ja´s Elsner gave particularly pointed advice on
improvingseverallinesofargument.Myassistant,MelissaPhillips,greatly
helpedintheformattingofthemanuscript.Overthepastsixyearsvarious
aspectsofmyworkonPorphyrywerepushedandredirectedbyaudiences
at: Duke’s Center for Late Antique Studies; two separate meetings of the
Shifting Frontiers in Late Antiquity conferences at Boulder and Bloom-
ington; the Late Antiquity in Illinois conference at Urbana-Champaign;
multiple workshops at the University of Chicago; the Models of Piety in
LateAntiquitygroupatthe2008SBL;WashingtonUniversity;University
ofParis–Sorbonne;St.DeiniolsLibrary,Hawarden(undertheauspicesof
ManchesterCentrefortheStudyofLateAntiquity).Ihavebeenfortunate
toreceivethefinancialsupportoftheSocietyofFellowsattheUniversity
of Chicago (which provided an excellent context to write the bulk of the
presentbook);theNationalEndowmentfortheHumanities;andLeeUni-
versityFacultyResearchGrant.Thepositionstakenandanyshortcomings
inthefollowingpagesremainmyown.Finally,Imustthankmyfamilyfor
goodhumor,persistentlypretendingtobeinterested,andforcingnecessary
diversions.Iscarcelydeservetheloveandcommitmenttheyhaveshown.
viii