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A Reading of Porphyry's on Abstinence From UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Justice Purity Piety: A Reading of Porphyry’s On Abstinence from Ensouled Beings A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Classics by Alexander Press 2020 © Copyright by Alexander Press 2020 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Justice Purity Piety: A Reading of Porphyry’s On Abstinence from Ensouled Beings by Alexander Press Doctor of Philosophy in Classics University of California, Los Angeles, 2020 Professor David Blank, Chair Abstract: Presenting a range of arguments against meat-eating, many strikingly familiar, Porphyry’s On Abstinence from Ensouled Beings (Greek Περὶ ἀποχῆς ἐµψύχων, Latin De abstinentia ab esu animalium) offers a sweeping view of the ancient debate concerning animals and their treatment. At the same time, because of its advocacy of an asceticism informed by its author’s Neoplatonism, Abstinence is often taken to be concerned primarily with the health of the human soul. By approaching Abstinence as a work of moral suasion and a work of literature, whose intra- and intertextual resonances yield something more than a collection of propositions or an invitation to Quellenforschung, I aim to push beyond interpretations that bracket the arguments regarding animals as merely dialectical; cast the text’s other-directed principle of justice as wholly ii subordinated to a self-directed principle of purity; or accept as decisive Porphyry’s exclusion of craftsmen, athletes, soldiers, sailors, and orators from his call to vegetarianism. In Porphyry’s treatise, a discourse of “more and less” with respect to animal reason is consistent with the “more and less” of abstinence itself among the work’s priestly and philosophical exempla and the results, “more and less” successful, of assimilating oneself to god “as much as possible.” Whether fully or partly abstinent, Porphyry’s models, part of a pervasive discourse of imitation and possibility, point to a life characterized by radical self-control, free of the bad mixture, impurity, and harmfulness that meat-eating entails. Reading the text as an integral whole rather than as a collection of sources deployed without commitment, I seek to foreground its suggestions of other-directedness and inclusiveness, not just in its extensive treatment of justice toward animals but also in its abiding concern for purity and piety. iii The dissertation of Alexander Press is approved Giulia Sissa Jo-Ann Shelton Taimie Bryant David Blank, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2020 iv Table of Contents Abbreviations viii Note on Text and Translation xvii CV xviii Introduction I. Porphyry and Abstinence 1 II. Justice and Purity 10 III. Porphyry’s Perspective, and Ours 17 Chapter 1: Justice as a Relationship I. Introduction 33 II. Justice and Its Absence 36 III. Foundations of Justice 49 IV. Justice as a Virtue 75 Chapter 2: Rationality, Sentience, and Justice I. Introduction 82 II. Reason and Language 84 III. Perception and Body 109 IV. Justice as Harmlessness A. Porphyry on “Taking Away” 121 v B. Plutarch on Harming and Necessity 128 V. Conclusion 135 Chapter 3: Purity and Abstinence I. Introduction 137 II. Impurity, Mixing, and the Belly 140 III. Simple Living and Asceticism 149 IV. Purity and Imitation 158 V. Conclusion 178 Chapter 4: Purity and the Soul I. Introduction 180 II. Porphyry’s Metaphysics and Theory of Self A. The Fall of Soul 180 B. Virtue and the Ascent of Soul 190 III. Purity and Ethics 196 IV. Conclusion 206 Chapter 5: Piety and Sacrifice I. Introduction 213 II. Piety and Necessity 214 III. Porphyry’s Gods and Daemones 221 IV. The Origins of Sacrifice 229 vi V. Conclusion 237 Epilogue 243 Appendix A Summary of On Abstinence from Ensouled Beings 247 Bibliography 269 vii Abbreviations Avezzù = Alcidamas: Orazioni e frammenti, edited by Guido Avezzù Bruns = Alexandri Aphrodisiensis praeter Commentaria Scripta Minora, edited by Ivo Bruns Busse = Porphyrii Isagoge et in Aristotelis Categorias Commentarium, edited by Adolfus Busse Diels = Doxographi Graeci, edited by Hermann Diels DK = Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, edited by Hermann Diels and Walther Kranz Henry = Photius, Bibliothèque, edited by René Henry Kannicht = Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta, vol. 5, edited by Richard Kannicht LS = Long and Sedley (see bibliography: A. A. Long and D. N. Sedley 1987) LSJ = Greek-English Lexicon, edited by Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, and Henry Stuart Jones Montanari = The Brill Dictionary of Ancient Greek, edited by Franco Montanari Morani = Nemesii Emeseni De Natura Hominis, edited by Moreno Morani Nauck = Porphyrii Philosophi Platonici Opuscula Selecta, edited by August Nauck OLD = Oxford Latin Dictionary Sandbach = Plutarchi Moralia, vol. 7, edited by F. H. Sandbach Smith = Porphyrii Philosophi Fragmenta (see bibliography: Andrew Smith 1993) Sodano = Porphyrii in Platonis Timaeum Commentariorum Fragmenta, edited by Angelo Raffaele Sodano Stählin = Clemens Alexandrinus, edited by Otto Stählin, Ludwig Früchtel, and Ursula Treu viii SVF = Stoicorum Veterum Fragmenta, edited by Hans von Arnim TLG = Thesaurus Linguae Graecae Wachsmuth = Stobaeus: Anthologium, edited by Curt Wachsmuth and Otto Hense Wehrli = Die Schule des Aristoteles, vol. 5, edited by Fritz Wehrli Wimmer = Theophrasti Eresii Opera Quae Supersunt Omnia, edited by Friedrich Wimmer Wísniewski = Karneades Fragmente: Text und Kommentar, edited by Bohdan Wísniewsksi ix Author Author Latin Title English Title Title Abbrev. Abbrev. Alexander of Al. De mixtione On Mixture and Mixt. Aphrodisias Increase Ammonius Ammon. In Aristotelis de On Aristotle’s On in Int. interpretatione Interpretation commentarius Aratus Phaenomena Phaen. Aristophanes Ar. Thesmophoriazusae Women at the Th. Thesmophoria Aristotle Arist. De anima On the Soul De an. De generatione Generation of GA animalium Animals De interpretatione On Interpretation Int. De memoria On Memory Mem. De partibus Parts of Animals PA animalium Ethica Nicomachea Nicomachean EN Ethics Historia animalium History of HA Animals Metaphysica Metaphysics Metaph. x Politica Politics Pol. Rhetorica Rhetoric Rh. Arrian Arr. Epicteti Discourses of Epict. dissertationes Epictetus Augustine August. De civitate Dei City of God C.D. De moribus On the Catholic Mor. ecclesiae and Manichaean Catholicae et de Ways of Life moribus Manicheorum Cicero Cic. Academica Acad. De finibus bonorum On the Ends of Fin. et malorum Good and Evil De legibus On the Laws Leg. De natura deorum On the Nature of N.D. the Gods De officiis On Duties Off. Clement Clem. Stromata Miscellanies Strom. Diogenes D.L. Laertius Empedocles Emp. Epicurus Epicur. Sententiae Principle Sent. Doctrines xi Hesiod Hes. Opera et dies Works and Days Op. Hippocrates De vetere medicina On Ancient VM Medicine Homer Hom. Ilias Iliad Il. Iamblichus Iambl. De anima On the Soul De anima De vita On the VP Pythagorica Pythagorean Way of Life Jerome Adversus Against Adv. Jovinianum Jovinianus Jovinian. Josephus Joseph. Contra Apionem Against Apion Ap. Bellum Judaicum The Jewish War BJ Lucretius Lucr. De rerum natura On the Nature of Things Matthew Matt. Nemesius Nem. De natura hominis On the Nature of Man Origen Contra Celsum Against Celsus Cels. Ovid Ov. Fasti Fast. Metamorphoses Met. Philo De animalibus On Animals De animal. Quod deus sit On the Deus Unchangeableness immutabilis of God xii Photius Bibliotheca Library Bibl. Philostratus Philostr. Vita Apollonii The Life of VA Apollonius of Tyana Plato Pl. Crito Cri. Leges Laws Lg. Phaedo Phd. Phaedrus Phdr. Politicus Statesman Plt. Protagoras Prt. Republic Rep. Sophist Soph. Theaetetus Tht. Timaeus Ti. Plotinus Plot. Enneades Enneads Enn. Plutarch Plut. Bruta animalia Gryllus Gryllus ratione uti Cato Maior Lives: Marcus Cat. Ma. Cato Consolatio ad A Letter of Cons. Apoll. Apollonium Condolence to Apollonius xiii Convivium septem The Dinner of the Conv. sapientium Seven Wise Men De esu carnium On Flesh Eating Esu De fortuna On Chance De fortuna De sollertia On the Cleverness Soll. animalium of Animals De Stoicorum On Stoic Self- St. rep. repugnantiis Contradictions De tranquillitate On Tranquillity of Tranq. animi Mind De tuenda sanitate Advice about Sanit. Keeping Well Quaestiones Table-Talk Quaest. convivales conv. Porphyry Porph. Ad Gaurum (under To Gaurus Gaur. Pseudo-Galen in TLG) Ad Marcellam To Marcella Marc. De abstinentia On Abstinence Abst. from Ensouled Beings xiv In Aristotelis On Aristotle’s in Cat. categorias Categories commentarium Introductio sive Isagoge or Isag. quinque voces Introduction to the Categories of Aristotle Sententiae Sent. Vita Plotini Life of Plotinus Plot. Vita Pythagorae Life of Pythagoras VP Seneca Sen. De ira On Anger De ira Epistulae Epistles Ep. Sextus Sext. Adversus Against the M. Empiricus mathematicos Mathematicians Outlines of P. Pyrrhonism Stobaeus Stob. Tertullian Tert. De ieiunio adversus On Fasting, De ieiun. psychicos Against the Carnal Believers Theophrastus Theophr. De causis CP plantarum xv De sensibus/ On the Senses Sens. De sensu Historia plantarum Enquiry into HP Plants Varro De lingua Latina On the Latin Ling. Language Xenophon Xen. Cyropaedia Cyr. Memorabilia Mem. xvi Note on Text and Translations Although all translations of Greek and Latin in this dissertation are my own, I owe a debt to Gillian Clark for her elegant rendering of On Abstinence, as well as to Angelo Raffaele Sodano and the Budé editors Jean Bouffartigue, Michel Patillon, and Alain Segonds, whose edition also provides the Greek text that I used. I have
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