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Alexander of Aphrodisias' on the Principles of The ALEXANDER OF APHRODISIAS’ ON THE PRINCIPLES OF THE UNIVERSE IN A SYRIAC ADAPTATION Every kindly thing that is / Hath a kindly stede ther he May best in hit conserved be; / Unto which place every thing Through his kindly enclyning / Moveth for to come to. CHAUCER, Hous of Fame The seventh century Syriac manuscript BL Add.14658 is a wide-rang- ing collection of texts of mostly non-Christian origin1. Some are transla- tions from Greek, others native Syriac compositions. A number of these have received scholarly treatment in the century and a half since the vel- lum codex was brought, with many others, from the Monastery of the Syrians in the Egyptian delta to the British Museum2. It is, for example, the only extant witness to the Book of the Laws of the Countries, tradi- tionally ascribed to the second century ‘heresiarch’ Bardaisan, and to the Apology ascribed to Melito of Sardis. Many of the texts found in the volume are in some way or other con- nected with the sixth century Syrian polymath Sergius of Res‘aina3. The first, and most extensive, piece in the collection is Sergius’ On the Aim of the Works of Aristotle, which turns out to be a commentary on the Categories, written in the tradition of fifth/sixth century Alexandrian Neoplatonism, transposed into a Syriac milieu4. Other works connected 1 W. WRIGHT, Catalogue of Syriac manuscripts in the British Museum acquired since the year 1838. 3 vols. London, 1870-2, p. 1154-60. 2 After being excitedly reported in 1852 by E. RENAN, Lettre à M. Reinaud, sur quelques manuscrits syriaques du Musée britannique, contenant des traductions d’auteurs grecs profanes et des traités philosophiques, in Journal Asiatique, 19 (1852), p. 293-333 (= RENAN, Lettre à M. Reinaud), the texts in this collection tended to be treated separately. For a more recent assessment of the whole collection, H. HUGONNARD-ROCHE, Éthique et politique au premier âge de la tradition syriaque, in Mélanges de l’Université Saint- Joseph, 57 (2004), p. 99-120. 3 For a general overview, H. HUGONNARD-ROCHE, Aux origines de l’exégèse orientale de la logique d’Aristote: Sergius de Res’aina (†536), médecin et philosophe, in Journal Asiatique, 277 (1989), p. 1-17. 4 For an overview of the text, J.W. WATT, Commentary and Translation in Syriac Aristotelian Scholarship: Sergius to Baghdad, in Symposium Syriacum X, forthcoming (= WATT, Commentary and Translation); parts have been translated by H. HUGONNARD- ROCHE, La Logique d’Aristote du grec au syriaque: Études sur la transmission des textes de l’Organon et leur interpretation philosophique, Paris, 2004, chs. VII, VIII, IX (= HUGONNARD-ROCHE, Logique). A full edition and translation is in preparation by J.W. Watt. Le Muséon 123 (1-2), 159-191. doi: 10.2143/MUS.123.1.2052769 - Tous droits réservés. © Le Muséon, 2010. 93316_Mus2010_1-2_07_King_ME.indd 159 13/07/10 13:44 160 D. KING with Sergius include translations of the De Mundo and of Galen’s On Critical Days, to be discussed in due course. The present study concerns another of the texts in this important collection, namely that which is entitled A treatise concerning the causes of the universe, written by Mar Sargis, priest of Rish Ayna, according to the view of Aristotle the Phi- losopher, that it is a sphere5. Earlier work on the manuscript and on Sergius assumed that this was an original work of the Syrian’s6. Only in 1994 was the text correctly identified by Dana Miller as an adapted version of a work by Alexander of Aphrodisias7, otherwise known only in an Arabic version entitled Alexander of Aphrodisias’ treatise on the theory concerning the Princi- ples of the Universe according to the philosopher Aristotle’s opinion (more generally referred to as the Mabadi’)8. This Arabic text was edited originally by Badawi9, and more recently in a much improved edition in 2001 by Charles Genequand10, following closely on the heels of an important study of this and related texts by Prof. Endress11. The present offering seeks to complement the critical Syriac text pub- lished in the present volume by indicating the characteristics of the adap- tation and by locating Sergius’ treatment of it within the broader currents of cosmological and theological concern among educated Greeks and Syrians of his era. The Mabadi’ The manuscript collection with which we are concerned is moving into a new phase when we arrive at the Mabadi’. The six preceding texts 5 See the edition and translation of our text in the current issue by E. Fiori, which replaces the less accurate Italian translation, G. FURLANI, Il trattato di Sergio di Res’ayna sull’ universo, in Rivista trimestrale di studi filosofica e religiosi, 4 (1923), p. 1-22 (= FURLANI, Il trattato di Sergio). The item is no. 7 in Wright’s Catalogue (p. 1156). 6 E.g. RENAN, Lettre à M. Reinaud, p. 320; FURLANI, Il trattato di Sergio. 7 D.R. MILLER, Sargis of Res’ayna: On what celestial bodies know, in R. LAVENANT (ed.), VI Symposium Syriacum (Orientalia Christiana Analecta, 247), Rome, 1994, p. 221- 233 (= MILLER, Sargis). .مقالة الاسكندر الافروديسي في القول في مبادئ الكل بحسب ٔراي ٔارسطاطالس الفيلسوف 8 9 A. BADAWI, Aristu ‘inda al-‘Arab, Cairo, 1947, p. 253-277. 10 C. GENEQUAND (ed.), Alexander of Aphrodisias on the Cosmos. Arabic text with English Translation, Introduction and Commentary (Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Science. Texts and Studies, 44), Leiden, 2001 (= GENEQUAND, On the Cosmos). 11 G. ENDRESS, Alexander Arabus on the First Cause. Aristotle’s First Mover in an Arabic Treatise attributed to Alexander of Aphrodisias, in C. D’ANCONA COSTA – G. SERRA, (ed.), Aristotele e Alessandro di Afrodisia nella tradizione araba, Padua, 2002, p. 19-61 (= ENDRESS, Alexander Arabus on the First Cause). 93316_Mus2010_1-2_07_King_ME.indd 160 13/07/10 13:44 ALEXANDER OF APHRODISIAS 161 all had to do with logic or grammar; this is the first to deal with cosmol- ogy and physics. Since in his earlier work on the Categories Sergius had argued that the aim of logic was as a propaedeutic to the study of phys- ics, metaphysics, and theology, we might be entitled to regard the present text as a partial fulfilment of that trajectory. The extent to which the ms collection as a whole represents a particular approach to philosophy, or a curriculum, will be discussed on another occasion, but will also surface from time to time here12. Alexander of Aphrodisias’ Mabadi’ is concerned primarily with the motions of the heavenly spheres and how these are caused, together with various ancillary questions about the relationship between these motions and the motions of the sublunary bodies, as well as how both of these relate to the First, or Unmoved, Mover. Broadly speaking, it is an attempt by Alexander to harmonise various different passages in Aristotle, such as Physics VIII, Metaphysics L, and De Anima III,1013. It thus presents a supposedly Peripatetic cosmology, grounded in Aristotle but incorpo- rating some of the results of subsequent philosophical and astronomical research. The text has a special concern for demonstrating the effects of the heavenly spheres on sublunar bodies. The model of celestial mechan- ics that is thereby presented appears to be designed as a grounding for the general theories of providence and fate which Alexander expounded in detail elsewhere14. If, as is generally accepted as established, the extant Arabic provides a text close enough to its Greek Vorlage that we can assume that we have 12 See n. 2 above. The question will be further considered from different perspectives in D. KING, Origenism in Sixth Century Syria. The Case of a Syriac Manuscript of Pagan Philosophy, in A. FÜRST (ed.), Origenes und seine Bedeutung für die Theologie- und Geistesgeschichte Europas und des Vorderen Orients (Adamantiana. Texte und Studien zu Origenes und seinem Erbe, 1), Münster, 2009 (= KING, Origenism in Sixth Century Syria). 13 For a fuller summary of the contents and interpretation of the Mabadi’, GENEQUAND, On the Cosmos, p. 6-20, and ENDRESS, Alexander Arabus on the First Cause, p. 37-55. Alexander’s development of the Aristotelian tradition is part of a wider phenomenon, called ‘astrologization’ by G. FREUDENTHAL, The Mediaeval Astrologization of the Aristo- telian Cosmos: From Alexander of Aphrodisias to Averroes, in Mélanges de l’Université Saint-Joseph, 59 (2006), p. 29-68; the process is amply described by R.W. SHARPLES, Aristotelian theology after Aristotle, in D. FREDE – A. LAKS (ed.), Traditions of Theology. Studies in Hellenistic Theology, its background and aftermath, Leiden, 2002, p. 1-40, and IDEM, Peripatetics on Fate and Providence, in R.W. SHARPLES – R. SORABJI (ed.), Greek and Roman Philosophy 100BC-200AD, London, 2007, p. 595-605. 14 In his On Fate, Alexander argues against determinism and allows a sphere of influ- ence for fate (text and translation by R.W. SHARPLES, Duckworth, 1983); in the On Prov- idence he builds on the theories of the Mabadi’ and the On Fate by identifying the influ- ence of the heavenly bodies on the sublunar world with providence – P. THILLET (ed.), Alexandre d’Aphrodise. Traité de la providence, Verdier, 2003. 93316_Mus2010_1-2_07_King_ME.indd 161 13/07/10 13:44 162 D. KING reasonable access to Alexander’s original text, then it becomes immedi- ately clear that the Syriac text is by no means a simple translation of the original. This point is well taken by Genequand in abjuring the use of the Syriac as a helpful witness in the reconstruction of the text itself15. Nei- ther is there any reason to believe that there was once a literal Syriac translation upon which Sergius’ adaptation depends, for Sergius was as familiar with Greek as with his native tongue and most likely wrote his treatise on the basis of the Greek text itself16.
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