DOCSLIB.ORG

Introdu Ction to the Philosophy of Cicero

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Introdu Ction to the Philosophy of Cicero INTRODU CTION TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF CICERO RrcunnoMcKr.oN T. TIIN INFLUENCE OF CICERO tf-HE influcnce of Cicero'swritings and the intcrpretatio I of his carecr run in threadsof dcbarethrough the majoi changesof lVcstern civilization.He participatedin the event which led to the fall of the RomanRepublic, in the first century n.c.,and his writings laid the grounds of an analysisof the con- flict between freedom and despotismand of the causesof the decline of constitutionalgovernment; he has been quoted as exampleand as authority, with extravagantenthusiasm and equally extravagantcontempt, whencver men have speculate on the beginningsof Caesarismand inrperialism.His philoso phy wasan importantingredient in the constructionof a Chris- tian doctrineand the establishmentof scholasticlogic from the fourth to the sixth century e.o.;and many of the scholarswho declaredthemselvcs in revolt againstscholasticism, during the period of the Renaissancea thousand years later, derivedtheir inspirationand weaponsfrom Cicero. The philosophcrsand politiciansrvho undertook during the eighteenthcentury to constructa new philosophybascd on thc new scicnceand con- genialto the principlesof constitutionaldemocracy rcturned to a renewed study of his works. The characterof Cicero, as well as his ideas,has entered into the discussionsthat have determined mafor turns of doctrine and policy; but, what is more important, the distinctionswhich underlay the discussion,whether it eventuatedin Cicero's con- clusion or in oppositio.rto it, have been influencedsignificantly by Cicero's fonnulation of problems and oppositions.Even his harshestcritics have usually condemnedhim in his own t€fmsr lrl CICERO IN fRODUCTION H.is strength of 1nd hls weaknesslie in the simplicity and the and achievement.De Quincey'sinsight into the peculiariry adaptabilityof thr"distinctions by which hc cxpjainei his time Cicero'splace in thc political disputesin which he was en- and traced the history of idcasind of forces'that culminate tangledapplics also to disputcsabout his ideasand character: in thc instirutionsand mannersof Rome.Cicero's fundament he has not bcnefitedfrom the uncertaintiesof partisan<iiffer- ideasare irnplernentsof debareand encesto which his was onc possiblcsolution, but rather his -powcrful propagandain spitc of anrbiguityin application. has amplitudeto thc problemsthet he treated -their The controieisial and formulation given practical applicationsof his commonplaces,even in period and hasdetermined the significanceof both partsof the oppo- rvhen Cicero himself rvasljttle studied or admired,are them- sitionsin which he was involved.a sclvcs'ivorrhy of study-in diagnosisof the of The influenceof Cicero on the formation of Christiandoc- -the problems trVcstcrnciviliza'ion and culture. trine in the Westcan be found both in the philosophicprinciples Cicero'sstylc, his character,his servicesto the Rcpublic,the andarguments from which it tvasconstructed and in thc logical accuracy of his statententsabout his achievemenrs,his hesi and rhetoricalmethods enrployed in its construction.Christian tancies,and the wisdonrand effectivenessof his oppositionto doctrineis sometimesvierved as antithcticalto the methodsof Caesarand lVlarkAntony were all subjectsof praiseand criti- Cicero, which were adaptedto Paganvit'tues and applied to cism by Rornanpoets, rhetoricians, and histoiians.euintilian skepticalarguments-sometimcs as complement and completion (t.o. co.35-oa,rco), who was one of Cicero'sgrear admirer to insightsthat were almostChristian. The style and devicesof and rvho reducedthe doctrinesof rheroricon which Cicerohad eloquenceelaborated by the Paganswere imitatedand adapte worked to schernaticform in a programof education,ansrvere by many Christians;but the words, like preciousvessels, con- someof the adversejudgments. "Cicero" had ceasedto be re- taincdwine of error, asAugustine confessed, and many Chris- gardedas the nameof a man and had becomethe synonym of tians'rvere,like Augustine,revolted, in ntrn, by the cruditiesof "eloqu.ence";1yet Quintilian dcfendedCicero .grinst scripturalstyle and by the infidelitiesof paganideas. Writers tionsthat his srylewas bombastic,Asiaiic, redunding .*"esiiu."tt.gr- durins the Rennissancewere fond of calling Lactantius"the in- its repetitions,and som*imes pointlessin its witticisms. ChrisiianCicero," anclthe fourth ccntury e.i. htt beenname Moreover, like many Romans,Quintilian found ir impossibl the "Ciceronianage," aetas Ciceroniana, with an enlargedlist of to separateqxestions of characterfrom questionsof eloquence ChristianCiceros which includesl\'linucius Felix, Cyprian, Ar- He quoted the dcfinition of the orator (attributed to Cito by nobius,Lactantius, Ambrose, and Jerome.sLactantius consid Seneca)a_s 'a good man learnedin the ways of speaking,"and eredCicero "not only a Perfectorator, but alsoa philosophe he defendedCicero againstrhe accusationthat he laclled de- sincehe is the only onewlho conforms in all respcctsto Plato"; cisionand courage.As evidencethat Cicero ncver failed in the and he made use of Ciccroniandoctrines in nvo rvays rvhich dutiesof a good citizen,Quintilian cited the nobiliry of his con- becametraditional in later Christian literature: the skepdca duct as consul,the rare intcgrity of his provinciai administra- argumentsof the Academicsrcpeated by Cicero are indicatio tion, his refusalof offce under Caesar,and the firmnessof his that he hasa higher spiritualinsight than he exPresses'for the mind, yielding to neitherhope nor fear,during the Civil Wars, paradoxesof iuitice and self-interest and the rational refuta- rvhich camehcavily upon him during his oldage.s euintilian iion of providenceand miraclesPresent problems which can could-explain Cicero's tendency to boastof hislxploits in his be resolvedonly by Christianiry;on the other hand,the Stoic speeches,as well as the hesitancyand timidiqy disclosedin his distinctions berween moral righmess (honesta) and usefulnes letters; and he found in Cicero both the closestapproxima- (utilid) from Cicero's On Dttties and the proofs for the im- rion to the perfect orator and also the standardof liteiary taste mortaliry of the soul from the TbsculanDisptttdtions (which is lrl trl CICERO INTRODUCTION known by the title On the Blessed llso Lif e) canbe adaptedto constancywhich he found in Cicero'sletters. But, like Jerome, higher Christianuses. Antbrose borrowed not only the title of he fearedthat he might be thought a poor Christianbecause he his n,ork On thc Duties of Ministers from Cicero's Ott Dutics declaredhimself so much a Ciceronian.He argucdthat there is but alsothc nraindivisions of his subject,rectified and supple nothingin Cicero contrary to the word of Christ,but he added mcntcd by the conceprionof a furure life rvith its rewards and that he would abandonany philosopher-Plato,Aristotle, or punishmcnts.Jcrome confessedthat he found the sryle of the Cicero-if he contradictedthe tenetsof Christianity.Erasmus crude rvhcn prophets he returned to them rfter reading the satirizcdthe excessiveCiceronians who modeledthcir stylc on classics; and the library rvhich he took with him to the deser the vocabularyand syntaxof Cicero,but he thought thc nroral in Syria and the pleasurewhich he found in Ciceroin the midst doctrinesof Ciceromore Christianthan much of the discussio of his fastingso troubled his consciencethat he dreamedhe rvas of theologiansand monks,and he would willingly haveburned judgment accuscdbefore the seatof God of beinga Ciceronia the theologicalworks of Duns Scotusto savethe philosophic rathcr thana Christian.?Augustine told of the profound spiritual treatisesof Cicero. Pomponazzi,on the other hand, found in cffect nradcon hirn by the readingof Cicero'sHortenshu, tn Ciceroarguments against the immortality of the souland against introduction to philosophy;he constructedhis City of God in providenceand miracles.Augustine had usedCicero's treatise oppositionto Cicero'sarguments against providencc and to his On the Ndture of the Gods and On Diainotion as a source of conceptionof the republic; and his elaborationof a merhod argumentsto show the insufficienciesof paganrcligions; during of interprctntionin his rvork Oz ChristianDoctrine depend the Renaissancethey were usedas a sourceof argumentsagairrs Iargely on distinctionsborrorved from Ciccro'srhctoric, such religion as such and againstthe principle of authority. From asthe fundanrentaldivision of the problemsprescnted by Scrip- that tradition there originateddoctrines that have beencalled ture into of discovcry t'athc- problems and statcmcnt,concerned, re- variously "rationalism,""libertinisnt,t' "free thoughtr" spectivel.y,with thingsand signs.Boethius, a century latcr, laid ism," and "deism"l and in that tradition "rationalism"acquired the foundationsof medievallogic by borrorving fronr Cicero its modernconnotation of "skepticism."Voltaire also connected the samcdistinction betiveen discovery and fudgmentor state- Cicerorvith that tradition rvhenhe exclaimed:"We hissedthem ment to nrarkthc nrniorclivisions of the "Aristotelian"logic and off the stagethen, thosc rudc scholastics,rvho ruled ovcr us by substitutinga discussionof conlnonplaces,in the Cicironian so long; we honor Cicero,tvho taught us horv to thinl<."Phi- nlanner,for the Aristoteliandiscussion of scientificfirst prin- losophywas also reformed under the inspirationof Cicero in ciples. attempts,like that of Nizolius in his reatise On thc Tlue Prirt' During the Renaissance,Cicero served as inspiration to many ciples and Thrc Redsonof
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Livy's View of the Roman National Character
    James Luce, December 5th, 1993 Livy's View of the Roman National Character As early as 1663, Francis Pope named his plantation, in what would later become Washington, DC, "Rome" and renamed Goose Creek "Tiber", a local hill "Capitolium", an example of the way in which the colonists would draw upon ancient Rome for names, architecture and ideas. The founding fathers often called America "the New Rome", a place where, as Charles Lee said to Patrick Henry, Roman republican ideals were being realized. The Roman historian Livy (Titus Livius, 59 BC-AD 17) lived at the juncture of the breakdown of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire. His 142 book History of Rome from 753 to 9 BC (35 books now extant, the rest epitomes) was one of the most read Latin authors by early American colonists, partly because he wrote about the Roman national character and his unique view of how that character was formed. "National character" is no longer considered a valid term, nations may not really have specific national characters, but many think they do. The ancients believed states or peoples had a national character and that it arose one of 3 ways: 1) innate/racial: Aristotle believed that all non-Greeks were barbarous and suited to be slaves; Romans believed that Carthaginians were perfidious. 2) influence of geography/climate: e.g., that Northern tribes were vigorous but dumb 3) influence of institutions and national norms based on political and family life. The Greek historian Polybios believed that Roman institutions (e.g., division of government into senate, assemblies and magistrates, each with its own powers) made the Romans great, and the architects of the American constitution read this with especial care and interest.
    [Show full text]
  • As Guest, Some Pages Are Restricted
    RELIG IONS ' ANCIENT AND MODERN B EDWARD GLODD au h o The Stor o Crea t o i n . Animism . y , t r of y f P B 'AMES ALLANSON PI CTON au h o f The li ion o the anth eism. y , t or Re g f Th li fAn en China . B P s G ILES LL . D . P s e Re g ions o ci t y rofes or , rofe sor f h e iv am d o Ch inese in t U n ersit o f C bri ge. B ' E H R R ISO u at Th e l i n f An i n . L Re ig o o c e t reece y AN A N , ect rer Ne vnha m C ll Camb d a u h o of Prole omm a. t o Stud o Greek v o ege, ri ge, t r g y f Rel igion . h e R H on. AMBER AL I SYED f h ud l m f His I B t t . o t e ' a C m e o slam. y , ici o itt e ’ s C un l au h o of The S it o slam and E hics o Isla m. Maje ty s Privy o ci , t r pir f I t f M i and Fe i hism . B Dr. A. C . H ADDON L u o n ag e t s y , ect rer hnolo a Ca m d e n s gt gy t bri g U iver ity .
    [Show full text]
  • View / Download 2.4 Mb
    Lucian and the Atticists: A Barbarian at the Gates by David William Frierson Stifler Department of Classical Studies Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ William A. Johnson, Supervisor ___________________________ Janet Downie ___________________________ Joshua D. Sosin ___________________________ Jed W. Atkins Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Classical Studies in the Graduate School of Duke University 2019 ABSTRACT Lucian and the Atticists: A Barbarian at the Gates by David William Frierson Stifler Department of Classical Studies Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ William A. Johnson, Supervisor ___________________________ Janet Downie ___________________________ Joshua D. Sosin ___________________________ Jed W. Atkins An abstract of a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Classical Studies in the Graduate School of Duke University 2019 Copyright by David William Frierson Stifler 2019 Abstract This dissertation investigates ancient language ideologies constructed by Greek and Latin writers of the second and third centuries CE, a loosely-connected movement now generally referred to the Second Sophistic. It focuses on Lucian of Samosata, a Syrian “barbarian” writer of satire and parody in Greek, and especially on his works that engage with language-oriented topics of contemporary relevance to his era. The term “language ideologies”, as it is used in studies of sociolinguistics, refers to beliefs and practices about language as they function within the social context of a particular culture or set of cultures; prescriptive grammar, for example, is a broad and rather common example. The surge in Greek (and some Latin) literary output in the Second Sophistic led many writers, with Lucian an especially noteworthy example, to express a variety of ideologies regarding the form and use of language.
    [Show full text]
  • Candide and Other Stories (Oxford World's Classics)
    oxford world’ s classics CANDIDE and other stories Voltaire was the assumed name of François-Marie Arouet (1694– 1778). Born into a well-to-do Parisian family, he was educated at the leading Jesuit college in Paris. Having refused to follow his father and elder brother into the legal profession he soon won widespread acclaim for Œdipe (1718), the first of some twenty-seven tragedies which he continued to write until the end of his life. His national epic La Henriade (1723) confirmed his reputation as the leading French literary figure of his generation. Following a quarrel with the worthless but influential aristocrat, the Chevalier de Rohan, he was forced into exile in England. This period (1726–8) was particularly formative, and his Letters concern- ing the English Nation (1733) constitute the first major expression of Voltaire’s deism and his subsequent lifelong opposition to religious and political oppression. Following the happy years (1734–43) spent at Cirey with his mistress Mme du Châtelet in the shared pursuit of several intellectual enthusiasms, notably the work of Isaac Newton, he enjoyed a brief interval of favour at court during which he was appointed Historiographer to the King. After the death of Mme du Châtelet in 1749 he finally accepted an invitation to the court of Frederick of Prussia, but left in 1753 when life with this particular enlightened despot became intolerable. In 1755, after temporary sojourn in Colmar, he settled at Les Délices on the outskirts of Geneva. He then moved to nearby Ferney in 1759, the year Candide was published.
    [Show full text]
  • Plaatsingssystematiek Wijsbegeerte
    Plaatsingssystematiek Wijsbegeerte 0 -108 Wijsbegeerte :: voor naslagwerken en bibliografieën → TH-WY 0 Algemene werken 0 .1 Periodieken 0 .2 1Niet-wijsgerige naslagwerken 0 .21 1Woordenboeken. Grammatica's 0 .214 Grieks (klassiek) 0 .216 Latijn 0 .22 Encyclopedieën (o.a. Pauly-Wissowa) 0 .3 1Wijsgerige woordenboeken en encyclopedieën 0 .31 Alfabetisch naar onderwerp, zonder ingangen op personen 0 .32 Systematisch ingericht 0 .33 Alfabetisch naar onderwerp, inclusief ingangen op personen en/of instellingen 0 .34 Alfabetisch naar personen en/of instellingen 0 .35 Biografieën, voor zover niet op persoon indeelbaar 0 .37 Diversen :: terminologiegeschiedenis, ... 0 .4 1Bibliografieën 0 .4 Algemeen :: Inleidingen, literatuurgidsen, bibliografieën van bibliografieën, documentatie, systematiek 0 .41 Universele bibliografieën Vormbibliografieën :: Bibliografieën van: tijdschriften; artikelen per tijdschrift; congresbijdragen; 0 .42 Festschriften 0 .43 Landenbibliografieën 0 .44 Persoonsbibliografieën 0 .45 Onderwerpsbibliografieën 0 .46 Bibliografieën en catalogi van handschriften 0 .47 Catalogi Congressen :: AGB + jjjj (Association G. Budé) ** APA-CD + jjjj (American Phil. Ass., Central Div.) ** APA-ED + jjjj (American Phil. Ass., Eastern Div.) ** APA-PD + jjjj (American Phil. Ass., Pacific Div.) ** APA-WD + jjjj (American Phil. Ass., Western Div.) ** CIF + # (C. Intern. di Filosofia) ** CIP + # (C. Intern. de Philosophie = Wereldcongres) ** CSPLF + # (C. des Soc. Phil. de Langue Française) ** DKP + # (Deutsche Phil. K. ** NFD + # (Nederlandse
    [Show full text]
  • May Plato's Academy Be Considered As the First Academic Institution?
    Center for Open Access in Science ▪ https://www.centerprode.com/ojsh.html Open Journal for Studies in History, 2019, 2(2), 35-42. ISSN (Online) 2620-066X ▪ https://doi.org/10.32591/coas.ojsh.0202.02035s _________________________________________________________________________ May Plato’s Academy be Considered as the First Academic Institution? Zhulduz Amangelidyevna Seitkasimova M. Auezov South Kazakhstan State University, KAZAKHSTAN Faculty of Pedagogy and Culture, Shymkent Received 8 November 2019 ▪ Revised 17 December 2019 ▪ Accepted 23 December 2019 Abstract Plato’s Academy is undoubtedly the first higher education institution in history, and in ancient Athens itself represents the most important educational institution. It constituted in the context of the universal development that took place in ancient Athens, in the 5th and 4th century BC, and it continued to work until the Byzantine Emperor Justinian forbade the work of all schools of philosophy (529 AD). This development, which is part of the so-called Golden Age of ancient Athens, represents the period of Greek history in which the foundations of Western civilization originated, as we know it today. Plato appears as one of the greatest philosophers of ancient Greece, along with Socrates and Aristotle, to the first of whom appears as a student and to the second as a teacher. Philosophy in the true sense of the word was created in Plato’s era in ancient Athens (Russell, 1975), and Plato’s Academy, in which he, along with his students, talked about various philosophical topics through the Garden of Akademos, was the impetus for this development. There are also opinions that the development of philosophy after Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle is only of reproductive character when it comes to the basics of philosophy.
    [Show full text]
  • Controversial Elements in Lucretius
    Controversial Blements In Xucretius B^ (3eoroe p. Echman a^^ ^,.,^^^<^—i^/y^-"'^ Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/controversialeleOOeckmrich ^ntxoi?tx0iat ^^tmrnte in Bucre^iue A THESIS FOR THE Doctorate in pbiloeopbi? BY- GEORGE P. ECKMAN APPROVED BY THE EACULTY OE THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OE THE XEW YORK CXIVERSITY, rSgy Nkw York 1899 El ^T]6ev r]\kas al twv (j.€T€(dp(ov viro\|/Cai t|v«x\ovv Kttl al irepl Gavdrov, |xir'] iroTe irpos rifids rj ti, €Ti t€ to }iT) Karavoeiv tovs opovs twv d\'YT]86va)v Kal twv eiriOv- (i,iwv, ovK dv irpocre8e6|ie8a 4>v(rio\o-Yias. 'EiriKOvpov Kvpiai A6|ai, XI. Dioi^encs Laerfins. X. 142. Printed for the author by Charles B. Jackson, New York. -3611 CONTEXTS. Table of Contents. INTRODUCTION. Ap Contemporary Interest in Epicureanism. Character of the period. Causes of the apparent neglect of Lucretius by his contemporaries. Influence of Epicureanism upon cultivated Romans. Reasons for Cicero's comparative silence regarding Lucretius. Recognition of the poet by later generations. (§) A Preliminary Question. To what extent did Lucretius pursue original investigations .' The poets devotion to Epicurus. Evidences of servile imita- tion. Marks of independent treatment of physical pheno- mena. No extreme position tenable. Divisions of the present discussion. L Philosophers With Whom Lucretius Contends Amicably. Respects for early physicists. The main contention. 7. Einpedocles. Object of Lucretius' admiration. Internal evidence that Lucretius studied the works of Empedocles. Halliers proofs. Similarity of literary style. Rhetorical imitations. Doctrinal agreement. Resemblances in explana- tions of physical phenomena.
    [Show full text]
  • The Sceptics: the Arguments of the Philosophers
    THE SCEPTICS The Arguments of the Philosophers EDITOR: TED HONDERICH The purpose of this series is to provide a contemporary assessment and history of the entire course of philosophical thought. Each book constitutes a detailed, critical introduction to the work of a philosopher of major influence and significance. Plato J.C.B.Gosling Augustine Christopher Kirwan The Presocratic Philosophers Jonathan Barnes Plotinus Lloyd P.Gerson The Sceptics R.J.Hankinson Socrates Gerasimos Xenophon Santas Berkeley George Pitcher Descartes Margaret Dauler Wilson Hobbes Tom Sorell Locke Michael Ayers Spinoza R.J.Delahunty Bentham Ross Harrison Hume Barry Stroud Butler Terence Penelhum John Stuart Mill John Skorupski Thomas Reid Keith Lehrer Kant Ralph C.S.Walker Hegel M.J.Inwood Schopenhauer D.W.Hamlyn Kierkegaard Alastair Hannay Nietzsche Richard Schacht Karl Marx Allen W.Wood Gottlob Frege Hans D.Sluga Meinong Reinhardt Grossmann Husserl David Bell G.E.Moore Thomas Baldwin Wittgenstein Robert J.Fogelin Russell Mark Sainsbury William James Graham Bird Peirce Christopher Hookway Santayana Timothy L.S.Sprigge Dewey J.E.Tiles Bergson A.R.Lacey J.L.Austin G.J.Warnock Karl Popper Anthony O’Hear Ayer John Foster Sartre Peter Caws THE SCEPTICS The Arguments of the Philosophers R.J.Hankinson London and New York For Myles Burnyeat First published 1995 by Routledge First published in paperback 1998 Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” © 1995 R.J.Hankinson All rights reserved.
    [Show full text]
  • Atypical Lives: Systems of Meaning in Plutarch's Teseus-Romulus by Joel Martin Street a Dissertation Submitted in Partial Satisf
    Atypical Lives: Systems of Meaning in Plutarch's Teseus-Romulus by Joel Martin Street A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Classics in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Mark Griffith, Chair Professor Dylan Sailor Professor Ramona Naddaff Fall 2015 Abstract Atypical Lives: Systems of Meaning in Plutarch's Teseus-Romulus by Joel Martin Street Doctor of Philosophy in Classics University of California, Berkeley Professor Mark Griffith, Chair Tis dissertation takes Plutarch’s paired biographies of Teseus and Romulus as a path to understanding a number of roles that the author assumes: as a biographer, an antiquarian, a Greek author under Roman rule. As the preface to the Teseus-Romulus makes clear, Plutarch himself sees these mythological fgures as qualitatively different from his other biographical sub- jects, with the consequence that this particular pair of Lives serves as a limit case by which it is possible to elucidate the boundaries of Plutarch’s authorial identity. Tey present, moreover, a set of opportunities for him to demonstrate his ability to curate and present familiar material (the founding of Rome, Teseus in the labyrinth) in demonstration of his broad learning. To this end, I regard the Teseus-Romulus as a fundamentally integral text, both of whose parts should be read alongside one another and the rest of Plutarch’s corpus rather than as mere outgrowths of the tra- ditions about the early history of Athens and Rome, respectively. Accordingly, I proceed in each of my four chapters to attend closely to a particular thematic cluster that appears in both Lives, thereby bringing to light the complex fgural play by which Plutarch enlivens familiar material and demonstrates his virtuosity as author.
    [Show full text]
  • Life and Works by the Middle of the First Century BCE a Flouris
    FRANK SPEECH, FLAITERY, AND FRIENDSHIP IN PHILODEMUS CLARENCE E. GLAD Philodemus: life and Works By the middle of the first century BCE a flourishing Epicurean com­ munity existed at Naples under the leadership of the Greek teacher Siro. At nearby Herculaneum the Syrian Epicurean, Philodemus of Gadara, the house-philosopher of the influential patron Calpurnius Piso, father-in-law of Julius Caesar, was attracting a wide circle of students. Epicureanism also had its contemporary exponents in Latin-Catius Insuber, Rabirius, C. Amafinius, whose prose tracts enjoyed popularity in Rome and in various Italian towns, and the poet Lucretius. The relationship among the Epicurean groups in Italy is not clear but apparently Siro's group in Naples and that of Philodemus at Herculaneum had an open exchange of views. I Both Philodemus and Siro were former pupils of Zeno of Sidon, the scholarch of the Epicurean school in Athens, and one would expect a certain co-ordination in their efforts in promoting Epicurean views in southern Italy. Both groups cultivated interest in literary and philosophical study, thus escaping the charge traditionally levelled at Epicureans that they maintained a deliberate disregard for ge~eral learning; Cicero, for example, refers to both Siro and Philodemus as the "excellent and learned friends" of Torquatus.2 Philodemus' scholarly interest is evident from the number of pa­ pyrus rolls recovered from Piso's suburban villa at Herculaneum. I We know that the poets of Siro's group, L. Varius Rufus and Quintilius Varus, and possibly Virgil and Plotius Tucca, associated with Philodemus as well, and that the discussion between Philodemus and his fellow Epicureans at Naples extended also to philosophical matters (pHerc.
    [Show full text]
  • Atypical Lives: Systems of Meaning in Plutarch's Teseus-Romulus by Joel Martin Street a Dissertation Submitted in Partial Satisf
    Atypical Lives: Systems of Meaning in Plutarch's Teseus-Romulus by Joel Martin Street A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Classics in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Mark Griffith, Chair Professor Dylan Sailor Professor Ramona Naddaff Fall 2015 Abstract Atypical Lives: Systems of Meaning in Plutarch's Teseus-Romulus by Joel Martin Street Doctor of Philosophy in Classics University of California, Berkeley Professor Mark Griffith, Chair Tis dissertation takes Plutarch’s paired biographies of Teseus and Romulus as a path to understanding a number of roles that the author assumes: as a biographer, an antiquarian, a Greek author under Roman rule. As the preface to the Teseus-Romulus makes clear, Plutarch himself sees these mythological fgures as qualitatively different from his other biographical sub- jects, with the consequence that this particular pair of Lives serves as a limit case by which it is possible to elucidate the boundaries of Plutarch’s authorial identity. Tey present, moreover, a set of opportunities for him to demonstrate his ability to curate and present familiar material (the founding of Rome, Teseus in the labyrinth) in demonstration of his broad learning. To this end, I regard the Teseus-Romulus as a fundamentally integral text, both of whose parts should be read alongside one another and the rest of Plutarch’s corpus rather than as mere outgrowths of the tra- ditions about the early history of Athens and Rome, respectively. Accordingly, I proceed in each of my four chapters to attend closely to a particular thematic cluster that appears in both Lives, thereby bringing to light the complex fgural play by which Plutarch enlivens familiar material and demonstrates his virtuosity as author.
    [Show full text]
  • The Stromata, Or Miscellanies
    The Stromata, or Miscellanies THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES 299 638 Book I Book I 639 Chapter I.—Preface—The Author’s Object—The Utility of Written Compositi… 951 CHAPTER I.—PREFACE—THE AUTHOR’S OBJECT—THE UTILITY OF WRITTEN COMPOSITIONS. [Wants the beginning] . that you may read them under your hand, and may be able to preserve them. Whether written compositions are not to be left behind at all; or if they are, by whom? And if the former, what need there is for written compositions? and if the latter, is the composition of them to be assigned to earnest men, or the opposite? It were certainly ridiculous for one to disapprove of the writing of earnest men, and approve of those, who are not such, engaging in the work of composition. Theopompus and Timæus, who composed fables and slanders, and Epicurus the leader of atheism, and Hipponax and Archilochus, are to be allowed to write in their own shameful manner. But he who proclaims the truth is to be prevented from leaving behind him what is to benefit posterity. It is a good thing, I reckon, to leave to posterity good children. This is the case with children of our bodies. But words are the progeny of the soul. Hence we call those who have instructed us, fathers. Wisdom is a communicative and philanthropic thing. Accordingly, Solomon says, “My son, if thou receive the saying of my commandment, and hide it with thee, thine ear shall hear wisdom.”952 He points out that the word that is sown is hidden in the soul of the learner, as in the earth, and this is spiritual planting.
    [Show full text]