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DR. MICHAEL GRIFFIN TRANSLATING UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA MICHAELJAMESGRIFFIN.COM VALUES [email protected]

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MOUNT PARNASSOS REGION (SLOPES) TODAY

• Introductions & Theme: A Moment in the History of Dialogue

• Back in Time: Alexandria in The Roman Empire

• Three Stories

• Hypatia

• Socrates

• Olympiodorus

• A Toolkit for Translating Values “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

GEORGE SANTAYANA, THE LIFE OF REASON, VOL. 1 BILL MURRAY IN GROUNDHOG DAY, 1993 TODAY

• Introductions & Theme: A Moment in the History of Dialogue

• Back in Time: Alexandria in The Roman Empire

• Three Stories

• Hypatia

• Socrates

• Olympiodorus

• A Toolkit for Translating Values BACK IN TIME ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT ROMAN EMPIRE, C . 400 CE

History of Alexandria • Founded 331 BCE by Alexander the Great • Mouseion and Library: up to 700,000 rolls • Pharos: Wonder of the Ancient World • Mediterranean centre of learning & science

ALEXANDRIA RECONSTRUCTED FOR AGORA (2009) LATE ANCIENT MEDITERRANEAN CLASSROOM, KOM EL-DIKKA, ALEXANDRIA THE ANTIKYTHERA MECHANISM: “WORLD’S OLDEST COMPUTER” C. 87 BCE: CALENDAR AND ASTRONOMICAL PREDICTIONS CARL SAGAN ON ERATOSTHENES OF ALEXANDRIA, COSMOS, EPISODE 1 Alexandria • Riven by cycles of violence between laoi • Anti-Semitic attacks of 38 and 40 CE • Increasing Christian-Pagan violence • Indigenous Egyptians disenfranchised • Library repeatedly damaged and destroyed • “The Mob and the Muse”

ALEXANDRIA RECONSTRUCTED FOR AGORA (2009) THE FIRE OF ALEXANDRIA WOODCUTS BY HERMANN GÖLL, 1876 ROMAN EMPIRE 117 AND 555 CE, WIKIMEDIA COMMONS MEDIA ARTICLES: WHY DID THE ROMAN EMPIRE FALL? MEDIA ARTICLES: WHY DID THE ROMAN EMPIRE FALL? THE END OF THE GRAECO-ROMAN WORLD 3RD-7TH CENTURIES CE

• Climate change • Political & religious violence

• Plague and disease • Fraying, polarized institutions

• Large-scale migrations • Education under attack TODAY

• Introductions & Theme: A Moment in the History of Dialogue

• Back in Time: Alexandria in The Roman Empire

• Three Stories of Philosophy

• Hypatia

• Socrates

• Olympiodorus

• A Toolkit for Translating Values PHILOSOPHY φιλοσοφία (n.) loving wisdom, curious Hypatia of Alexandria 4th century CE Olympiodorus of Alexandria 6th century CE

Socrates of Athens 5th century BCE HYPATIA OF ALEXANDRIA

Hypatia, depicted by Rachel Weisz in Agora (2009) • Born c. 350 CE

• Platonist philosopher, mathematician, Professor at Mouseion

• Algebraic & geometry research; edited Ptolemy’s Almagest; developed astrolabes

• Promoted religious & political dialogue and tolerance HYPATIA, C. 350-415 CE (PORTRAYED BY RACHEL WEISZ) AGORA (2009) • THE LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA TWO THINGS EQUAL TO A THIRD AGORA (2009) • Widely consulted by priests and politicians

• Sought to reconcile pagan prefect of Alexandria with Christian Bishop, Cyril

• Murdered by mob in 415 CE, allegation of “witchcraft” There was a woman at Alexandria named Hypatia, daughter of the philosopher Theon, who made such attainments in literature and science, as to far surpass all the philosophers of her own time. Having succeeded to the school of and Plotinus, she explained the principles of philosophia to her auditors, many of whom came from a distance to receive her instructions. On account of the self-possession and ease of manner which she had acquired in consequence of the cultivation of her mind, she not infrequently appeared in public in the presence of the magistrates. Neither did she feel abashed in going to an assembly of men. For all men on account of her extraordinary dignity and virtue admired her the more…

SOCRATES OF (4TH C. CE) ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY Three centuries later…

And in those days there appeared in Alexandria a female philosopher, a pagan named Hypatia, and she was devoted at all times to magic, astrolabes and instruments of music, and she beguiled many people through her Satanic wiles. And the governor of the city honoured her exceedingly; for she had beguiled him through her magic. And he ceased attending church as had been his custom... And he not only did this, but he drew many believers to her, and he himself received the unbelievers at his house.

JOHN OF NIKIU (7TH C. CE), CHRONICLE 84.87-103 τὰ τῷ αὐτῷ ἴσα καὶ ἀλλήλοις ἐστὶν ἴσα. Things equal to the same thing, are equal to each other.

EUCLID’S FIRST COMMON IDEA (KOINĒ ENNOIA) Oxford, 2017 SOCRATES OF ATHENS

Jacques-Louis David, The Death of Socrates, Oil on Canvas, 1787 • Born in Athens 469 BCE; poor son of a stonemason & midwife • Transformative experience stemming from the Pythia, Oracle at Delphi • “Know Thyself”, and knowing what one doesn’t know. • A life’s vocation of asking questions. SOCRATES’ INSPIRATION THE ORACLE AT DELPHI “Is anyone wiser than Socrates?” “No.” ✦ Interpreted: he knows what he does not know. “Know Thyself.” (gnōthi seauton or isthi seauton) “Nothing in excess.” (mēden agan). “I count the grains of sand on the beach and measure the sea; I understand the speech of the dumb and hear the voice of the voiceless.” 560 BCE, to Croesus, Herodotus 1.47 “Make your own nature, not the opinion of others, your guide in life.” 83 BCE, to Cicero, Plutarch, Cicero 5 “Please tell me what you honestly believe… then we’ll look for the truth, together.”

SOCRATES, DIALOGUES WITH THRASYMACHUS & CALLICES IN PLATO’S REPUBLIC & GORGIAS

DIALECTIC • Sentenced to death 399 BCE on charges of impiety and corrupting the youth • Founder of tradition followed by Plato & Aristotle • Φιλοσοφία philosophy, “love of wisdom.” “People of Athens, I am grateful and I am your friend, but I will obey the god rather than you, and as long as I draw breath and am able, I shall not cease to practice philosophia—to exhort you, and in my usual way to point out… when you care for money, power, or fame, but not for wisdom, truth, or the best health of your psychē; […] And I will ask you questions… The unquestioned life isn’t even possible for a human being to live.”

SOCRATES IN PLATO, APOLOGY 29D-30B; 38A [Because] human beings are prone to be subservient to both authority and peer pressure; to prevent atrocities we need to counteract these tendencies, producing a culture of individual dissent… the dialogues of Plato are second to none to inspire searching, active thinking, with the life and example of Socrates up front to inspire.

MARTHA NUSSBAUM, NOT FOR PROFIT: WHY DEMOCRACY NEEDS THE HUMANITIES, 54-55 “Please tell me what you honestly believe… and we’ll look for the truth, together.”

SOCRATES, DIALOGUES WITH THRASYMACHUS & CALLICES IN PLATO’S REPUBLIC & GORGIAS

“Everyone has something true to say about the nature of things… we make the most progress by connecting it all together… even superficial ideas… that we disagree with.”

“Showing… that even contrary views are held with good reason…”

“We have to start by laying down how it appears…”

ARISTOTLE, METAPHYSICS 2, EUDEMIAN AND NICOMACHEAN ETHICS “Please tell me what you honestly believe… and we’ll look for the truth, together.”

SOCRATES, DIALOGUES WITH THRASYMACHUS & CALLICES IN PLATO’S REPUBLIC & GORGIAS

I will tell you a myth…

SOCRATES, IN PLATO, GORGIAS, PHAEDRUS, PHAEDO, REPUBLIC

Fragments of very ancient ideas have been handed down to us in the form of a myth… set in a mythological form in order that they can have persuasive power for the majority of people, and with view to our customs and benefit…

ARISTOTLE, METAPHYSICS Λ 8, 1074A38-B14 “Please tell me what you honestly believe… and we’ll look for the truth, together.”

SOCRATES, DIALOGUES WITH THRASYMACHUS & CALLICES IN PLATO’S REPUBLIC & GORGIAS

The ancients were… capable of understanding the nature of the cosmos, and inclined to use symbols and riddles (symbola kai ainigmata) in their philosophical discussions of it. CORNUTUS, INTRODUCTION 35, 75.18-76.5 LANG, C. 60 CE

[Biblical stories] are indications of character types, which invite allegorical interpretation through the explanation of hidden meanings. [Biblical laws may be] symbols of matters belonging to our deeper consciousness (nous).

PHILO OF ALEXANDRIA, OPIF. 157, MIGR. 89-93, C. 20 BCE-C. 50 CE SYNTHESIS THE LAST “OLD” PHILOSOPHERS; AMMONIUS & OLYMPIODORUS

Man with a sword-belt, el-Roubayat, Egypt, now in Berlin • In 486 CE, a pupil at the university of Alexandria slanders the indigenous Egyptian goddess Isis and her priestess, sacred to the philosophers. Students attempt to punish the slander. • Peter Mongus, Bishop of Alexandria, presents the conflict as an assault on the city’s Christian community; the temple of Isis is destroyed and plundered in the ensuing riots. • Philosophers fear a repeat of Hypatia’s murder. But instead, an imperial inquisition is summoned, and philosophy professors are tortured for information or confession; some escape, never to return. • Ammonius, the city’s public chair of philosophy, makes an unspecified arrangement with the Bishop. • The school in Alexandria is allowed to continue teaching for some sixty years under his successor Olympiodorus in the 6th century, while the Platonic Academy in Athens is shuttered by order of Justinian. Tell the emperor that my hall has fallen to the ground. Phoibos no longer has his house, nor his mantic bay, nor his prophetic spring; the water has dried up.

ATTRIBUTED TO THE PYTHIA OF DELPHI ADDRESSED TO ORIBASIUS, 362 CE “So what if they accuse me, too, and they demand to know why I am teaching the young people of the city? Would they ever be persuaded that I’m doing it in their own interests, that I want to help us become better human beings (kaloi kagathoi)? Under a constitution like this, we have to build a “little wall” (teichion) for ourselves, and live quietly under its shelter.”

OLYMPIODORUS ON PLATO’S GORGIAS OLYMPIODORUS’ LUSEIS 1: MYTH AND MEANING

Man with a sword-belt, el-Roubayat, Egypt, now in Berlin We shouldn’t understand things spoken in mythical mode in their surface meaning… so we understand myths according to their inner meaning.

OLYMPIODORUS, LECTURES ON PLATO’S GORGIAS, 4.3 Please don’t be disturbed by the names, when you hear us talk about a “power of Kronos” or a “power of Zeus” and so on, but concentrate on the reality for which they stand, think that we try to express something else by these words… if you like, you may take it that these powers have no being of their own, no separate existence, but that they are implicit in the first cause [God], to whom you can ascribe the capacities of consciousness and life. So, when we say “Kronos,” don’t be shocked by the word, but ask yourself what I mean: Kronos is koros nous, that is, clarity of mind or consciousness. OLYMPIODORUS, LECTURES ON PLATO’S GORGIAS, 4.3 And please don’t think that the philosophers pay divine honours to stones and images [eidōla]. Rather, it’s like this: since we live in a world of sense-perception, we can’t really grasp the underlying capacities of the world without resorting to impressions from bodies and matter. So these images have been crafted to remind us of [those capacities], in order that by witnessing and revering these [images], we may bring [the underlying reality] into mind.

OLYMPIODORUS, LECTURES ON PLATO’S GORGIAS, 4.3 When we speak of the daimōn, we mean the conscience (suneidos)…

OLYMPIODORUS, LECTURES ON PLATO’S ALCIBIADES I

Traditional myths have such a strange surface meaning that we can’t help but look for the deeper meaning. Philosophical myths have a beneficial meaning at both their surface and deeper layers, but the risk that the surface meaning [literal meaning] is so beneficial, we don’t seek the truth [beneath.]

SUMMARY FROM OLYMPIODORUS ON GORGIAS 46.6 The interpreter [of myths and philosophies] shouldn’t fnd disagreement by looking only at the letter (lexis) [of the text or story]—they have to look toward the intent or the meaning (nous), and track down the harmony.

SIMPLICIUS, IN CAT. 7,23-32 COMPARE OLYMIPODORUS IN CAT. 68,34-40, IN METE. 266,19

… We should show that each person has seen and revealed a different aspect … but now, let’s try to find the innate understanding that they share in common (koinē ennoia), and take that as a lookout point to understand their differences.

SIMPLICIUS, 6TH CENTURY CE PLATONIST, ON PHYSICS 640,12-18 Everyone [including pagans and Christians] share koinai ennoiai. We can “put our trust” in these.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Be kind to everyone. Honour those in need.

IN ALC. 131.12–14, 114.11–12 OLYMPIODORUS’ LUSEIS 1: MYTH AND MEANING 2: OUR DAIMONES ARE INSIDE US

Man with a sword-belt, el-Roubayat, Egypt, now in Berlin Justice isn’t a matter of ‘doing our part’ on the outside, but it’s about what’s inside us, what is truly me, and my own. The just person… finds the order in herself, is her own friend, and harmonises the three parts of herself [thought, feeling, and desire] like three limiting notes in a musical scale—high, low, and middle. She binds together these facets, and any others there may be in between, and from having been many things she becomes entirely one, well-tempered and harmonious. Only then does she act. And when she does anything, whether it’s making the money she needs, taking care of her body, engaging in public life, or in private business—in all of these, she believes that action is just and beautiful that saves her inner harmony and helps achieve it, and she calls it so, and she recognizes as wisdom the knowledge that oversees such actions.

PLATO, REPUBLIC 4, 443C-E A Christian Monastic Practice Evagrius of Pontus, 345-399 CE

… keep watch over your thoughts; this is a wolf-killing poison that the demons despise.

EVAGRIUS, LETTER 4

The fighters are human beings; those assisting them are God’s angels; and their opponents are the foul demons.

EVAGRIUS, TALKING BACK, PROLOGUE A Platonist Philosopher’s Practice

Socrates illustrates for us a way of relating to these [obstructive] daimones. In the first place, not to direct our attention (epistrephesthai) toward them. Secondly, not to fight violently (agriainein tēi machēi) against them, but to let them be. Thirdly, not to block their activities when they’re directed on something that merely belongs to us—or else to present them with something else instead, on which they can go to work (tēn heautōn amudrōsousin apeilēn).

DAMASCIUS, ON PLATO'S PHAEDO 1.6 OLYMPIODORUS’ LUSEIS 1: MYTH AND MEANING 2: OUR DAIMONES ARE INSIDE US 3: WE MEET AT OUR OWN HEART

Man with a sword-belt, el-Roubayat, Egypt, now in Berlin Inspiration

And it is possible to know oneself in the moment of inspiration (enthousiastikōs), when one experiences oneself as fully individuated (kata to hen) and, thus bonded with one’s own proper god (oikeios theos), acts with inspiration (enthousiāi).

OLYMPIODORUS ON PLATO’S ALCIBIADES 172,5-12 To live according to one’s own essence (kat’ ousian)… authentically as one was born to live (pephukasi)… befitting the inspiration one draws from: the warrior’s life, in the series of Ares; the life of words and ideas, in the series of Hermes; the healing and prophetic life, in the series of Apollo…

OLYMPIODORUS ON PLATO’S ALCIBIADES 20,4-13 “Inspirations” of music, dance and ritual, prophecy, and love (erōs), uniting human and divine.

“The divine madness of the Muses… of Dionysos… of Apollo… To crown it all, Love (erōs) establishes the individuality of our psychē itself among the gods, and its function is this, to connect the psychē directly with the gods, and their indescribable beauty.

SYRIANUS AND HERMIAS ON PLATO’S PHAEDRUS 93,19-95,2 Plural gods or basic values, each irreducible

Indescribable unity (henōsis) and yet unique distinctness (idiotēs)… all in all, each uniquely distinct. , ON PLATO’S PARMENIDES 1049 Venice

LEO THE MATHEMATICIAN

MARCIANUS GRAECUS 196

• Lectures on Plato by Olympiodorus (Egypt), delivered c. 530 CE

• Brought to Constantinople (modern Istanbul), perhaps in sixth or seventh century

• This manuscript copied likely at Constantinople c. 900 CE, perhaps by a collector like Leo the Mathematician

• Brought to Venice by Cardinal Bessarion after fall of Constantinople (1453), now in Marcian Library, as part of the

flow of culture that sparked the Italian Renaissance BASILIUS BESSARION THE MARCIAN LIBRARY, VENICE MICHAEL IN THE MARCIAN LIBRARY AND NEARBY, VENICE, WITH MARC. GR. 196 TODAY

• Introductions & Theme: A Moment in the History of Dialogue

• Back in Time: Alexandria in The Roman Empire

• Three Stories of Philosophy

• Hypatia

• Socrates

• Olympiodorus

• A Toolkit for Translating Values SUMMARY Dialectic (dialogos): An ancient toolkit Hypatia of Alexandria 4th century CE Olympiodorus of Alexandria 6th century CE

Socrates of Athens 5th century BCE DIALECTIC (DIALOGOS)

• “Tell me what you really believe.” —Socrates. Socrates of Athens 5th century BCE • Everyone contributes to the truth, even if it’s the stimulation of thought. • Philosophers approach without prejudice, and by asking questions. Still with critical & wise judgement (krisis). • We all live by mythoi—including philosophies—and like fundamental gods,

Hypatia of Alexandria these are plural, irreducible factors. 4th century CE • Seek the meaning (nous), the values or “gods” at the heart of each mythos. • The search for common ground (koinai ennoiai) is also profoundly individual, like love (erōs). We find common ground, not just by finding a middle ground, but by freely expressing our own hearts and hearing one another. • Many valid “gods” or basic values, access like music, inspiration Olympiodorus of Alexandria 6th century CE A TOOLKIT

Socrates of Athens • Ask questions with the intention of a mutual search for truth 5th century BCE • Search for the deepest values, allowing their plurality • Find common ground • Build bridges Hypatia of Alexandria 4th century CE

Olympiodorus of Alexandria 6th century CE “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

GEORGE SANTAYANA, THE LIFE OF REASON, VOL. 1 Watch “Journey” by Aphrodite Patoulidou and Theodore Koumartzis This reconstructed ancient Greek lyre is tuned to the Dorian mode described by Plato, Republic 399a-d https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpv2Va_6zTc TODAY

• Introductions & Theme: A Moment in the History of Dialogue

• Back in Time: Alexandria in The Roman Empire

• Three Stories of Philosophy

• Hypatia

• Socrates

• Olympiodorus

• A Toolkit for Translating Values Images: Wikimedia Commons, Pixabay | Videos: Link to YouTube

MOUNT PARNASSOS REGION (SLOPES)