Tanaseanu-Döbler Theurgy in Late Antiquity

The Invention of a Ritual Tradition
1. Auflage 2013
ISBN: 978-3-647-54020-7
Verlag: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 0 - No protection

E-Book, Englisch, Band Band 001, 325 Seiten

Reihe: Beiträge zur Europäischen Religionsgeschichte (BERG)

Theurgy is commonly taken to denote a complex of rites which are based on the so-called Chaldean Oracles, a collection of oracles in hexameters, which were probably composed during the late 2nd century AD. These rituals are mostly known through Neoplatonic sources, who engage in a passionate debate about their relevance to the salvation of the soul and thus to the philosopher’s ultimate goal. Ilinca Tanaseanu-Döbler examines the development of the discourse on theurgy, attempting to reconstruct what was understood as theurgic ritual in the late antique sources. Withstanding the temptation to impose a unity on the disparate sources which span several centuries, she thus goes beyond the picture of a coherent, extra-philosophical tradition drawn by the Neoplatonists to sketch the variations in the rituals subsumed under ‘theurgy’ and their function, and shows how every author constructs his own ‘theurgy’. This perspective leads to consider theurgy as an example of an ‘artificial’ ritual tradition, composed from already existing elements to create something claimed as sui generis. Theurgy offers the great opportunity to look at such a tradition from its beginning up to its end and to analyse the mechanisms of inventing and reinventing such a ritual tradition in process.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Tanaseanu-Döbler, Ilinca

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Cover
;1
2;Title Page
;4
3;Copyright
;5
4;Table of Contents
;6
5;Body
;8
6;Foreword and Acknowledgements;8
7;1. Introduction: The Problem of Theurgy;10
8;2. Theurgy and the Chaldean Oracles;22
8.1;2.1 Preliminaries;22
8.2;2.2 Sacrifice?;27
8.3;2.3 Initiation and Ascent;30
8.4;2.4 Epiphanies and Visions;35
8.5;2.5 Results: Rituals in the Oracles;39
8.6;2.6 Great Absents;40
9;3. First Debates about Theurgy : Plotinus, Porphyry, Iamblichus;46
9.1;3.1 Theurgy and the Circle of Plotinus;46
9.2;3.2 Chaldean Oracles and Theurgy in Porphyry;57
9.2.1;3.2.1 The Philosophy from Oracles;58
9.2.2;3.2.2 The Letter to Anebo;75
9.2.3;3.2.3 De regressu animae;84
9.3;3.3 Theurgy in Iamblichus;96
9.3.1;3.3.1 De mysteriis;96
9.3.2;3.3.2 The Pythagorising writings;112
9.3.3;3.3.3 Other works and the anecdotes of Eunapius;131
10;4. Theurgy in the Later Fourth and Early Fifth Century;137
10.1;4.1 The Emperor Julian: Theurgy, Philosophy and the Priestly Life;137
10.2;4.2 Salutius;150
10.3;4.3 Eunapius of Sardes;153
10.4;4.4 Synesius of Cyrene;163
10.5;4.5 Hierocles;176
11;5. The Later Fifth Century: Theurgy and Demiurgy in Proclus;187
11.1;5.1 Preliminaries;189
11.2;5.2 Terminology;191
11.3;5.3 Theurgic rituals and themes in philosophical contexts;200
11.3.1;5.3.1 Divine Visions: The Commentary on the Republic;200
11.3.2;5.3.2 Theurgy and Myth;205
11.3.3; 5.3.3 Theurgic Ascent and Immortalisation in the Commentary on the Republic and the Platonic Theology ;208
11.3.4;5.3.4 Philosophy and Theurgy : The Commentary on the Parmenides and the Platonic Theology;216
11.3.5;5.3.5 Theurgy and Divine Names: Proclus on the Cratylus;238
11.3.6;5.3.6 Theurgy and Demiurgy : Proclus on the Timaeus;244
11.3.7;5.3.7 Intellectual and Verbal Songs of the Soul: the Eclogae and Proclus’ Hymns;252
11.4;5.4 Theurgy in Proclus;256
12;6. Other Late Neoplatonists on Theurgy and Rituals;259
13;7. Conclusion: Theurgy – Writing about Rituals;279
14;Bibliography;288
14.1;Sources;288
14.2;Lexica and databases;292
14.3;Works Cited;292
15;Index nominum;316
16;Index rerum ;320

Über Autor(innen)

Tanaseanu-Döbler, Ilinca
Prof. Dr. Ilinca Tanaseanu-Döbler leitet das Institut für Religionswissenschaft an der Philosophischen Fakultät der Georg-August-Universität Göttingen. Ihr Arbeitsschwerpunkt ist die Europäische Religionsgeschichte.