RELIGION AND IDENTITY IN PORPHYRY OF TYRE Porphyry, a native of Phoenicia educated in Athens and Rome during the third century ad, was one of the most important Platonic philosophers of his age. In this book, Professor Johnson rejects the prevailing modern approach to his thought, which has posited an early stage dominated by Oriental superstition and irrationality followed by a second rationalizing or Hellenizing phase consequent upon his move West and exposure to Neoplatonism. Based on a careful treatment of all the relevant remains of Porphyry s originally vast corpus (much of which now survives only in fragments), he argues for a complex unity of thought in terms of philosophical translation. The book explores this philosopher s critical engagement with the processes of Hellenism in late antiquity. It provides the first comprehensive examination of all the strands of Porphyry s thought that lie at the intersection of religion, theology, ethnicity, and culture. aaron p. johnson is Assistant Professor of Humanities and Classics at Lee University, working on the intellectual and cultural history of late antiquity. He is also the author of Ethnicity and Argument in Eusebius Praeparatio Evangelica (2006).
greek culture in the roman world Editors susan e. alcock, Brown University jaśelsner,corpus Christi College, Oxford simon goldhill, University of Cambridge The Greek culture of the Roman Empire offers a rich field of study. Extraordinary insights can be gained into processes of multicultural contact and exchange, political and ideological conflict, and the creativity of a changing, polyglot empire. During this period, many fundamental elements of Western society were being set in place: from the rise of Christianity, to an influential system of education, to long-lived artistic canons. This series is the first to focus on the response of Greek culture to its Roman imperial setting as a significant phenomenon in its own right. To this end, it will publish original and innovative research in the art, archaeology, epigraphy, history, philosophy, religion, and literature of the empire, with an emphasis on Greek material. Recent titles in the series: Galen and the World of Knowledge Edited by Christopher Gill, Tim Whitmarsh, and John Wilkins Local Knowledge and Microidentities in the Imperial Greek World Edited by Tim Whitmarsh Homer Between History and Fiction in Imperial Greek Literature Laurence Kim Facing the Gods: Epiphany and Representation in Graeco-Roman Art, Literature and Religion Verity Platt Narrative, Identity and the Ancient Greek Novel Tim Whitmarsh Women and Visual Replication in Roman Imperial Art and Culture Jennifer Trimble The Maeander Valley: A Historical Geography from Antiquity to Byzantium Peter Thonemann Greece and the Augustan Cultural Revolution J. S. Spawforth Rethinking the Gods: Philosophical Readings of Religion in the Post-Hellenistic Period Peter Van Nuffelen Saints and Symposiasts: The Literature of Food and the Symposium in Greco-Roman and Early Christian Culture Jason König The Social World of Intellectuals in the Roman Empire: Sophists, Philosophers, and Christians Kendra Eshleman
RELIGION AND IDENTITY IN PORPHYRY OF TYRE The Limits of AARON P. JOHNSON
cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi, Mexico City Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 8ru, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York Information on this title: /9781107012738 c 2013 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2013 Printed and bound in the United Kingdom by the MPG Books Group A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication data Johnson, Aaron P. Religion and identity in Porphyry of Tyre : the limits of Hellenism in late antiquity /. pages cm. (Greek culture in the Roman world) Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-1-107-01273-8 1. Porphyry, ca. 234-ca. 305. I.Title. b697.z7j64 2013 186.4 dc23 2012035050 isbn 978-1-107-01273-8 Hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
For Heidi, Albian and Asher (Homer Iliad 9.49)
Contents Acknowledgments Note on abbreviations page viii ix 1 At the limits of Hellenism: an introduction 1 part i a world full of gods: porphyry the theologian 2 Porphyry s taxonomy of the divine 53 3 Salvation, translation, and the limits of cult 102 4 The master reader: contexts of translation 146 part ii a world full of nations: porphyry the ethnographer 5 Knowledge and nations: Porphyry s ethnic argumentation 189 6 Ethnic particularism and the limits of Hellenism 222 7 The way home: transcending particularism 258 Epilogue: translation after Porphyry 300 Appendix 1: Annotated table of select fragments 307 Appendix 2: Translation of select fragments 331 Works cited 347 Index 372 vii
Acknowledgments Porphyry made many enemies in antiquity; I have been fortunate to have met many friends while working on Porphyry. This book and the research on which it rests have been sustained by the kindness and encouragement of colleagues, students, and friends. For a myriad of stimulating conversations, criticisms, and advice I am grateful to Chris Faraone, Sebastien Morlet, Margaret Mitchell, Noel Lenski, Scott Johnson, Jack Tannous, Joseph Miller, Jangho Jo, John Granger Cook, Ariane Magny, Kate Cooper, Jared Wielfaert, and Gillian Clark. Heidi Marx-Wolf, Todd Krulak, Aude Busine, Ilinca Tanaseanu-Döbler, and Isha Gamlath kindly provided me with prepublication versions of their own research. Heidi Johnson, Guy Stroumsa, Heidi Marx-Wolf, Todd Krulak, and John Dillon read portions of this book and gave much useful insight on improving its shortcomings. Of the series editors, Jaś Elsner gave particularly pointed advice on improving several lines of argument. My assistant, Melissa Phillips, greatly helped in the formatting of the manuscript. Over the past six years various aspects of my work on Porphyry were pushed and redirected by audiences at: Duke s Center for Late Antique Studies; two separate meetings of the Shifting Frontiers in Late Antiquity conferences at Boulder and Bloomington; the Late Antiquity in Illinois conference at Urbana-Champaign; multiple workshops at the University of Chicago; the Models of Piety in Late Antiquity group at the 2008 SBL; Washington University; University of Paris Sorbonne; St. Deiniols Library, Hawarden (under the auspices of Manchester Centre for the Study of Late Antiquity). I have been fortunate to receive the financial support of the Society of Fellows at the University of Chicago (which provided an excellent context to write the bulk of the present book); the National Endowment for the Humanities; and Lee University Faculty Research Grant. The positions taken and any shortcomings in the following pages remain my own. Finally, I must thank my family for good humor, persistently pretending to be interested, and forcing necessary diversions. I scarcely deserve the love and commitment they have shown. viii
Abbreviations Abbreviations of ancient sources follow S. Hornblower and A. Spawforth (1996), The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 3 rd edn., Oxford. Journal titles follow the list of L Année philologique (www.annee-philologique.com/aph/). abbreviations of porphyry s works (used in the notes) Abst. De Abstinentia ab esu animalium Antro nymph. De Antro nympharum c.christ. Contra Christianos c.nemert. Contra Nemertium Comm.Arist.Categ. Commentaria in Aristotelis Categorias Comm.Tim. Commentaria in Platonis Timaeum De Lib.arbitr. De Libero Arbitrio (= Peri tou eph hēmin) Ep.Aneb. Epistula ad Anebonem Ep.Marc. Epistula ad Marcellam Intro.Arist.Categ. Introductio in Aristotelis Categorias Intro.Ptolem.Tetrab. Introductio in Ptolemaei Tetrabiblum Phil.Hist. Historia philosophica Phil.Orac. De Philosophia ex oraculis Quaest.Homer. Quaestiones Homericae Recit.Phil. Recitatio philologica Regr.anim. De Regressu animae Sent. Sententiae Simulac. De Simulacris V.Plot. De Vita Plotini V.Pythag. De Vita Pythagorae ix