Proclus: Commentary on Plato's Timaeus: Volume 6, Book 5: Proclus on the Gods of Generation and the Creation of Humans

Classics scholars will welcome this translation into English of a pivotal work of Platonic philosophy from late antiquity.

Proclus (Author), Harold Tarrant (Edited by)

9781107032644, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 3 April 2017

292 pages, 4 tables
23.5 x 15.8 x 2.1 cm, 0.56 kg

Proclus' commentary on the dialogue Timaeus by Plato (d.347 BC), written in the fifth century AD, is arguably the most important commentary on a text of Plato, offering unparalleled insights into eight centuries of Platonic interpretation. It has had an enormous influence on subsequent Plato scholarship. This edition nevertheless offers the first new translation of the work for nearly two centuries, building on significant recent advances in scholarship by Neoplatonic commentators. It will provide an invaluable record of early interpretations of Plato's dialogue, while also presenting Proclus' own views on the meaning and significance of Platonic philosophy. The book presents Proclus' unrepentant account of a multitude of divinities involved with the creation of mortal life, the supreme creator's delegation to them of the creation of human life, and the manner in which they took the immortal life principle from him and wove it together with our mortal parts to produce human beings.

Introduction to Book 5
The integrity and structure of Book 5
The sources of Book 5
The names Sublunary Gods
The address of the Father
Preparation of individual souls
Souls learn law and fate
The sowing
The transfer of creative responsibilities
Bodily creation
The soul's problem when joined to body
The remaining topic: life in the body
Conclusion
Works cited
Analytical table of content
Translation.

Subject Areas: Christianity [HRC], Western philosophy: Ancient, to c 500 [HPCA], History of Western philosophy [HPC], Philosophy [HP], Classical history / classical civilisation [HBLA1], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA], Literary studies: classical, early & medieval [DSBB]