The Reception of Greek Ethics in Late Antiquity and Byzantium

This volume provides the first authoritative study of the creative appropriation of Greek ethics by late antique and Byzantine authors.

Sophia Xenophontos (Edited by), Anna Marmodoro (Edited by)

9781108833691, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 24 June 2021

300 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm, 0.573 kg

'… The Reception of Greek Ethics is an inspiring collection of texts spanning beliefs and centuries of philosophy.' Jonas Christensen, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Authored by an interdisciplinary team of experts, including historians, classicists, philosophers and theologians, this original collection of essays offers the first authoritative analysis of the multifaceted reception of Greek ethics in late antiquity and Byzantium (ca. 3rd-14th c.), opening up a hitherto under-explored topic in the history of Greek philosophy. The essays discuss the sophisticated ways in which moral themes and controversies from antiquity were reinvigorated and transformed by later authors to align with their philosophical and religious outlook in each period. Topics examined range from ethics and politics in Neoplatonism and ethos in the context of rhetorical theory and performance to textual exegesis on Aristotelian ethics. The volume will appeal to scholars and students in philosophy, classics, patristic theology, and those working on the history of education and the development of Greek ethics.

Introduction Sophia Xenophontos and Anna Marmodoro
Part I. Ethics across the Late Antique and Byzantine Period: 1. Sexual difference and the difference it makes: the Greek Fathers and their sources David Bradshaw
2. Ethics and the hierarchy of virtues from Plotinus to Iamblichus Riccardo Chiaradonna
3. Neoplatonic contemplative ethics: mind training Sara Ahbel-Rappe
4. Ethics, virtue, and theurgy: on being a good person in late-Neoplatonic philosophy John F. Finamore
5. Imitation and self-examination: the later Neoplatonists on the Platonic dialogue as moral education through visualisation Robbert M. van den Berg
6. The reception of Greek ethics in Christian monastic writings Benjamin Blosser
7. Understanding self-determination and moral selfhood in the sources of late-Antique and Byzantine Christian thought Demetrios Harper
8. 'Singing with David and contemplating Agesilaus': ethical training in Byzantium Leonora Neville
Part II. Prominent Ethical Views of the Time: 9. The ethos of a theologian: Gregory of Nazianzus and the reception of Classical ethics Byron MacDougall
10. Porphyry on justice towards animals: are animals rational and does it matter for justice? Riin Sirkel
11. Eustratius of Nicaea and the Nicomachean Ethics in twelfth-century Constantinople: literary criticism, patronage and the construction of the Byzantine commentary tradition Michele Trizio
12. Michael of Ephesus on the relation of civic happiness to happiness in contemplation Péter Lautner
13. George Pachymeres' commentary on Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics: a new witness to philosophical instruction and moral didacticism in late Byzantium Sophia Xenophontos.

Subject Areas: Ethics & moral philosophy [HPQ], Western philosophy: Ancient, to c 500 [HPCA], Classical history / classical civilisation [HBLA1]