Synesius of Cyrene

[SirPalomides]

The history of Christianity, especially imperial/Nicene Christianity, is often framed with a sharp division between Christians and "pagans", that required everyone to choose one camp to the exclusion of the other. Sometimes this was true but I think often things were considerably more fluid. The case of Synesius of Cyrene offers a really interesting case. Synesius was a Platonist and disciple of Hypatia whose rhetorical skills won him admiration in the Alexandrian Christian community, to the point that Pope Theophilus of Alexandria  agreed to make Synesius bishop of Ptolemais. Did Synesius reject his earlier views to accept this office? Not at all. We have an open letter he wrote to his brother which states clearly that he refused to accept the office unless, 1. he was allowed to remain married to his wife and 2. well, read the following: 

 

Quote

 It is difficult, if not quite impossible, that convictions should be shaken, which have entered the soul through knowledge to the point of demonstration. Now you know that philosophy rejects many of those convictions which are cherished by the common people. For my own part, I can never persuade myself that the soul is of more recent origin than the body. Never would I admit that the world and the parts which make it must perish. This resurrection, which is an object of common belief, is nothing for me but a sacred and mysterious allegory, and I am far from sharing the views of the vulgar crowd thereon. The philosophic mind, albeit the discerner of truth, admits the employment of falsehood, for the light is to truth what the eye is to the mind. Just as the eye would be injured by an excess of light, and just as darkness is more helpful to those of weak eyesight, even so do I consider that the false may be beneficial to the populace, and the truth injurious to those not strong enough to gaze steadfastly on the radiance of the real being.

 

Basically, he retained his Platonist convictions in pre-existence of souls and the eternity of the world, and rejected the bodily resurrection as anything more than an allegory. Pope Theophilus, who is often regarded as stringently orthodox, and whose nephew Cyril would succeed him and take orthodox militancy to infamous heights, nonetheless accepted Synesius' preconditions. 

 

Synesius' last letter, on his deathbed, was a fond farewell letter to his teacher Hypatia who would later be murdered by Cyril's followers. 

 

For those interested in hearing more, the SHWEP had a great interview about Synesius discussing his life and work, that you can listen to here: https://shwep.net/podcast/jay-bregman-on-synesius-of-cyrene/

 

Synesius' fascinating essay On Dreams, a really interesting collection of dream and divination lore and speculation, can be read free online here: https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv9b2wvp

Edited January 26 by SirPalomides

[Zhongyongdaoist]

There is more to Synesius than Platonic disagreements with Christian dogma. 

 

This is an abstract from an article on Synesius:

Synesius of Cyrene and the American “Synesii”

Quote

This article explores the Hellenic/Christian synthesis of bishop Synesius and its later influence, especially on nineteenth-century America. Synesius accepted a bishopric despite Neoplatonic reservations concerning Christian doctrine: the uncreated soul pre-exists; the uncreated cosmos is eternal; and the “resurrection” an ineffable mystery, beyond the vulgar. Whether or not born a Christian, his study under Hypatia brought about a conversion to “pagan” Neoplatonism. His attempted synthesis of Hellenism and Christianity was unique, unlike that of any other late antique Christian Platonist. Later, Renaissance thinkers scanned a new religious horizon reviving Hellenic Neoplatonism, Hermetic thought, Pythagoreanism, etc., included in a “primordial revelation,” contemporaneous with the Mosaic revelation and thereby in harmony with Christianity. In Romantic-era England, Thomas Taylor revived Hellenic Neoplatonism as the “true” religion, in the spirit of the anti-Christian theurgic Neoplatonist Roman emperor, Julian. Taylor had a significant influence on the American “Synesii,” Transcendentalists and Neoplatonists, e.g., on Bronson Alcott’s Platonic/Pythagorean lifestyle. Reading Taylor’s translations, Ralph Waldo Emerson spoke of the “Trismegisti” whose Neoplatonic religion predated and superseded “parvenu” Christianity. Later Transcendentalists continued the work of Taylor, sympathizing with late antique “pagan” Neoplatonism, but, in the spirit of Synesius, synthesizing it with Christianity and with other religions. They sought a non-sectarian, universal “cosmic theism,” notably through Thomas M. Johnson’s journal, The Platonist , which included translations of Synesius and other Neoplatonists. One of its contributors, Alexander Wilder, also influenced Theosophy on its Neoplatonic side. More recent Anglophone “Synesii” include Hilary Armstrong, who was a major presence in Neoplatonic scholarship, both in the UK and North America. He argued for a return to Hellenic inclusive monotheism, in which a Christian Platonist, like himself, could also venerate Hindu or Isis’ holy images as being true reflections of the divine.

 

I haven't read the article yet because I only just came across it, but I will try to get a look at it shortly.

 

He also wrote a book on dreams and their spiritual meaning which can be down loaded here:

 

Synesius on Dreams

 

ZYD

[SirPalomides]

Yes I also linked to an online translation of Synesius’ On Dreams. It’s a fascinating book. I don’t know which is the better translation but the one on Jstor also has some helpful commentary, essays, and other scholarly goodies. 

[snowymountains]

3 hours ago, SirPalomides said:

Synesius' fascinating essay On Dreams, a really interesting collection of dream and divination lore and speculation, can be read free online here: https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv9b2wvp

 

Nice one! thanks.

[snowymountains]

Did the Platonists use divination regularly as part of their "spiritual arsenal" ?

[SirPalomides]

18 minutes ago, snowymountains said:

Did the Platonists use divination regularly as part of their "spiritual arsenal" ?

 

It's hard to generalize but at least some of them did. The Stoic explanations of divination based on cosmic sympathy were influential for later Platonists. I think Synesius' preference for dream divination over, say, haruspicy, has something to do with his lineage- his teacher Hypatia was in the vein of Plotinus and Porphyry, who were not entirely keen on the bloody sacrifices of traditional rituals, whereas Iamblichus was a fierce defender of them. 

[snowymountains]

5 minutes ago, SirPalomides said:

 

It's hard to generalize but at least some of them did. The Stoic explanations of divination based on cosmic sympathy were influential for later Platonists. I think Synesius' preference for dream divination over, say, haruspicy, has something to do with his lineage- his teacher Hypatia was in the vein of Plotinus and Porphyry, who were not entirely keen on the bloody sacrifices of traditional rituals, whereas Iamblichus was a fierce defender of them. 

 

Thank you, do you know in which texts do the Stoics discuss divination ?

[SirPalomides]

55 minutes ago, snowymountains said:

 

Thank you, do you know in which texts do the Stoics discuss divination ?

I think the earliest source is the fragments of Chrysippus. If you’re interested in early Stoic thought the Stoics Reader published by Hackett is a good resource.