Pdf platos symposium greek text with facing vocabulary. Commentary on platos symposium on love by marsilio ficino. Since ficino asserts that love is the basis of magic, and indeed, the key link that ensures the unity of the cosmos, his commentary on plato. Buy commentary on plato s symposium on love by ficino, marsilio, sears jayne isbn.
The dialogue was held in high esteem among late ancient platonists and it resurfaced in renaissance discussions about ethics. Xviii marsilio ficino presents a version of the divine ascent that is closely based on plato s and rather clearer than the original, but adapted of course to ficino s christianized neoplatonism. His commentaries remained the standard guide to the philosophers works for centuries. At times he fails to preserve the illusion that we are hearing a speech actually delivered, and, in the case of bishop antonio aglis rendition of the dangerously homosexual speech of pausanias the erastes of the young poet agathon, 10 the latin oratio. Founder and head of the plato academy of florence, his translations and commentaries on the writings of. As that decade wore on ficino authored commentaries on and summaries of platos writings, many of which he continued to work on for the rest of his career. The symposium or banquet, which forms platos inspiring account of socrates and his fellows discoursing on the nature of love, was translated from the greek into latin by the renaissance scholar, philosopher and astrologer, marsilio ficino. Maude vanhaelens new translation of ficino s vast commentary on the parmenides makes this monument of renaissance metaphysics accessible to the. Commentary on plato s symposium on lovemarsilio ficino 1985 if you. James hillman book, you know marsilio ficino is the godfather of archetypal psychology. Apollodorus, who repeats to his companion the dialogue which he had heard from aristodemus, and had already once narrated to glaucon. On november 7, 1468, nine men gathered at careggi, outside florence, to honour platos birthday. So poverty, thinking to alleviate her wretched condition by bearing a child to. Symposium quite clearly, it means love of something.
Marsilio ficino author of commentary on platos symposium on. Of his original writings the theologia platonica 1482. Marsilio ficino italian philosopher and theologian. Another fascinating work, but out of print translation of ficino s work is his commentary on plato s symposium translated by sears jayne. Neoplatonic aesthetic tradition in the arts college music. Hermetic roots of marsilio ficinos anthropocentric thought. Neoplatonic aesthetic tradition in the arts college. If you have read one paragraph of any james hillman book, you know marsilio ficino is the. Marsilio ficino 14331499, the florentine scholarphilosophermagus, was largely responsible for the renaissance revival of plato. Plato s symposium and ficino s commentary agree in the vision of spiritual love as an ennobling force, in contrast to carnal love, which debases, a vision which in socrates speech pro duces the famous description of a ladder of love leading up to the pure idea of the good and the beautiful. Docs love desire the thing that he is love of, or not. Maude vanhaelens new translation of parmenides makes this monument of metaphysics accessible to the modern student.
It depicts a friendly contest of extemporaneous speeches given by a group of notable men attending a banquet. Marsilio ficino, commentary on platos symposium on love, trans. Ficinos is a wisdom received through reading platos symposium, making this philosophical treatise truly a text for todays philosophers, lovers of wisdom. Commentary on platos symposium on love marsilio ficino. The full title of the work in ficinos autograph manuscript is commentary on platos symposium on. This analysis of the historical understanding of marsilio ficinos commentary on platos symposium sets it in relationship to the philosophical interpretation of. Plato began a long tradition of speculation about love, in italy in europe generally. On the nature of love is a translation of marsilio ficino s commentary to platos symposium. His work brought to the attention of the artists of the time many of the concepts which were a part of neoplatonism.
In his symposium, plato crafted a set of speeches in praise of love that has influenced writers and artists from antiquity to the present. Marsilio ficinos commentary on platos symposium sears. Platos gorgias sets out to discuss the nature and aim of rhetoric. The aim of this commentary is to make platos symposium as accessible as possible to intermediatelevel greek readers so that they may experience the joy, insight, and lasting influence that comes from reading some of the greatest works in classical antiquity in the original greek. Since ficino asserts that love is the basis of magic, and indeed, the key link that ensures the unity of the cosmos, his commentary on plato s renowned work on love is of great interest. The translator and interpreter of the works of both plato and plotinus as well as of various hermetic and neoplatonic texts, ficino was also a musician, priest, magus and psychotherapist, an original philosopher and the author of a vast and important. This book is a translation of ficino s tuscan commentary to platos symposium. Book on the christian religion are the most significant. The publication of his latin translations of the dialogues in 1484 was an intellectual event of the first magnitude, making the platonic canon accessible to western europe after the passing of a millennium and establishing plato as an authority for renaissance. As for the text itself, the title is quite deceptive, as it is more of a compendium or compilation of a smattering of neoplatonic ideas mixed in with classical physiology and a touch of astrology than a commentary on plato s symposium. The men include the philosopher socrates, the general and political figure alcibiades, and the comic playwright aristophanes. Marsilio ficino, the florentine scholarphilosophermagus, was largely responsible for the renaissance revival of plato. This edition makes ficino s tuscan version available to english readers for the first time.
Studies in marsilio ficino s metaphysics and its sources aldershot. In his commentary on plato s symposium sixth speech, chs. Commentary on platos symposium on love ficino, marsilio on. I argue that ficino s translation of, and commentary to, platos gorgias was a significant, but perhaps also unintended, contribution to the dissemination of ancient sophists in the italian renaissance. Ficino s commentary on the symposium inspired poets and artists throughout renaissance europe and introduced a platonic love into common. Marsilio ficinos commentary on platos symposium 1944. Marsilio ficino italian philosopher and theologian britannica. Surviving commentaries on plato s dialogues by neoplatonists such as proclus contain extended allegorical interpretations. Early christian writers read the dialogues ascent passage as a vision of the souls journey to heaven. Ficino s commentaries on plato remained the standard guide to the greek philosophers works for centuries. Bilingual, annotated englishlatin editions of ficino s commentaries on the works of plato.
Olympiodorus 6th century produced an extensive commentary on the dialogue. Marsilio ficino author of commentary on platos symposium. Pdf platos symposium greek text with facing vocabulary and. Ficino s commentary on the symposium inspired poets and artists throughout renaissance europe and introduced a platonic love into common speech. Note that in his translation of plato s description of the erotic frenzy phdr. Marsilio ficino stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Love, but when ficino translated the work into italian in 1474.
Take a firm grasp of this point, then, said socrates, remembering also, though you may keep it to yourself for the moment, what it is that love is love of. Marsilio ficino s commentary on plato s symposium sears reynolds jayne a. Dec 15, 2009 marsilio ficino s commentary on plato s symposium the text and a translation, with an introduction this edition was published in 1944 by university of missouri in columbia. The i tatti renaissance library harvard university press. In addition to these substitutions, i have edited jowetts translation for punctuation, grammar, and formatting not consistent with the conventions of standard english. On the nature of love ficino on plato s symposium commentaries by ficino on plato s writin by arthur farndell pdf ficino and copernicus researchgate. Commentary on platos symposiu how to the best guides. During the renaissance marsilio ficino, a humanist associated with the medici academy, studied plato. The true magic and astrology of giovanni pico della mirandola. For ficino, it was platonic because it was true, and it was true. The commentary on the ion explores a poetics of divine inspiration that leads to the neoplatonist portrayal of the soul as a rhapsode whose song is an ascent into the mind of god volume 1 is a revised edition of marsilio ficino and the phaedran charioteer 1981, also edited by michael j.
Allen, the absent angel in ficino s philosophy, in platos third eye. Translation of marsilio ficino s commentary on plato s symposium, renaissance, neoplatonism. Marsilio ficino 14331499 was one of the luminaries of the florentine renaissance and the scholar responsible for the revival of platonism. Proclus commentary on plato s parmenides says, for example, that the narrator antiphon could not have been ignorant of the dialogues secret or deeper meanings 682. Phaedrus, pausanias, eryximachus, aristophanes, agathon, socrates, alcibiades, a troop of revellers. A theological application of the concept of geometrical proportion in calcidius commentary on platos timaeus 40d41a, bulletin of the institute of classical studies, 46 january.
Phaedrus, pausanias, eryximachus, aristophanes, agathon, socrates, alcibiades. Allen includes bibliographical references and index. Later in the renaissance we find direct and indirect commentaries by george of trebizond 9514721473 and marsilio ficino 14331499. Ficino to exceed the boundaries of scholastic thought and the preceding dignitas hominis tradition. Ficino s commentarium cannot rival the drama and ethopoiia of platos symposium. Sept 2014 10 mb this link contains a free pdf copy of platos symposium. Ficino s commentaries and treatises placed him in the first rank of philosophers of his age. A true renaissance man, he was a scholar, doctor, musician, astrologer, linguist, priest, and one of the most influential philosophers of the early renaissance. This english translation by sears jayne is an indispensable tool for a series of classes im teaching on platonic traditions. Ficino project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks read.
By 1456, marsilio ficino had begun to study greek with a view to examining the original sources of platonic philosophy, and he translated some texts into latin. Commentary on platos symposium on lovemarsilio ficino 1985 if you have read one paragraph of any. Marsilio ficinos commentary on platos gorgias catana. Trueblood, plato s symposium and ficino s commentary in lope. Marsilio ficinos commentary on platos gorgias leo catana abstract. Sep 22, 1996 that ficino in his unique addressing of plato s republic should have turned to this most enigmatic, brief passage rather than to the attractions of the cave, the idea of the good, or the myth of er best bespeaks the import of the passage and the challenging fixation that it exercised over renaissance intellectual life and the reception of plato in the west.
Marsilio ficino probably never left the territory of florence, yet he still managed to bring vital change to european society. Platos symposium is one of the acknowledged classics of ancient greek literature and. Plato s symposium greek text with facing vocabulary and commentary. Ficino and the gods of the zodiac 195 marsilio ficino and the twelve gods of the zodiac n his bestknown work, the commentary on plato s symposium, following no summons beyond the remark that love taught the arts to their respective gods 97, marsilio ficino expatiates as follows. Now contrivance was drunk with nectarwine, i may say, had not yet been discoveredand went out into the garden of zeus, and was overcome by sleep.
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