Dionysius the Areopagite and the Legacy of Iamblichus
Abstract
Neoplatonism takes a significant turn when Iamblichus integrates a mystical perspective based on the Chaldean Oracles into his doctrine. This compilation of fragments, which can be traced back to Babylonian Zoroastrianism, emerged in Hellenistic civilization and gained prominence as hermetic texts among philosophers from the 2nd century onward. For Iamblichus, the Neoplatonic concern regarding the feasibility of a return to the One is addressed not primarily through abstract theoretical philosophy, but rather through a philosophical wisdom illuminated by theurgic practice. Iamblichus affirms the legitimacy of the rites detailed in these hieratic texts by asserting that they were divinely inspired by God to Julian. Syrianus and Proclus play crucial roles in preserving and transmitting this legacy. By inheriting Iamblichus’ teachings, they not only regarded this theurgical approach as a quasi-refoundational element of Neoplatonism but also introduced their own contributions to its development. Moreover, they served as the intermediaries through whom these doctrines reached the author of the Corpus Dionysiacum. At this point, Dionysius the Areopagite enters the narrative. He revitalizes the concept of theurgy, though –as this work will endeavor to demonstrate– his effort to integrate Neoplatonism with Christianity reflects a return to Iamblichus’ original interpretation of theurgy. Dionysius’ doctrines provide a robust foundation for him to argue that the Christian rites instituted by Jesus –being performed by God himself, in and through his very person– are doubly true. Therefore, these rites assuredly lead to theosis, the sole means of achieving the union of the soul with the Christian God.Downloads
References
Anónimo (1971). Oracles Chaldaïques, avec un choix de commentaires anciens. Ed. y trad. Des Places, É. Les Belles Lettres.
Hermias Alejandrino (1971). In Platonis Phaedrum scholia. Ed. Couvreur, P. G. Olms.
Jamblique (1966). Les mystères d’Égypte. Ed. y trad. Des Places, É. Les Belles Lettres.
Jamblique (2013). Réponse à Porphyre. Les mystères. Ed. y trad. Saffrey, H. D. y Segonds, A. Les Belles Lettres.
Marino (1966). Vita Procli. Ed. Boissonade, J. F. Hakkert.
Porfirio (1958). Lettera ad Anebo. Ed. y trad. Sodano, A. L’Arte Tipografica.
Porphyrius (1993). Porphyrii Philosophi Fragmenta. Ed. Smith, A. Teubner.
Proclo (1903-1906). In Platonis Timaeum commentaria. Ed. Diehl, E. Teubner.
Proclo (1936). Peri tes hieratikes teknes. Ed. Bidez, J., en “Proclus: Peri tes hieratikes teknes”, Annuaire de l’Institut de philologie et d’histoire orientales et slaves 4, 85-100.
Proclo (1968). Theologia Platonica. Ed. Saffrey, H. D. y Westerink, L. G. Les Belles Lettres.
Proclus (1963). The Elements of Theology. Ed. y trad. Dodds, E. Clarendon Press.
Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagita (1989) Dionysiaca. Recueil donnant l’ensemble des traditions latines des ouvrages attribués au Denys de l’Aréopagrite, vol. II. Ed. Chevallier, Ph. Desclée de Brouwer.
Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagita (1990). Corpus Dionysiacum I: De Divinis Nominibus. Ed. Suchla, B. R. De Gruyter.
Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagita (1991). Corpus Dionysiacum II: De Coelesti Hierarchia. De Ecclesiastica Hierarchia. De Mystica Theologia. Epistulae. Ed. Heil, G. y Ritter, A. M. De Gruyter.
Dionisio Areopagita (2007). La jerarquía celestial. La jerarquía eclesiástica. La teología mística. Epístolas. Trad. y notas Cavallero, P. Rev. y com. Ritacco, G. Losada.
Jámblico (1997). Los Misterios egipcios. Trad. y notas, Ramos Jurado, E. Gredos.
Anchepe, I. (2013). “Continuidad e innovación en la teúrgia neoplatónica (Proclo, Himno VII: ΕΙΣ ΑΘΗΝΑΝ ΠΟΛΥΜΗΤΙΝ)”. En: Sapere, A. (ed.). Nuevas aproximaciones a la Antigüedad grecolatina I. Rhesis, 50-64.
Boiadjiev, T., Kapriev, G. y Speer, A. (eds.) (2000). Die Dionysius-Rezeption im Mittelalter. Brepols. (Rencontres de Philosophie Médiévale 9).
Burkert, W. (1990). Antike mysterien. C. H. Beck.
Clarke, E., Dillon, J. y Hershbell, J. (2003). “Introduction”. En: Iamblichus. De mysteriis. Ed. y trad. Eidem. Society of Biblical Literature, xiii-liii.
Copenhaver, B. (ed.) (2000). “Introducción”. En: Anónimo. Corpus Hermeticum y Asclepio. Trad. Pórtulas, J. y Serna, C. Siruela, 17-79.
D’Amico, C. (coord.) (2016). Asclepio. Un texto sapiencial. Editorial de la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras de la UBA.
De Andía, Y. (2008). “Neoplatonismo y cristianismo en Pseudo Dionisio Areopagita”, Anuario Filosófico 33.2, 363-394.
DePalma Digeser, E. (2009). “The Power of Religious Rituals: A Philosophical Quarrel on the Eve of the Great Persecution”. En: Cain, A. y Lenski, N. (eds.). The Power of Religion in Late Antiquity. Routledge, 80-100.
Devresse, R. (1929). “Denys l’Aréopagite et Severe D’Antioche”, Archives d’Histoire Doctrinale et Littéraire du Moyen Age 4, 159-167.
Dillon, J. (1992). “Plotinus and the Chaldean Oracles”. En: Gersh, S. y Kannengiesser, C. (eds.). Platonism in Late Antiquity. University of Notre Dame Press, 131-140.
Dillon, J. y Klitenic-Wear, S. (2007). Dionysius the Areopagite and the Neoplatonist Tradition: Despoiling the Hellenes. Aldershot.
Dodds, E. (1951). The Greeks and the Irrational. University of California Press.
Edwards, M., Pallis, D. y Steiris, G. (eds.) (2022). The Oxford Handbook on Dionysius the Areopagite. Oxford University Press.
Finamore, J. (1999). “Plotinus and Iamblichus on Magic and Theurgy”, Dionysius 17, 83-94.
García Bazán, F. (1978). Gnosis: La esencia del dualismo gnóstico. Castañeda.
García Bazán, F. (1981). Plotino y la Gnosis. Fundación para la Educación, la Ciencia y la Cultura.
Gersh, S. (1978). From Iamblichus to Eriugena: An Investigation of the Prehistory and Evolution of the Pseudo-Dionysian Tradition. Brill.
Gersh, S. (2014). Interpreting Proclus from Antiquity to the Renaissance. Cambridge University Press.
Hipler, F. (1861). Dionysius der Areopagite, Untersuchungen. G. J. Manz.
Janowitz, N. (1991). “Theories of Divine Names in Origen and Pseudo-Dionysius”, History of Religions 30.4, 359-372.
Johnson, A. (2013). Religion and Identity in Porphyry of Tyre: The Limits of Hellenism in Late Antiquity. Cambridge University Press.
Kapriev, G. (ed.) (2021). The Dionysian Traditions. Brepols. (Rencontres de Philosophie Médiévale 23).
Knipe, S. (2009). “Subjugating the Divine: Iamblichus on the Theurgic Evocation”. En: Cain, A. y Lenski, N. (eds.). The Power of Religion in Late Antiquity. Routledge, 93-102.
Lewy, H. (1956). Chaldaean Oracles and Theurgy. Institut d’Études Augustiniennes.
Louth, A. (1986). “Pagan Theurgy and Christian Sacramentalism in Denys the Areopagite”, The Journal of Theological Studies 37, 432-438.
Louth, A. (1989). Denys the Areopagite. Geoffrey Chapman.
Mainoldi, E. (2017a). “Why Dionysius the Areopagite? The Invention of the First Father”, Studia Patristica 98, 225-240.
Mainoldi, E. (2017b). The Transfiguration of Proclus' Legacy: Pseudo-Dionysius and the Late Neoplatonic School of Athens. De Gruyter.
Mazur, Z. (2003). “Unio Magica, Part 1: On the Magical Origins of Plotinus’ Mysticism”, Dionysius 21, 23-52.
Mazur, Z. (2004). “Unio Magica, Part 2: Plotinus, Theurgy and the Question of Ritual”, Dionysius 22, 29-56.
Mazzucchi, C. M. (2006). “Damascio, autore del Corpus Dionysiacum, e il dialogo Περὶ πολιτικῆς ἐπιστήμης”, Aevum 80, 299-334.
Nieva, J. M. (2018). “De Jámblico a Proclo, teúrgia y psicología”. Conferencia en el seminario: Corrientes filosófico-religiosas en la Antigüedad tardía. Resonancias en el pensamiento contemporáneo, Universidad del Salvador, 14 de junio.
Rico Pavés, J. (2001). Semejanza a Dios y divinización en el Corpus Dionysiacum. Platonismo y cristianismo en Dionisio el Areopagita. Estudio Teológico San Ildefonso.
Rives, J. (2003). “Magic in Roman Law: The Reconstruction of a Crime”, Classical Antiquity 22, 313-339.
Rorem, P. (1984). Biblical and Liturgical Symbols Within the Pseudo-Dionysian Synthesis. The Pontifical Institute.
Rosán, L. J. (1949). The Philosophy of Proclus. Prometheus Trust.
Saffrey, H. D. (1966). “Un lien objectif entre le Pseudo-Denys et Proclus”, Studia Patristica 9, 98-105.
Saffrey, H. D. (1982). “New Objective Links between the Pseudo-Dionysius and Proclus”. En: O’Meara, D. (ed.). Neoplatonism and Christian Thought. State University of New York Press, 64-74.
Saffrey, H. D. (1990). Recherches sur le néoplatonisme après Plotin. Vrin.
Shaw, G. (1967). Theurgy and the Soul. The Neoplatonism of Iamblichus. The Pennsylvania State University Press.
Shaw, G. (1985). “Theurgy - Rituals of Unification in the Neoplatonism of Iamblichus”, Traditio 41, 1-28.
Shaw, G. (1999). “Neoplatonic Theurgy and Dionysius the Areopagite”, Journal of Early Christian Studies 7, 573-599.
Sheppard, A. (1982). “Proclus’ Attitude to Theurgy”, The Classical Quarterly. New Series 32.1, 212-224.
Smith, A. (1974). Porphyry’s Place in the Neoplatonic Tradition: A Study in Post-Plotinian Neoplatonism. Martinus Nijhoff.
Sodano, A. (1984). “Introduzione”, En: Giamblico. I Misteri Egiziani. Abammone, Lettera a Porfirio. Trad. Idem. Rusconi, 5-42.
Stang, C. (2011). “From the Chaldean Oracles to the Corpus Dionysiacum: Theurgy between the Third and Sixth Centuries”, Journal for Late Antique Religion and Culture 5, 1-13.
Stiglmayer, J. (1895). “Der Neuplatoniker Proclus als Vorlage des sogen. Dionysius Areopagita in der Lehre vom Übel ”, Historisches Jahrbuch 16, 256-273.
Trouillard, J. (1982). La mystagogie de Proclos. Les Belles Lettres.
Zeller, E. (1950). La filosofia dei greci nel suo sviluppo storico, vol. 3. Mondolfo, R. (trad.). La Nuova Italia.
1. The authors who publish in this magazine accept the following conditions:
-
They retain the copyright and grant to the magazine the right of the first publication, with the work registered under the Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License that allows third parties to use what is published as long as they mention the authorship of the work and the first publication in this magazine.
-
They can make other independent and additional contractual agreements for the non-exclusive distribution of the version of the article published in this magazine (eg. include it in an institutional repository or publish it in a book) provided that they clearly indicate that the work was first published in this journal.
-
They are allowed and recommended to publish their work on the Internet (for example on institutional or personal pages).
2. AutoArchive Conditions. Authors are allowed and encouraged to distribute post-print electronic versions of their manuscripts because it promotes their circulation, a possible increase of quotation and a major reach among the Academic community. Color RoMEO: blue.
