“The Egyptian Hermes”: Philosophical Mysticism and Revealed Knowledge

Authors

  • Eugene V. Afonasin I.Kant Baltic Federal University 14, ul. Aleksanda Nevskogo, Kaliningrad, 236041, Russian Federation

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu17.2023.414

Abstract

The tendency to historicity is an important tendency in the modern history of philosophy. Hence a question: to which extend the treatises of Hermetic corpus seem to us historical, and properly connected with Egypt? Is it possible, taking into account the universal and mystical character of these texts, nevertheless to identify in them some elements, which would allow us to understand Hermeticism in the context of Hellenistic Egypt proper, and not broadly defined Hellenism? Does the traditional division of Hermeticism into “high” philosophical and “low” practical make sense in this context, or does this division represent another prejudice, which is better abandoned for a better understanding of the phenomenon under study? This article presents several positions on this subject matter developed over the past century, and offers certain observations that we believe allow us to better understand Hermeticism in the context of Alexandrian religious philosophy. For this purpose we examine in detail the origins of the legend of Thoth, which in the Greek context goes back to Plato, and then turn to an important hermetic text, the Definitions, which has survived only in its medieval translation into Armenian, and only partially preserved in the Greek. Indeed, only the aphoristic form of precepts allows the student to stop being distracted by the lectures of his celestial preceptor and begin to reflect independently on the universal truths expressed in the brief maxims. If this hypothesis is true, then the various Gnostic elements in hermetic treatises, often inappropriate, will appear as later additions by commentators to texts already in circulation in Hellenistic Egypt even before Gnosticism arose.

Keywords:

Hermes, Egypt, Hellenism, mysticism, revelation, Gnosis, Platonism

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References

Литература

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Lucarini, C.M. and Moreschini, C. (eds) (2012), Hermias Alexandrinus in Platonis Phaedrum scholia, Berlin: de Gruyter.

Hermetica II (2019), trans. by Litwa, M.D., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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References

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Festugière, A.-J. (1950–1954), La Révélation d’Hermès Trismégiste, in 4 vols, Paris: Gabalda.

Tofighian, O. (2016), Myth and Philosophy in Platonic Dialogues, Palgrave Macmillan.

Partenie, C. (ed.) (2004), Plato. Selected Myths, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Lucarini, C.M. and Moreschini, C. (eds) (2012), Hermias Alexandrinus in Platonis Phaedrum scholia, Berlin: de Gruyter.

Hermetica II (2019), trans. by Litwa, M.D., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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More, Ch. (2012), The myth of Theuth in the Phaedrus, in: Collobert, C., Destrée, P. and Gonzalez, F.J. (eds), Plato and Myth: Studies on the Use and Status of Platonic Myths, Leiden, pp. 279–303.

Mahé, J.-P. (1982), Hermès en haute-Egypte, t. 2, Québec: Presses de l’Université Laval.

Nock, A.D. and Festugière, A.-J. (éds) (1980), Corpus Hermeticum, in 4 vols, Paris: Société d’édition «Les Belles lettres».

Ramelli, I. (ed.) (2005), Corpus Hermeticum, ed. e comm. di Nock, A. D. e Festugière, A. J., ed. dei testi ermetici copti e commento di Ramelli, I., Milano Bompiani.

Robinson, J.M. (ed.) (1988), The Nag Hammadi Library in English, trans. by the Members of the Coptic Library Project of the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity, San Francisco: Harper & Row.

Manandyan, Kh. (1956), The Definitions of Hermes Trismegistus to Asclepius, Vestnik Matenadarana, vol. 3, pp. 287–314. (In Armenian)

Paramelle, J. and Mahé, J.-P. (1990–1991), Nouveaux parallèles grecs aux Définitions Hermétiques arméniennes, Revue des Études Arméniennes, t. 22, pp. 115–134.

Paramelle, J. and Mahé, J.-P. (1991), Extraits hermétiques inédits dans un manuscrit d’Oxford, Revue des Études Grecques, t. 104, pp. 109–139.

Fowden, G. (1986), The Egyptian Hermes: A Historical Approach to the Late Pagan Mind, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Broek, R. van (1996), Studies in Gnosticism and Alexandrian Christianity, Leiden: Brill.

Robinson, J.M. (1986), On Bridging the Gulf from Q to the Gospel of Thomas (or Vice Versa), in: Hendrick, Ch. W. and Hodgson, R. (eds), Nag Hammadi, Gnosticism, and Early Christianity, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, pp. 127–176.

Salaman, C., Van Oven, D., Wharton, W. and Mahé, J.-P. (2000), The Way of Hermes. New Translations of the Copus Hermeticum and The Definitions of Hermes Trismegistus to Asclepius, London: Inner Traditions International.

Mahé, J.-P. (1978), Hermès en haute-Egypte, t. 1., Québec: Presses de l’Université Laval.

Afonasin, E.V. and Afonasina, A. S. (2017), ΙΑΤΡΙΚΗ ΤΕΧΝΗ. Studies in the History of Ancient Medicine, St. Petersburg: Izdatel’stvo RKhGA Publ. (In Russian)

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Вестник Санкт-Петербургского университета. Философия и конфликтология. 2023. Т. 39. Вып. 4

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Published

2023-12-24

How to Cite

Afonasin, E. V. (2023). “The Egyptian Hermes”: Philosophical Mysticism and Revealed Knowledge. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Philosophy and Conflict Studies, 39(4), 776–785. https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu17.2023.414

Issue

Vol. 39 No. 4 (2023): Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Philosophy and Conflict Studies

Section

Religious studies

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Articles of "Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Philosophy and Conflict Studies" are open access distributed under the terms of the License Agreement with Saint Petersburg State University, which permits to the authors unrestricted distribution and self-archiving free of charge.