Theurgy in late antiquity : : the invention of a ritual tradition / / Ilinca Tanaseanu-Dobler.

• Author: Tanaseanu-Dobler, Ilinca.
• Year of Publication: 2013
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Beiträge zur Europäischen Religionsgeschichte (BERG) - Band 001
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (329 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

Theurgy is commonly taken to denote a complex of rites which are based on the so-called Chaldean Oracles, a collection of oracles in hexameters, which were probably composed during the late 2nd century AD. These rituals are mostly known through Neoplatonic sources, who engage in a passionate debate about their relevance to the salvation of the soul and thus to the philosopher's ultimate goal. Ilinca Tanaseanu-Döbler examines the development of the discourse on theurgy, attempting to reconstruct what was understood as theurgic ritual in the late antique sources. Withstanding the temptation to impose a unity on the disparate sources which span several centuries, she thus goes beyond the picture of a coherent, extra-philosophical tradition drawn by the Neoplatonists to sketch the variations in the rituals subsumed under 'theurgy' and their function, and shows how every author constructs his own 'theurgy'. This perspective leads to consider theurgy as an example of an 'artificial' ritual tradition, composed from already existing elements to create something claimed as sui generis. Theurgy offers the great opportunity to look at such a tradition from its beginning up to its end and to analyse the mechanisms of inventing and reinventing such a ritual tradition in process.

Table of Contents

Cover; Title Page; Copyright; Table of Contents; Body; Foreword and Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction: The Problem of Theurgy; 2. Theurgy and the Chaldean Oracles; 2.1 Preliminaries; 2.2 Sacrifice?; 2.3 Initiation and Ascent; 2.4 Epiphanies and Visions; 2.5 Results: Rituals in the Oracles; 2.6 Great Absents; 3. First Debates about Theurgy : Plotinus, Porphyry, Iamblichus; 3.1 Theurgy and the Circle of Plotinus; 3.2 Chaldean Oracles and Theurgy in Porphyry; 3.2.1 The Philosophy from Oracles; 3.2.2 The Letter to Anebo; 3.2.3 De regressu animae; 3.3 Theurgy in Iamblichus; 3.3.1 De mysteriis

3.3.2 The Pythagorising writings3.3.3 Other works and the anecdotes of Eunapius; 4. Theurgy in the Later Fourth and Early Fifth Century; 4.1 The Emperor Julian: Theurgy, Philosophy and the Priestly Life; 4.2 Salutius; 4.3 Eunapius of Sardes; 4.4 Synesius of Cyrene; 4.5 Hierocles; 5. The Later Fifth Century: Theurgy and Demiurgy in Proclus; 5.1 Preliminaries; 5.2 Terminology; 5.3 Theurgic rituals and themes in philosophical contexts; 5.3.1 Divine Visions: The Commentary on the Republic; 5.3.2 Theurgy and Myth

5.3.3 Theurgic Ascent and Immortalisation in the Commentary on the Republic and the Platonic Theology5.3.4 Philosophy and Theurgy : The Commentary on the Parmenides and the Platonic Theology; 5.3.5 Theurgy and Divine Names: Proclus on the Cratylus; 5.3.6 Theurgy and Demiurgy : Proclus on the Timaeus; 5.3.7 Intellectual and Verbal Songs of the Soul: the Eclogae and Proclus' Hymns; 5.4 Theurgy in Proclus; 6. Other Late Neoplatonists on Theurgy and Rituals; 7. Conclusion: Theurgy - Writing about Rituals; Bibliography; Sources; Lexica and databases; Works Cited; Index nominum; Index rerum