Marsilio ficino author of commentary on platos symposium. Marsilio ficinos commentary on platos symposium by sears reynolds jayne marsilio ficinos commentary on platos symposium by sears reynolds jayne pp. This age, like a golden age, has brought back to light those liberal disciplines that were practically extinguished. Medical moderation in platos symposium, s brill doc. Meanwhile the eighteen books of his own platonic theology had arrived in 1482, straight after. According to apollodorus, soon after aristodemus and socrates arrive at. Namely, the basis of the renaissance thematisation of love should be sought in the revival of the interest in platos doctrine of love, rediscovered through the translation of marsilio ficino and his commentary on platos. With wit and insight, they each present their ideas about lovefrom erixymachuss scientific naturalism to aristophanes comic fantasy. The dramatic nature of platos dialogues is delightfully evident in the symposium. Kodi archive and support file vintage software community software apk msdos cdrom software cdrom software library. Three books on life medieval and renaissance texts and.
Commentaries on plato volume 2 download ebook pdf, epub. He was an astrologer, a reviver of neoplatonism in touch with the major academics of his day and the first translator of platos complete. Through his acquaintance with janus pannonius in the mid 1460s, ficino had every reason to believe that in hungary were men who would have. Raphaels rainbow and the vision of saint catherine. The marriage between character and thought bursts forth as the guests gather at agathons house to celebrate the success of his first tragedy. At the core of this difference lies the introduction of platos theory of love into the western cultural circle. Marsilio ficinos commentary on platos symposium sears reynolds jayne a. Written at a time when the nature of place was reimagined, john lylys endymion draws upon neoplatonic theories of desire to present space as a domain continually reshaped by contemplative thought. Whether youve loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new books that are right for them. The article argues that in his commentary on platos symposium, completed in 1469, ficino made use of plotinian ethics and bypassed the.
Platos symposium and ficinos 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. Software sites tucows software library shareware cdroms software capsules compilation cdrom images zx spectrum doom level cd. Full text of platos symposium see other formats plato symposium trans. Commentary on platos symposium on love marsilio ficino on.
Eros and lifevalues in platos symposium stephen halliwell olympiodoruss commentary on the first alcibiades, and likewise the anonymous prolegomena to platonic philosophy, recounts that shortly before his death plato dreamt that he had turned into a swan which frustrated a group of pursuing birdcatchers by moving rapidly from tree to tree. Ficinos labors as a translator provided his greekless contemporaries with access to the greatest works of the ancient platonic tradition. Symposium by plato, part of the internet classics archive. The house of agathon translated by benjamin jowett 20 pages part 1 greek fonts search platos works plato anthology the greek word library note by elpenor. Marsilio ficino stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Sorry about the file size, but the black and white scan was unreadable so i. Readings gender and sexuality in the european renaissance. Proceedings of a conference held at the harvard university center for italian renaissance studies villa i tatti and the istituto nazionale di studi sul rinascimento florence, 2627 april 2007. Benardete apollodorus, in my own opinion, i am not unprepared for what you ask about. Professor slings provides a text based on new examination of all relevant manuscripts and accompanies it with a translation. 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. He continued to receive the active support of the medici until their expulsion from florence in 1494. As understood, experience and also experience concerning lesson, amusement, and knowledge can be gained by just checking out a publication commentary on platos symposium on love, by marsilio ficino even it is not straight done, you could recognize more concerning this life, regarding the globe.
On november 7, 1468, nine men gathered at careggi, outside florence, to honour platos birthday. Ficino wrote it between 1469 and 1474 and it was published in 1482. With the publication of arthur farndells gardens of philosophy shepheardwalwyn 2006, there remained only four of ficinos commentaries on platos dialogues which had not yet been translated into english. Quite a few comments have been posted about symposium. Three books on life medieval and renaissance texts and studies. Marsilio ficino italian philosopher and theologian.
Renaissance treatises on love marsilio ficino core. This volume contains ficinos extended analysis and commentary on the phaedrus. Books by marsilio ficino author of commentary on platos. His commentary on the symposium underlies several lengthy passages in the dialogue and.
Buy commentary on platos symposium on love by ficino, marsilio, sears jayne isbn. Sixty years later his tuscan version of this commentary made its. Platos symposium greek and latin texts with facing. In his commentary on platos symposium, marsilio ficino argues that desire can traverse the cosmos in an ecstatic flight toward the beautiful and the good, bringing the contemplative. Farndells translation of the commentaries on the republic and the laws will comprise the third. Commentary on platos symposium on love by marsilio ficino. Marsilio ficino s interpretation of plato s sophist, edited and translated by michael j. Translation of marsilio ficinos commentary on platos symposium, renaissance, neoplatonism recommended. Love is the central topic of two platonic dialogues, the phaedrus and the symposium, and ficinos commentary on the symposium was the only one of his. Marsilio ficino 14331499, the florentine scholarphilosophermagus, was largely responsible for the renaissance revival of plato.
It was cavalcanti who first suggested the idea of the symposium commentary. Here ficino set up his famous florentine academy, devoted to the study and celebration of platos teachings. Averroes and aquinas in ficinos platonic theology article pdf available in vivarium 474. However, the term and the concept is also absent in complete commentaries on other works in the platonic tradition, e. Plato s universe with a new introducution by luc brisson, parmenides publishing. Proceedings of the boston area colloquium ancient philosophy, volume xxi 2005 pdf file edited by john j. The specific source is ficinos commentarium in convivium, or the commentary on platos symposium on love jayne 1985. Of his original writings the theologia platonica 1482. The conversation produces a series of reflections by the allmale participants on gender roles, sex. The guests decide not to get drunk, but drinking a. How and why love should be praised in platos symposium philosophy core concepts duration. Book on the christian religion are the most significant. Ficino to his friends in hungary 71 plato, included in book iii, may also have arrived as a separate work as early as 1477. The book also contains a very extensive introduction and commentary.
Commentary on platos timaeus vol 1, book 1 proclus on the socratic state and atlantis edited and translated by harold tarrant university of newcastle, new south wales cambridge university press. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read. On one level the book deals with the genealogy, nature and purpose of love, on another level the book deals with the topic of knowledge. The musical magic of marsilio ficino angela voss in a letter to paul of middelburg, written when he was nearly sixty, ficino looks back over the great achievements of the florentine renaissance. The higher world of ideas or forms provided archetypal patterns of.
Socrates and aristodemus will attend a banquet at agathon, with aristophanes, appolodore, pausanias and eryximachus. An early dedication copy of this was sent to janus pannonius as early as 1469. The symposium is a philosophical text by plato dated c. Plato s gorgias virtue meets its match youtube gorgias gorgios gorgias of lentini best of sicily. Ficino speaks of socrates one of three ancient thinkers who had collectively discovered and imparted to mankind a correct understanding of loves true nature. Yet scholars have scarcely discussed its dazzling palette or sought to explain the images meaning. Marsilio ficinos commentary on platos symposium sears. Platos symposium is an exceptionally multilayered dialogue. If one were to draw up a typology of the options participants in the controversy could take in respect to theprisca theologia, one would find essentially three. In platos idea of two coexisting worldsa higher one of being that is eternal, perfect, and incorruptible, a sharp contrast to the material worldficino found precisely what he had sought.
Brill fairfield university historically, interpretations of eryximachus character in the symposium have risen and fallen with an author s interpretation of plato s position on techn. The symposium is considered a dialogue a form used by plato in more than thirty works but in fact, it is predominantly a series of essaylike speeches from differing points of view. This edition makes ficinos tuscan version available to english readers for the first time. Categories ethics in value theory, miscellaneous categorize this paper isbns. Studies in marsilio ficinos metaphysics and its sources aldershot. Likewise, in her analysis of ficinos use of astrological material, ruth clydesdale concentrates on ficinos correspondence rather than on the widely. Platos symposium has been a fertile source of philosophical, literary, and artistic inspiration for more than two thousand years. Lesher on the philosophical aspects of jean delvilles l. Plato s symposium is an exceptionally multilayered dialogue. Studies in marsilio ficinos metaphysics and its sources.
However, unn irene aasdalen examines it from a new perspective, that is, by taking into account giovanni picos criticism of ficinos interpretation of platos symposium pp. Marsilio ficino 14331499 marsilio ficino was a florentine philosopher, translator, and commentator, largely responsible for the revival of plato and platonism in the renaissance. On the importance of ficinos writings for renaissance art, see m. Publication date 1989 note includes some text in greek. This english translation by sears jayne is an indispensable tool for a series of classes im teaching on platonic traditions. Trueblood, platos symposium and ficinos commentary in lope. Commentary on platos symposium on love marsilio ficino. The coherence of the dialogues, the university of chicago press, isbn 9780226993355. Another fascinating work, but out of print translation of ficino s work is his commentary on platos symposium translated by sears jayne.
Platos symposium is one of the acknowledged classics of ancient greek literature. Ficinos commentaries and treatises placed him in the first rank of philosophers of his age. 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 platos symposium. Please see wikipedias template documentation for further citation fields that may be required. Painted in 1508, raphaels saint catherine of alexandria is animated by innovative pictorial techniques using light, shadow, and color.
Pdf download commentaries on plato phaedrus and ion free. Studies in marsilio ficinos meraphysics and its sources aldershot. This volume contains ficino s extended analysis and commentary on the phaedrus. Ficino, who was also present, recorded what was said, although he himself did not speak, and his report constitutes the text of his commentary to platos dialogue. He has been widely recognized by historians of philosophy for his defense of the immortality of the soul, as well as for his translations of plato, plotinus, and the hermetic corpus from greek to latin. Ficino, marsilio internet encyclopedia of philosophy. Trueblood, platos symposium and ficino s commentary in lope. A propos dun traite pseudoplatonicien inedit find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate. Shakespeare s sonnets and a lover s complaint constitute a rich tapestry of rhetorical play about renaissance love in all its guises.
Contributor jayne, sears reynolds, 1920contentssummary. Humanist themes in the art of the renaissance new york. Platos 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. It has been described as ficinos philosophical masterpiece. At once a historical document, a philosophical drama that enacts abstract ideas in an often lighthearted way, and a literary masterpiece, it has exerted an influence that goes well beyond the confines of philosophy. Symposium is perhaps platos masterpiece as a work of art, though other dialogues are of greater philosophical import. Hackett knows ovids version of the narcissus myth, but he also knows ficinos platonic version from chapter 17 of the sixth oration of the commentarium. Bury, the symposium of plato, 214e crossreferences to this page 3. Hence the tragic fate of narcissus which orpheus records.
About shakespeares macbeth and the fable of ovid treting. Translation of marsilio ficinos commentary on platos symposium, renaissance, neoplatonism. Symposium is central in platos philosophy, since it talks about love and ideas. Marsilio ficinos most popular book is commentary on platos symposium on love. 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. Sorry about the file size, but the black and white scan was unreadable so i had to do it greyscale. For werner jaeger, for instance, eryximachus speech falls into place.
Marsilio ficino has 63 books on goodreads with 1537 ratings. So dialogue plays a smaller role in the symposium than it does in platos other dialogues. 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 platos renowned work on love is of great interest. Its great range, from discussions of physical love to an almost mystical. It concerns itself at one level with the genesis, purpose and nature of love, and in latterday interpretations is the origin of the concept of platonic love. On the nature of love is a translation of marsilio ficinos commentary to platos symposium. Responsibility the text and a translation, with an introduction, by sears reynolds jayne. Studies in the history of ethics medical moderation in plato s symposium sara a. This is the first critical edition to be published in nearly seventy years and the first ever commentary in english. Apollodorus phaedrus pausanias eryximachus aristophanes agathon socrates alcibiades a troop of revellers scene. Catana, readings of platonic virtue theories preprint. Marsilio ficinos commentary on platos symposium in. Sept 2014 10 mb this link contains a free pdf copy of platos symposium.
This book is a translation of ficinos tuscan commentary to platos symposium. A course on the afterlife of platos symposium department of. Aug 20, 2014 however, unn irene aasdalen examines it from a new perspective, that is, by taking into account giovanni picos criticism of ficinos interpretation of platos symposium pp. In addition to these substitutions, i have edited jowetts translation for punctuation, grammar, and formatting not consistent with the conventions of standard english. 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. The strongest argument of those who claim socrates did not actually believe in the idea of philosopher kings is that the view is expressed no earlier than plato s republic, which is widely considered one of plato s middle dialogues and not representative of the historical socrates views. Free pdf commentary on platos symposium on love, by marsilio ficino. The origin of the concept of platonic love comes from platos symposium, a dialogue set in an allnight banquet where the partygoers decide to discuss the concept of love eros.