Aeneas of Gaza | |
---|---|
Died | c. 518 A.D. |
Notable work | Theophrastus |
Region | Ancient Greek philosophy |
School | Neo Platonism |
Institutions | Rhetorical School of Gaza |
Notable students | Procopius of Gaza |
Language | Ancient Greek |
Main interests | Theology, Epistemology |
Aeneas of Gaza (d. c. 518) [1] was a Neo-Platonic philosopher and a convert to Christianity who flourished towards the end of the fifth century. He is considered part of the Rhetorical School of Gaza, which flourished in Byzantine Palaestina in the fifth and sixth centuries. [2] [3] [4]
Not much is known about his life. In his major work entitled Theophrastus, he alludes to Hierocles of Alexandria as his teacher, and in some of his letters he mentions as his contemporaries writers from the end of the fifth century and the beginning of the sixth, such as Procopius of Gaza. [5]
Like many others from his literary circle, Aeneas had close relations with the monastic communities that surrounded Gaza. Aeneas for instance frequently consulted Abba Isaiah, a nearby famous ascetic and monastic monk, in regard to the writings of the philosophical writings of Plato, Aristotle and Plontius. [6]
Like all the Christian Neo-Platonists, Aeneas held Plato in higher esteem than Aristotle. Like Synesius, Nemesius, and others, he found in Neo-Platonism the philosophical system which best accorded with Christian revelation. But, unlike Synesius and Nemesius, he rejected some of the most characteristic doctrines of the Neo-Platonists as being inconsistent with Christian dogma. For instance, he rejected the doctrine of pre-existence (according to which the soul of man existed before its union with body), arguing that the soul before its union with the body would have been "idle", incapable of exercising any of its faculties. [7] : 947 Similarly, he rejected the doctrine of the eternal duration of the world, on the ground that the world is corporeal, and, although the best possible "mechanism", contains in itself the elements of dissolution [7] : 958 sqq Again, he taught that "man's body is composed of matter and form", and that while the matter perishes the "form" of the body retains the power of resuscitating the "matter" on the last day. [7] : 982
Ammonius Saccas was a Hellenistic Platonist self-taught philosopher from Alexandria, generally regarded as the precursor of Neoplatonism and/or one of its founders. He is mainly known as the teacher of Plotinus, whom he taught from 232 to 243. He was undoubtedly the most significant influence on Plotinus in his development of Neoplatonism, although little is known about his own philosophical views. Later Christian writers stated that Ammonius was a Christian, but it is now generally assumed that there was a different Ammonius of Alexandria who wrote biblical texts.
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Nemesius of Emesa was a Christian philosopher, and the author of a treatise Περὶ φύσεως ἀνθρώπου or De natura hominis. According to the title of his book, he was the Bishop of Emesa. His book is an attempt to compile a system of anthropology from the standpoint of Christian philosophy; it was very influential in later Greek, Arabic and Christian thought.
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The Gaza Triad refers collectively to Aeneas of Gaza, Procopius of Gaza and Zacharias Scholasticus. The three were sixth century Christian theologians from Gaza. Aeneas was a Christian neo-platonist who defended the Christian doctrine of the resurrection against pagan attacks. Procopius (465-528) wrote biblical commentaries in catena form. Zacharius was a philosopher and early church historian.
David Neil Sedley FBA is a British philosopher and historian of philosophy. He was the seventh Laurence Professor of Ancient Philosophy at Cambridge University.
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Isaiah the Solitary, also known as Isaiah of Gaza, Isaias the Solitary, Abba Isaiah, or possibly also Isaiah of Scetis, was a Christian ascetic and monastic writer known from the Sayings of the Desert Fathers and various Palestinian Miaphysite sources. He is canonized as a saint by the Coptic Orthodox Church, with his feast day on the 11th day of the month Abib (Epip) in the Coptic calendar.
The rhetorical school of Gaza was a group of influential scholars based in Gaza in Late Antiquity, many of whom exhibited a teacher-pupil relationship and participated as orators in local public life. Famous chairs of the school included Aeneas, Procopius, and Choricius.
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