The <i>Hymn of the Pearl</i> and the <i>Chaldaean Oracles</i>, or about the Borders between Platonism and GnosticismEgitto e Vicino OrienteSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference PortalThe National Endowment for the HumanitiesThe International Balzan Prize FoundationDavid A. Michelsoncbsc_adminRecord added to Zotero bycbsc_adminSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference Portalhttp://syriaca.org/cbss/S3FVCEBI/tei
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CREATED: This bibl record was autogenerated from a Zotero record.JohannesNiehoff-PanagiotidisThe <i>Hymn of the Pearl</i> and the <i>Chaldaean Oracles</i>, or about the Borders between Platonism and Gnosticismhttp://syriaca.org/cbss/S3FVCEBIhttps://www.zotero.org/groups/a_comprehensive_bibliography_on_syriac_studies/items/S3FVCEBIhttps://www.zotero.org/groups/4861694/items/S3FVCEBIEgitto e Vicino Oriente422019103-118This paper explores the complex connections between the Platonic and Gnostic currents in Late Antiquity and attempts to explain how these ideas could have been transmitted to later ‘Gnostic’ groups in the Near East, such as the Mandaeans of southern Iraq, or to the various heterodox streams within Islam (ghulūw, Yezidis, etc.). As relevant case studies for this process of transmission, the study focuses on a few Late Antique elaborations of the latent dualism intrinsic to Plato’s philosophy: (a) the <i>Hymn of the Pearl</i> (composed in Syriac and only preserved in the apocryphal <i>Acts of Thomas</i>), (b) the <i>Chaldean Oracles</i>, written in Greek and preserved in quotations from Neoplatonic authors, and (c) the fragments of Numenius of Apamea. The careful comparison of these texts reveals striking affinities with regard to the philosophical and mythical motives employed, which could be characterised as a blend of Platonist and Gnostic ideas. A few of these motives are discussed in detail, e.g. the body as a material garment which has to be cast off, the dichotomy between memory and oblivion, the image of the soul serving as a slave in the material world. Relevant quotations regarding these motives are gathered in an appendix to the article. The occurrence of very similar ideas in Mandaean and Islamic Gnosticism further suggests a direct connection between these later groups and their Late Antique counterparts, either through oral channels, or via texts such as the ones discussed here.
Niehoff-Panagiotidis, Johannes. “The Hymn of the Pearl and the Chaldaean Oracles, or about the Borders between Platonism and Gnosticism.” Egitto e Vicino Oriente 42 (2019): 103–18.
Johannes Niehoff-Panagiotidis, The Hymn of the Pearl and the Chaldaean Oracles, or about the Borders between Platonism and Gnosticism,” Egitto e Vicino Oriente 42 (2019): 103–18.