Hegias

Hegias (Greek Ἡγίας Hegias ) was an ancient Greek philosopher ( Neoplatonist ) of the late 5th and early 6th century. Since he came from Athens and lived there, he is sometimes called Hegias of Athens, but this can lead to confusion with the famous sculptor Hegias, who was also active in Athens.

Origin and life

Hegias came from a prominent family of Athens; he was considered a descendant of Plato and thus also of the famous legislator Solon. His father Theagenes, who was very rich, made ​​himself as a benefactor of both needy and cities a name; among other things, he supported education efforts and the Neo-Platonic philosophy teaching financially. Theagenes was active in politics, he held the office of archon in Athens and was a member of the Senate of Constantinople Opel. Hegias ' mother Asklepigeneia was a daughter of the Neo-Platonist Archiadas.

Probably Hegias was born in the late sixties of the fifth century. He grew up in Athens in the milieu of the local neo-Platonist who belonged founded by Plutarch of Athens in the 5th century school of philosophy. The school, which was designed as the successor organization of the Platonic Academy, was to 485 led by the famous philosopher Proclus, whose pupil was Hegias as a teenager. Proclus led Hegias not only in the mathematical propaedeutic and in the writings of Plato one, but also in the Chaldean Oracles, which was noted as a special feature because of the youth of the student.

The Neoplatonist Proclus to were staunch opponents of Christianity, which was already the state religion, and attached great importance to the maintenance of the ancient religious traditions. This concern Hegias devoted himself with special emphasis. In particular, he worked in the field of theurgy, practices, will bring to the Neoplatonists with gods in conjunction gain their help and wanted to operate their own deification. He was so eager that Isidore, one of the most prominent disciple of Proclus, exhorted him not to neglect the philosophy; who wanted to assimilate by theurgy of the Deity, should at first - this was called Plato - be a good philosopher.

Hegias has left no writings. He had two sons, Eupeithios and Archiadas. The Neoplatonist Damascius reported Archiadas have surpassed his father to virtue and a " holy life " out, but received no philosophical training.

Contemporary reception

The judgments of contemporaries were ambivalent. Marinos of Neapolis, the successor of Proclus as head teacher writes enthusiastically about Hegias who had distinguished himself as an adolescent through all the virtues of his ancestors and Proclus was pleased with his skills in his biography of Proclus. Similarly, Damascius expresses. He reports in his biography of Isidore, the young Hegias have awakened with his unusual talent high hopes; they had expected that he would do almost as Significant as the school's founder Plutarch of Athens. Hegias have surpassed his father Theagenes of virtue and eloquence, and had as Theagenes characterized by generosity. However, Damascius restricts this praise a strong, since he also claims Hegias had fallen into bad company and been seduced by flatterers that attracted his wealth. They would have dissuaded him from the right philosophy, so that he had been even temporarily inaccessible reasonable considerations. Furthermore, he had gone too far in his zeal for the old religion to careless way and have thus created dangerous enemies. Opponents of Hegias are keeping an eye on his property and you had acted maliciously against him. Thus Damascius says that the cavalier approach of Hegias in the practice of religion provoked the Christians and that he, in view of that religious legislation engagement surfaces thus offered.

Damascius maintains that philosophy is never so advised in Athens since time immemorial into disrepute as it was when she was despised " in the time of Hegias ". The exact meaning of this finding is unclear; it is interpreted differently in research. It has been suggested that Hegias for some time head teacher ( Scholarch ) was and have not been proven in this office. However, this is unlikely since no source reports a Scholar of the chat Hegias. Presumably, the remark of Damascius refers to the neglect of Platonic philosophy in favor of a problematic acting theurgy, which Hegias hurt the reputation of the school from the perspective of his critics. The theurgy as such was quite appreciated in the Neoplatonists, but Hegias ' approach apparently being scandalous.