The golden verses of Pythagoras

Golden verses (also Golden poem, ancient Greek, Chrysa EPE, latin carmen aureum ) is the common name for an ancient poem in ancient Greek, which is from an unknown Pythagoreans. It contains advice on the conduct of life.

Content

The Golden Verses 71 hexameter. The poet turns in direct speech to the reader and gives him instructions. The poem consists of two parts. The first part reaches to the middle of verse 49 He offers advice for a philosophical life. Let not the gods and the parents and relatives honor, make friends considered and then preserve, remember all the words and deeds previously mindful endure the fate with equanimity, be moderate in every respect, the passions dominate, keep impermanence in mind and every night take stock of the achievements and failures of the day. Verses 47 and 48 contain the also otherwise traditional " Pythagorean oath " of Pythagoras as the discoverer of the Tetraktys ( Tetrad ) was sworn. In the second part the reader the fruits of such a life are brought to eyes. If he appropriates the philosophical teachings, he sees the same everywhere laws of nature and attained liberation from suffering through insight into its causes. This is possible because the mortals are in reality of the divine nature, and therefore capable of such understanding. To him who heeds the advice is, given the prospect that he. Than immortal soul after he left his body in death, go to the " free ether " and will lead the life of God With this promise, the poem ends.

Formation

The dating of the Golden Verses has been controversial for a long time because their content is of such a general nature that it hardly provides useful clues. The oldest manuscript is medieval. Moreover, the poem might consist of components of different ages, who may have been distributed independently of each other before their union. The discussion in the research dating approaches vary between the 6th century BC and the 4th century AD The editor Johan Thom discusses the issue in depth and argues for the second half of the 4th century BC

About the Author is only known that he must have been a Pythagorean. The title "Golden Verses" is certainly not authentic, it is occupied until the beginning of the 3rd century AD.

Reception

Already Chrysippus ( 3rd century BC), Plutarch and Epictetus quoted verses from the poem, but that fact is not that it was known to them already in the form provided to us. In late antiquity, the appreciation for the work increased and the comments began. The Neo-Platonists and Neo-Pythagoreans Iamblichus of Chalcis commented a part of the Golden Verses in the third chapter of his Protreptikos, which forms the second part of his ten -volume work on Pythagorean doctrine. In addition, he still wrote a separate, very detailed commentary on the poem, which is lost; whether it is a summary of this work in a preserved Arab comment, is uncertain. In the 5th century, the Neoplatonist Hierocles of Alexandria ( Neoplatonist ) wrote a detailed comment. Another late antique commentary, which is handed down only in Arabic translation is attributed to a Proclus; one has thought of the famous Neoplatonist Proclus, but this is very uncertain.

The ancient Church Fathers regarded the poem relatively benevolent. An exception was Gregory of Nazianzus, who said that it should be called " Leaden Verses".

In the Middle Ages, the Golden Verses were repeatedly translated into Arabic; the oldest of these translations is already attested in the 9th century. Since the Renaissance, they were also popular in the west again; the first appeared in 1494 at Aldus Manutius pressure in Venice. In modern times they have been observed particularly in Theosophical circles, and often commented.

Text editions and translations

Golden verses

• Johan C. Thom (ed.): The Pythagorean Golden Verses. Brill, Leiden 1995, ISBN 90-04-10105-5 ( critical edition of the Greek text with English translation, introduction and commentary )
• Hierocles: Comment on the Pythagorean Golden poem, translated by Friedrich Wilhelm Köhler, Teubner, Stuttgart 1983, ISBN 3-51904042-5 (p. 1-3 German translation of the Golden Verses )

Ancient comments

• Friedrich Wilhelm Köhler ( eds.): Hieroclis in aureum Pythagoreorum carmen commentarius. Teubner, Stuttgart 1974, ISBN 3-519-01410-6 (Greek text of the coming of Hierocles Commentary)
• Hierocles: Comment on the Pythagorean Golden poem, translated by Friedrich Wilhelm Köhler, Teubner, Stuttgart 1983, ISBN 3-519-04042-5
• Hans Daiber (ed.): Neoplatonic Pythagorica in Arab garb. Amsterdam 1995, ISBN 0-444-85784-2 ( Arabic version of the Iamblichos ascribed commentary with German translation )
• Neil Linley ( Eds.): Ibn aṭ - Tayyib: Proclus ' Commentary on the Pythagorean Golden Verses. Buffalo 1984, ISBN 0-930881-07-9 ( Arabic text and English translation)