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Asclepius (treatise)

Summary

The Asclepius, also known as the Perfect Discourse (from the Greek Logos teleios),[a] is a religio-philosophical Hermetic treatise. The original Greek text, which was likely written in Alexandria between 100 CE and 300 CE,[1] is largely lost and only a few fragments remain. However, the full text is extant in an early Latin translation, and fragments from a Coptic translation have also been found among the documents discovered in Nag Hammadi.[2]

Contents edit

The text takes the form of a dialogue, set in the sanctuary of an Egyptian temple, between Hermes Trismegistus and three of his students: Asclepius (a grandson of the Greek god and physician Asclepius), Tat, and Hammon.[3]

Legacy edit

Medieval Latin readers had access to many Hermetic treatises of a 'technical' nature (astrological, alchemical, or magical, often translated from the Arabic).[4] However, the Asclepius was the only Hermetic treatise belonging to the 'religio-philosophical' category that was available in Latin before Marsilio Ficino's (1433–1499) and Lodovico Lazzarelli's (1447–1500) translation of the 17 Greek treatises that constitute the Corpus Hermeticum.[5] During the Middle Ages, the Asclepius was falsely attributed to the Middle Platonist philosopher Apuleius (c. 124–after 170).[6]

The text of the Asclepius was used by the philosopher Peter Abelard (1079–1142) and his student Robert of Melun (c. 1100–1167) as a means to prove that knowledge of the Trinity was naturally available to pagans.[7] Albertus Magnus (c. 1200–1280) praised the idea developed in the Asclepius that the human being forms a link between God and the world, uniting in themselves both the spiritual nature of divine beings and the corporeal nature of the material world.[8]

References edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ Alternative translations of the Greek title include the Perfect Word and the Perfect Teaching, in Latin Sermo perfectus.

Citations edit

  1. ^ Salaman 2007, p. 11.
  2. ^ Robinson 1990, pp. 12–13; Copenhaver 1992, pp. xliii–xliv. Critical editions of the Latin text in Nock & Festugière 1945–1954 and Stefani 2019; English translations of the Latin in Copenhaver 1992 and Salaman 2007; English translation of the Coptic fragments in Brashler, Dirkse & Parrott 1990.
  3. ^ Hanegraaff 2022, p. 49.
  4. ^ See, e.g., Burnett 2004; Matton 2004. On the Arabic Hermetica, see Van Bladel 2009.
  5. ^ Copenhaver 1992, p. xlvii.
  6. ^ Ebeling 2007, p. 54; Copenhaver 1992, p. 214.
  7. ^ Ebeling 2007, p. 54.
  8. ^ Ebeling 2007, p. 55.

Bibliography edit

Translations and editions edit

  • Brashler, James; Dirkse, Peter A.; Parrott, Douglas M. (1990). "Asclepius 21–29 VI,8". In Robinson, James M. (ed.). The Nag Hammadi Library in English (3rd ed.). New York: HarperCollins. pp. 330–338. ISBN 978-0060669355. (English translation of the Coptic fragments)
  • Copenhaver, Brian P. (1992). Hermetica: The Greek Corpus Hermeticum and the Latin Asclepius in a New English Translation, with Notes and Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-42543-3. (English translation of the Latin text)
  • Gall, Dorothee, ed. (2021). Die göttliche Weisheit des Hermes Trismegistos: Pseudo-Apuleius, Asclepius. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck. doi:10.1628/978-3-16-160108-8. ISBN 978-3-16-160108-8. (German translation of the Latin text by Gall and of the Coptic fragments by Joachim F. Quack)
  • Mahé, Jean-Pierre (2019). Hermès Trismégiste. Paralipomènes: Grec, copte, arménien. Codex VI de Nag Hammadi - Codex Clarkianus 11 Oxoniensis - Définitions hermétiques - Divers. Vol. V. Paris: Les Belles Lettres. ISBN 9782251006321. (edition of the Coptic fragments, with French translation)
  • Nock, Arthur Darby; Festugière, André-Jean (1945–1954). Corpus Hermeticum. Vol. I–IV. Paris: Les Belles Lettres. ISBN 9782251001371. (critical edition of the Latin text)
  • Salaman, Clement (2007). Asclepius: The Perfect Discourse of Hermes Trismegistus. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 9780715635643. (English translation of the Latin text)
  • Stefani, Matteo (2019). Pseudo-Apuleius (Hermes Trismegistus): Asclepius. Corpus Christianorum Continuatio Mediaevalis. Vol. 143. Turnhout: Brepols. ISBN 978-2-503-58477-5. (new critical edition of the Latin text)

Secondary literature edit

  • Burnett, Charles (2004). "The Arabic Hermes in the Works of Adelard of Bath". In Lucentini, P.; Parri, I.; Perrone Compagni, V. (eds.). La tradizione ermetica dal mondo tardo-antico all'umanesimo. Atti del Convegno internazionale di studi, Napoli, 20–24 novembre 2001 [Hermetism from Late Antiquity to Humanism]. Instrumenta Patristica et Mediaevalia. Vol. 40. Turnhout: Brepols. pp. 369–384. doi:10.1484/M.IPM-EB.4.00105. ISBN 978-2-503-51616-5.
  • Ebeling, Florian (2007). The Secret History of Hermes Trismegistus: Hermeticism from Ancient to Modern Times. Translated by Lorton, David. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0-8014-4546-0. JSTOR 10.7591/j.ctt1ffjptt.
  • Gall, Dorothee (2021). "Einführung in die Schrift". In Gall, Dorothee (ed.). Die göttliche Weisheit des Hermes Trismegistos: Pseudo-Apuleius, Asclepius. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck. pp. 3–28. doi:10.1628/978-3-16-160108-8. ISBN 978-3-16-160108-8.
  • Gilly, Carlos (2000). "Die Überlieferung des Asclepius im Mittelalter". In Van den Broek, Roelof; Van Heertum, Cis (eds.). From Poimandres to Jacob Böhme: Gnosis, Hermetism and the Christian Tradition. Leiden: Brill. pp. 335–367. doi:10.1163/9789004501973_015. ISBN 978-90-71-60810-0.
  • Hanegraaff, Wouter J. (2022). "The Presence of Gods". Hermetic Spirituality and the Historical Imagination: Altered States of Knowledge in Late Antiquity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 48–76. doi:10.1017/9781009127936.004. ISBN 9781009127936.
  • Lucentini, Paolo (2004). "Il problema del male nell'Asclepius". In Lucentini, P.; Parri, I.; Perrone Compagni, V. (eds.). La tradizione ermetica dal mondo tardo-antico all'umanesimo. Atti del Convegno internazionale di studi, Napoli, 20–24 novembre 2001 [Hermetism from Late Antiquity to Humanism]. Instrumenta Patristica et Mediaevalia. Vol. 40. Turnhout: Brepols. pp. 25–44. doi:10.1484/M.IPM-EB.4.00087. ISBN 978-2-503-51616-5.
  • Mahé, Jean-Pierre (2004). "Théorie et pratique dans l'Asclepius". In Lucentini, P.; Parri, I.; Perrone Compagni, V. (eds.). La tradizione ermetica dal mondo tardo-antico all'umanesimo. Atti del Convegno internazionale di studi, Napoli, 20–24 novembre 2001 [Hermetism from Late Antiquity to Humanism]. Instrumenta Patristica et Mediaevalia. Vol. 40. Turnhout: Brepols. pp. 5–23. doi:10.1484/M.IPM-EB.4.00086. ISBN 978-2-503-51616-5.
  • Matton, Sylvain (2004). "Hermès Trismégiste dans la littérature alchimique médiévale". In Lucentini, P.; Parri, I.; Perrone Compagni, V. (eds.). La tradizione ermetica dal mondo tardo-antico all'umanesimo. Atti del Convegno internazionale di studi, Napoli, 20–24 novembre 2001 [Hermetism from Late Antiquity to Humanism]. Instrumenta Patristica et Mediaevalia. Vol. 40. Turnhout: Brepols. pp. 621–649. doi:10.1484/M.IPM-EB.4.00119. ISBN 978-2-503-51616-5.
  • Moreschini, Claudio (2021). "Die Rezeption des Asclepius in der Renaissance". In Gall, Dorothee (ed.). Die göttliche Weisheit des Hermes Trismegistos: Pseudo-Apuleius, Asclepius. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck. pp. 283–306. doi:10.1628/978-3-16-160108-8. ISBN 978-3-16-160108-8.
  • Parri, Ilaria (2004). "Tempo ed eternità nell'Asclepius". In Lucentini, P.; Parri, I.; Perrone Compagni, V. (eds.). La tradizione ermetica dal mondo tardo-antico all'umanesimo. Atti del Convegno internazionale di studi, Napoli, 20–24 novembre 2001 [Hermetism from Late Antiquity to Humanism]. Instrumenta Patristica et Mediaevalia. Vol. 40. Turnhout: Brepols. pp. 45–62. doi:10.1484/M.IPM-EB.4.00088. ISBN 978-2-503-51616-5.
  • Parri, Ilaria (2011). "Tra ermetismo antico ed ermetismo medievale: l'Asclepius". In Arfé, Pasquale; Caiazzo, Irene; Sannino, Antonella (eds.). Adorare caelestia, gubernare terrena: Atti del Colloquio Internazionale in onore di Paolo Lucentini (Napoli, 6-7 Novembre 2007). Instrumenta Patristica et Mediaevalia. Vol. 58. Turnhout: Brepols. pp. 43–58. ISBN 978-2-503-53490-9.
  • Polański, Tomasz (2006). "Literalism and Paraphrase as a Means of Preservation of Religious Textual Authority in the Coptic, Greek and Latin Asclepius' Apocalypse" (PDF). In Galewicz, Cezary (ed.). Texts of Power, the Power of the Text: Readings in Textual Authority Across History and Cultures. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Homini. pp. 87–98. ISBN 9788389598868. OCLC 179545879.
  • Quack, Joachim F. (2021). "Der Asclepius im Kontext der apokalyptischen Literatur". In Gall, Dorothee (ed.). Die göttliche Weisheit des Hermes Trismegistos: Pseudo-Apuleius, Asclepius. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck. pp. 265–282. doi:10.1628/978-3-16-160108-8. ISBN 978-3-16-160108-8.
  • Quack, Joachim F. (2021). "Die koptische Version des Asclepius". In Gall, Dorothee (ed.). Die göttliche Weisheit des Hermes Trismegistos: Pseudo-Apuleius, Asclepius. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck. pp. 309–331. doi:10.1628/978-3-16-160108-8. ISBN 978-3-16-160108-8.
  • Quispel, Gilles (1998). "The Asclepius: From the Hermetic Lodge in Alexandria to the Greek Eucharist and the Roman Mass". In Van den Broek, Roelof; Hanegraaff, Wouter J. (eds.). Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times. Albany: State University of New York press. pp. 69–77. ISBN 9780791436110.
  • Quispel, Gilles (2000). "Reincarnation and Magic in the Asclepius". In Van den Broek, Roelof; Van Heertum, Cis (eds.). From Poimandres to Jacob Böhme: Gnosis, Hermetism and the Christian Tradition. Leiden: Brill. pp. 167–231. doi:10.1163/9789004501973_010. ISBN 978-90-71-60810-0.
  • Robinson, James M. (1990). The Nag Hammadi Library in English. 3th, revised edition. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0060669355.
  • Roig Lanzillotta, Lautaro (2021). "The Discourse on the Eighth and the Ninth (NHC VI,6), the Prayer of Thanksgiving (NHC VI,7), and the Asclepius (NHC VI,8): Hermetic Texts in Nag Hammadi and Their Bipartite View of Man". Gnosis: Journal of Gnostic Studies. 6 (1): 49–78. doi:10.1163/2451859X-12340102.
  • Sternberg‐el Hotabi, Heike (2021). "Ägyptische Religion und Hermetismus am Beispiel des Asclepius". In Gall, Dorothee (ed.). Die göttliche Weisheit des Hermes Trismegistos: Pseudo-Apuleius, Asclepius. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck. pp. 223–263. doi:10.1628/978-3-16-160108-8. ISBN 978-3-16-160108-8.
  • Tornau, Christian (2021). "Platonische Philosophie im Asclepius". In Gall, Dorothee (ed.). Die göttliche Weisheit des Hermes Trismegistos: Pseudo-Apuleius, Asclepius. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck. pp. 171–222. doi:10.1628/978-3-16-160108-8. ISBN 978-3-16-160108-8.
  • Van Bladel, Kevin (2009). The Arabic Hermes: From Pagan Sage to Prophet of Science. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195376135.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-537613-5.

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