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Headword: Apollônios
Adler number: alpha,3420
Translated headword: Apollonios, Apollonius
Vetting Status: high
Translation:
Of Tyana, philosopher, son of Apollonios and a mother from that town, members of the gentry. With him in her womb, his mother saw a genius standing near saying that he himself was the child she was carrying, and that he was Proteus, the Egyptian;[1] therefore, he was thought to be Proteus' son. He flourished during the rule of Claudius, Gaius [Caligula], and Nero until Nerva's reign, during which he did indeed pass away.[2] Following Pythagoras' example he kept absolute silence all through five years.[3] He set out for Egypt, then went to Babylon to meet the Magi, and then met the Arabs. He collected from all of them the numberless conjurations widely ascribed to him. So many works he composed: the Initiations or On Sacrifices, the Testament, the Oracles, the Epistles, the Life of Pythagoras. Philostratos of Lemnos wrote a biography[4] that pays respect to this man as a true philosopher. According to Philostratos, Apollonios of Tyana had more self-restraint than Sophocles, who used to say that only after reaching old age did he escape a raging and savage beast of a master.[5] Apollonios, on the contrary, with his virtue and temperance was not overcome by these urges, even in his youth. According to Philostratos, he approached wisdom in a more godlike way[6] than Pythagoras because Apollonios bested tyrannies, and his was an era not so long ago.[8] Men do not yet grant him recognition for the truth of his philosophy, which he practised both wisely and soundly. But some praise one aspect of the man, others another. Yet others, given that he consulted with the magi of Babylon, the Brahmins of India and the naked ascetics[9] of Egypt, regard him as a magus and unfairly claim that he was not a true philosopher, misapprehending him. For Empedocles[10] and Pythagoras[11] himself and Democritus[12] too, though they associated with magicians and spoke many marvellous and divine things, were never drawn to magic.[13] Though Plato was in Egypt[14] and, just like a painter adding color to a sketch, blended in his dialogues many teachings of the prophets and priests of that country, he was never regarded as a magus and yet was the most envied of men for his wisdom. Nor should we slur Apollonios' intuition and prescience in the things he predicted with this kind of wisdom any more than Socrates[15] might be accused for his predictions and so Anaxagoras,[16] who at Olympia, when there was not the slightest sign of rain, went out into the stadium under a fleece, so suggesting that it would rain.[17] Though many attribute such to Anaxagoras, they turn right around to deny Apollonios the prescience that was intrinsic to his wisdom. So I think one should not heed the nonsense of the many, but should investigate what Apollonios said and did according to the times and the special character of the skill through which he succeeded in being thought supernatural and divine. I have collected information from the cities devoted to him; other information comes from sanctuaries whose lapsed rites he restored, and from what others wrote to him and he to others. He corresponded with kings, sophists, philosophers, Eleans, Delphians, Indians and Egyptians on gods, customs, and laws. We can know in more detail what he was doing among them through Damis, his student and witness.[18]
This Apollonius of Tyana[19] had an excellent memory, if anyone did. He truly kept his vow of silence but gathered much information, and when a hundred years old he had a sharper memory than Simonides.[20] He composed and used to sing a hymn to Memory, in which he says that Time causes everything to waste away but Time itself through Memory is both ageless and immortal. With regard to Apollonius, look for other predictions of his under "Timasion".[21]
[Philostratos also reports][22] that this Apollonius said the following about Anaxagoras: he was from Clazomenae and he said his teachings were meant for cattle and camels, and that he would rather philosophize with beasts than men [23]. The Theban Crates threw his property into the sea, so ensuring that it was of no use either to beasts or men [24].
Greek Original:
Apollônios, Tuaneus, philosophos, huios Apollôniou kai mêtros politidos tôn epiphanôn, hon kuousa hê mêtêr epistanta daimona etheasato legonta, hôs autos eiê hon kuei, einai de Prôtea ton Aiguption: hothen hupeilêphthai auton Prôteôs einai huion. kai êkmaze men epi Klaudiou kai Gaïou kai Nerônos kai mechri Nerba, eph' hou kai metêllaxen. esiôpêse de kata Puthagoran e# etê. eita apêren eis Aigupton, epeita eis Babulôna pros tous magous, kakeithen epi tous Arabas, kai sunêxen ek pantôn ta muria kai peri autou thruloumena manganeumata. sunetaxe de tosauta: Teletas ê peri thusiôn, Diathêkên, Chrêsmous, Epistolas, Puthagorou bion. eis touton egrapse Philostratos ho Lêmnios ton philosophôi preponta bion. hoti Apollônios ho Tuaneus es sôphrosunên hupereballeto tou Sophokleous. ho men gar luttônta ephê kai agrion despotên apophugein, elthonta es gêras, ho de Apollônios hup' aretês kai sôphrosunês oude en meirakiôi hêttêthê toutôn. hoti Philostratos legei peri Apollôniou, theioteron ê ho Puthagoras têi sophiai proselthein turannidôn te huperaranta kai genomenon kata chronous out' archaious out' au neous. hon oupô hoi anthrôpoi ginôskousin apo tês alêthinês philosophias, hên philosophôs te kai hugiôs epêskêsen. all' ho men to, ho de to epainei tandros: hoi de, epeidê magois Babulôniôn kai Indôn Brachmasi kai tois en Aiguptôi Gumnois sunegeneto, magon hêgountai auton kai diaballousin hôs mê sophon, kakôs ginôskontes. Empedoklês te gar kai Puthagoras autos kai Dêmokritos homilêsantes magois kai polla daimonia eipontes oupô hupêchthêsan têi technêi. Platôn de badisas es Aigupton kai polla tôn ekei prophêtôn te kai hiereôn enkatamixas tois heautou logois kai kathaper zôgraphos eskiagraphêmenois epibalôn chrômata oupô mageuein edoxe, kaitoi pleista anthrôpôn phthonêtheis epi sophiai. oude gar to aisthesthai polla kai prognônai diaballoi an ton Apollônion, eph' hois proulegen, es tên sophian tautên, hôs diabeblêsetai kai Sôkratês eph' hois proulege, kai Anaxagoras, hos Olumpiasin, hopote hêkista huoi, proelthôn hupo kôdiôi es to stadion epi prorrêsei ombrou. kai alla tina huper Anaxagorou protithentes aphairountai ton Apollônion to kata sophian proginôskein. dokei oun moi mê periïdein tên tôn pollôn anoian, all' exakribôsai ton andra tois te chronois, kath' hous eipe ti ê epraxe, tois te tês sophias tropois, huph' hôn epsause tou daimonios te kai theios nomisthênai. xuneilektai de moi ta men ek poleôn, hoposai autou êrôn, ta de ex hierôn, hoposa hup' autou epanêchthê paralelumena tous thesmous êdê, ta de ex hôn heteroi pros auton ê autos pros allous egraphen. epestelle de basileusi, sophistais, philosophois, Êleiois, Delphois, Indois, Aiguptiois, huper theôn, huper êthôn, huper nomôn, par' hois ho ti an prattoi: ta de akribestera para Damidos akêkoôs. houtos Apollônios ho Tuaneus diamnêmonikos tis ên eiper tis allos, hos tên men phônên siôpêi kateiche, pleista de anelegeto, kai to mnêmonikon hekatontoutês genomenos errôto huper ton Simônidên. kai humnos autôi tis estin eis mnêmosunên, hon êiden, en hôi panta men hupo tou chronou marainesthai phêsin, auton ge mên ton chronon agêrô te kai athanaton hupo tês mnêmosunês einai. zêtei peri Apollôniou kai hetera prognôstika autou en tôi Timasiôn. hoti Apollônios houtos tade peri Anaxagora ephê: kai gar Klazomenion onta kai agelais kai kamêlois ta heautou anathenta eipein, probatois mallon ê anthrôpois philosophêsai. ho de Thêbaios Kratês katepontôse tên ousian, oute probatois poiêsas epitêdeion, oute anthrôpois.
Notes:
C1-2 AD. See generally OCD(4) p.124, under 'Apollonius(12)'. The present entry draws on the problematic "biography" of him by Philostratos, for whom see phi 421-423 (and OCD(4) p.1137, under 'Philostrati').
[1] Philostratos (1.4) follows the Homeric portrait of Proteus (Odyssey 4.349ff) as residing on the island of Pharos near the mouth of the Nile, contrasting with Vergil (Georgics 4.387), who places Proteus on the island of Carpathus, between Crete and Rhodes.
[2] The sense of meth/llaxen ranges from "he vanished" (in the sense of "transmuted") to "he died." Philostratos does not use the term, but at 8.29ff records various accounts of Apollonios' death and reappearance prefaced with the sober comment "if indeed he died" (ei)/ge e)teleu/ta).
[3] Diogenes Laertius 8.10 (Pythagoras).
[4] Literally, "a biography befitting a philosopher." The formal title The Memoirs of Apollonios of Tyana is given as ta\ e)s to\n *tuane/a *)apollw/nion (see OCD) and, distilled from Philostratos at 8.29, as ta\ e)s *)apollw/nion to\n *tuane/a.
[5] Philostratos 1.13. Plato, Republic 329C in reference to Sophocles' "natural force" in "service of Aphrodite."
[6] Or "more superbly."
[7] In contrast to Pythagoras fleeing the political tribulations of Samos and Croton, Apollonios confronted Tigellinus in the time of Nero (Philostratos 4), and returned to Rome despite foreknowledge that Domitian intended his arrest (Philostratos 7).
[8] Literally, "(he was) born not in the distant past nor recently."
[9] Or "Gymnosophists."
[10] Diogenes Laertius 8.59-62 (Empedocles).
[11] Diogenes Laertius 8.2-3, 20-21 (Pythagoras).
[12] Diogenes Laertius 9.34 (Democritus).
[13] Philostratos distinguishes between te/xnh (or w(s ma/gw| te/xnh| at 1.2) as black magic and sofi/a as sage wisdom.
[14] Diogenes Laertius 3.6 (Plato).
[15] Diogenes Laertius 2.32, 40 (Socrates).
[16] Diogenes Laertius 2.10, 12-13 (Anaxagoras).
[17] cf. Philostratos 1.2. In the Suda's slightly modified version, e)s is the instrumental ("by means of": Danker, 291.5), while referential ("for": Danker, 291.5) in Philostratos. The conjunctive h)/ in Philostratos reads "otherwise" (LSJ); the Suda's conjunctive w(s reads "as" (LSJ) with the sense "as [were this accusation accepted; so English "as" for "in the same way that it would be if"] Socrates should have been accused for..." The critical apparatus for Philostratos, with Suda variants marked, is: "Nor, then, as to (his) foreseeing and foreknowing many things, should one slur Apollonios for this kind of wisdom (Suda: for the things he predicted by means of this kind of wisdom); otherwise (Suda: as) then, Socrates should have been accused for the things he predicted with his miraculous foresight and Anaxagoras..." See Philostratos 8 (particularly 8.7.9ff.) in which the author has Apollonios extensively develop this argument via his undelivered (owing to prior acquittal) trial defense speech.
[18] Philostratos 1.3, 19. The verb a)kou/w here carries a dual sense. For the use of a)kou/w as "to be a student," see LSJ and Diogenes Laertius 9.21 (Parmenides). Philostratos does not use the term.
[19] Quoted from either alpha 2245 or sigma 439.
[20] Philostratos 1.14. Simonides was renowned for his excellent memory even into old age, reportedly dying at ago 90 or older. The Syracusans erected a monument to his mental faculty.
[21] tau 598. For Timasion, Apollonios' young Egyptian follower, see Philostratos 6.3, 9, 22ff.
[22] Quoted from alpha 1981.
[23] Ibid. 1.13.
[24] Ibid. See Plutarch, Moralia 4E for Crates' notion of poverty.
References:
Primary Sources
Hamilton, E. and Cairnes, H. Plato: The Collected Dialogues, Including the Letters (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996)
Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers (Cambridge: Harvard University Press (Loeb Classical Library), 1995)
Penella, Robert J. The Letters of Apollonius of Tyana: A Critical Text (Leiden: E.J.Brill, 1979)
Philostratus, The Life of Apollonius of Tyana, the Epistles of Apollonius, and the Treatise of Eusebius (Cambridge: Harvard University (Loeb Classical Library), 2000)
Plutarch, Moralia, Volume VI (Cambridge: Harvard University (Loeb Classical Library), 2000)
Secondary Sources
Blackburn, B. "Miracle Working THEOI ANDRES in Hellenism (and Hellenistic Judaism" in The Miracles of Jesus (Gospel Perspectives 6; Sheffield, JSOT, 1986) 185-218
Bowie, E. Ll. "Apollonius of Tyana: Tradition and Reality" ANRW 2.16.2 (1987) 1652-99
Danker, F.W. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000)
Evans, Craig A. "Excursus Two: Jesus and Apollonius of Tyana" in Jesus and his Contemporaries: Comparative Studies (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1995) 245-50 B.
Francis, James A. Subversive Virtue: Asceticism and Authority in the Second-Century Pagan World (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1995)
Francis, James A. "Truthful Fiction: New Questions to Old Answers on Philostratus' Life of Apollonius", AJPh 119 (1998) 419-441
Harris, F. "Apollonius of Tyana: Fact or Fiction?" JRH 5 (1969)189-99
Petzke, G. Die Traditionen ueber Apollonius von Tyana und das Neue Testament (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1970)
Votaw, Clyde Weber. The Gospels and Contemporary Biographies in the Greco-Roman World (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1915; reprinted 1970)
Keywords: biography; Christianity; chronology; dialects, grammar, and etymology; epic; ethics; gender and sexuality; geography; historiography; history; meter and music; mythology; philosophy; poetry; religion; women
Translated by: Massimo Forconi on 2 December 2001@18:27:19.
Vetted by:
Craig Miller (Under editorial review as of this date.) on 29 June 2002@08:46:10.
Craig Miller (Translation modified; notes, keywords added. Bibliography adds, status, and cosmetics pending by editor.) on 21 July 2002@10:37:00.
Craig Miller on 21 July 2002@19:15:17.
Craig Miller (Bibliography standardized and augmented; status changed; cosmetics.) on 27 July 2002@08:06:51.
Craig Miller (Cosmetics.) on 27 July 2002@08:38:48.
Craig Miller on 27 July 2002@09:51:46.
David Whitehead (modified translation; added initial note; augmented other notes, and keywords; cosmetics) on 21 August 2002@06:56:35.
David Whitehead (more keywords; tweaks and cosmetics) on 3 April 2012@07:57:38.
David Whitehead (updated OCD refs) on 30 July 2014@08:14:38.
Catharine Roth (cosmetics) on 10 December 2014@00:52:40.
Catharine Roth (cosmetics) on 10 December 2014@00:57:51.
Catharine Roth (coding) on 21 January 2015@23:52:24.
Catharine Roth (typo) on 17 March 2015@09:40:58.
Catharine Roth (tweaked note 2) on 18 March 2015@22:53:11.

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