Daemonic Trickery, Platonic Mimicry
Traces of Christian Daemonological Discourse in Porphyry's De Abstinentia
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4064350 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Travis W Proctor (0000-0002-6021-9544, Department of Religious StudiesUNC-Chapel Hill, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2014 |
| Volume | 68 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 416-449 |
| Publication date | 2014-09-18 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Vigiliae Christianae (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0042-6032 • E-ISSN: 1570-0720 |
| Publisher | Walter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1163/15700720-12341180 |
| OpenAlex | W2031664993 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
Porphyry of Tyre's discussion of daemons and animal sacrifice in De Abstinentia strays from traditional Platonic formulations of daemonic involvement in the Graeco-Roman cult. As a result, scholars have struggled to identify the intellectual pedigree for Porphyry's daemonology. By contrast, I propose that Porphyry draws upon Christian Platonic daemonologies, best represented in the writings of Origen of Alexandria. To substantiate this hypothesis, I first outline the dissonance between Porphyry's daemonology and his Hellenic predecessors, before outlining the several daemonological tenets he shares with Christian writers. Second, I note the extensive conceptual commonalities between Origen and Porphyry's respective daemonologies, Finally, I reexamine Porphyry's attribution of his daemonology to "certain Platonists," a claim which, when read in light of Porphyry's Vita Plotini, places Origen squarely within the intellectual circles from which Porphyry was drawing his daemonological discourse
Art · Biblical studies · Cult · Early Christianity · Literature · Sacrifice · Theology · Classical Antiquity Studies · Classical Philosophy and Thought · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · Philosophy
A History of Mind and Body in Late Antiquity
Plagues and Epidemics Caused by D(a)emons in Origen and Porphyry and Potential Interrelations
Living Plants, Dead Animals, and Other Matters
Origen and the Platonic Tradition
Theurgy, Paredroi, and Embodied Power in Neoplatonism and Late Antique Celestial Hierarchies
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,56 |
| Citation span | 2017 - 2024 (8) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |