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Aristotle: On Sleep and Dreams

David Gallop

This work is designed to make Aristotle's three essays on sleep and dreams (De Somno et Vigilia, De Insomniis and De Divinatione per Somnum) accessible in translation to modern readers, and to ... More

This work is designed to make Aristotle's three essays on sleep and dreams (De Somno et Vigilia, De Insomniis and De Divinatione per Somnum) accessible in translation to modern readers, and to provide a commentary with a contemporary perspective. It considers Aristotle's theory of dreams in historical context, especially in relation to Plato. It also discusses neo-Freudian interpretations of Aristotle and contemporary experimental psychology of dreaming. Aristotle's account of dreaming as a function of the imagination is examined from a philosophical perspective. The edition presents the Greek text, with facing-page English translation, introduction, notes and commentary.Less

Aspects of Death and the Afterlife in Greek Literature

George Alexander Gazis and Anthony Hooper (eds)

The concept of the afterlife has always been prominent in both Greek literature and modern scholarship alike. The fate of man after his/her allotted time has come to an end has a central position in ... More

The concept of the afterlife has always been prominent in both Greek literature and modern scholarship alike. The fate of man after his/her allotted time has come to an end has a central position in poetry, philosophy and religion, often leading to questions and answers as to how one can best live one’s life, and how can one deal with the burden of mortality that is inherent in every human being. The Greeks devoted a considerable amount of their literary production in an attempt to answer these questions through a variety of different media, whereas similar concerns appear to have been at the core of the ancient world in general. This volume represents the first to examine the influences, intersections, and developments of understandings of death and the afterlife between poetic, religious, and philosophical traditions in ancient Greece in one resource. Greek thinking on death and the afterlife was neither uniform, simple, nor static, and by offering an examination of these matters in a properly interdisciplinary context this collection of papers aims to demonstrate the full richness, complexity, and flexibility of these ideas in the ancient Greek world, and illuminate how freely writers from various genres drew inspiration from each other’s thinking concerning eschatological matters.Less

Augustine: De Civitate Dei The City of God Book V

This edition of St. Augustine's The City of God (De Civitate Dei) is the only one in English to provide a text and translation as well as a detailed commentary of this most influential document in ... More

This edition of St. Augustine's The City of God (De Civitate Dei) is the only one in English to provide a text and translation as well as a detailed commentary of this most influential document in the history of western Christianity. In Book V, Augustine searches out and presents an answer to the question which lies behind the earlier books. In spite of the moral bankruptcy of the Roman state, and in spite of the disasters and injustices which have marked her history since the foundation, Rome has extended her imperial sway throughout Europe and the Near East. If the pagan gods have not guided her to this terrestrial eminence, how has this success been achieved? Augustine divides his response into four main sections: addressing the pagan notion of fate; arguing that God aided the Romans to imperial glory because a minority of them were virtuous even though they did not worship him; stating explicitly that the Roman Empire was set in place by God and is governed by his providence; and devoting the final section to the advent of Christian Emperors. The edition presents Latin text with facing-page English translation, introduction and commentary.Less

Augustine: De Civitate Dei The City of God Book X

This edition of St. Augustine's The City of God (De Civitate Dei) is the only one in English to provide a text and translation as well as a detailed commentary of this most influential document in ... More

This edition of St. Augustine's The City of God (De Civitate Dei) is the only one in English to provide a text and translation as well as a detailed commentary of this most influential document in the history of western Christianity. In these books, written in the aftermath of the sack of Rome in AD 410 by the Goths, Augustine replies to the pagans, who attributed the fall of Rome to the Christian religion and its prohibition of the worship of the pagan gods. Following on from Book IX, this book discusses the issue of demons and their role in Platonism as being partly identical with the lesser gods. Having previously argued that in order to achieve the blessed life, we must worship one true God alone, Augustine now continues his discussion using the celebrated Neoplatonist Porphyry as his main source. Whilst applauding aspects of Porphyry's views, Augustine's main concern is to deliver his message that the sole path to blessedness after death is acknowledgement of the Incarnation and Christ as Mediator. Increasingly concerned with promoting the Christian message, Augustine cites the Bible frequently in Book X. The edition presents Latin text with facing-page translation, introduction and commentary.Less

Augustine: De Civitate Dei The City of God Books I and XII

This edition of books I and II of St. Augustine's The City of God (De Civitate Dei) is the only edition in English to provide a text and translation as well as a detailed commentary of this most ... More

This edition of books I and II of St. Augustine's The City of God (De Civitate Dei) is the only edition in English to provide a text and translation as well as a detailed commentary of this most influential document in the history of western Christianity. In these books, written in the aftermath of the sack of Rome in AD 410 by the Goths, Augustine replies to the pagans, who attributed the fall of Rome to the Christian religion and its prohibition of the worship of the pagan gods. Latin text with facing-page English translation, introduction and commentary.Less

Augustine: De Civitate Dei The City of God Books VI and VII

This edition of St. Augustine's The City of God (De Civitate Dei) is the only one in English to provide a text and translation as well as a detailed commentary of this most influential document in ... More

This edition of St. Augustine's The City of God (De Civitate Dei) is the only one in English to provide a text and translation as well as a detailed commentary of this most influential document in the history of western Christianity. In these books, written in the aftermath of the sack of Rome in AD 410 by the Goths, Augustine replies to the pagans, who attributed the fall of Rome to the Christian religion and its prohibition of the worship of the pagan gods. Books VI and VII focus on the figure of Terentius Varro, a man revered by Augustine's pagan contemporaries. By exploiting Varro's learned researches on Roman religion, Augustine condemns Roman religious practices and beliefs in order to refute pagan claims that the Roman deities had guaranteed a blessed life in the hereafter for their devotees. These books are therefore not only an invaluable source for the study of early Christianity but also for any student of Classical Rome, who is provided here with a detailed account of one of the most learned figures of Roman antiquity, whose own works have not survived in the same state. The volume presents Latin text with facing-page English translation, introduction and commentary.Less

Augustine: De Civitate Dei The City of God Books VIII and IX

This edition of St. Augustine's The City of God (De Civitate Dei) is the only one in English to provide a text and translation as well as a detailed commentary of this most influential document in ... More

This edition of St. Augustine's The City of God (De Civitate Dei) is the only one in English to provide a text and translation as well as a detailed commentary of this most influential document in the history of western Christianity. In these books, written in the aftermath of the sack of Rome in AD 410 by the Goths, Augustine replies to the pagans, who attributed the fall of Rome to the Christian religion and its prohibition of the worship of the pagan gods. Before his conversion to Christianity in 386, Augustine had devoted himself to the study of Platonism. In books VIII and IX of De Civitate Dei, Augustine renews his acquaintance with this philosophy, which had played such a fundamental role in his conversion. The main topic of these books is demonology, with Augustine using the De Deo Socratis of Apuleius, which places demons as the intermediaries between gods and men, as the foundation of his exploration into this theme. Augustine is keen to point out the similarities between Platonism and Christianity and therefore puts forward the theory that the ideal mediator between God and man is Christ — he who shares temporary mortality with humans and permanent blessedness with God and can therefore lead men from wretchedness to eternal bliss. The volume presents Latin text with facing-page English translation, introduction and commentary.Less

Augustine: De Civitate Dei The City of God Books XI and XII

In books I-V of De Civitate Dei, St. Augustine rejects the claim that worship of the pagan gods had brought success in this life, and in books VI-X, the prospect of a happy afterlife. In books ... More

In books I-V of De Civitate Dei, St. Augustine rejects the claim that worship of the pagan gods had brought success in this life, and in books VI-X, the prospect of a happy afterlife. In books XI-XII, Augustine turns from attack to defence, for at this point he initiates his apology for the Christian faith. Books XI and XII document the initial phase of the rise of the two cities, the city of God and the city of this world, beginning with the creation of the world and the human race. In Book XI, Augustine rejects the theories of Aristotle, Plato and the Epicureans on the creation of the universe and addresses the creation of angels, Satan, the role of the holy Trinity and the importance of numerology in the Genesis account. In Book XII, Augustine is chiefly concerned with refuting standard objections to the Christian tradition, returning to discussion of the Creation, including his calculation, based on the scriptures, that the world was created less than 6,000 years ago. This book is the only edition in English that provides not only a text but also a detailed commentary on one of the most influential documents in the history of western Christianity. The book presents Latin text, with facing-page English translation, introduction, notes and commentary.Less

Augustine: The Confessions

Gillian Clark

This short book sets the Confessions of Augustine in the social and intellectual context of late antiquity in the late fourth and early fifth centuries. Part 1 explores the world in which Augustine ... More

This short book sets the Confessions of Augustine in the social and intellectual context of late antiquity in the late fourth and early fifth centuries. Part 1 explores the world in which Augustine lived, where Roman control of western Europe was under threat from non-Roman peoples, and Roman literary and philosophical culture was challenged by educated Christians expounding their scriptures. This chapter discusses the choices Augustine made in his education in literature and rhetoric, in his career as a teacher of rhetoric and then as a bishop, and in his search for understanding of himself and of God. Part 2 considers the interpretation of a life, by the person who lives it and by people who accept or challenge that person's account. It discusses literary questions of style, models and audience, and philosophical questions of what matters in a human life, in comparison with some classical and some later examples of writing about oneself. This chapter argues that Augustine knew how differently texts can be interpreted, but that he cannot be used to support theories that there is no canon of texts and no authoritative reading. He believed that classical literature may offer some wisdom, but canonical scripture is authoritative; that interpretations may differ, but must accord with the Christian principles of love of God and neighbour; and that there is an authoritative reading of every life, known to God though not to us.Less

Cicero: On Fate: & Boethius: The Consolation of Philosophy IV.5-7 and V

Cicero and Boethius did more than anyone else to transmit the insights of Greek philosophy to the Latin culture of Western Europe which has played so influential a part in our civilisation to this ... More

Cicero and Boethius did more than anyone else to transmit the insights of Greek philosophy to the Latin culture of Western Europe which has played so influential a part in our civilisation to this day. Cicero's treatise On Fate (De Fato), though surviving only in a fragmentary and mutilated state, records contributions to the discussion of a central philosophical issue, that of free will and determinism, which are comparable in importance to those of twentieth-century philosophers and indeed sometimes anticipate them. Study of the treatise has been hindered by the lack of a combined Latin text and English translation based on a clear understanding of the arguments; this edition is intended to meet this need. The last book of Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy (Philosophiae Consolationis) is linked with Cicero's treatise by its theme, the relation of divine foreknowledge to human freedom. The book presents Latin text with facing-page English translation, introduction and commentary.Less

Cicero: Tusculan Disputations II and V

A. E. Douglas

The Fifth Tusculan Disputation is the finest of the five books, its nearest rival being the First. The middle three books, represented in this edition by the Second, are, as the author clearly ... More

The Fifth Tusculan Disputation is the finest of the five books, its nearest rival being the First. The middle three books, represented in this edition by the Second, are, as the author clearly intended, less elevated, though still showing Cicero's flair for elegant and lively exposition, and providing much valuable information about the teaching of the main Hellenistic philosophical schools, especially the Stoics. They argue that the perfect human life, or complete human well-being, that of the 'wise man', is unaffected by physical and mental distress or extremes of emotion. Against this background, the Fifth puts the positive, mainly Stoic, case that virtue, moral goodness, is alone and of itself sufficient. The book presents Latin text with facing-page English translation, introduction and commentary.Less

De Civitate Dei Books III and IV

Augustine

P.G. Walsh (ed.)

This edition of St. Augustine's The City of God (De Civitate Dei) is the only one in English to provide a text and translation as well as a detailed commentary of this most influential document in ... More

This edition of St. Augustine's The City of God (De Civitate Dei) is the only one in English to provide a text and translation as well as a detailed commentary of this most influential document in the history of western Christianity. In these books, Augustine offers a Christian perspective on the growth of Rome, which its pagan apologists attribute to the providential protection of its gods. Book III spotlights both the injustices inflicted and the privations endured by the Romans, thus rebutting such claims. Book IV offers a withering account of the Roman deities, basing its analysis on the researches of Terentius Varro. This section of The City of God is a vital document for students of Roman history, and especially of Roman religion, for it provides the most detailed evidence of Varro's learned works. The volume presents Latin text with facing-page English translation, introduction and commentary.Less

Greek Orators VII: Demosthenes 8: On the Chersonese

Stephen Clarke

Demosthenes’ oration On the Chersonese is a masterpiece of rhetorical brilliance and contains some of the best examples of his skill as a political orator, coming as one of his final surviving ... More

Demosthenes’ oration On the Chersonese is a masterpiece of rhetorical brilliance and contains some of the best examples of his skill as a political orator, coming as one of his final surviving speeches in the corpus. It was delivered to the Athenians in 341 BC, at a time of turbulent events when Athens was coming under increasing pressure resulting from the actions of Philip of Macedon. The Chersonese was a region of great importance for Athens. At the time of the speech, Philip was in the middle of an extensive military and diplomatic campaign in Thrace that would threaten the security of the Athenian grain trade from the Black Sea. The resulting pressure in the Chersonese, however, was seen by Demosthenes as an attempt by Philip to weaken Athens as a prelude to taking the whole of Greece. In this context he argued in the speech that the general Diopeithes, who had been sent out to the Chersonese in 346 with a naval force, be supported in the face of protest from Philip regarding Diopeithes’ actions in the wider area. This edition with Greek text, translation and commentary contains the first detailed commentary on this speech. Less

On the Heavens I and II

Aristotle

Stuart Leggatt (ed.)

The first two books of Aristotle's On the Heavens (De Caelo) offer perspectives on the cosmology of a thinker whose ideas in this area were considered authoritative by many until the seventeenth ... More

The first two books of Aristotle's On the Heavens (De Caelo) offer perspectives on the cosmology of a thinker whose ideas in this area were considered authoritative by many until the seventeenth century. This new translation and commentary provide the modern reader with the opportunity to appraise Aristotle's ideas in relation to the cosmologies of his predecessors. While tied to the thinking of the day, Aristotle nevertheless succeeded in placing cosmology on a new footing; indeed, as the commentary in this volume shows, his use of mathematics-style demonstration, along with his appeal to observation, in avoiding more standard forms of argument, resulted in a methodology that often shares common ground with today's cosmologies. Greek text, with facing-page English translation, introduction, notes and commentary.Less

Plato and the City: A New Introduction to Plato's Political Thought

Jean-Francois Pradeau

This is a general introduction to Plato's political thought. It covers the main periods of Platonic thought, examining those dialogues that best show how Plato makes the city's unity the aim of ... More

This is a general introduction to Plato's political thought. It covers the main periods of Platonic thought, examining those dialogues that best show how Plato makes the city's unity the aim of politics and then makes the quest for that unity the aim of philosophy. From the psychological model (the city is like a great soul) to the physiological definition (the city is a living being), the reader can traverse the whole of Plato's oeuvre, and understand it as a political philosophy. The book is designed to be an undergraduate textbook but will also be of interest to scholars. It is an English translation of Platon et la cité, published in French by Presses Universitaires de France in 1997 as part of the series Philosophies, and offers English-speaking readers access to a more unifying continental European reading of Plato than is common in UK or North American scholarship.Less

Plato: Republic V

S. Halliwell

This new edition provides a thorough reappraisal of one of the most remarkable and controversial sections of the Republic. Book 5's radical proposals for the ideal state include an argument for the ... More

This new edition provides a thorough reappraisal of one of the most remarkable and controversial sections of the Republic. Book 5's radical proposals for the ideal state include an argument for the essential equality of the sexes; provision for full female participation in the work of the Guardians (including warfare); the abolition of the family for this same ruling class, with a sexual as well as economic system of communism; and a policy of eugenic control. Plato feared that some of this material would arouse amusement in his readers; in fact, parts of Book 5 have been subsequently used to support a charge of totalitarianism against Plato, while other elements have led to description of him as the first feminist. Book 5 also examines the relation between knowledge and belief, and in doing so embarks on the great structure of metaphysical thought which forms the centre-piece of the entire work. All these topics receive fresh and detailed consideration in the introduction and commentary, which are designed to make this important work accessible to a wide range of readers. Greek text with translation, commentary and notes.Less

Plato: Republic X

S. Halliwell

This edition offers a full and up-to-date commentary on the last book of the Republic, and explores in particular detail the two main subjects of the book: Plato's most famous and uncompromising ... More

This edition offers a full and up-to-date commentary on the last book of the Republic, and explores in particular detail the two main subjects of the book: Plato's most famous and uncompromising condemnation of poetry and art, as vehicles of falsehood and purveyors of dangerous emotions, and the Myth of Er, which concludes the whole work with an allegorical vision of the soul's immortality and of an eternally just world-order. The commentary gives careful and critical attention to the arguments deployed by Plato against poets and artists, relating them both to the philosopher's larger ideas and to other Greek views of the subject. The sources and significance of the Myth of Er are fully studied. Among other topics, the Introduction places Republic 10 in the development of Plato's work, and makes a fresh attempt to trace some of the influences of the book's critique of art on later aesthetic thinking. Greek text with facing translation, commentary and notes.Less