Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- Acknowledgments
- List of abbreviations
- Illustrations
- Introduction
- Part I Ancient texts
- 1 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS: The Emerald Table (Tabula Smaragdina)
- 2 PLATO (c. 427-347 BC): From the Timaeus
- 3 ARISTOTLE (384-322 BC): From the Meteorology
- 4 PSEUDO-DEMOCRITUS (first or second century AD): From The Treatise of Democritus On Things Natural and Mystical
- 5 ANONYMOUS (first or second century AD): Dialogue of Cleopatra and the Philosophers
- 6 ANONYMOUS (late third century AD): From Leyden Papyrus X and the Stockholm Papyrus
- 7 ZOSIMOS OF PANOPOLIS (fl. c. 300 AD): Of Virtue, Lessons 1–3
- 8 STEPHANOS OF ALEXANDRIA (first half of seventh century AD): From The Great and Sacred Art of the Making of Gold
- 9 ANONYMOUS (eighth or ninth century AD): The Poem of the Philosopher Theophrastos Upon the Sacred Art
- Part II Islamic and medieval texts
- Part III Renaissance and seventeenth-century texts
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Index
2 - PLATO (c. 427-347 BC): From the Timaeus
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 October 2014
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- Acknowledgments
- List of abbreviations
- Illustrations
- Introduction
- Part I Ancient texts
- 1 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS: The Emerald Table (Tabula Smaragdina)
- 2 PLATO (c. 427-347 BC): From the Timaeus
- 3 ARISTOTLE (384-322 BC): From the Meteorology
- 4 PSEUDO-DEMOCRITUS (first or second century AD): From The Treatise of Democritus On Things Natural and Mystical
- 5 ANONYMOUS (first or second century AD): Dialogue of Cleopatra and the Philosophers
- 6 ANONYMOUS (late third century AD): From Leyden Papyrus X and the Stockholm Papyrus
- 7 ZOSIMOS OF PANOPOLIS (fl. c. 300 AD): Of Virtue, Lessons 1–3
- 8 STEPHANOS OF ALEXANDRIA (first half of seventh century AD): From The Great and Sacred Art of the Making of Gold
- 9 ANONYMOUS (eighth or ninth century AD): The Poem of the Philosopher Theophrastos Upon the Sacred Art
- Part II Islamic and medieval texts
- Part III Renaissance and seventeenth-century texts
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Despite the fact that Plato authored no dialogues that dealt with alchemy as such, he is perhaps the one to whom more spurious alchemical works were attributed than any other ancient source except Hermes Trismegistus (see Singer, below). His name was also cited frequently by later writers as a revered alchemical authority, and it is quite possible that the dialogue form itself – so popular with alchemical authors – had its basis in the Platonic model. The reasons for this pseudonymous popularity are interesting and instructive. The names of Plato, Aristotle, Raymund Lull, Geber and others were frequently appropriated by lesser alchemical authors who sought to make their works appear important by attaching them to eminent authorities past or present. In the case of Plato, however, there were other more compelling reasons for the association with alchemy. Alchemy's existence and credibility depended heavily on “platonic” ideas and doctrines that were readily available – although not exclusively so – in the Timaeus, Plato's Creation account. Here, for example, are discussed such important topics as the world's creation following the pattern of a “living creature,” complete with body and soul; the Four Elements theory (not original to Plato) and the elements’ circle of interconvertibility; the world soul or anima mundi, and the relationship between form and matter, all of which were theoretically relevant.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Alchemy ReaderFrom Hermes Trismegistus to Isaac Newton, pp. 29 - 33Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2003