The is a collection of 17 Greek writings whose authorship is traditionally attributed to the legendary

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

figure

Hermes Trismegistus Hermes Trismegistus (from grc, Ἑρμῆς ὁ Τρισμέγιστος, "Hermes the Thrice-Greatest"; Classical Latin: la, label=none, Mercurius ter Maximus) is a legendary Hellenistic figure that originated as a syncretic combination of ...

, a syncretic combination of the Greek god

Hermes Hermes (; grc-gre, Ἑρμῆς) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travellers, thieves, merchants, and orat ...

and the Egyptian god

Thoth Thoth (; from grc-koi, Θώθ ''Thṓth'', borrowed from cop, Ⲑⲱⲟⲩⲧ ''Thōout'', Egyptian: ', the reflex of " eis like the Ibis") is an ancient Egyptian deity. In art, he was often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis or ...

. The treatises were originally written between and , but the collection as known today was first compiled by medieval

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

editors. It was translated into

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

in the 15th century by the Italian humanist scholars Marsilio Ficino (1433–1499) and Lodovico Lazzarelli (1447–1500). Although the Latin word is usually reserved for the entire body of extant writings related to some author or subject, the contains only a very small selection of extant Hermetic texts (texts attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, commonly known as ). Its individual treatises were quoted by many authors from the second and third centuries on, but the compilation as such is first attested only in the writings of the Byzantine philosopher

Michael Psellus Michael Psellos or Psellus ( grc-gre, Μιχαὴλ Ψελλός, Michaḗl Psellós, ) was a Byzantine Greek monk, savant, writer, philosopher, imperial courtier, historian and music theorist. He was born in 1017 or 1018, and is believed to hav ...

(c. 1017–1078). Following their translation into Latin by Ficino and Lazzarelli, the greatly influenced the

Western esoteric tradition Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas a ...

. It was especially considered to be important during the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

and the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

, in which Hermeticism would often function as a type of intermediate position between Christianity and paganism. Hermes' perceived antiquity ensured that any writing attributed to him would take an important place in Ficino's doctrine of the ('ancient theology'), which affirms that a single, true theology exists that is present in all religions and that was given by God to humankind in the distant, primeval past.

Background

Most of the texts are presented in the form of a dialogue, a favorite form for didactic material in

Classical antiquity Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...

. The most well known treatise in the is its opening treatise, which is called the '' Poimandres''. However, at least until the 19th century, this name (under various forms, such ''Pimander'' or ''Pymander'') was also commonly used to designate the compilation as a whole. The 15th-century translation of the into Latin provided a seminal impetus in the development of Renaissance thought and culture, having a profound impact on philosophers such as

Pico della Mirandola Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (24 February 1463 – 17 November 1494) was an Italian Renaissance nobleman and philosopher. He is famed for the events of 1486, when, at the age of 23, he proposed to defend 900 theses on religion, philosophy, ...

(1463–1494), Giordano Bruno (1548–1600), Francesco Patrizi (1529–1597),

Robert Fludd Robert Fludd, also known as Robertus de Fluctibus (17 January 1574 – 8 September 1637), was a prominent English Paracelsian physician with both scientific and occult interests. He is remembered as an astrologer, mathematician, cosmologis ...

(1574–1637), and many others.

Latin translation

In 1462, Marsilio Ficino (1433–1499) was working on a Latin translation of the collected works of

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

for his patron Cosimo de' Medici (the first member of the famous de' Medici family who ruled

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

during the

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...

). However, when a manuscript of the became available, he immediately interrupted his work on Plato in order to start translating the works of Hermes, which at the time were thought to be much more ancient, and therefore much more authoritative, than those of Plato. While Ficino translated the first fourteen treatises (I–XIV), Lodovico Lazzarelli (1447–1500) translated the remaining three (XVI–XVIII). The Chapter no. XV of early modern editions was once filled with an entry from the

Suda The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; grc-x-medieval, Σοῦδα, Soûda; la, Suidae Lexicon) is a large 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas (Σούδας) or Souida ...

(a tenth-century Byzantine encyclopedia) and three excerpts from Hermetic works preserved by Joannes Stobaeus (fl. fifth century), but this chapter was left out in later editions, which therefore contain no chapter XV.

Names of the treatises

The treatises contained in the are:. *I. Discourse of Poimandres to

*II. Hermes to

Asclepius Asclepius (; grc-gre, Ἀσκληπιός ''Asklēpiós'' ; la, Aesculapius) is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Greek religion and mythology. He is the son of Apollo and Coronis, or Arsinoe, or of Apollo alone. Asclepius represen ...

*III. A sacred discourse of Hermes *IV. A discourse of Hermes to Tat: The mixing bowl or the monad *V. A discourse of Hermes to Tat, his son: That god is invisible and entirely visible *VI. Hermes to Asclepius: That the good is in god alone and nowhere else *VII. That the greatest evil in mankind is ignorance concerning god *VIII. Hermes to Tat: That none of the things that are is destroyed, and they are mistaken who say that changes are deaths and destructions *IX. Hermes to Asclepius: On understanding and sensation:

hat the beautiful and good are in god alone and nowhere else A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mech ...

*X. Hermes to Tat: The key *XI. Mind ('' Nous'') to Hermes *XII. Hermes to Tat: On the mind shared in common *XIII. Hermes to Tat, a secret dialogue on the mountain: On being born again, and on the promise to be silent *XIV. Hermes to Asclepius: health of mind *XVI. Asclepius to King Ammon: Definitions on god, matter, vice, fate, the sun, intellectual essence, divine essence, mankind, the arrangement of the plenitude, the seven stars, and mankind according to the image *XVII. Asclepius to King Ammon *XVIII. Tat to a king: On the soul hindered by the body's affections

References

Works cited

* * * * * *

External links

* {{Internet Archive, id=hermetica-_-the-greek-corpus-hermeticum-and-the-latin-asclepius-in-a-new-english , name=Hermetica: The Greek Corpus Hermeticum And The Latin Asclepius In A New English Translation, author=Copenhaver, Brian P. 15th-century Latin books 16th-century Latin books Byzantine literature Greek literature (post-classical) Greek pseudepigrapha Hermetica Latin pseudepigrapha Medieval philosophical literature Renaissance Latin literature Texts in Koine Greek Works of unknown authorship

Background

Latin translation

Names of the treatises

See also

References

Works cited

External links