The , also known as the ''Perfect Discourse'' (from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

), is a religio-philosophical Hermetic treatise. The original Greek text, which was likely written in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

between 100 CE and 300 CE, is largely lost and only a few fragments remain. However, the full text is extant in an early

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

translation, and fragments from a Coptic translation have also been found among the documents discovered in Nag Hammadi.

The text takes the form of a dialogue, set in the sanctuary of an

Egyptian temple Egyptian temples were built for the official worship of the gods and in commemoration of the pharaohs in ancient Egypt and regions under Egyptian control. Temples were seen as houses for the gods or kings to whom they were dedicated. Within them ...

, between

Hermes Trismegistus Hermes Trismegistus (from , "Hermes the Thrice-Greatest") is a legendary Hellenistic period figure that originated as a syncretic combination of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth.A survey of the literary and archaeological eviden ...

and three of his students: Asclepius (a grandson of the Greek god and physician

Asclepius Asclepius (; ''Asklēpiós'' ; ) is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Religion in ancient Greece, Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology. He is the son of Apollo and Coronis (lover of Apollo), Coronis, or Arsinoe (Greek myth), Ars ...

), Tat, and Hammon.

Legacy

Medieval Latin readers had access to many Hermetic treatises of a 'technical' nature (

astrological Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions of celesti ...

alchemical Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first ...

, or magical, often translated from the Arabic). However, the was the only Hermetic treatise belonging to the 'religio-philosophical' category that was available in Latin before

Marsilio Ficino Marsilio Ficino (; Latin name: ; 19 October 1433 – 1 October 1499) was an Italian scholar and Catholic priest who was one of the most influential humanist philosophers of the early Italian Renaissance. He was an astrologer, a reviver of Neo ...

's (1433–1499) and

Lodovico Lazzarelli Ludovico Lazzarelli (4 February 1447 – 23 June 1500) was an Italian poet, philosopher, courtier, hermeticist and (likely) magician (paranormal), magician and diviner of the early Renaissance. Born at San Severino Marche, he had contact with ma ...

's (1447–1500) translation of the 17 Greek treatises that constitute the . During the Middle Ages, the was falsely attributed to the

Middle Platonist Middle Platonism is the modern name given to a stage in the development of Platonic philosophy, lasting from about 90 BC – when Antiochus of Ascalon rejected the scepticism of the new Academy – until the development of neoplatoni ...

philosopher

Apuleius Apuleius ( ), also called Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis (c. 124 – after 170), was a Numidians, Numidian Latin-language prose writer, Platonist philosopher and rhetorician. He was born in the Roman Empire, Roman Numidia (Roman province), province ...

( – after 170). The text of the was used by the philosopher

Peter Abelard Peter Abelard (12 February 1079 – 21 April 1142) was a medieval French scholastic philosopher, leading logician, theologian, teacher, musician, composer, and poet. This source has a detailed description of his philosophical work. In philos ...

(1079–1142) and his student

Robert of Melun Robert of Melun ( – 27 February 1167) was an English scholastic Christian theologian who taught in France, and later became Bishop of Hereford in England. He studied under Peter Abelard in Paris before teaching there and at Melun, which g ...

(–1167) as a means to prove that knowledge of the

Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, thr ...

was naturally available to pagans.

Albertus Magnus Albertus Magnus ( 1200 – 15 November 1280), also known as Saint Albert the Great, Albert of Swabia, Albert von Bollstadt, or Albert of Cologne, was a German Dominican friar, philosopher, scientist, and bishop, considered one of the great ...

(–1280) praised the idea developed in the that the human being forms a link between God and the world, uniting in themselves both the spiritual nature of divine beings and the corporeal nature of the material world..

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

Translations and editions

* (English translation of the Coptic fragments) * (English translation of the Latin text) * (German translation of the Latin text by Gall and of the Coptic fragments by Joachim F. Quack) * (edition of the Coptic fragments, with French translation) * (

critical edition Textual criticism is a branch of textual scholarship, philology, and literary criticism that is concerned with the identification of textual variants, or different versions, of either manuscripts (mss) or of printed books. Such texts may range i ...

of the Latin text) * (English translation of the Latin text) * (new critical edition of the Latin text)

Secondary literature

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{The Nag Hammadi Codices , state=collapsed Hermetica 2nd-century books 3rd-century books Nag Hammadi library Hellenistic philosophical literature Hellenistic religion