<p>Synesius' essay De insomniis (`On Dreams') - written soon after 400 AD by a man who was not only a highly educated Greek intellectual but also (in the last years of his life) a Christian bishop of the city of Ptolemais (Cyrenaica) - inquires into the ways and means by which a human being, while sleeping and dreaming, may make contact with higher spheres, and it does so in the light of a clearly recognizable Neo-Platonic concept of the soul and its salvation. Synesius' thoughts are thus an important contribution of Later Antiquity on topics - the place of man within the universe and his means of communication with higher powers - that not only were of high concern for his contemporaries, but still are today for religiously- and philosophically-minded people. Besides introduction and translation (with notes), several essays shed light on the work from the perspective of various disciplines.</p>

On Prophecy, Dreams and Human Imagination: Synesius, De insomniis (Scripta Antiquitatis Posterioris Ad Ethicam Religionemque Pe)

Politics & Social Sciences

Nesselrath, Heinz-G|nther

Philosophy

Mohr Siebeck

English summary: Philo's treatise De Migratione Abrahami offers an allegorical commentary on Gen 12. Abraham's migration from Chaldea to the Land of Israel is interpreted by Philo as the soul's migration from the world of the senses to God. The present edition of Philo's text includes a detailed introduction to his life and thought as well as a new German translation of his treatise with annotations and essays illustrating the text from the perspective of various disciplines. The accompanying essays initially place the work in the context of contemporary Judaism, both in Alexandria and the Land of Israel. This is followed by an appreciation of Philo as a representative of Middle Platonism in the imperial period. Two further essays focus on central themes of the Philonic treatise, namely knowledge of God and the experience of exile interpreted philosophically. Two concluding studies compare Philo's figure of Abraham to his image in the New Testament and in Thomas Mann's novel Joseph and his Brothers. German description: Philons Schrift De Migratione Abrahami ist ein allegorischer Kommentar zu Gen 12. Der Auszug Abrahams auf seiner chaldaischen Heimat wird von Philon allegorisch auf den Auszug der Seele aus der Sinnenwelt und ihre Ruckkehr zu Gott gedeutet. Die vorliegende Ausgabe bietet neben einer ausfuhrlichen Einfuhrung in Leben und Denken des alexandrinischen Religionsphilosophen den Text mit Ubersetzung und erlauternden Anmerkungen. Die kommentierenden Essays ordnen die Schrift zunachst in den Kontext des zeitgenossischen Judentums sowohl in Alexandria wie im palastinischen Mutterland ein, gefolgt von einer Wurdigung Philons als Vertreter des kaiserzeitlichen Platonismus. Zwei weitere Essays widmen sich zentralen Topoi der Schrift: Der Gotteserkenntnis und der philosophisch gedeuteten Exilserfahrungen. Abgeschlossen wird das Ganze durch zwei vergleichende Untersuchungen zur Figur des Abraham: zum einen im Neuen Testament, zum anderen in Thomas Manns Joseph und seine Bruder.

Abrahams Aufbruch: Philon von Alexandria, De migratione Abrahami (Scripta Antiquitatis Posterioris Ad Ethicam Religionemque Pe) (German Edition)

Wilk, Florian

Detering, Heinrich

Doering, Lutz

Hirsch-Luipold, Rainer

Nuffelen, Peter Van

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