To be sure, I know what these terms mean to me, but temporaryreality and you bring up a salient point: many times these philosophers are using technical terms that may have niche connotations lost on you or I.
At the same time, I suspect Sallustius was not necessarily writing for the technical philosopher but rather for the pagan layperson with some education (not that this necessarily helps much, given the gulf of time and culture...)
It's enough for me that I feel like I get what he is saying. My fatal flaw, I suppose...:)
I think that's fair. For my part, when reading it, I felt totally lost! Maybe I should just write up my list of things I felt lost on and post them? Any dialogue may be of interest...
Indeed! That might be edifying for all of us--raising questions, perhaps, that I was not even aware of that were lurking in the background.
For what it's worth, I have the translation by Arthur Darby Nock, which contains a lot of useful references (perhaps not as dense as Taylor's.)
I also have to give plugs for Iamblichus (On the Mysteries, especially for you diviners out there) and Proclus here (especially Elements of Theology), and of course Plato's Timaeus, which I think are useful background material, as well. Plotinus of course has the Enneads, but...well, our time in these incarnations is limited.
This is very useful, and underscores how we are delving into technical terminology ("participation" gets quite a workout, but I remain impressed at how ecosophia managed to deftly incorporate that one in his recent definition of magic (I believe on the other blog). These terms are encountered throughout the Neoplatonist literature, to boot.
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Date: 2021-11-02 06:50 pm (UTC)At the same time, I suspect Sallustius was not necessarily writing for the technical philosopher but rather for the pagan layperson with some education (not that this necessarily helps much, given the gulf of time and culture...)
It's enough for me that I feel like I get what he is saying. My fatal flaw, I suppose...:)
Axé
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Date: 2021-11-02 06:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-11-02 06:59 pm (UTC)For what it's worth, I have the translation by Arthur Darby Nock, which contains a lot of useful references (perhaps not as dense as Taylor's.)
I also have to give plugs for Iamblichus (On the Mysteries, especially for you diviners out there) and Proclus here (especially Elements of Theology), and of course Plato's Timaeus, which I think are useful background material, as well. Plotinus of course has the Enneads, but...well, our time in these incarnations is limited.
Axé
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Date: 2021-11-02 07:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-11-03 09:16 pm (UTC)Or it may just push the problem back a level... :)
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Date: 2021-11-03 09:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-11-03 10:45 pm (UTC)Axé
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Date: 2021-11-03 11:32 pm (UTC)