Hermetica : The Greek Corpus Hermeticum and the Latin Asclepius in a New English Translation, with Notes and Introduction

Rating:
Summary: Well-researched edition of a vital document
Review: Much like the Chaldean oracles, the Corpus Hermeticum is a vital document for all those who have an interest in the eclectic thought of the period covering the first centuries AD; this recent edition is certainly worthy of being added to the library of the scholar and curious reader alike. It includes the seventeen Greek treatises which have been brought together over the centuries as the Corpus Hermeticum, in addition to the Latin 'Asclepius', which is by far the longest piece of them all. No Greek or Latin text accompanies the translation, but Copenhaver provides extensive notes, many of which directly address specific points of the translation and pick up where studies in hermetism had left off. In these notes, there are numerous references to previous editions of the Hermetica, especially to the work of A.D. Nock/A.-J. Festugière (in French) and of W. Scott (in English). The introduction also does a good job of describing both the context in which these pieces emerged, and the way they have been read and edited in the following centuries.

Rating:
Summary: Inspirational read. No heebie jeebies for fundamentalists.
Review: Only 90 or so pages of this book comprise the actual translation. The long introduction is illuminative and absolutely necessary to show how these writings may have influenced early Christian and Platonic thinkers. The 150 pages found after the translation are exhaustive notes that would be of use only to scholars.

Moreso than the Bible, these writings expound on the natures of god and the desirability of adoration of the creator. Although pre-Christian, the most lock jawed modern day fundamentalist will find little that is objectionable here. Copenhaver's introduction makes it clear as to why these pre-Christian writings found favor with many early Christian thinkers. There is no hocus pocus in this book on Hermetica -- a word which is often associated with occult. Thanks to Copenhaver for the English translation.

Rating:
Summary: Worth a lifetime of study
Review: This is a fantastic translation of the Pymander or Corpus Hermeticum and Asclepius. Since it's the only one I've read, I don't know how to compare it to others. This text was apparently rediscovered by the court of Cosimo di Medici in the 1400's, probably obtained from some source in Harran. Texts such as this were at the forefront of the syncretic mysticism and platonic/classical revival of the Italian Renaissance. This text might be something like a pagan hellenistic answer to scriptures or very obscure mystical and gnostic texts which describe very esoteric ideas that can only be understood through some kind of experience. On many levels it is very compatible with Christianity, Judaism or Islam because it may represent a kind of philosophical precursor of these religions from late antiquity. Even many of the early patriarchs of the orthodox christian tradition understood this compatibility and considered this text to represent a kind of sanctified pagan tradition or philosophy of sorts, which they actually used as proof of the validity of christianity. They did this by arguing that since pagans could come up with ideas so close to christianity, that this supported a belief in the new faith. For this reason, on the level of mundane theological and philosophical history, this text is very important for an understanding of how early christians and other monotheists viewed their relationship to paganism in a world that was still very pagan. The notes in this book are also extremely helpful and worthwhile.

Rating:
Summary: Worth a lifetime of study
Review: This is a fantastic translation of the Pymander or Corpus Hermeticum and Asclepius. Since it's the only one I've read, I don't know how to compare it to others. This text was apparently rediscovered by the court of Cosimo di Medici in the 1400's, probably obtained from some source in Harran. Texts such as this were at the forefront of the syncretic mysticism and platonic/classical revival of the Italian Renaissance. This text might be something like a pagan hellenistic answer to scriptures or very obscure mystical and gnostic texts which describe very esoteric ideas that can only be understood through some kind of experience. On many levels it is very compatible with Christianity, Judaism or Islam because it may represent a kind of philosophical precursor of these religions from late antiquity. Even many of the early patriarchs of the orthodox christian tradition understood this compatibility and considered this text to represent a kind of sanctified pagan tradition or philosophy of sorts, which they actually used as proof of the validity of christianity. They did this by arguing that since pagans could come up with ideas so close to christianity, that this supported a belief in the new faith. For this reason, on the level of mundane theological and philosophical history, this text is very important for an understanding of how early christians and other monotheists viewed their relationship to paganism in a world that was still very pagan. The notes in this book are also extremely helpful and worthwhile.

Rating:
Summary: In the footsteps of the 'Thrice Greatest' Hermes
Review: This translation of the Greek 'Corpus Hermeticum' and the Latin 'Asclepius' has been specifically undertaken for English-speakers. However, the real benefits of the translation are the excellent introduction and in excess of 260 pages of notes on the text making significant references to previous translations such as those of Zielinski, Reitzenstein, Festugiere, Mahe and Fowden. 'Hermetica' will be a fascinating journey for all those interested in Egypto-Hellenistic philosophy or for those searching for an alternative to the rigid orthodoxy of some other religious systems. However, there is little here for those who seek to become a spell-casting magus - this is Hermetism, rather than populist Hermeticism! In the thanksgiving at the end of Asclepius, the spells which were present in the Papyrus Mimaut and also in Nag Hammadi Codex VI.6 are omitted. These central texts of Hermetism are learned, philosophical treatises as opposed to popular, occultist writings - "a blend of theology, cosmology, anthropology, ethics, soteriology and eschatology."

Most readers will probably find some degree of confusion within the Corpus Hermeticum. Different authors of the various treatises appear to have taken part in Peripatetic-Platonic-Stoic debate within the surviving texts. Much of the previous criticism however has focussed on the Egyptian - Hellenic argument; Hermes Trismegistus being a syncretic fusion of the Greek messenger of the gods with the Egyptian Thoth (pr. something akin to T-HO-TI). Just to be confusing, the character 'Tat' is also a variant of Thoth is some of the Corpus' texts. Linked with this Peripatetic-Platonic debate is the Corpus' attitude towards dualism which should be a distinguishing feature between Hermetism and early Gnostic Christianity - but sometimes isn't all that clear-cut. Further complications arise through Copenhaver's extensive references to the Chaldean Oracles.

The texts open with POIMANDRES, 'the shepherd man' (poimen aner) although some still search for a Coptic root. The nature of 'true reality' (see Plato's 'Timaeus') establishes itself as the central focus in the very first line of CH I. It is Mind which will free the soul from the fleshy darkness of its bodily incarceration. The texts then move on to the universal discourse between Hermes and Tat opening up a Stoic - Peripatetic debate on whether there is a void or non-entity without the Cosmos. A third alternative is presented : that the surrounding space both encircles and moves the Cosmos.

The most Peripataetic of texts according to Zielinski is CH IV in which activity is clearly seen as positive and passivity as negative. There are some indications of common authorship between I and VII although a number of Western translators have found evidence of strong Judaic influences in VII. CH VII also introduces the metaphor of the 'chiton' (vestment, cloak, shawl) as a symbol of the body which fed through into the writings of Philo, Plotinus and the Valentinian Gnostics - this must be shed for the soul's ascent. The tenth discourse introduces another image of the chiton. Unlike the chiton of CH VIII, this garment must be acquired to rise and to take on a demonic cloak. With a good mind the soul can pass on to something greater, but to nothing lesser.

Within the 17 Greek treatises the Stoic concept of 'sumpatheia' (the organic unity of the Cosmos) is only mentioned specifically once in CH VIII although its influence can be elsewhere. Scott suggested that one of the latest of the extant logoi was XIII, the diexodikos logos, on account of its dependence on CH I and XI. This is essentially concerned with `palingenesia' which Buchsel sees as the Stoic opposite of ekpurosis - the great conflagration into which the currently existing Cosmos would disappear only to be restored under apokatastasis.

The historical development of translations of the texts has given them rather illogical numberings. In theory CH IX should take place immediately after the Latin Asclepius - as the latter is a translation of the 'perfect discourse', the 'teleios logos' rendered by Lactantius as the 'Sermo perfectus'. It is an exposition of the discourse on sensation which clearly rejects the Platonic position in favour of a more Stoic interpretation. Thanks to Adrien Turnebus' translation in 1554 there is no Corpus Hermeticum XV (Ficino's translation ended at XIV).

Mind only appears as interlocutor in CH I and XI. CH XI is also distinctive in that aion (eternity) appears 27 times within the text and only 3 times elsewhere. Aion was the supreme deity of Westernised Mithraism and is connected with Zrvan Akarana, Saturnus and Kronos, with Orpheism, in philosophical terms with the Stoic heimarmene (which appear elsewhere in the Corpus), perhaps even with the Phoenician Ba'al Shamin, and - in astro-magical texts - with the 'holy Agathos Daimon'. There is also the Aion of the Chaldean Oracles, which - according to Lewy - is 'not only a divinity, but also a noetic hypostasis'. Here, as in CH XIV, there is only one maker. This is a direct rebuttal of the Gnostic position and, internally, of the position outlined by I and XIII.

Asclepius (or Imhotep in the original Egyptian) is most likely a collection of fragments from other texts. The Hermetic praise of human dignity stops distinctly short of the physical and sexual aspects of the human condition. Asclepius is far more apocalyptic and laden within divine retribution than the Corpus. Copenhaver finds references to the Egyptian apocalyptic story of Potter's Oracle in his predecessors' translations centred around a Khnum, a ram-headed creator-god. But the message in Asclepius is clear, Egypt - this `image of heaven' - will forget its Hermetic ways and "will be filled completely with tombs and corpses" and "the reverent will be thought mad".

We should all try to learn something from Hermetica, for beneath the complexities is real truth.

Then he said to me : "Keep all in mind that you wish to learn, and I will teach you." Saying this, he changed his appearance and everything was immediately opened to me... (Corpus Hermeticum I)

Rating:
Summary: In the footsteps of the 'Thrice Greatest' Hermes
Review: This translation of the Greek 'Corpus Hermeticum' and the Latin 'Asclepius' has been specifically undertaken for English-speakers. However, the real benefits of the translation are the excellent introduction and in excess of 260 pages of notes on the text making significant references to previous translations such as those of Zielinski, Reitzenstein, Festugiere, Mahe and Fowden. 'Hermetica' will be a fascinating journey for all those interested in Egypto-Hellenistic philosophy or for those searching for an alternative to the rigid orthodoxy of some other religious systems. However, there is little here for those who seek to become a spell-casting magus - this is Hermetism, rather than populist Hermeticism! In the thanksgiving at the end of Asclepius, the spells which were present in the Papyrus Mimaut and also in Nag Hammadi Codex VI.6 are omitted. These central texts of Hermetism are learned, philosophical treatises as opposed to popular, occultist writings - "a blend of theology, cosmology, anthropology, ethics, soteriology and eschatology."

Most readers will probably find some degree of confusion within the Corpus Hermeticum. Different authors of the various treatises appear to have taken part in Peripatetic-Platonic-Stoic debate within the surviving texts. Much of the previous criticism however has focussed on the Egyptian - Hellenic argument; Hermes Trismegistus being a syncretic fusion of the Greek messenger of the gods with the Egyptian Thoth (pr. something akin to T-HO-TI). Just to be confusing, the character 'Tat' is also a variant of Thoth is some of the Corpus' texts. Linked with this Peripatetic-Platonic debate is the Corpus' attitude towards dualism which should be a distinguishing feature between Hermetism and early Gnostic Christianity - but sometimes isn't all that clear-cut. Further complications arise through Copenhaver's extensive references to the Chaldean Oracles.

The texts open with POIMANDRES, 'the shepherd man' (poimen aner) although some still search for a Coptic root. The nature of 'true reality' (see Plato's 'Timaeus') establishes itself as the central focus in the very first line of CH I. It is Mind which will free the soul from the fleshy darkness of its bodily incarceration. The texts then move on to the universal discourse between Hermes and Tat opening up a Stoic - Peripatetic debate on whether there is a void or non-entity without the Cosmos. A third alternative is presented : that the surrounding space both encircles and moves the Cosmos.

The most Peripataetic of texts according to Zielinski is CH IV in which activity is clearly seen as positive and passivity as negative. There are some indications of common authorship between I and VII although a number of Western translators have found evidence of strong Judaic influences in VII. CH VII also introduces the metaphor of the 'chiton' (vestment, cloak, shawl) as a symbol of the body which fed through into the writings of Philo, Plotinus and the Valentinian Gnostics - this must be shed for the soul's ascent. The tenth discourse introduces another image of the chiton. Unlike the chiton of CH VIII, this garment must be acquired to rise and to take on a demonic cloak. With a good mind the soul can pass on to something greater, but to nothing lesser.

Within the 17 Greek treatises the Stoic concept of 'sumpatheia' (the organic unity of the Cosmos) is only mentioned specifically once in CH VIII although its influence can be elsewhere. Scott suggested that one of the latest of the extant logoi was XIII, the diexodikos logos, on account of its dependence on CH I and XI. This is essentially concerned with 'palingenesia' which Buchsel sees as the Stoic opposite of ekpurosis - the great conflagration into which the currently existing Cosmos would disappear only to be restored under apokatastasis.

The historical development of translations of the texts has given them rather illogical numberings. In theory CH IX should take place immediately after the Latin Asclepius - as the latter is a translation of the 'perfect discourse', the 'teleios logos' rendered by Lactantius as the 'Sermo perfectus'. It is an exposition of the discourse on sensation which clearly rejects the Platonic position in favour of a more Stoic interpretation. Thanks to Adrien Turnebus' translation in 1554 there is no Corpus Hermeticum XV (Ficino's translation ended at XIV).

Mind only appears as interlocutor in CH I and XI. CH XI is also distinctive in that aion (eternity) appears 27 times within the text and only 3 times elsewhere. Aion was the supreme deity of Westernised Mithraism and is connected with Zrvan Akarana, Saturnus and Kronos, with Orpheism, in philosophical terms with the Stoic heimarmene (which appear elsewhere in the Corpus), perhaps even with the Phoenician Ba'al Shamin, and - in astro-magical texts - with the 'holy Agathos Daimon'. There is also the Aion of the Chaldean Oracles, which - according to Lewy - is 'not only a divinity, but also a noetic hypostasis'. Here, as in CH XIV, there is only one maker. This is a direct rebuttal of the Gnostic position and, internally, of the position outlined by I and XIII.

Asclepius (or Imhotep in the original Egyptian) is most likely a collection of fragments from other texts. The Hermetic praise of human dignity stops distinctly short of the physical and sexual aspects of the human condition. Asclepius is far more apocalyptic and laden within divine retribution than the Corpus. Copenhaver finds references to the Egyptian apocalyptic story of Potter's Oracle in his predecessors' translations centred around a Khnum, a ram-headed creator-god. But the message in Asclepius is clear, Egypt - this 'image of heaven' - will forget its Hermetic ways and "will be filled completely with tombs and corpses" and "the reverent will be thought mad".

We should all try to learn something from Hermetica, for beneath the complexities is real truth.

Then he said to me : "Keep all in mind that you wish to learn, and I will teach you." Saying this, he changed his appearance and everything was immediately opened to me... (Corpus Hermeticum I)