Commentaries on Plato, Volume 1: Phaedrus and Ion
Marsilio Ficino (1433–1499), the Florentine scholar-philosopher-magus, was largely responsible for the Renaissance revival of Plato. The publication of his Latin translations of the dialogues in 1484 was an intellectual event of the first magnitude, making the Platonic canon accessible to western Europe after the passing of a millennium and establishing Plato as an authority for Renaissance thought.

This volume contains Ficino’s extended analysis and commentary on the Phaedrus, which he explicates as a meditation on “beauty in all its forms” and a sublime work of theology. In the commentary on the Ion, Ficino explores a poetics of divine inspiration that leads to the Neoplatonist portrayal of the soul as a rhapsode whose song is an ascent into the mind of God. Both works bear witness to Ficino’s attempt to revive a Christian Platonism and what might be called an Orphic Christianity.

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Commentaries on Plato, Volume 1: Phaedrus and Ion
Marsilio Ficino (1433–1499), the Florentine scholar-philosopher-magus, was largely responsible for the Renaissance revival of Plato. The publication of his Latin translations of the dialogues in 1484 was an intellectual event of the first magnitude, making the Platonic canon accessible to western Europe after the passing of a millennium and establishing Plato as an authority for Renaissance thought.

This volume contains Ficino’s extended analysis and commentary on the Phaedrus, which he explicates as a meditation on “beauty in all its forms” and a sublime work of theology. In the commentary on the Ion, Ficino explores a poetics of divine inspiration that leads to the Neoplatonist portrayal of the soul as a rhapsode whose song is an ascent into the mind of God. Both works bear witness to Ficino’s attempt to revive a Christian Platonism and what might be called an Orphic Christianity.

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Commentaries on Plato, Volume 1: <i>Phaedrus</i> and <i>Ion</i>

Commentaries on Plato, Volume 1: Phaedrus and Ion

by Marsilio Ficino
Commentaries on Plato, Volume 1: <i>Phaedrus</i> and <i>Ion</i>

Commentaries on Plato, Volume 1: Phaedrus and Ion

by Marsilio Ficino

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Overview

Marsilio Ficino (1433–1499), the Florentine scholar-philosopher-magus, was largely responsible for the Renaissance revival of Plato. The publication of his Latin translations of the dialogues in 1484 was an intellectual event of the first magnitude, making the Platonic canon accessible to western Europe after the passing of a millennium and establishing Plato as an authority for Renaissance thought.

This volume contains Ficino’s extended analysis and commentary on the Phaedrus, which he explicates as a meditation on “beauty in all its forms” and a sublime work of theology. In the commentary on the Ion, Ficino explores a poetics of divine inspiration that leads to the Neoplatonist portrayal of the soul as a rhapsode whose song is an ascent into the mind of God. Both works bear witness to Ficino’s attempt to revive a Christian Platonism and what might be called an Orphic Christianity.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780674031197
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Publication date: 12/15/2008
Series: The I Tatti Renaissance Library , #34
Pages: 336
Product dimensions: 5.50(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.10(d)
Language: Latin

About the Author

Michael J. B. Allen is Distinguished Professor of English at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Table of Contents

  • Prefatory Note
  • Introduction
  • 1. The Phaedrus’ “Mythical Hymn”
  • 2. Commentary on the Phaedrus
  • 3. Comment, and Chapter Summaries of the Phaedrus
  • 4. Introduction to the Ion
  • Appendix 1: Heaven and World
  • Appendix 2: The Prague Manuscript
  • Appendix 3: Ficino’s Notes on MS Riccardianus 70
  • Note on the Texts
  • Notes to the Text
  • Notes to the Translation
  • Bibliography
  • Index

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