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Author Priscianus, Lydus, active 6th century, author.

Title Answers to King Khosroes of Persia / Priscian ; translated by Pamela Huby and [5 others] ; introduction by Richard Sorabji
Published London ; New York : Bloomsbury Academic, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2016

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Description 1 online resource
Series Ancient commentators on Aristotle
Ancient commentators on Aristotle.
Contents Machine generated contents note: -- Abbreviations -- Conventions Introduction Richard Sorabji -- The Sixth Century Diffusion of Greek Neoplatonism -- Priscian and the Athenian Philosophers' Refuge with King Khosroes in Persia -- Khosroes' Interest in Greek Philosophy and Freedom of Discussion -- The Athenians' Move from Khosroes in Ctesiphon -- The Need for Retrotranslation Back to the Original Greek from the Surviving Latin Translation -- Who was Responsible for the Unintelligibilities in the Latin? -- The Contributors to Overcoming the Unintelligibilities of the Latin Translation -- Preface -- Chapter 1: About the Soul, and Especially the Human -- Chapter 2: On Sleep -- Chapter 3: On Dreams as a Source of Prophecy -- Chapter 4: Astronomy and Climate -- Chapter 5: On the Efficacy of Contrary Medical Prescriptions -- Chapter 6: The Tides -- Chapter 7: How Elemental Bodies get Displaced -- Chapter 8: How Location Affects the Character of Living Things -- Chapter 9: Why do Things in a Good Universe Harm Each Other? -- Chapter 10: Of What is the Wind Made and Where Does its Motion Come From? -- Notes Bibliography -- English-Latin Glossary -- Latin-English Index -- Latin-Greek Index -- Subject Index
Summary "Priscian of Lydia was one of the Athenian philosophers who took refuge in 531 AD with King Khosroes I of Persia, after the Christian Emperor Justinian stopped the teaching of the pagan Neoplatonist school in Athens. This was one of the earliest examples of the sixth-century diffusion of the philosophy of the commentators to other cultures. Tantalisingly, Priscian fully recorded in Greek the answers provided by the Athenian philosophers to the king's questions on philosophy and science. But these answers survive only in a later Latin translation which understood both the Greek and the subject matter very poorly. Our translators have often had to reconstruct from the Latin what the Greek would have been, in order to recover the original sense. The answers start with subjects close to the Athenians' hearts: the human soul, on which Priscian was an expert, and sleep and visions. But their interest may have diminished when the king sought their expertise on matters of physical science: the seasons, celestial zones, medical effects of heat and cold, the tides, displacement of the four elements, the effect of regions on living things, why only reptiles are poisonous, and winds. At any rate, in 532 AD, they moved on from the palace, but still under Khosroes' protection. This is the first translation of the record they left into English or any modern language. This English translation is accompanied by an introduction and comprehensive commentary notes, which clarify and discuss the meaning and implications of the original philosophy. Part of the Ancient Commentators on Aristotle series, the edition makes this philosophical work accessible to a modern readership and includes additional scholarly apparatus such as a bibliography, glossary of translated terms and a subject index"-- Provided by publisher
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and indexes in English, Latin, and Greek
Notes Translated from the Latin translation of the Greek
Print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed
Subject Khosrow I, King of Persia, -579.
SUBJECT Khosrow I, King of Persia, -579 fast
Subject Islamic philosophy -- Greek influences.
Philosophy, Arab.
Philosophy, Ancient -- Early works to 1800
Philosophy and science -- Miscellanea -- Early works to 1800
Western philosophy: Ancient, to c 500.
Philosophy of mind.
PHILOSOPHY -- History & Surveys -- Ancient & Classical.
PHILOSOPHY -- General.
PHILOSOPHY -- Mind & Body.
Islamic philosophy -- Greek influences
Philosophy, Ancient
Philosophy and science
Philosophy, Arab
Genre/Form dissertations.
Early works
Trivia and miscellanea
Academic theses.
Thèses et écrits académiques.
Form Electronic book
Author Huby, Pamela M., translator
LC no. 2016031322
ISBN 9781472584144
1472584147
1472584139
9781472584137