Vestnik Pravoslavnogo Svâto-Tihonovskogo Gumanitarnogo Universiteta: Seriâ III. Filologiâ (Dec 2020)
Homer as the first theologian: an allegory and symbol in Porphyry’s treatise ‘’On the сave of the nymphs’’
Abstract
This article explores the hermeneutical principles that Porphyry of Tyre used for interpreting the description of the cave of the nymphs in the Odyssey. After a brief outline of the origins and development of the allegorical method (used frequently not only by the sophists but also by the orphics), the article analyses Porphyry’s treatise. Taking the literal meaning as a starting point, Porphyry reconsidered Homer’s text as a revelation of the nature of the universe and the fate of souls. For Porphyry, Homer’s poems acquire the status of a sacred text, and Homer himself becomes the fi rst theologian from whom Jews and Christians borrowed episodes, reshaping them in their own way. Porphyry analyses eleven lines from the text which is authoritative for pagans and identifies three possible allegorical interpretations of the cave of the nymphs, i.e. the sensible world, the invisible potencies within the world, the intelligible essence. Having set out the principles of his exegesis, Porphyry focuses on the fi rst allegorical interpretation, i.e. the sensible world. The article identifi es the Neopythagorean sources of this interpretation as well as the specifi city of Porphyry’s approach to myths, which differs from both the previous Stoic and subsequent Neoplatonic tradition of Iamblichus and Proclus. The cave of the nymphs, which was taken as real by Porphyry, is an image of the whole universe created and governed by the Demiurge. The allegory of the cave is analysed by Porphyry within the framework of the Neoplatonic approach to the wanderings of Odysseus as an allegory of the journey of the soul in the unfolding world. For Porphyry, this treatise meant much more than any other didactic treatise, as seen from the analysis of the epilogue.
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