Former by its position, the center of the then world communications. This was at a time when Greek culture spread throughout the state founded by Alexander the Great and disintegrated after his death. The period of time in which Greek poetry and science were developed here is called the Alexandrian age, after some special features that distinguish it. It can be divided into two main periods: the first (the Alexandrian Age in a closer sense) covers the reign of the Ptolemies from 323-30 BC. e. (Hellenistic Egypt); the second continues from the end of the Ptolemaic dynasty to the conquest of Alexandria by the Arabs - 30 BC. e. - 640 AD e. The first Greek ruler who sought to create a broad foundation and a new refuge for Greek science and Greek education was Ptolemy Soter; he gathered many scholars there and laid the foundations for the Library of Alexandria and the Museum of Alexandria. These studies were moved forward much more by his heir, Ptolemy Philadelphus, who created the famous Library of Alexandria on a large scale. Greeks, Egyptians, Jews, and later also Romans belonged to the Alexandrian school.
Grammar and Literature
Most great importance had grammarians, poets had less. The first were not only teachers and researchers of the language, but also philologists and writers, who explained not only the words, but also the content - in a word, encyclopedists. These are: Zenodotus of Ephesus, who formed the first grammatical school in Alexandria, Eratosthenes of Cyrene, Aristophanes of Byzantium, Aristarchus of Samothrace, Krates of Malos, who acted in another capital of learning - in Pergamon, Dionysius of Thrace, Didymos Halkenter, Apollonius Diskol and many others. Their main merit lies in the fact that they collected, researched, evaluated and preserved for the next generations the monuments of culture and literature available to them. The most famous of the poets, who wrote for the most part also in Alexandria itself, were: Apollonius of Rhodes, Aratus, Nicander, Euphorion, Callimachus, Theocritus, Filit Kossky, Fanokl, Timon of Phliasia and seven - called the Alexandrian seven-star - tragedians, including Alexander of Aetolia and Lycophron.
The Alexandrian age, with its encyclopedic education, differed significantly in spirit and character from ancient Greek life. With the attention that was devoted to the study of the language, the correctness, purity and elegance of this latter naturally became the subjects of the main effort, and indeed many Alexandrians excelled in this respect. But most of these writings lacked the spirit that animated the old Greek poetry, just like so much important communication with a real national public; but the technology was the highest degree elaborate and fine, the composition skilfully calculated, the form remarkably elegant; criticism and abundant learning, diligence and skill were to replace what genius had previously given. This latter was manifested only in a few, who therefore seem especially great for their time; others produced what can be produced by criticism and study, their often skillfully considered and carefully processed works are too sober, devoid of spirit and life. Lacking originality, but recognizing its dignity and striving for it, they imperceptibly reached the point where all poetry disappears. Their criticism has degenerated into pettiness, their art into artificiality. They strove for the extraordinary, for the new, and tried to achieve this through learning. Therefore, most of the Alexandrians were both poets and grammarians, in most cases - soulless and cold rhymers.
Philosophy
The Alexandrian school is also spoken of in relation to philosophers who belonged to the Alexandrian age and lived in Alexandria. It is characteristic of Alexandrian philosophy that Eastern and Western philosophies came into contact in Alexandria, and that the striving for reconciliation of philosophical systems that contradicted each other generally prevailed here; consequently, the Alexandrian philosophers who followed this trend towards gathering and uniting were often called syncretists. But in fact, this name is not applicable to everyone, since both dogmatists and - in contrast to them - skeptics appeared here. Most notorious were the Alexandrian Neoplatonists. Combining Eastern theosophy with Greek dialectics, they embodied the ancient civilization's struggle with Christianity, so their philosophy had some influence on the way Christianity was understood in Egypt. From the fusion of Eastern views with Christian ones, certain currents of Gnosticism were formed; some of the most important Gnostic systems were developed in Alexandria. The most prominent teachers of the Christian catechetical school that arose and flourished there were no less imbued with the spirit of this philosophy; therefore, the Alexandrian church was agitated by the strongest religious disputes, since the most diverse elements met in Alexandria. This went on until he emerged from their midst in the struggle against
Jewish philosophy in its modern, classical form originated in Alexandria around the 2nd century AD. as a result of close ties with neighbors - the Greeks.
The first important evidence of it is the "Book of Wisdom", dedicated to exposing pagan cults and customs and praising wisdom. This book is imbued with sublime monotheism - monotheism in the highest sense of the word! - and an unshakable faith in a "personal" God, which corresponds to the spirit of Judaism. However, the impact of Greek philosophy on the author is beyond doubt. The "wisdom" of this book is not at all the same as the "wisdom" of the Book of Parables; here wisdom becomes the beginning of an objective and plays the role of an intermediary between God and the world, "penetrating into everything and penetrating everything." Wisdom, as it were, is separated from God and from man, begins, as it were, to "walk on its own", which is already clearly beyond the scope of Jewish ideas in their pure, original form: it is understood in the spirit of Stoic philosophy as the world spirit or all-encompassing mind (Logos).
Even more tangible is the Greek influence in the assertion that the world was not created ex nihilo (from nothing), but from some formless matter. Directly opposed to the teachings of the Talmud, but related to Platonic philosophy, the idea that the soul enters the body, having already passed through a previous existence, and therefore languishes in the body, like a prisoner in captivity.
In general, it should be noted that during the time of Plato and his disciples (fifth century BC), the science of the origin of the world and its foundations turned from a field that is engaged in for the sake of pure and disinterested curiosity into a commercial science - Greek philosophers began to earn money just then his ability to reason and solve world problems. Therefore, the same Plato has many different ideas about the same things, each of which is now considered a classic, but they do not grow together very well, frankly speaking: they approached different explanations as removable, interchangeable parts. Then, when the scholastics got down to business - purely commercial philosophers, capable of deriving any thought from any premise and premise - this trend took on a completely funny character, but there was some disagreement with Jewish philosophy, since unscrupulousness did not get along well with that strict system of concepts and frameworks given to the mind by the Torah. But here we are a little ahead of ourselves - let's stick to the line of events that made up the history of Jewish philosophical thought in its collisions and intersections with the so-called "main line of idealistic philosophy in ancient times", which Plato represents in full height.
The largest and most famous representative of the Alexandrian school of Jewish philosophy was Philo (c. 25 BC - 40 AD). He was the first to set the task of reconciling the views of the Torah with Greek philosophy. Most of Philo's extensive writings are commentaries, a kind of self-made midrash on the Holy Scriptures. He naively tries to find in the Torah all those ideas that he borrowed from the Greeks, in particular, from the same old man Plato. For this purpose, Philo resorts to the method of allegorical, allegorical interpretation. For Philo, everything in the Torah, from names and dates to historical narrative and religious and moral prescriptions, is an allegory. This does not mean that Philo denies the historical nature of the events described in the Torah, or the obligation of its commandments. He only claims that the entire content of the Torah is intended not so much to guide the everyday behavior of a person, but to inspire him with lofty philosophical ideals, which for Philo means those ideas that attracted him to modern Greek philosophy.
For example, the Exodus, in his opinion, is described in the Torah not so that Israel will remember in every generation how the acts of miraculous salvation, unparalleled in world history, performed personally by each Jew, which the Eternal performed for him, but as a sermon about salvation from spiritual unrest. And so on - that is, Philo advised to freely meditate on the Torah, so that it - and this is its highest, in his opinion, meaning - evokes lofty thoughts and beautiful associations. The commandment about Shabbat should remind a person not about Creation and Exodus, but about the importance of honoring the mystical number "seven". It is clear that anyone who thinks so will hardly observe the Sabbath in reality, but he will be able to say a lot of interesting and enticing things about its cosmic importance: only to whom will he tell all this if they forget and do not observe the Sabbath? That is - the word is separated from the deed and from what it generally names - and turns into a kind of "self-propelled" unit. This is an important - but equally harmful innovation for the Jewish way of life by Philo of Alexandria. However, not the only thing - what is interesting:
Philo's most important contribution to the history of philosophical and religious thought (having nothing to do with Judaism) is his concept of logos (that very single word "walking around the world by itself". Developing the idea of the "Book of Wisdom", Philo came to a new understanding of the Greek logos. He interpreted the logos as a special person, the "second god" or "son of god", which is the instrument of divine creation and revelation and the instrument of the immanent activity of God in the universe. Logos, in the understanding of Philo, is undoubtedly lower than God himself. He is by no means the same The Logos-Word, which, according to Christian theological dogma, "created flesh. Rather, Philo simply confused one of the names-designations of the Almighty in the Aramaic translation of the Torah ("Word") and its essence - confused and "split" the name and concept, for He confused the Jews and fixed this confusion, which is why later in the philosophy of all epochs there were so many misunderstandings: God Himself in the system of Philo is not only incorporeal, but also devoid of any attributes butov and properties. It is pure being, about which nothing can be asserted. God is an abstract, static, eternally unchanging and equal spiritual principle. In this way, Philo tried to reconcile the Platonic tendency, which removes God as far as possible from the visible world, with the view of the Torah, which affirms the personal connection of God with the world.
The concept of logos developed by Philo, as indicated above, is deeply alien to Judaism. Still would! The God of the Bible is the living God, and not the impersonal principle of Greek metaphysics. He uses an intermediary to do His will, but of course. He is by no means idle. The notion of the logos as a "second god" violates the absolute monotheism of the Jewish tradition. Philo's allegorical method, which reduces the Torah to the position of a reader in Greek metaphysics, is also unacceptable to Judaism. If the teachers of the Talmud sometimes resorted to allegory in the interpretation of the Torah, they never lost sight of what, in the first place. The Torah is a revelation of the Will of the Creator, not a guide to an exalted contemplation of the Divine. In addition, with such allegorical interpretation The Torah in its narrative part is deprived of the national historical significance that it has for Jewish people and his fate. All this explains why Philo did not have a significant impact on the development of Jewish thought. His writings, however, were carefully studied by the Church Fathers, who found in them suitable material for that synthesis of Judaism with the Greek worldview, which came to be called Christian theology.
Bibliography
For the preparation of this work, materials from the site http://www.istina.rin.ru/ were used.
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This famous school
formed in Alexandria (Egypt), which was several
centuries the great throne of learning and philosophy. famous for its
library, called "Alexandria", created
Ptolemy Soter, who died in 283 BC, at the very beginning of his
reign; a library that once boasted 700,000
scrolls or volumes (Aul Gellius); with its museum, the first genuine
Academy of Sciences and Arts; by its world-famous scientists -
such as Euclid (father of scientific geometry), Apollonius of Perga
Nicomachus (arithmetician); astronomers, physicists, anatomists - such
like Herophilus and Erasistratus, doctors, musicians, artists and
etc.; she became even more famous thanks to her
Eclectic or Neo-Platonic school, founded in 193
AD Ammonius Saccas, whose students were Origen, Plotinus and
many others now celebrated in history. Famous schools
Gnostics originated in Alexandria. Philo the Jew, Joseph,
Iamblichus, Porphyry, Clement of Alexandria, Eratosthenes Astronomer,
Hypatia, the maiden philosopher, and countless other stars
second magnitude - all belonged, at different times, to these
great schools and helped turn Alexandria into one of the
most justly celebrated strongholds of learning ever
Great Definition
Incomplete definition ↓
Alexandria School
According to a number of texts and testimonies, we can assert that, unlike Athens, Alexandria constantly cultivated Platonism, and not only pagans, but also Christian writers were under its influence. It suffices to mention Eudor of Alexandria, Ammonius, the teacher of Plutarch, who moved to Athens from Alexandria in the middle of the 1st century AD, Ammonius, the teacher of Plotinus, as well as Plotinus’s older contemporary Christian Origen (who should not be identified with Plotinus’s fellow student in Ammonius, i.e. Origen the pagan) in order to assert the presence of Platonism in Alexandria in the first half of the 1st and in the first half of the 3rd century, that is, when there is nothing to say about Athenian Platonism. In the 4th century in Alexandria, the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle was taught by Hypatia, who also wrote commentaries on Apollonius, Diophantus and Ptolemy, i.e. was a professional mathematician and astronomer. Hypatia was torn to pieces by a mob of Christian fanatics in 415. Her student was Synesius of Cyrene, who became bishop of Ptolemais in 410. His writings (the treatise "On Dreams" and hymns) are a mixture of Christianity and Platonism, affected by the influence of Plotinus and Porphyry.
A developed post-Vlichian Platonism has been cultivated in Alexandria since Gyerocles, a student of Plutarch of Athens. According to the testimony of Damascus (The Life of Isidore, 54), Hierocles was distinguished by his magnificent language and richness of thoughts, which led to the admiration of his listeners, competing almost with Plato himself. Hierocles interpreted Platonic dialogues (in particular, "Gorgia"), but only his commentary on the Pythagorean "Golden Verses", as well as information about his treatise "On Providence", has come down to us. The commentary on the "Golden Verses" was an introduction to philosophy, so it is of an elementary nature. Hierocles was persecuted and exiled for his adherence to paganism, but, returning after some time to Alexandria, he continued teaching Platonic philosophy.
In Athens, but already with Syrian, Hermias studied, from whom a record of Sirian's interpretations of Plato's Phaedra came down, and Hermias' son Ammonius studied with Proclus (born before 445, died between 517 and 526). He was famous for his interpretations of Aristotle (the only text that came down to us was written by Ammonius himself, a commentary on the treatise “On Interpretation”; comments published by his listeners and bearing the name of Ammonius comments on Porphyry’s “Introduction” and on the Aristotelian treatises “Categories”, “Analytics First” ; as well as Ammonius' comments on the "Metaphysics" and on the "Introduction" of Nicomachus, recorded by his student Asclepius), but he also read the texts of Plato: Damascus listened to his interpretations of Plato between 475 and 485 years; Olympiodorus listened to the interpretation of "Gorgia" much later; Asclepius mentions the commentaries of Ammonius to the Theaetetus. And although the glory of Ammonius was based on his comments on Aristotle, there is every reason to assume that under him a developed course of Platonic philosophy was taught in Alexandria in the spirit of the Athenian school, although perhaps few of his students reached the heights - "Parmenides" and "Timaeus" . Probably the immediate successor of Ammonius was Euthokius, who taught a course on Aristotle's Organon.
A student of Ammonius was also John Philopon (or John the Grammar, which indicates that he was not a professional teacher of philosophy), from whom editions of Ammonius's commentaries on Aristotle ("Categories", "Analytics I and II", "Meteorology", " On Creation and Destruction”, “On the Soul”, “Physics”), a reprint of the commentary on Nicomachus’s “Introduction”, the famous essay “Against Proclus on the Eternity of the World”, the essay “Against Aristotle”, known to us thanks to citations and criticism of Simplicius, as well as the late treatise "On the Creation of the World", dedicated to Sergius, Patriarch of Antioch in 546-549.
John Philopon is an extremely interesting and important figure, firstly, because he was a Christian, and, moreover, he was probably baptized at a very tender age; secondly, because we observe two periods in its development. The first one is represented by comments on Aristotle in the spirit of Ammonius: this period is characterized by the traditional idea of late Platonism about the structure of the universe, which in a number of points unites Plato and Aristotle (the higher being one, the mind-demiurge, which is both the producing and the final cause, transcendental minds, rational souls, the celestial sphere, the sublunar sphere, the four elements, matter). The second period, starting from the year 529 (i.e., the time of the appearance of Justinian’s edict on the closure of philosophical schools, which was the reason for the declaration of new views), is characterized by a simplified scheme of the universe (a personal god-mind is highest level hierarchies, the creation of the world is the result of free divine will, the world is no longer divine) and the opposition of Plato and Aristotle. The new attitude of John Philopon is primarily manifested in the essay “On the Eternity of the World”, which was written in 529, in the alteration of already compiled comments - to “Physics”, first of all, in the essay “Against Aristotle”. Subsequently, probably under the influence of the Monophysites who revered Aristotle, John Philopon softens in his rejection of him, as can be judged from the work “On the Creation of the World” (“Seven Books of Interpretations on the Creation of the World According to Moses”).
But this no longer had anything to do with the development of the Alexandrian school and therefore is not included in the task of this presentation, while the critical attitude of John Philopon to Aristotle offended the interests of the Platonic school and therefore provoked sharp criticism of another student, Ammonius (who also studied with Damascus and left with him Athens after 529) - Symplicia. His comments on the works of Aristotle "Categories", "On the Sky", "Physics", as well as a commentary on the "Guide" of Epictetus, have come down to us. In a commentary on the treatise On Heaven, Simplicius calls Philopon a novice, a representative of the newfangled chatter (which means Christianity), whose Platonism is superficial, due to which he cannot understand the deep agreement between the teachings of Plato and Aristotle; the soul of Philopon, according to Simplicius, is possessed not by reason, but by passions and imagination; what he so verbosely expounds is of no interest to connoisseurs, but is intended for an unenlightened public, is intended to insolently attract attention to itself and is dictated by empty and senseless ambition. Simplicius compares Philopon's attacks on Aristotle with the action of Herostratus, who burned down the temple of Artemis of Ephesus.
Simplicius remains unwavering in his adherence to paganism, which was supported by the exclusive and artificial atmosphere of the circle of Neoplatonists in Haran near Edessa - the last stronghold of enlightened paganism. How well this small philosophical school was equipped with all the necessary texts - sources of pagan wisdom, can be judged by the same Simplicius, in particular, by his commentary on "Physics" - one of the most important sources of our information about early Greek thought.
However, the pagan philosophy of the developed Platonic persuasion could also develop in Alexandria for some time. This can be judged from the comments of another student of Ammonius, a professor of philosophy in Alexandria - Olympiodorus. Olympiodorus was born before 505, and at least taught in 564. His commentaries on both Aristotle (on the Categories and Meteorology) and Plato (on Alcibiades I, Gorgias, Phaedo) have come down to us, which indicates that Olympiodorus taught advanced listeners. From the commentary on the Gorgias, we can conclude that Olympiodorus' listeners were Christians, while Olympiodorus did not hide his pagan affiliation: “It should be noted that we [= Platonists, pagan philosophers] know that the first reason, God, - one, that is, we know that there are no many first causes." "Philosophers believe that there is a single beginning of everything and a single primary supra-mundane cause." relying on sensations, we cannot approach the incorporeal and immaterial force, and the images were invented for the sake of reminding us of what is there, that is, so that, looking at them and worshiping them, we would come to the idea of incorporeal and immaterial forces.
However, the developed pagan Platonism of Olympiodorus no longer found successors: Elias (Elijah) and David, who taught philosophy in Alexandria in the second half of the 6th century, were Christians. This is evidenced by their names and individual passages in their surviving texts. This, together with the absence of any mention of their courses in Platonic philosophy, leads us to assume that the teaching of philosophy in Alexandria at this time was reduced to elementary courses in the logic of Aristotle.
From Elias, most likely a direct student of Olympiodorus, came the "Introduction to Philosophy", a commentary on Porfiry's "Introduction", a commentary on the "Categories", a commentary on the "First Analytics" (the beginning is in Greek, a significant part is translated into Armenian) . From David (who in no case should be confused with David the Invincible, a student of Mesrop Mashtots and Sahak Partev, an Armenian who studied Greek philosophy in the second quarter of the 5th century), came comments on Porfiry's Introduction and (in Armenian translation) Analysts. In addition to the Organon, David commented on the Physics. Another commentary on Porphyry's "Introduction" belongs to the same tradition of Elias-David.
It is noteworthy that these texts written by Christians mention the teachings of the eternity of matter, divinity celestial bodies, as well as in question about irrational avenging spirits and long-lived nymphs without expressing one's own attitude to these ideas. It seems that the philosophical ideas and religious truth of Elias and David are divorced and do not agree with each other.
Apparently, the last representative of the Alexandrian school was Stephen of Alexandria, from whom came a fragment of a commentary on the third book of Aristotle's On the Soul, as well as a commentary on the treatise On Interpretation. Stefan definitely admits christian doctrine and the authority of the Bible, and at the same time expounds pagan teachings about the eternity of the world ("according to Aristotle"), about the fifth essence ("according to some"), about the preexistence of the human soul and the rational nature of the heavenly bodies (without expressing his attitude to these issues). This reticence of Stephen is explained by the fact that, unlike John Philopon, he was a professional philosopher and, as such, was bound by the existing school tradition. After the accession to the throne of Emperor Heraclius (in 610), Stefan resides in Constantinople and becomes a professor at the Imperial Academy, where (according to later evidence) he teaches Platonic and Aristotelian philosophy, quadrivium, alchemy and astrology. So pagan education is gradually assimilated by Christianity, and its existence begins in the Middle Ages.
Great Definition
Incomplete definition ↓
ALEXANDRIAN SCHOOL.
1) In ancient Greek philosophy - see Neoplatonism in the article.
2) The catechetical (catechetical) school that existed under the guidance of Christian teachers (didaskals) in Alexandria of Egypt in the 2nd-4th centuries.
The Alexandrian school, in which future Christians from among Jews and pagans were announced (prepared for baptism), gained fame around 180 under the catechet Panten and his student Clement of Alexandria, who formulated the goal of the school as obtaining “the most perfect and integral knowledge based on Revelation, inextricably linked with high moral character" (Clement of Alexandria, "Stromati"). The heyday of the Alexandrian school is associated with the activities of Origen in it, during which a teaching system was formed: at the 1st stage, grammar, dialectics, logic, geometry, astronomy, natural science, probably the Pythagorean theory of numbers were studied; on the 2nd - philosophy and only then - Christian theology and Holy Scripture.
3) Theological school in the apologetic (2nd-3rd centuries) and early patriotic (3rd-5th centuries) periods. Features directions: the allegorical method of exegesis widely used in the interpretation of Holy Scripture (see Exegesis), partly borrowed from Philo of Alexandria; the desire to reveal the philosophical side of Christian teaching and present it in the form of a comprehensive system; mystical-speculative character of theology. The theology of the Alexandrians was influenced by the philosophy of Plato and the Neoplatonists. The Alexandrians recognized the right of certain philosophical intuitions to participate in the formation of Christian theology. Through reasoning, they found solid arguments against Gnosticism and pagan teachings. The followers of the Alexandrian school of theology believed that the church should create a system of its own gnosis (true knowledge), which should be attractive to the mind and close to the heart. Clement of Alexandria reconciled the Christian consciousness with the necessity of this system, Origen actually created it.
The Alexandrians gave preference to contemplative love over active love, and in the doctrine of salvation meaning attributed to the grace of God. Speaking of cognition, they considered faith to be the basis of knowledge, while reason was given a subordinate position. The Alexandrians saw the highest form of knowledge of God in ecstasy-mystical illumination, the contemplation of God. Among the representatives of the Alexandrian school of theology are Saints Dionysius of Alexandria, Gregory the Wonderworker, Athanasius the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, Didymos Slepets, Cyril of Alexandria. The Alexandrian school of theology influenced the views of Saints Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, Ambrose of Milan, Blessed Jerome of Stridon, Saints Simeon the New Theologian, Maximus the Confessor, and others.
Lit .: Dmitrievsky V. N. The Alexandrian school: An essay on the history of spiritual enlightenment from the 1st to the beginning of the 5th century. according to R. Kh. Kazan, 1884; Dyakonov A.P. Types of higher theological school in the ancient Church // Uchenye zapiski Rossiiskoi Pravoslavnogo Universiteta. 1998. Issue. 3.