Synesius of Cyrene (c.370-c.413): Neo-Platonic philosopher, sophist, and bishop of Ptolemais in the Cyrenaica [...] was a member of a well-known and rich family of Cyrene, which claimed descent from the half-legendary founders of the city, members of the Spartan royal house. His family's wealth enabled him and his brother Euoptius to travel to Greece (before 392) and study in Alexandria (after 393), where Hypatia introduced them to Neo-Platonism.Now, Hypatia is one of the most amazing people from the ancient world and worth looking into on her own right, but that is going a bit off the immediate goal of posting the opening part of the treatise. So, read the above and now, right to it...
ON DREAMS
SAINT SYNESIOS
Translated, With Notes,ISAAC MYER.
ONE HUNDRED COPIES PUBLISHED BY THE TRANSLATOR. COPYRIGHTED l888, WASHINGTON, D. C. PHILADELPHIA. 1888.ON DREAMS
BYSYNESIOS
[1] Translated with Notes, ByIsaac Myer.
PREFACE.
A very ancient custom, and one which Plato especially uses, is to conceal under the form of a familiar subject the most serious teachings of philosophy; so that the truths the discovery of which has been most difficult will not again escape from the memory of men nor, being disseminated, receive the contaminations of the profane vulgar. Such is the design that I propose in this book. Whether my work conforms in all its parts to the antique mode of writing I leave to the judgment of industrious and enlightened readers. [1] Synesios of Cyrene was born of a noble family circa A.D. 370. in Cyrene, a city of the Libyan Pentapolis, Egypt. At first a heathen he subsequently became a Christian. About 393 he became a pupil at Alexandria of the celebrated Hypatia. In 403 was made Bishop of Ptolemais which he did not accept till 410. He died circa 413 A. D. He is best known through his Hymns. The Roman Catholic Church canonized him as St. Synesios.I.
THE PROPHETIC FACULTY IS THE NOBLEST SUBJECT OF STUDY FOR MAN.
If dreams prophesy the future, if visions which present themselves to the mind during sleep afford some indicia whereby to divine future things, dreams will be at the same time true and obscure, and even in their obscurity the truth will reside. "The Gods with a thick veil covered human life."[2] To obtain things of the greatest value without labor is a happiness which appertains only to the gods; but by men not only virtue but all blessings "can alone be achieved by sweat (labor)."[3] Now the prophetic power is the greatest of goods: it is through knowledge and the gnostic faculty that God differs from man, and man from the brute. God knows all by virtue of His own nature, but man by the aid of the prophetic power may add much to his natural knowledge. The vulgar man knows only the present; that which is future he can only conjecture. Kalkhas alone in the assembly of all the Greeks apprehended "the present, the future and the past."[4] In Homer, Zeus regulates the affairs of the gods, because he was "born first, and therefore knows more;"[5] because knowledge is the privilege of the aged. If the poet thus recalls Zeus' age, it is because the years bring with them that wisdom to which nothing else can be compared. If we think, from other passages, that the supremacy of Zeus was the result of the vigor of his arms, because Homer said, "He carried it by force,"[6] — we do not understand poetry, and cannot grasp the philosophy which it encloses, viz., that the gods are no other than pure Intelligences. After saying that Zeus is very strong, the poet immediately adds that he is the oldest, which signifies that Zeus is the oldest Intelligence. But the vigor of intelligence, is this any other thing than wisdom? Whoever may be the god who rules the other gods, it is because he is wise that he reigns. Because he is superior in wisdom, "he carries it by force," signifies that he knows more than the others. The sage has then a species of affinity with God, because he endeavors to approach Him by the faculty of knowledge, and exerts himself about intuitive thought which is the essence of God. These facts show plainly that one of the most noble subjects of research for man is the prophetic faculty.[2] Hesiod. The Works and Days, 42.
[3] ibid. 287.
[4] Iliad, i. 70.
[5] ibid. xiii, 355.
[6] ibid. xv, 165.
II.
THE UNIVERSE IS AN ANIMATED EXISTENCE WHICH IS CONNECTED TOGETHER IN ALL ITS PARTS. THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF PROPHESY.
All things, by their relation to each other, can give omens; because all together they are only different parts of one animal, the Universe.[7] The Universe may be compared to a book in which are inscribed letters of every description, such as Phoenician, Egyptian and Assyrian: the wise man deciphers these letters; and he is really wise who learns by and from nature, and another is wise in other things — this one more, and the other less. Thus for example one merely learns the syllables, another apprehends the general style, a third comprehends the whole discourse. Wise men see beforehand that which may happen; some by regarding the planets, others the fixed stars, others the comets and fires which traverse space. Some also prophesy by inspecting the entrails of victims or by listening to the songs of birds, or through watching their flight and their haunts. There are other omens by the aid of which they can predict the future, as words, or fortunate meetings; all are able to draw prognostications from everything. If a bird had our intelligence, man would serve it, as the bird serves man, for knowledge and divination: because we are as to them that which they are as to us, a race which, always renewing itself and as old as the world, is entirely qualified to give signs.[7] This is the doctrine of the Makrokosm and Mikrokosm.
Synesius was schooled in the Greek classics and hopes to follow that mode of exposition. In the preface he is putting forth philosophy as something familiar to be sure that it is not lost, but there is something deeper and profound. In section I the subject of prophesy is brought to the fore and argued to be the highest faculty. The greatness of the gods are based upon their knowledge and intuition and not physical ability. The greatest are the wisest and ones who see more. To know more of the future would make us wise like the gods. When the gods are described as great it is meant that they are great in wisdom. Know the future to be wise and therefore be like God. This is the noblest subject for study. Section II. The Universe is interconnected and thus signs can be read from it. Various forms of divination are available but as we are also of the Universe we too can be read for signs. I'll post the next part as soon as I have a few moments free to get it ready.
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