Difference between revisions of "Ammonius Saccas"

<p> <b> [[Ammonius]] Saccas. </b> Next to nothing is known of this philosopher. That he obtained his name of Saccas (= σακκοφόρος ) from having been a porter in his youth is affirmed by [[Suidas]] (under <i> Origenes </i> ) and Ammianus [[Marcellinus]] (xxii. 528). He was a native of Alexandria; [[Porphyry]] asserts that he was born of [[Christian]] parents, and returned to the heathen religion. [[Eusebius]] ( <i> H. E. </i> vi. 19, 7) denies this, but perhaps confounds him with another Ammonius, the author of a Diatessaron, still extant. That the founder of the [[Alexandrian]] school of philosophy (for such Ammonius Saccas was) should have been at the same time a Christian, though not impossible, seems hardly likely. Moreover, the Ammonius of Eusebius wrote books; whereas, according to both Longinus and Porphyry, Ammonius Saccas wrote none. [[Plotinus]] is said to have been most strongly impressed with his first hearing of Ammonius, and to have cried out, "This is the man I was looking for!" ( τοῦτον ἐζήτουν ), after which he remained his constant friend till the death of the elder philosopher. Among other disciples of Ammonius were Herennius, the celebrated Longinus, [[Heracles]] the Christian, Olympius, Antonius, a heathen called Origen, and also the famous Christian of that name. It is possible, however, that the Christians, [[Origen]] and Heracles, may have been the disciples of that Ammonius whom Eusebius confounds with Ammonius Saccas, and who was himself a Christian; but this cannot be certainly known. We may guess something concerning the philosophy of Ammonius Saccas from the fact that Plotinus was his pupil. [[Hierocles]] ( <i> ap. </i> Photius) affirms that his aim was to reconcile the philosophies of [[Plato]] and Aristotle, hence he appears to have combined mysticism and eclecticism. Nemesius, a bishop and a neo-Platonist of the close of the 4th cent., cites two passages, one of which he declares to contain the views of [[Numenius]] and Ammonius, the other he attributes to Ammonius alone. They concern the nature of the soul and its relation to the body; but they appear to have been merely the traditional views of Ammonius, not any actual written words of his. The life and philosophy of Ammonius have been discussed by Vacherot, <i> Hist. de l᾿Ecole d᾿Alex. </i> i. 342; [[Jules]] Simon, <i> Hist. de l᾿Ecole d᾿Alex. </i> i. 204; Dehaut in his historical essay on the life and teaching of our philosopher; and Zeller in his <i> Philosophie der Griechen </i> , who also mentions other writers on Ammonius. </p> <p> [J.R.M.] </p>

<p> <b> [[Ammonius]] Saccas. </b> Next to nothing is known of this philosopher. That he obtained his name of Saccas (= σακκοφόρος ) from having been a porter in his youth is affirmed by [[Suidas]] (under <i> Origenes </i> ) and Ammianus [[Marcellinus]] (xxii. 528). He was a native of Alexandria; [[Porphyry]] asserts that he was born of [[Christian]] parents, and returned to the heathen religion. [[Eusebius]] ( <i> H. E. </i> vi. 19, 7) denies this, but perhaps confounds him with another Ammonius, the author of a Diatessaron, still extant. That the founder of the [[Alexandrian]] school of philosophy (for such Ammonius Saccas was) should have been at the same time a Christian, though not impossible, seems hardly likely. Moreover, the Ammonius of Eusebius wrote books; whereas, according to both Longinus and Porphyry, Ammonius Saccas wrote none. [[Plotinus]] is said to have been most strongly impressed with his first hearing of Ammonius, and to have cried out, "This is the man I was looking for!" ( τοῦτον ἐζήτουν ), after which he remained his constant friend till the death of the elder philosopher. Among other disciples of Ammonius were Herennius, the celebrated Longinus, [[Heracles]] the Christian, Olympius, Antonius, a heathen called Origen, and also the famous Christian of that name. It is possible, however, that the Christians, [[Origen]] and Heracles, may have been the disciples of that Ammonius whom Eusebius confounds with Ammonius Saccas, and who was himself a Christian; but this cannot be certainly known. We may guess something concerning the philosophy of Ammonius Saccas from the fact that Plotinus was his pupil. [[Hierocles]] ( <i> ap. </i> Photius) affirms that his aim was to reconcile the philosophies of [[Plato]] and Aristotle, hence he appears to have combined mysticism and eclecticism. Nemesius, a bishop and a neo-Platonist of the close of the 4th cent., cites two passages, one of which he declares to contain the views of [[Numenius]] and Ammonius, the other he attributes to Ammonius alone. They concern the nature of the soul and its relation to the body; but they appear to have been merely the traditional views of Ammonius, not any actual written words of his. The life and philosophy of Ammonius have been discussed by Vacherot, <i> Hist. de l᾿Ecole d᾿Alex. </i> i. 342; [[Jules]] Simon, <i> Hist. de l᾿Ecole d᾿Alex. </i> i. 204; Dehaut in his historical essay on the life and teaching of our philosopher; and Zeller in his <i> Philosophie der Griechen </i> , who also mentions other writers on Ammonius. </p> <p> [J.R.M.] </p>