Some Notes on Plotinvs

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Some Notes on plotinvs [Some Notes on Plotinus] Author(s): J. H. Sleeman Source: The Classical Quarterly, Vol. 20, No. 3/4 (Jul. - Oct., 1926), pp. 152-154Published by: on behalf of Cambridge University Press The Classical AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/635774Accessed: 26-02-2015 20:04 UTC

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SOME NOTES ON PLOTINVS.

Ennead I. 4. 3: Plotinus is arguing that happiness is fullness and completeness of life, and continues, according to the MSS. (Volkmann's edition, p. 66, 1. 2o), o~Tm yap v 068 EJ~aKT-ov Tb dyaObv VrrapXOL, ov8' ctXo 7T VJroKEl/EVOv aX.kaXOEv yEvdyLEov r-apEtc acrb (or better

a-d J, Marc A and Miiller) Iv dyaOJ Erat. Mr. MacKenna

translates the last phrase by 'a life needing no foreign substance called in from a foreign realm to establish it in good'; Ficinus by 'neque aliud quicquam aliunde adueniens efficiet ut subiectum collocetur in bono.' Ficinus is undoubtedly right. 'b lrOKEtLiEVov means ' the subject,' which a few lines above (p. 66, 1. 4) has been identified with the AoytK4\ ( w. The passage should be corrected by writing 7t 1rOKELVIVp, dependent on yEvo6tEVov, for rb VrOKE'L(EVOV.

Enn. I. 4. 8: Uoa' T0 aLvo Kai El' 7~ ~V80V

O7YYo O3OV i V

vka/ArYjpt L#(; 0 oXXOv

E$OOEV 7rvOV7ros v rwoX' V ~Xy d lwv (p. 72, 1. 6). This beautiful image is marred by

the absence of a verb. Kirchhoff and his successors, offended by KatL, cast it out; but it should rather be treasured as the relic of a lost original, K-a Lra.

Enn. I. 8. 6: 4OTE KaL KaTa 7Tb o' EV80 73T 0LXr/Et EVaV7'OV KTL 7b KaT OvOUlaV 7T K(7 owrlav avTroL (Kirchhoff for a)rqs) hvavirov (p. io6, 1. 17). Kirchhoff did not complete the cure of this passage. A further change of one letter is required. For the extremely awkward KaTa before Trb o'E80o read Ka04, ' as.

Enn. I. 8. 8: Matter makes everything its own that comes to it, Go-rep cv rpock Vii V TO'C1 VE EV p KET EtvaL toEP 7pO(TE Cqk0EV, a3. I KVvbS Kal trV KVVELOV Ka Xv/uO 7rVT7Es vrp Tro 8E6a/LVOv EKE&VOV (p. io8, 1. 20). For the last four words Kirchhoff suggests and Miller prints JrEp 7b 86Ea[LEvov 'KE VO; Br6hier conjectures wo-rEp for

nr'tp, and gives an impossible translation. We should doubtless alter

nbrip to o~p : ' the food taken in ... becomes all the juices belonging to that particular recipient.' A grammatical difficulty still remains. We must apparently supply something like 9` ivir IroEd'

to govern 7b d r(EEXONv /,)KE7L EtLVat (see the context),

and then understand 7b ELo-'E'EXv yLVEroat with a'tLa

KVVb K.T.X.

Enn. II. 3. I2: Man is produced from the reason-principle of man, JXX' '/3XkAa 1-ore ) 4(~,kEXro- 7b (Volkmann r7) I~ o- oaotos yap r, arp-, aXXa ,rps 7b P3X7Lov 0roUaKtL, Eo'7

L 8' O7E 7rpb Tb XELpOV (oTVV7'ETEV (p. 143, 1. IO). This must mean, as Mr. MacKenna sees, that external circumstances, like the father, help or harm. But the sense required is that the child is like the father, though external circumstances may sometimes make him worse or better. Read therefore J/xotoy yap 7 rrarpt, and compare III. i. 5, 7rot yo^v yovEGo-v b1/o0ot (p. 221, 1. 2), in a similar context.

Enn. II. 3. 14: Among influences producing physical strength Plotinus mentions yovELdS Ev b WporTov, E 7ra EL 7rS pa 7rv 7drov

oV XE o7 OpLdVL Ka Ki y, (p. '45, 1. II). Mailler and Volkmann, following Vitringa, for Eo-XE read rapE'oXE rt. Plotinus more probably wrote &

Eo-xc: 'if the locality was favourable, the climatic conditions

and the soil would help.' Cp. Xedpov E'GXE and d-vtL7rpwl E-XrIKoo7S just below (p. 146, 11. 6 and 9). Enn. III. I. 6 : All creatures are produced by their own kinds, horse by horse,

man by man; o-rrw 8? crvvepybs KLr 701) WIV7P Opa o(ToVYXWPOTra rbo os 7r1 yvo 0 LvoLV (p. 222, 1. 12): 'though the motion of the universe must co-operate, while allowing


J. H. SLEEMAN 153 the chief influence to the objects produced.' This is nonsense; while Mr. MacKenna's translation, ' a very powerful influence upon the thing brought into being,' assigns a wrong meaning to o-vyXopoi3o-a

b -roXd. For

-oEs ytvop~vots, therefore, read 70oZ

yELvatEvogs, 'the parents.' Cp. III. 8. 4 (p. 335, 1. 3) ~-v 7ELva[VOWV

(with v.1. ytvoptvwv) and III. 5. 2 (p. 270, 1. 29) qj YEtva/Lvhy. Ficinus was on the right track with his 'concedens tamen genitoribus genitisque quam plurimum.' Similarly in III. I. 5 (p. 221, 1. 2), where the context is much the same,

r-ap 7- Twv yELvaLLvEV

should be read for rrapa " Tv p yvotv&ov (7Evvqoduvrowv Vitringa, yov'wv Volkmann).

Enn. III. 2. 17: In describing the drama of the universe Plotinus points out that the success of the performance depends upon each actor being set in his proper place and speaking the words appropriate to it, even though his part be only to 'curse in darkness and Tartarus.' He continues (p. 249, 1. I7): KaL r SXkov 70o70 Kab6v o 0 1K t'Oos EU E'fKaGTO, aXX' E' T7V ?06YYOV Tv a'V a 'TOv Ei'Epdo"LEVOS (TVVTEvXO E13S lav pLovarV V Kl T ov;v, EXT770 Ka XEP&t Ka

acLTEXETPaV. But what is the

point of saying ' this universe is good, not if the individual is a stone'? Plotinus, it is true, likes to contrast spiritual things with stones as examples of inanimate or extended objects, e.g. III. I. 5 (p. 220, 1. 24), t7'['v

6 o8~v 80o;S A lOo LbEpo0LVOL KaTaAE-EtL clvaL ;

VI. 2. 6 (p. 306, 1. 12), q xt0o3 (sc. 4 q'vxlI); VI. 5- 11 (p. 395, 1. 27), EKELV

-j S . . OdKy Eo-TLV o' a Vlos. Here, however, the contrast is entirely out of place. The meaning wanted is that the universal concert is good, 'not if each

performer is a supreme artist, but if each one contributes to the ensemble his own life's utterance, however imperfect.' We need not look far for a supreme artist whose name might easily have been corrupted into AOo.

A change of one letter gives us Alvo3. Cp. Pausanias IX. 29. 6, and for a mention of him in Neo-Platonic literature, Iamblichus, Vit. Pythag. 139.

Enn. III. 6. 13: craparrXo-Ttov tverar OOV KL& ELS 7E1 K aTO77TpOV EVOp'TO T(l

El&oa (p. 301, 1. I). Kirchhoff and his successors alter 'vop-ro to Evop&rat. But keep EvopTro and insert El, which is badly needed, before Els. Just below, in III. 6. 14, 86E rb

",XXo Ei,~ls pav xrapXov (p. 301, 1. 31), rj is clearly wrong, and Volkmann excises it. For rd read rT, the need of which seems to be acutely felt by the translators.

Enn. III. 8. 8: vov^, which is an original unity become a plurality, I$dE[LAEV cLVrtol7Eava EX ELV EOEXO)V, WT /3EXTLOV ' V cLV A; 7) EOEX27-L 701170 3EV7Ep0V yap E7EVETo (p. 341, 1. 9). cs makes no sense. Kirchhoff, followed by the other editors, for '; wrote Ed 1Kal, which gives the meaning, but is palaeographically an improbable alteration. Why should we not write ? There would still remain point in ai~r,. Had there been no unfolding of voV3, it might indeed have been better for vovs itself, which would not have been degraded into a secondary; but the world below voVi would never have existed at all. Just below, in the phrase PflEXT -

,EV OEV, XEIpwO

Eis (p. 341, 1. 14), we should read Els & if it is desirable to make Plotinus write grammatically.

Enn. III. 8. 9: 7rp av " Sro-crL^cva 7'7rwsO olv Tr, 7" Ev 27)LV )L/OLup fpTo oEv (p. 342, 1. 18). Kirchhoff and the rest alter wrpbs av to wrp% s &. But how did the v come to exist? It represents an original El, which indeed is needed to complete the construction of the sentence. Reading rphs 1 El, we get, 'if in reply to this question we must indicate how it is possible (sc. to grasp the One), we shall answer "by what is like it in ourselves."' For another case of the disappearance of El see VI. 8. 2 (p. 480, 1. 9), where I feel sure that Era

KaL rTE

oLyo-O-o' should be read.

Enn. IV. 4. 28: Plotinus has argued in IV. 4. 20 that the causes of desire are

(p. 67, 1. 5), i.e. sensation and the next grade of soul or pseudo-soul, called o-Ios


154 SOME NOTES ON PLOTINVS

which gives 'the vestige' of true soul to the body. Turning in IV. 4. 28 to the consideration of bT Ov LoEL~8, he asks whether it belongs to c-LtarT r7- oTov pwO~eVvr, or to a particular part of it, and also El &XXov roV70 T70o 8vro;TS To 'XVO~ 7TOI r vXLKbV '

EvraLVa V rL oTro 0 V Ov/Ads, o'KET- 7rapI 0VUtLLKOU~ J al0T7TLKOV (p. 76, 1. 9), ' whether that which bestows the soul-trace is different, so that here we have this one distinct thing, OvL6s, no longer deriving from the passionate or perceptive faculty.' before ivraiOa is excised by Miiller and Volkmann, but it doubtless conceals (v, a 'philosophical imperfect.' The real difficulty, however, lies in wrapi OVZLLKOD. The suggestion that perhaps Ovyud, does not come from Tb OvtLKO6V seems quite pointless here. 6 Otvp 70To Ov1L~LKO, in I. I. 5 (P. 43, 1. 11) does not help us, as the context there is different. For OvIULKOv we must substitute UVTLKOD, which brings the passage into accord with c. 20 and the whole course of Plotinus' argument. For he does indeed hold that

Ov~s is derived from 7Ob 4VTCKdV. See p. 76, 1. 31, EL ra Vrtd r~ psOV OVK EK

70Wo UTLKOV WpuiLqOpat, sc. Tbv OvLbv Av aMyot (where he is referring to arguments which at first sight militate against his thesis); p. 77, 1. 26, wrap& 70Tol /vTLKOV Ka' yEVVqTLKOV alb y yvreOaL (where &rou probably means ' both kinds of anger,' though Ficinus renders by ' tam irascendi quam concupiscendi fomes'); and p. 78, 1. 5, T ~ S a &vApa IL /L7XELV 6VI.LV K7irEp TO' *CVTKOZV E"XOVTa OV t3EL OcL 0avctEalV K.T.A.

In the same chapter (p. 77, 1. 5) occurs a very puzzling passage, ('Tav) rcd TE 07lp'a

pog T s Kp-pdCoEL oSEVioj CJXOov CAXXA rpb~ b 8OK17qEV XV/L'UVaOCaGL T dopyg E Xwo-r. Ficinus renders by ' item bruta ultra corporum compositiones ex eo duntaxat, quod

aliquis laesurus appareat, prorumpunt in iram.' This implies rpbh Trans Kpr EOur, which may be what Plotinus wrote, though it involves the awkwardness of taking TaS gpyg y XO'yo- first with the genitive and then with rp6Os and the accusative. I am inclined to believe, however, that Plotinus wrote rpbs Tas Wpcpd$E o oV8EVb3

l Xov,

'animals are not enraged at the doings of anyone else, but at the prospect of danger to themselves,' whereas human beings feel anger also vrip 6v av Kat (TEpd0 rTL TWv rpoGV/KvrovV (sc. r7X() KaLt OXo3 7rp v Ov 0 7 9 Tapa 7Tb a rpOOKOV ~O (p. 76, 1. 27).

J. H. SLEEMAN. THE ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE.


Article Contentsp. [152]p. 153p. 154

Issue Table of ContentsClassical Quarterly, Vol. 20, No. 3/4 (Jul. - Oct., 1926), pp. 113-220Volume Information [pp. 215-220]Front MatterThe Myth of Er (Plato, Republic, 616b) [pp. 113-133]On the Authenticity of the Hippias Maior [pp. 134-148]The Filiation of Aesthetic Ideas in the Neoplatonic School [pp. 148-151]Some Notes on plotinvs [Some Notes on Plotinus] [pp. 152-154]Notes on the Legend of Aristotle [pp. 155-167]Homeric Words in Arcadian Inscriptions [pp. 168-176]Plato, Phaedo, 80 c [pp. 177-178]Hektor in Boeotia [pp. 179-180]A New Interpretation of the Chione Fragments [pp. 181-184]Conjectures on Some Passages in Greek Poetry [pp. 184-185]Notes on the History of the Fourth Century [pp. 186-191]Merops Aliaeqve Volvcres [Merops Aliaeque Uolucres] [pp. 191-192] or ? [pp. 193-194] for in Attic Prose [pp. 195-200]Note on Terence, Andria 532 [p. 200]Notes on Catvllvs [Notes on Catullus] [pp. 201-203]Martial V. 17, 4 [p. 203]Horace and Pacuvius [pp. 204-206]Two Notes on Ovid, Heroides IV [pp. 207-208]Summaries of Periodicals [pp. 209-214]Back Matter

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Some Notes on Plotinvs