The present work aims to highlight the impact that Synesius of Cyrene had on Ficino and Pico dell... more The present work aims to highlight the impact that Synesius of Cyrene had on Ficino and Pico della Mirandola in the formation process of the Renaissance concept of rhetoric and the anthropology connected thereto. Special attention will be drawn to the close link between rhetoric and phantasia, both imaginative and creative forces that are present in all three authors. The master of these forces is the rhetorician, who assumes in this respect an exemplary anthropological function. In fact, if on the one hand he is an ambiguous manipulator of shady speeches, on the other hand he is able to fully express the variety of human nature. This makes him an alter deus , that is, a demonic being whose nature is superior to any other. It is no accident that the demigod Proteus is a theme in all three authors and is the symbol of a positive human nature, which reveals itself as amphibious, multiple and, above all, highly characterised on the verbal level and the imaginative level.
"Paridigmi nel maschile e femminile nel Cristianesimo Antico. Incontro di Studiosi dell’Antichità Cristiana (Roma, 9-11 maggio 2019)", Nerbini International/Institutum Patristicum Augustinianum, Roma 2020, pp. 625-632 [Studia Ephemeridis Augustinianum, 157], 2020
The present work aims to highlight the impact that Synesius of Cyrene had on Ficino and Pico dell... more The present work aims to highlight the impact that Synesius of Cyrene had on Ficino and Pico della Mirandola in the formation process of the Renaissance concept of rhetoric and the anthropology connected thereto. Special attention will be drawn to the close link between rhetoric and phantasia, both imaginative and creative forces that are present in all three authors. The master of these forces is the rhetorician, who assumes in this respect an exemplary anthropological function. In fact, if on the one hand he is an ambiguous manipulator of shady speeches, on the other hand he is able to fully express the variety of human nature. This makes him an alter deus, that is, a demonic being whose nature is superior to any other. It is no accident that the demigod Proteus is a theme in all three authors and is the symbol of a positive human nature, which reveals itself as amphibious, multiple and, above all, highly characterised on the verbal level and the imaginative level.
The aim of this paper is to analyse the role of rhetoric within the neoplatonic-philosophical exe... more The aim of this paper is to analyse the role of rhetoric within the neoplatonic-philosophical exercise presented by Synesius of Cyrene in his Dion, and to show how revaluating word’s beauty is closely related to ethics. Synesius highlights the relevance of writing rhetorical speeches, which are the purest expression of intelligible beauty in the sensible world reminiscent of Plato’s Phaedrus. They are not only an instrument for philosophical speculation, but also the best way to guarantee aesthetic and cognitive delight, which the ‘philosophy of silence’, which had spread through Late Antiquity, cannot awaken. Synesius upholds writing as a joyful exercise commensurate with human nature as an alternative to the ‘overwhelming’ ethics of assimilation to God. Synesius’s writing itself also demonstrates the vitality of this exercise by being incoherent, thus also representing the soul's writing.
La relazione si propone di esaminare l’atteggiamento filosofico-religioso di Sinesio di Cirene, v... more La relazione si propone di esaminare l’atteggiamento filosofico-religioso di Sinesio di Cirene, vescovo e filosofo neoplatonico vissuto a cavallo tra il IV-V secolo. La riscoperta di questo autore da parte della critica contemporanea si deve principalmente all'interesse per la sua identità anfibia: sospeso tra l’essere un filosofo nei panni di un vescovo e un cristiano che parla la lingua del neoplatonismo. Come convivono in lui queste diverse identità? Fede e filosofia pongono davvero l’uomo tardo-antico di fronte al dramma della scelta? Qual è il portato etico del compromesso, se di compromesso si parla? Attraverso il dialogo con le sue eleganti opere letterarie cercheremo di interrogarci e interrogare il canto di questa “sirenetta” tardo-antica.
Modern studies still have not highlighted the importance of the role played by Synesius of Cyrene... more Modern studies still have not highlighted the importance of the role played by Synesius of Cyrene, a rhetorian and Neoplatonic philosopher from Hypathia's School, one of the Late Antiquity intellectuals who may have shaped rhetoric and literature during the Italian Renaissance. The aim of the paper is to demonstrate how the original thoughts of Synesius on rhetoric, especially in the Dion, could have influenced the theory and texts on the development of the concept in the Renaissance of rhetoric and its anthropological nature.
Jan Lazardzig, Annette Kappeler, Nicola Gess (Hg.), Die bildtheoretischen Schriften Claude-Franço... more Jan Lazardzig, Annette Kappeler, Nicola Gess (Hg.), Die bildtheoretischen Schriften Claude-François Ménestriers. Auswahl, Übersetzung und Kommentar/ Claude- François Ménestrier’s Theoretical Writings on Images. Selection, Translation, and Commentary , übers. von Annika Loose, Paul Maercker, Marco Munarini und Kareen Seidler, mit Kommentaren von Ralph Dekoninck, Jan Lazardzig, Judi Loach, Anne-Françoise Morel, Bram von Oostveldt und Stephanie Schroedter, München: Fink 2016.
The present work aims to highlight the impact that Synesius of Cyrene had on Ficino and Pico dell... more The present work aims to highlight the impact that Synesius of Cyrene had on Ficino and Pico della Mirandola in the formation process of the Renaissance concept of rhetoric and the anthropology connected thereto. Special attention will be drawn to the close link between rhetoric and phantasia, both imaginative and creative forces that are present in all three authors. The master of these forces is the rhetorician, who assumes in this respect an exemplary anthropological function. In fact, if on the one hand he is an ambiguous manipulator of shady speeches, on the other hand he is able to fully express the variety of human nature. This makes him an alter deus , that is, a demonic being whose nature is superior to any other. It is no accident that the demigod Proteus is a theme in all three authors and is the symbol of a positive human nature, which reveals itself as amphibious, multiple and, above all, highly characterised on the verbal level and the imaginative level.
"Paridigmi nel maschile e femminile nel Cristianesimo Antico. Incontro di Studiosi dell’Antichità Cristiana (Roma, 9-11 maggio 2019)", Nerbini International/Institutum Patristicum Augustinianum, Roma 2020, pp. 625-632 [Studia Ephemeridis Augustinianum, 157], 2020
The present work aims to highlight the impact that Synesius of Cyrene had on Ficino and Pico dell... more The present work aims to highlight the impact that Synesius of Cyrene had on Ficino and Pico della Mirandola in the formation process of the Renaissance concept of rhetoric and the anthropology connected thereto. Special attention will be drawn to the close link between rhetoric and phantasia, both imaginative and creative forces that are present in all three authors. The master of these forces is the rhetorician, who assumes in this respect an exemplary anthropological function. In fact, if on the one hand he is an ambiguous manipulator of shady speeches, on the other hand he is able to fully express the variety of human nature. This makes him an alter deus, that is, a demonic being whose nature is superior to any other. It is no accident that the demigod Proteus is a theme in all three authors and is the symbol of a positive human nature, which reveals itself as amphibious, multiple and, above all, highly characterised on the verbal level and the imaginative level.
The aim of this paper is to analyse the role of rhetoric within the neoplatonic-philosophical exe... more The aim of this paper is to analyse the role of rhetoric within the neoplatonic-philosophical exercise presented by Synesius of Cyrene in his Dion, and to show how revaluating word’s beauty is closely related to ethics. Synesius highlights the relevance of writing rhetorical speeches, which are the purest expression of intelligible beauty in the sensible world reminiscent of Plato’s Phaedrus. They are not only an instrument for philosophical speculation, but also the best way to guarantee aesthetic and cognitive delight, which the ‘philosophy of silence’, which had spread through Late Antiquity, cannot awaken. Synesius upholds writing as a joyful exercise commensurate with human nature as an alternative to the ‘overwhelming’ ethics of assimilation to God. Synesius’s writing itself also demonstrates the vitality of this exercise by being incoherent, thus also representing the soul's writing.
La relazione si propone di esaminare l’atteggiamento filosofico-religioso di Sinesio di Cirene, v... more La relazione si propone di esaminare l’atteggiamento filosofico-religioso di Sinesio di Cirene, vescovo e filosofo neoplatonico vissuto a cavallo tra il IV-V secolo. La riscoperta di questo autore da parte della critica contemporanea si deve principalmente all'interesse per la sua identità anfibia: sospeso tra l’essere un filosofo nei panni di un vescovo e un cristiano che parla la lingua del neoplatonismo. Come convivono in lui queste diverse identità? Fede e filosofia pongono davvero l’uomo tardo-antico di fronte al dramma della scelta? Qual è il portato etico del compromesso, se di compromesso si parla? Attraverso il dialogo con le sue eleganti opere letterarie cercheremo di interrogarci e interrogare il canto di questa “sirenetta” tardo-antica.
Modern studies still have not highlighted the importance of the role played by Synesius of Cyrene... more Modern studies still have not highlighted the importance of the role played by Synesius of Cyrene, a rhetorian and Neoplatonic philosopher from Hypathia's School, one of the Late Antiquity intellectuals who may have shaped rhetoric and literature during the Italian Renaissance. The aim of the paper is to demonstrate how the original thoughts of Synesius on rhetoric, especially in the Dion, could have influenced the theory and texts on the development of the concept in the Renaissance of rhetoric and its anthropological nature.
Jan Lazardzig, Annette Kappeler, Nicola Gess (Hg.), Die bildtheoretischen Schriften Claude-Franço... more Jan Lazardzig, Annette Kappeler, Nicola Gess (Hg.), Die bildtheoretischen Schriften Claude-François Ménestriers. Auswahl, Übersetzung und Kommentar/ Claude- François Ménestrier’s Theoretical Writings on Images. Selection, Translation, and Commentary , übers. von Annika Loose, Paul Maercker, Marco Munarini und Kareen Seidler, mit Kommentaren von Ralph Dekoninck, Jan Lazardzig, Judi Loach, Anne-Françoise Morel, Bram von Oostveldt und Stephanie Schroedter, München: Fink 2016.
Uploads
thereto. Special attention will be drawn to the close link between rhetoric and phantasia, both imaginative and creative forces that are present in all three authors. The master of these forces is the rhetorician, who assumes in this respect an exemplary anthropological function. In fact, if
on the one hand he is an ambiguous manipulator of shady speeches, on the other hand he is able to fully express the variety of human nature. This makes him an alter deus, that is, a demonic being whose nature is superior to any other. It is no accident that the demigod Proteus is a
theme in all three authors and is the symbol of a positive human nature, which reveals itself as amphibious, multiple and, above all, highly characterised on the verbal level and the imaginative level.
ethics. Synesius highlights the relevance of writing rhetorical speeches, which are the purest expression of intelligible beauty in the sensible world reminiscent of Plato’s Phaedrus. They are not only an instrument for philosophical speculation, but also the best way to guarantee aesthetic and cognitive delight, which the ‘philosophy of silence’, which had spread through Late Antiquity, cannot awaken. Synesius upholds writing as a joyful exercise commensurate with human nature as an alternative to the ‘overwhelming’ ethics of assimilation to God. Synesius’s writing itself also demonstrates the vitality of this exercise by being incoherent, thus also representing the soul's writing.
thereto. Special attention will be drawn to the close link between rhetoric and phantasia, both imaginative and creative forces that are present in all three authors. The master of these forces is the rhetorician, who assumes in this respect an exemplary anthropological function. In fact, if
on the one hand he is an ambiguous manipulator of shady speeches, on the other hand he is able to fully express the variety of human nature. This makes him an alter deus, that is, a demonic being whose nature is superior to any other. It is no accident that the demigod Proteus is a
theme in all three authors and is the symbol of a positive human nature, which reveals itself as amphibious, multiple and, above all, highly characterised on the verbal level and the imaginative level.
ethics. Synesius highlights the relevance of writing rhetorical speeches, which are the purest expression of intelligible beauty in the sensible world reminiscent of Plato’s Phaedrus. They are not only an instrument for philosophical speculation, but also the best way to guarantee aesthetic and cognitive delight, which the ‘philosophy of silence’, which had spread through Late Antiquity, cannot awaken. Synesius upholds writing as a joyful exercise commensurate with human nature as an alternative to the ‘overwhelming’ ethics of assimilation to God. Synesius’s writing itself also demonstrates the vitality of this exercise by being incoherent, thus also representing the soul's writing.