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HERMETICA II

This volume presents in new English translations the scattered frag-

ments and testimonies regarding Hermes Thrice Great that complete
Brian Copenhaver’s translation of the Hermetica (Cambridge ).
It contains the twenty-nine fragments from Stobaeus (including the
famous Korē Kosmou), the Oxford and Vienna fragments (never
before translated into English), an expanded selection of fragments
from various authors (including Zosimus of Panopolis, Augustine,
and Albert the Great), and testimonies about Hermes from thirty-
eight authors (including Cicero, Pseudo-Manetho, the Emperor
Julian, Al-Kindī, Michael Psellus, the Emerald Tablet, and Nicholas
of Cusa). All translations are accompanied by introductions and notes
which cite sources for further reading. These Hermetic texts will
appeal to a broad array of readers interested in western esotericism
including scholars of Egyptology, the New Testament, the classical
world, Byzantium, medieval Islam, the Latin Middle Ages, and the
Renaissance.

.   is a research fellow at the Institute for Religion and

Critical Inquiry in Melbourne, Australia. His recent books include:
Desiring Divinity: Self-deification in Ancient Jewish and Christian
Mythmaking (); Refutation of All Heresies: Text, Translation,
and Notes (); and Iesus Deus: The Early Christian Depiction of
Jesus as a Mediterranean God ().

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HERMETICA II
The Excerpts of Stobaeus, Papyrus Fragments, and Ancient
Testimonies in an English Translation with Notes and
Introductions

M. DAVID LITWA
Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry, Melbourne

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For Sam, Annie, Alex, and Eve

‫שבת שלום‬

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Contents

Preface page xi
Abbreviations xii

General Introduction 
A Note on This Translation 
Sigla Adopted for This Translation 

  ( –) 

  ( –) 

  ( –) 

     ( –) 

 Tertullian 
 Pseudo(?)-Cyprian 
– Lactantius 
– Iamblichus 
– Zosimus 
 Ephrem the Syrian 
– Cyril of Alexandria 
Addendum: The Reception of Hermetic Fragments from Cyril 

vii

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viii Contents
 Marcellus of Ancyra 
 John Lydus 
 Gregory of Nazianzus 
 Didymus of Alexandria 
 Gaius Iulius Romanus 
 Augustine 
 Quodvultdeus 
 Michael Psellus 
 Albert the Great 
 Nicholas of Cusa 

   

 ( –) 
 Artapanus 
 Cicero 
 Manilius 
 Thrasyllus 
 Dorotheus of Sidon 
 Philo of Byblos 
 Athenagoras 
 Virtues of Plants 
 Refutation of All Heresies 
 Pseudo-Manetho 
 Arnobius 
 Iamblichus 
 Marius Victorinus 
 The Emperor Julian 

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Contents ix
 Ammianus Marcellinus 
 Greek Magical Papyri 
 Filastrius 
 First Prologue to the Cyranides 
 Augustine 
 Hermias 
 Cyril of Alexandria 
 John of Antioch 
 Isidore of Seville 
 John of Damascus(?), Passion of Artemius 
 Al-Kindī 
 Abū Ma‘shar 
 Ibn an-Nadīm 
 Al-Mubaššir ibn Fātik 
 Michael Psellus 
 Emerald Tablet 
 Prefaces to the Composition of Alchemy and the Six Principles
of Nature 
 Book of the Twenty-four Philosophers 
 Book of Alcidus 
 Fifteen Stars, Stones, Plants, and Talismans 
 Book of the Beibenian Stars 
 Albert the Great 
 Picatrix 
 Nicholas of Cusa 

Bibliography 
Index 

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Preface

Despite widespread interest in the Hermetica across the globe, currently

there does not exist a reliable and up-to-date English translation of the
various Hermetic fragments and testimonies. Indeed, some of these frag-
ments and testimonies remain generally unknown.
At the turn of the twentieth century, G. R. S. Mead made a translation
of select fragments into Victorian English from now-outdated editions.
The translation of the fragments by Walter Scott () was based on his
own re-written Greek text – a jungle of emendations and transpositions.
When it came to testimonies, moreover, Scott did not actually translate the
Greek or Latin texts. He only rendered into English (via Latin translations)
texts originally written in Arabic.
The present translation serves a new generation of scholarly and lay
readers of the Hermetica. It remains faithful to – though critically engaged
with – the various manuscript traditions. Copious notes provide historical
background, parallels, and references for further reading. Included also are
many testimonies that Scott did not print. It is hoped that this volume will
spark interest in the full reception history of the Hermetica, which must
include Late Antiquity and the medieval period.
Here I gratefully acknowledge persons who read parts of the manuscript
and offered helpful suggestions: Brian P. Copenhaver, David Runia, and
Christian H. Bull. Christian Wildberg and Kevin Van Bladel also kindly
answered my inquiries and provided guidance based on their expertise. My
thanks also to Oxford University Press for the use of Van Bladel’s transla-
tions of Arabic source materials.

xi

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Abbreviations

ANRW Haase and others, eds., Aufstieg und Niedergang

der römischen Welt
Ascl. The Latin Asclepius
BSGRT Bibliotheca Scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum
Teubneriana
CCAG Catalogus Codicum Astrologorum Graecorum,  vols.,
–
CCSL Corpus Christianorum Series Latina
CH Corpus Hermeticum
CH Deutsch Holzhausen, ed., Das Corpus Hermeticum Deutsch,
 vols., 
Copenhaver Copenhaver, trans., Hermetica: The Greek Corpus
Hermeticum, 
DGWE Hanegraaff, ed., Dictionary of Gnosis and Western
Esotericism, .
DH Definitions of Hermes Trismegistus to Asclepius
DK Diels and Kranz, eds., Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, th
edition
Disc. – Discourse on the Eighth and Ninth (NHC VI,)
DPA Richard Goulet, ed., Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques,
 vols., –
F Codex Farnesius
FH Hermetic Fragments from various sources
FHSG Fortenbaugh, Huby, Sharples, and Gutas, eds.,
Theophrastus of Eresus, 
HHE Mahé, Hermès en Haute-Égypte,  vols., –.
LS Long and Sedley, eds., The Hellenistic Philosophers,
 vols., 
MSS Manuscripts
Mystique Festugière, Hermétisme et mystique païenne, 
xii

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Abbreviations xiii
NF Nock and Festugière, eds., Corpus Hermeticum,  vols.,
–
NHC Nag Hammadi Codices
NHS Nag Hammadi Studies
NRSV The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible
OF Bernabé, ed., Orphicorum et Orphicis similium testimonia
et fragmenta, 
OH Oxford Hermetic Fragments
OLD P. G. W. Glare, ed., Oxford Latin Dictionary. –
OTP Charlesworth, ed., Old Testament Pseudepigrapha,  vols.,
–
P Codex Parisinus gr. 
PG Migne, ed., Patrologia Graeca,  vols., –
PW Pauly and Wissowa, eds., Realencyclopädie,  vols.,
–
Ref. Refutation of All Heresies
RHT Festugière, La Révélation d’Hermès Trismégiste,  vols.,
nd edn., –
SC Sources Chrétiennes
Scarpi Scarpi, ed., La Rivelazione segreta di Ermete Trismegisto,
 vols., –
SH Stobaean Hermetic Excerpts
SVF Von Arnim, ed., Stoicorum Veterum Fragmenta
TH Hermetic Testimonies
VC Vigiliae Christianae
VH Vienna Hermetic Fragments

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