Religious Dimensions of the Self in the Second Century CE

Description

Did new senses of the self emerge in the High Roman Empire, and if so what were the religious corollaries? Were such changes connected to processes of institutional change? Could they usefully be described as "individualisation"? These are the key concerns of the authors of this volume. They address the field of Hellenistic philosophy, medical texts and the literature of the so-called Second Sophistic, which all have been recruited to this debate. Most important, however, religious phenomena are included and brought to the fore. Thus the analysis of concepts of the self in Plutarch and Epictetus is followed by studies of the "Shepherd of Hermas," Clement of Alexandria and Ptolemaeus of Rome, Justin Martyr and the Corpus Hermeticum. Notions of the "self" are traced in concepts of body and soul, I and god(s), but also in practices like dressing and ideas about political identity. Lucian of Samosata, a central author of the Second Sophistic, is shown to be involved in such discourses and practices in a sequence of studies. It is this kind of institutional setting which turns out to have been of central importance for the development of concepts of the "self" in the period under consideration. Thus, in a final section, the authors address philosophical advice on dealing with sick friends, the individuality implied in votive practices, and institutions for religious educations within the field of Christian practices. Cover Table of Contents Jörg Rüpke and Greg Woolf: Introduction Rethinking Philosophical Tradition Eran Almagor: Dualism and the Self in Plutarch’s Thought 1 Two Ontological Principles 2 Soul, Mind and Body 3 Two Powers or Gods 4 A Cycle 5 Transcendent God and Immanent Passions 6 Character, Personality and Self 7 Self and Narrative 8 Knowing the Self Bibliography Jula Wildberger: Delimiting a Self by God in Epictetus 1 Introduction 2 Delimiting the self from God: ‘inside’ or ‘outside’? 2.1 Selves as parts of God and humans as parts of the cosmos 2.2 The evidence of Discourse 1.14 3 Formation of the self by God: nature, nurture and necessity 4 Self and individuality 4.1 The self as a process: the image of the statue in Discourse 2.8 4.2 The essential particularity of the self Bibliography Religious Concepts of the Self Jörg Rüpke: Two cities and one self: Transformations of Jerusalem and reflexive individuality in the Shepherd of Hermas 1 The Shepherd of Hermas 2 Textual visions and practices of religious self-fashioning 3 Roman imagery 4 Two cities or one? 5 Architectural details 6 Self, identity and power: Empire and individualisation Bibliography Harry O. Maier: Dressing for Church: Tailoring the Christian Self through Clement of Alexandria’s Clothing Ideals 1 Ischomachus Teaches His Wife How to Dress 2 Plutarch’s Mirror 3 Dressing for Exile 4 Dressing for Church 5 Dressing Like a Man for Church 6 Alexandrian Christian Hybridity Bibliography Christoph Markschies: Das „Selbst“ in der valentinianischen Gnosis 1 Selbst 2 Das „Selbst“ in der valentinianischen Gnosis, insbesondere bei den Schülern des Ptolemaeus 3 Schluss Bibliographie Anders Klostergaard Petersen: Justin Martyr in Search of the Self 1 Initial Ruminations 2 Qualifying Justin’s Aspiration towards ‘Self-Realization’ 3 Revitalizing the Examination for Justin Martyr in Search of the Self 4 The Setting of the Dialogue: Genre, Actual and Intended Audience 5 Construing a Self in the Dialogue 6 Conclusion Bibliography Anna Van den Kerchove: Self-affirmation and Self-negation in the Hermetic revelation treatises 1 Introduction 2 The Hermetic Self in CH I, IV, XIII and Asclepius 2.1 Self-knowledge, Self-acknowledgement 2.2 The Self-vision 2.3 The love of the Self 3 The personal and ritual dimension of the Self 4 Self and conversion 5 Conclusion Appendix CH I 18–21 CH IV 6 CH XIII 3–4 CH XIII 10–13 Bibliography Richard Gordon: Individuality, Selfhood and Power in the Second Century: The Mystagogue as a Mediator of Religious Options 1 From Mystagoge to mystagogue 2 Identity, selfhood and control 3 Constructing an ideal-type: Xanthos at Sounion 4 Lucian’s Alexandros/Alexander 5 Imposing a personal stamp 6 Mystagogentum and the Second Century Bibliography Second Sophistic Perspectives Wolfgang Spickermann: Philosophical Standards and Individual Life Style: Lucian’s Peregrinus/Proteus – Charlatan and Hero 1 The Life and Writings of Lucian of Samosata 2 Lucian’s Audience 3 Heracles in Lucian 4 The Death of Peregrinus 5 Conclusion Bibliography Dorothee Elm von der Osten: Habitus Corporis: Age Topoi in Lucian’s Alexander or the False Prophet and The Apology of Apuleius 1 Introduction 2 Lucian’s Alexander or the False Prophet 2.1 Introduction: Unmasking False Prophecy and Misguided Piety 2.2 The end of Alexander’s Life: Ideal and Reality 2.3 Alexander’s Baldness and its Masking with a Wig The Condition of the Body – habitus corporis Age – aetas Gender – sexus Profession – studium Social Status – conditio Character – natura animi 2.4 Conclusion: Discrepancy 3 The Apology of Apuleius 3.1 Introduction: A Misalliance? The Age of Pudentilla The Youth of Apuleius 3.2 Apuleius’s Hair The Condition of the Body – habitus corporis Gender – sexus Age – aetas Profession – studium Social Status – conditio 3.3 Conclusion: Discrepancy Source Collections Bibliography Practices of the Self Zsuzsanna Várhelyi: Self-Care and Health-Care: Selfhood and Religion in the Roman Imperial Elite 1 Self-care and health-care 2 The limits of philosophy in health-care 3 Roman religion and philosophical discrepancies in the health-care of philosophers 4 Health-care and the language of Roman religion 5 Conclusion Bibliography Elena Muñiz Grijalvo: Votive Offerings and the Self in Roman Athens 1 Votive offerings 2 Changes in votive practices 3 Athena 4 Attempts at explanation 5 Conclusions Bibliography Peter Gemeinhardt: Wege und Umwege zum Selbst: Bildung und Religion im frühen Christentum 1 Wo finden wir das (christliche) religiöse Selbst im Zweiten Jahrhundert? 2 Vier bildungsbiographische Streiflichter 2.1 Justin 2.2 Tertullian 2.3 Klemens und Petrus in den Pseudoklementinen 2.4 Origenes 3 Christliche Wege und Umwege zum Selbst Quellen Bibliographie General Index Index of Sources