Chapter 13 Scholia on Proclus’ Elements of Theology in Marc. gr. Z 512. New light on the discussion on participation in Nicholas of Methone

In: Nicholas of Methone, Reader of Proclus in Byzantium
Author:
Carlos Steel KU Leuven

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The Marcianus graecus Z 512 (= M) transmits the oldest preserved copy of Proclus’ Elementatio theologica.1 This manuscript of the late 13th century contains a variety of texts on very different subjects—grammar, rhetoric, poetry, astrology—including works by Michael Psellos and Theodoros Prodromos.2 After excerpts from Proclus’ Hypotyposis, the Elementatio theologica follows on ff. 128r–176v. It is a beautiful copy written in the Fettaugen style until f. 173v. From f. 174r on (at prop. 203, p. 178,1 αἱ δὲ ἔσχαται) another contemporary hand (writing rather in “beta-gamma” style) takes over and continues the copy until the end of the Elements and the beginning of the following text (letter I.21 of Alciphron).3 The Marcianus manuscript represents the text tradition from Psellos’ school. Its model, or a sister manuscript deriving from this model, was used by William of Moerbeke for his Latin translation. The Marcianus was radically revised in the early 14th century: original readings were erased and variants mostly coming from the α-tradition (connected to Nicholas of Methone’s Refutatio) were introduced, with titles added. The different layers of readings before and after correction are found in the numerous manuscripts (27!) that derive directly or indirectly from the Marcianus.

In this contribution I intend to examine the scholia on the text that have been written in the margin in the first part of the text.4 As I will show, they throw an interesting light on discussions on participation that are antecedents of the most important theological controversy in the 14th century, the debate between Gregory Palamas and his opponents, above all Nikephoros Gregoras. I will first give a survey of all ancient scholia on the text and in a second part will focus on a recurrent theme in the scholia: how to interpret participation and Proclus’ claim that the First is unparticipated.

1 Part One: Scholia in Procli Elementationem theologicam

The scholia are found in the margins of M as far as f. 155v, that is, as far as prop. 121. I distinguish three layers of scholia:

  1. Most scholia are in a hand that clearly resembles the hand of the copyist of the main text writing in Fettaugen style. They are indexed (*).

  2. There are some scholia in another contemporary hand, writing in clear black ink, for instance on f. 128r–v. This may have been the same hand that added titles to some propositions following the α-tradition. They are indexed (⁘).

  3. Some scholia are in smaller characters and lighter brown. I presume that they are in a different but contemporary hand, but it often remains unsettled. They are indexed ÷.

Some scholia are difficult to read because pages have been cut in the upper or inferior margin. Fortunately, there is a copy of M, the Par. gr. 2028 [sigle Pa], f. 74r–105r, a parchment manuscript, bound with a more recent paper manuscript of Aristotle De anima and De sensu, copied by Constantinos Lascaris. The Proclus copy may be of the 14th–15th century (prop. 1–4 have been added by a later hand; prop. 211 at the end is missing). The scribe added the scholia from M in the margin or inserted them before or after the propositions. Although this scribe makes many errors, his copy is very useful to supplement what cannot be read in M. I have added these supplements between brackets, […]. Moreover, this copy also helps us to recover some scholia that must have been on the lost pages of M (one folium after what is now f. 130 and another after what is now f. 132 have been lost in M). A recent copy of Par. gr. 2028 is the Par. gr. 1842 (17th century), which also contains some scholia. Interestingly, no scholia are found in the manuscripts that depend on M ante correctionem of which the Par. gr. 2045 is the leading manuscript. More surprising is the fact that they are not found, as far as I had access to digital images, in any of the other recent manuscripts, which derive mostly from Bodl., Laud. graec. 18, a copy of M made in 1358 by Stelianos Choumnos.

The (*)scholia written by the hand that also copied the main text were probably already in the manuscript that the copyist used as his model. For the copyist sometimes makes errors in copying, or is uncertain, which shows that he was not himself the author of those scholia. (Examples of such errors are found in scholia at prop. 1, 8, 22, 34, 40, 47, 767, 68, 74, 78, 84, 116, and 121.) Moreover, the scholia are copied in the inferior or superior margins, without signs of reference to the main text. Some scholia even appear on a page after the proposition they refer to. If, however, the (*)scholia were already found in the model of M, they were older than the late 13th century when M was written and may date from the 11–12th century. We know that Psellos had a copy of the Elements of Theology in the text tradition to which the Marcianus belongs.5 It is therefore possible that the (*)scholia that were found in the model of M go back to Psellos’ school. The other scholia were added into M and date from the first half of the 14th century, when the Proclus text was also radically revised.

In the following survey of scholia, passages supplemented by Par. gr. 2028 are between […] brackets; words added by myself are between ⟨…⟩; and words deleted are between {…}. Editorial comments are between (…).6 When possible, I indicate the proposition to which the scholium refers.

f. 128r

ad titulum:

ὅτι τὴν στοιχείωσιν τὴν θεολογικήν τινες ἐπιγράφουσι· καθολικοὶ λόγοι περὶ θείων:-

Note that some entitle the Elements of Theology: General assertions about the divine (principles).7

ad prop. 1:

περὶ ἑνὸς καὶ πλήθους.

τὸ ἓν πρὸ πάντων καὶ πρὸ τοῦ ὄντος καὶ πρὸ τῆς οὐσίας τοῦ νοῦ· διὸ τὸ πρῶτον αἴτιον ἓν καλεῖ:-

τὸ ὅλον ἓν καὶ μεθέξει ἕν:-

πᾶν πλῆθος μετέχει που τοῦ ἑνός· τὸ ἓν ἀμέθεκτόν ἐστι ἁπλῶς:-

ὅτι μετέχεται τὸ ἓν καὶ πάντα μετέχει τοῦ ἑνός:-

ὅτι πῆ μετέχεται (scr.: μετέχεσθαι Μ) τὸ ἓν, οὐχ ἁπλῶς· πῆ οὖν ἐστι μεθεκτόν, οὐχ ἁπλῶς, ἀμέθεκτον δ᾿ἁπλῶς:-

τὰ μεθέξει ἓν γενητά ἐστι ἕν:-

About One and Multitude.

The One is before all things and before Being and before the essence of the Intellect; therefore he calls the first cause One.

The whole is one and one by participation.

Every multitude participates somehow in the One, whereas the One is absolutely unparticipated.

Note that the One is participated and that all participate in the One.

Note that the One is somehow participated, not absolutely: it is thus somehow capable of being participated, not absolutely, whereas it is absolutely unparticipated.

The things that are one by participation have become one.

f. 128v

ad prop. 2:

ἡ μετοχὴ κοινωνίαν τινὰ καὶ ἕνωσιν δηλοῖ:-

Participation indicates some communion and union.

ad prop. 3:

πᾶν τὸ μεθέξειἓνδηλονότι καὶ γενητὸν καὶ αἰτιατόν· καὶ ὅτι ἡ μέθεξις γένεσίς ἐστιν:-

Whatever is ⟨one⟩ by participation is manifestly also generated and caused, and note that participation is a generation.

ad prop. 4:

ἄλλο τὸ ἡνωμένον καὶ ἄλλο τὸ ἕν· ἄλλο τὸ ἑνώσει ἓν καὶ ἄλλο τὸ καθαυτὸ ἕν, ὅπερ ἓν καὶ ἁπλῶς ἕν.

One thing is what is unified and another the One, and one thing is what is by union one and another what is by itself one, that is One and absolutely One.

f. 129v

ad prop. 5:

ἅμα (6,16)] ⁘ἅμα γὰρ τὸ λογικὸν καὶ τὸ ἄλογον ἐν τῷ γένει ὡς ἀντιδιῃρημένα

The rational and the irrational are together in their genus as contradistinguished.

ad prop. 6:

*ὅτι τὸ ἡνωμένον ἐξ ἑνάδων:-

*ὅτι καὶ ἡ ἕνωσις ἑνώσει ἐστὶν ἑνὰς καὶ μετοχὴ τοῦ ἑνός:-

Note that what is unified is from henads.

Note that even union is a henad by union and a participation in the One.

ad prop. 7:

*ὅτι τὸ παράγον ἀμέθεκτόν ἐστι καὶ ἀκάτακτον, πρὸς τὰ παραγόμενα ἀσύντακτον:-

Note that what produces is unparticipated and non-ordered as well as uncoordinated with what is produced.

f. 130r

ad prop. 8:

*[ὅτι τὸ ἀ]μέθεκτον8 οὐ κατ᾿ἄρνησιν9 (Pa: ἡ Μ) ἀναίρεσιν παντελοῦς μεθέξεως ἢ ἑνώσεως ἢ σχέσεως ἀμέθεκτον λέγεται, ἀλλὰ κατὰ ὑπεροχὴν ἢ ὑπερβολήν· ὑπεροχὴ δὲ πᾶσα ἐν σχέσει καὶ κατασχέσει· ἔπειτα μετέχειν ἐξ ἀνάγκης τοῦ αἰτίου τὰ αἰτιατὰ λέγεται:-

ἐπειδὴ τὸ πρῶτον αἴτιον ἓν καὶ ἀγαθὸν ὁ Πλάτων καλεῖ, διὰ τοῦτο ὁ Πρόκλος πρῶτον περὶ τοῦ ἑνὸς διέλαβε, / 130v / δεύτερον δὲ περὶ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ:-

*ὅτι τοῦτἀγαθὸν ἢ τἀγαθὸν ἀμέθεκτόν ἐστι καὶ ἄσχετον καὶ ἀσύντακτον καὶ ἐπέκεινα:-

Note that what is unparticipated is not said to be unparticipated because of negation or removal of all participation or union or relation, but because of superiority or excellence. For every superiority implies relation and respect; next, that which is caused is said to participate necessarily in its cause.

Since Plato calls the first cause One and Good, for that reason Proclus determined about the One first, and then about the Good.

Note that this Good or ‘the-Good’ is unparticipated and unrelated and uncoordinated and beyond.

ad prop. 9:

*περὶ αὐτάρκους, καὶ τελείου καὶ ἀτελοῦς, ὃ δεύτερόν ἐστι τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ:-

ἄλλο αὔταρκες καὶ [ἄλλο] ἀγαθὸν καὶ τὸ ἐπαναβεβηκὸς τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ τοῦ αὐτάρκους, ὅτι καὶ τὸ αὔταρκες μετέχει, διὸ καὶ ἔλαττον τοῦ πρώτου:-

About the self-sufficient, both the perfect and imperfect, which is inferior to the Good. One thing is the self-sufficient and the other the Good that transcends the good that is self-sufficient, for the self-sufficient too participates and is therefore inferior to the First.

ad prop. 12 (deest in M10):

[περὶ ἀρχῆς καὶ αἰτίας· ὅτι ἀνάγκη τὴν αἰτίαν μετέχεσθαι ὑπὸ τῶν αἰτιατῶν:-

ὅτι τὸ ἀγαθὸν καὶ αἴτιον καλεῖ καὶ ἀρχὴν πρώτην, καὶ τοῦτο ἐστὶ τὸ πρῶτον αἴτιον:-

ὅτι καὶ ἐνταῦθα μετέχεσθαι τὴν πρώτην αἰτίαν δηλοῖ καὶ τὸ πρώτως ἀγαθὸν καὶ ἐν τῷ κη´· εἰ δὲ τοῦτο, πῶς ἀμέθεκτον τὸ πρῶτον; παντελῶς ἢ κατὰ στέρησιν;]:-

About the principle and cause.

Note that the cause must necessarily be participated by the things caused.

Note that he calls the Good both cause and first principle and that this is the first cause.

Note that he declares both here and in prop. 28. that the first cause and the primary Good are participated. If this is the case, in what sense is the First ‘unparticipated’? In an absolute sense or according to privation?

f. 131v

ad prop. 15:

÷ἐπιστροφή ἐστι τὸ συνάπτειν κατά τι μόριον πρὸς πάντα τὰ λοιπὰ μόρια:-

÷τί τὸ πρὸς ἑαυτὸ ἐπιστρέφον, καὶ πῶς τῆς εἰς ἑαυτὸ ἐπιστροφῆς (sic)· ὅτι τοῦ ἀσωμάτου ἴδιον τὸ πρὸς ἑαυτὸ ἐπιστρεπτικόν:-

Reversion is to conjoin according to one part with all other parts.

What is what reverts upon itself, and how does it happen? Note that reversion upon itself is proper to the incorporeal.

f. 132r

ad prop. 17:

*ὅτι καὶ τὸ αὐτοκίνητον πρὸς ἑαυτὸ ἐπιστρέφει, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἀσώματον καὶ πρώτως.

Note that what is self-moving reverts upon itself and thereby is incorporeal and firstly ⟨self-moved⟩.

ad prop. 18:

*περὶ τῆς κατ᾿οὐσίαν μεταδόσεως ἢ μετοχῆς, καὶ τίς ἡ κατ᾿οὐσίαν ἢ ἐκ τῆς οὐσίας μετάδοσις [ἢ μετοχὴ καὶ ὅπως λέγεται]

About giving a share in being or participation, and what is this giving a share in being or from being or participation and in what sense it is said.

f. 132v

*ὅτι καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς κατ᾿οὐσίαν μεταδόσεως τὸ μὲν κρεῖττον, τὸ δὲ ἧττον, καὶ τὸ μὲν πρῶτον, τὸ δὲ δεύτερον, καὶ τὸ μὲν ὑπερέχον, τὸ δὲ ὑφειμένον, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἰσότης καὶ ταυτότης ἐπὶ τούτων, οὐδὲ τὸ ἓν κατὰ πάντων.

Note that, in case of sharing in being, something is better, something less, and something primary, something secondary, and something superior, something inferior, and that there is no equality and identity in them, nor are they all said to be one.

f. 133r

ad prop. 22:

÷ ὅτι τὸ μοναδικὸν μονογενὲς καλεῖ (ad l. 2)

Note that he calls the monadic the ‘only-born’.

÷ τουτέστι, κἂν πλείω δῶμεν εἶναι τὰ ἀρχικὰ αἴτια (scr.: αἰτία Μ), τὸ αὐτὸ ἀδύνατόν ἐστιν. (ad. l. 3)

That is to say: even if we admit that there are more principal causes, there is the same impossibility.

f. 133v

ad prop. 24–25:

*ὅτι τὸ ἀμέθεκτον οὐχἐφ᾿ἑνὸς λέγεται, ἀλλ᾿ἐπὶ πλειόνων:-

*ὅτι τὸ ἀμέθεκτον τὸ ἐξῃρημένον {καὶ} καὶ ὑπερέχον καὶ ἐξαίρετον δηλοῖ:-

*ὅτι ἄλλο τὸ μετέχον, ἄλλο τὸ [μετεχόμενον καὶ ἄλλο τὸ ἀ]μέθεκτον· ἐνταῦθα οὖν ἀμέθεκτον τὸ μὴ μετεχόμενον δηλοῖ καὶ πρὸ τοῦ [μετεχομένου]:-

*ὅτι τὸ πρῶτον μετεχόμενον λέγεται ὡς πάντων καὶ οὐ τινός:-

*ὅτι καὶ μετέχεσθαι αὐτὸ λέγεται καὶ ἀμέθεκτον εἶναι καὶ ἐξῃρῆσθαι πάντων:-

Note that ‘unparticipated’ is not said in one sense, but in many.

Note that the (term) ‘unparticipated’ indicates what is transcendent and superior and exceptional.

Note that one thing is the participant, another what is participated and another what is unparticipated. Here ‘unparticipated’ indicates what is not participated and what exists before what is participated.

Note that the first is called participated as pertaining to all, not to something.

Note that it is said that it [i.e. the first] is both participated and is unparticipated and transcending all things.

f. 134v

ad prop. 27:

*ὅτι τῇ δυνάμει παράγει τὸ παράγον:- ὅτι οὐ μέρος τοῦ παράγοντος τὸ παραγόμενον:-

Note that the producer produces by power; that what is produced is not a part of the producer.

f. 135r

ad prop. 28:

*ἡ μετοχὴ κοινωνίαν τινὰ δηλοῖ, καὶ τὸ μετέχον κατά τι κοινωνεῖτῷμετεχομένῳ [scr.: μετεχόμενον M]:-

Participation indicates some communion, and what participates has something in common with what is participated.

÷ ἑκάτερον λέγει τὸ διακεκρῖσθαι καὶ τὸ μετέχειν (ad p. 32, 23)

By ‘both’ (ἑκάτερον) he means distinction and participation.

*[πῶς] οὖν ἐκ τῆς οὐσίας; καὶ μεταδίδωσι τῆς οὐσίας καὶ μετέχει τῆς οὐσίας:-

How then from being? It imparts being and it participates in being.

f. 135v

ad prop. 28:

*ἀνάγκη φησὶ τὸ αἰτιατὸν τοῦ αἰτίου μετέχειν:-

ὅτι ἡ μετοχὴ ἑνὸς δηλοῖ τὴν κατάσχεσιν:-

It is necessary, he says (p. 32, 20–21), that the effect participates in its cause.

Note that the participation of something indicates its relation.

*{εἰ} πῶς ἐκεῖθεν ἔχει τὴν οὐσίαν ἐδήλωσε· πῶς μετέχει τοῦ αἰτίου τὸ αἰτιατὸν λέγει· οὐ γὰρ ὡς [μέρος] ὂν τῆς οὐσίας ἐκείνου, ἀλλ᾿ ὡς διὰ τὴν αἰτίαν καὶ τὴν τῆς αἰτίας σχέσιν ἡνωμένον ἐκείνῳ, εἴ γε διὰ τὴν αἰτίαν τὸ εἶναι τοῦτο καὶ ἡ οὐσία καὶ ἡ ὕπαρξις· ὥστε τὸ τῆς αἰτίας μετέχον σχέσεως μετέχει· ἡ γὰρ αἰτία [ἐν σχέσει νοεῖται]:-

He explained how it derives its being from there. He says how the effect participates in the cause: for it is not as if it were a part of its being, but as being united with it according to causality and the causal relation, if this being and essence and existence really are because of this cause. Therefore, what participates in a cause participates in a relation (to that cause), for a cause is thought to stand in relation.

ὅτι τὴν μετοχὴν [] ἕνωσις δηλοῖ

Note that union indicates participation.

ad prop. 30:

ὅτι διττὴ ἡ πρόοδος

Note that procession is twofold.

διά γε ἕνωσιν ἢ σχέσιν

Because of union or relation (ad p. 34, 18).

f. 136r

*Ἰάμβλιχος διττὰς λέγει τὰς ἀπογεννήσεις, {τὴν θε (?)} τὴν μὲν ἐν ἑαυτῷ μένουσαν, τὴν δὲ ἔξω προϊοῦσαν καὶ κατὰ πρόοδον, καὶ τὴν μὲν ἄσχετον, τὴν δὲ σχετικήν.

Iamblichus speaks of two kinds of generation: the one remains within oneself, the other proceeds outwards and according to procession, and the one is without relation, the other is relative.

ad prop. 31:

ὅτι τὸ ὅμοιον οὐ κατὰ πάντα ταὐτόν:-

Note that the similar is not in all respects the same.

*ὅτι ἡ [ἐπιστροφὴ] ὁμοιότης ἐστὶ τοῦ ἐπιστρεφομένου πρὸς ὃ ἐπιστρέφει· ὁμοιῶσθαι γὰρ βούλεται καὶ μιμεῖσθαι ἐκεῖνο

Note that reversion is an assimilation of what reverts to that towards which it reverts: for it wants to be similar and to imitate it.

f. 136v

ad prop. 34:

*ὅτι καὶ οὐσιώδης ἐπιστροφὴ καὶ οὐκ οὐσιώδης, ἀλλὰ σχετική, διότι ἀρχὴν ἔχει τὸν νοῦν:-

Note that there is both essential and not essential reversion, but the latter is relational because it has the intellect as principle.

f. 137r

*ὅτι ἀπ᾿ἐκείνου τὴν οὐσίαν ἔχει καὶ συγγενὲς εἶναι κατ᾿οὐσίαν καὶ ὅμοιον, καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα· οὐ καθὁμοιότητα, ἀλλὰ κατ᾿ οἰκειότητα καὶ ἕνωσιν ἢ σχέσιν, διότι προσεχῶς αὐτὸ τὸ (scr.: τοῦ M) εἶναι ἐξ ἐκείνου καὶ ἀμέσως καὶ διότι ἡ οὐσία αὐτοῦ παρ᾿ἐκείνου ἐστὶν καὶ τῆς οὐσίας αἴτιον ἐκεῖνο διὰ τὴν δύναμιν τὴν παραγαγοῦσαν τὴν οὐσίαν αὐτοῦ:-

Note that it (i.e. what reverts) has its being from it (i.e. that upon which it reverts) as well as the fact that it is by its essence cognate to it and similar, and suchlike; not according to (full) similitude, but according to kinship and union and relation, because it has its being proximately from it and immediately and because its being is from that and that is the cause of its being according to the power that produces its being.

f. 137v

ad prop. 38:

*ὅτι ἡ ἐπιστροφὴ τοῦ εὖ ἐστι καὶ διὰ τὸ εὖ καὶ πρὸς τὸ εὖ

Note that reversion is of well-being and because of well-being and towards well-being.

ad prop. 39:

*ὅτι ἡ ἐπιστροφὴ οὐ μόνον τῆς οὐσίας ἀλλὰ καὶ γνώσεως:-

Note that there is not only reversion of being, but also of cognition.

ad prop. 40:

*τίνα ἐστὶ τὰ παρ᾿ ἑαυτῶν (scr.: ἑαυτοῦ Μ) ὑφιστάμενα ὅτι αὐθυπόστατα;- εἴ τι αὐθυπόστατον, ἐκεῖνο καὶ αὔταρκες, καὶ εἴ τι αὔταρκες, ἐκεῖνο καὶ αὐθυπόστατον:-

What are the beings that subsist by themselves? They are self-subsisting. If something is self-subsisting, it is also self-sufficient, and if something is self-sufficient, it is also self-subsistent.

f. 138r

*ὅτι τὸ αὐθυπόστατον μετὰ τὸ πρῶτον καὶ τὸ πρῶτον οὐκ αὐθυπόστατον:-

Note that the self-subsistent comes after the First and that the First is not self-subsistent.

ad prop. 41:

*ὅτι ἀφ᾿ἑαυτῶν παράγεσθαι λέγει τὰ καθ᾿ ἑαυτὰ ὄντα καὶ ὑφεστῶτα καὶ μὴ δεόμενα ἑτέρου εἰς τὸ εἶναι καὶ τὸ ὑφίστασθαι:-

Note that he says that those beings are produced by themselves that exist and subsist by themselves and do not need something else to be and to subsist.

ad prop. 42:

*νοῦς ἑαυτὸν νοεῖ (scr.: ἑαυτὸνοï M) καὶ νοητόν ἐστιν ἑαυτοῦ καὶ ὁ αὐτὸς νοῦς καὶ νοητὸν καὶ νοούμενον:-

The intellect thinks itself and is the intelligible of itself and the same intellect is both intelligible and thought.

f. 138v

τί τὸ ἴδιον τοῦ αὐθυποστάτου:-

What is the distinctive feature of the self-subsistent?

f. 139r

ad prop. 47, p. 46,33:

τὸ σύνθετον (scr.: δύνατον p.c. M) ἀντὶ ἀνομοιομεροῦς ἔλαβε:-

He took ‘composite’ for ‘not of like parts’.

ad prop. 48:

πῶς τὸ μὴ ἀίδιον οὐκ αὐθυπόστατόν. ὅτι δύο τρόποι καθ᾿οὕς τί ἐστι καὶ οὐκ ἀίδιον:-

How is what is not perpetual not self-subsistent? That there are two modes according to which something can be non-perpetual.

f. 140r

ad prop. 53:

title: * περὶ αἰῶνος καὶ τῶν αἰωνίων

ὁ ἐν τῷ αἰωνίῳ αἴων (p. 50,28) ἀντὶ ἀσχέτου καὶ καθ᾿αὑτό:-

the eternity in the eternal thing instead of “without relation and on itself”

ὅτι ἡ μετάληψις σχέσιν δηλοῖ:-

Note that participation indicates a relation

*Ἐνταῦθα ἀμέθεκτον λέγει τὸ καθ᾿αὑτὸ ὄν, οὐ τὸ μὴ μετεχόμενον ἁπλῶς· τὸ δὲ τοιοῦτον καὶ ἄσχετον ὡς καθ᾿αὑτὸ ὂν καὶ οὐ μεθεκτὸν ἢ ἐν ἑτέροις:-

He calls here what exists by itself unparticipated, not what is absolutely not participated; what is suchlike is also unrelated as it exists by itself and is not participable nor in other things.

f. 140v

ad prop. 55:

*ὅτι ὁ χρόνος διττῶς λέγεται, ὁ μὲν ὡς ὅλος, ὁ δὲ ὡς μέρος:-

*ὅτι διττὴ ἡ ἀιδιότης, ἡ μὲν αἰώνιος, ἡ δὲ χρονική:-

Note that time is said in two modes, one as a whole, the other as part.

Note that sempiternity is twofold, one eternal, the other temporal.

ad prop. 56:

*ὅτι περιέχεται τὰ δεύτερα ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ δυναμικῶς:-

Note that secondary beings are contained in the first by power.

*ὅτι διὰ τὴν δύναμιν τὴν οὐσιώδη τοῦ παράγοντος / f. 141r/ αὐτῆςτῆςοὐσίας εἶναι λέγει {τοῦ παράγοντος} τοῦ παράγοντος τὸ παραγόμενον καὶ μετέχειν τῆς οὐσίας καὶ κατ᾿οὐσίαν ὑφεστηκέναι:-

Note that he says that because of the essential power of the producer the product is of the being of the producer and participates in its being and subsists according to its being.

f. 143r

ad prop. 65. p. 62.16–17:

τοῖς νοητῶς ὑφεστῶσιν ὁ λόγος ἁρμόζει οὗτος

This statement applies to what exists intelligibly.

f. 143v

ad prop. 67:

*ὅτι τὸ εἶδος ὅλον καλεῖ καὶ ὁλότητα καὶ τὰ καθέκαστα καὶ ἄτομα μέρη:-

*περὶ ὅλου καὶ {καὶ} ὁλότητος καὶ μεγέθους· πόσαι (scr.: πᾶσαι M) διαφοραὶ ὅλου καὶ ὁλότητος:-

*τὸ κατά τι ταὐτὸν καὶ κατά τι τῶν ὅλων (scr.: ὄντων) ἐκβέβληκεν ἐν τῷ ξς´:-11

Note that he calls the form a whole and wholeness and the particulars and individuals parts.

About the whole and wholeness and magnitude: how many differences of the whole and of wholeness.

What is the same in some respect and what is in some respect he removed from wholes in proposition 66.

ad prop. 68:

ὅτι (scr.: τὸ Μ) ἔστι τι πρῶτον ὅλον καὶ δεύτερον ὅλον καὶ σύνθετον ὅλον:-

Note that there is some first whole and a second whole and a composite whole.

ad prop. 69:

*ὅτι τὸ ἐκ τῶν μερῶν ὅλον δεύτερόν ἐστι τοῦ πρὸ τῶν μερῶν ὅλου:-

Note that the whole that consists of parts is inferior to the whole that is prior to parts.

f. 144v

ad prop. 73:

*ὅτι μετὰ τὸ ὂν ἡ ὁλότης καὶ τὸ ὅλον· οὐ γὰρ πᾶν ὂν καὶ ὅλον ἐστίν:-

Note that wholeness and the whole come after being, for not every being is a whole.

f. 145r

ad prop. 74:

*[ὡς]τὸ ὅλον τοῦ ὄντος ἐπέλαττον, οὕτω (scr.: οὐ γὰρ? M) τοῦ ὅλου τὸ εἶδος ἐπέλαττον· ἐπὶ πλέον ἄρα τὸ μὲν ὂν τοῦ ὅλου, τὸ δὲ ὅλον τοῦ εἴδους:- ὅτι πρὸ τῶν εἰδῶν τὸ ὅλον· ὅτι καὶ πρὸ [τῶν εἰδῶν τὸ ὂν]· διὸ καὶ πρὸ τοῦ νοῦ καὶ πρὸ τῆς οὐσίας:-

Just as the whole is less extensive than being, so the form is less extensive than the whole; therefore being is more extensive than the whole, the whole more than the form. Note that the whole is before the forms and that being too is before the forms; therefore it is before the intellect and before (its) substance.

f. 146r

ad prop. 78–79:

÷ διττὴν δύναμιν λέγει τήν τε δραστικὴν τοῦ δρῶντος αἰτίου καὶ τὴν κατ᾿ἐπιτηδειότητα τοῦ πάσχοντος:-

He speaks of a twofold power: one is the effective power of the agent cause, the other the receptive power of what is acted upon.

ὅτι αἱ ἐνέργειαι (scr.: ἐνεργεῖαι Μ) δεύτεραι δυνάμεις εἰκότως λέγονται:-

Note that activities are rightly called second powers.

*ὅτι ἡ δύναμις καθ᾿αὑτὸ (sic) ἡ ἁπλῶς καὶ κοινῶς λεγομένη δύναμις:-

Note that power in itself is absolutely power and what is commonly called power.

*ὅτι ἡ τελεία δύναμις ἐγγὺς τῆς ἐνεργείας καὶ τοῦ ἐνεργεῖν ἢ ταὐτὴ τούτοις:-

Note that perfect power is close to act and acting or is identical with them.

f. 146v

*ὅτι αἱ ἐνέργειαι αἱ λεγόμεναι δυνάμει κατὰ τὰς τελείας δυνάμεις λέγονται δυνάμεις:-

*ὅτι καὶ ἡ [δύναμ]ις διχῶς λέγεται παρὰ τοῖς φιλοσόφοις καὶ τὸ δυνάμει διχῶς:-

*ὅτι καὶ ἡ δύναμις δυνάμει λέγεται καὶ [τὸ] δυνάμει δύναμις:-

*ἔοικεν ὁ Πρόκλος τὸ μὲν δυνάμει μοναχῶς λέγεινκαὶ γὰρ τὸ ἀτελὲς μόνον—, τὴν [δὲ δύναμιν διχῶς.]:-

Note that the activities that are called “in potency” are called “powers” according to the perfect powers.

Note that ‘power’ is said by the philosophers in a twofold sense, and also ‘in potency’.

Note that also ‘power’ can be said to be ‘in potency’ and ‘in potency’ ‘power’.

Proclus seems to speak of ‘in potency’ in a single sense—for only the imperfect ⟨power is in potency⟩—and of ‘power’ in a twofold sense.

f. 147r

ad prop. 84:

*[ὅτι] τὰ ἀσώματα καὶ νοητὰ ἄπειρα (scr.: ἅπερ M) λέγει οὐ κατὰ πλῆθος ἢ μέγεθος ἀλλὰ κατὰ δύναμιν μόνον:-

Note that he calls the incorporeal and intelligible beings infinite not according to magnitude or multitude, but only according to power.

f. 147v

ad prop. 86:

*ὅτι τριχῶς τὸ ἄπειρον λέγει:-

Note that he speaks of ‘infinite’ in three senses.

f. 148r

ad prop. 87–88:

*ὅτι τὸ ὂν προαιώνιον· καὶ ὁ πρῶτος ἄρα θεὸς προαιώνιος:-

*ὅτι τὸ μετεχόμενον τοῦ αἰῶνος μετὰ τὸν αἰῶνα ἔσται καὶ δεύτερον ἐκείνου· οὐκοῦν καὶ τὸ μετεχόμενον χρόνου ἐστὶ καὶ δεύτερον τοῦ χρόνου:-

Note that being is before eternity; the first God is therefore also ‘before eternity’.

Note that what participates in eternity is after eternity and inferior to it; hence what participates in time is also inferior to time.

ad prop. 89:

title: *περὶ ἀπείρου καὶ πέρατος

f. 148v

ad prop. 90:

*τὸ πρότερον [scr.: πρῶτον] τοῦ περατοειδοῦς (‑δῆς?) τὸ ἄπειρον καὶ πᾶσα ἀπειρία πέρατος:-

The first before the limited is the infinite and every infinitude is before the limit.

f. 149r

ad prop. 94

*ὅτι πρὸ τοῦ αἰῶνος ἡ ἀπειρία.

Note that infinity is before eternity.

f. 150r

ad prop 99:

*ὅτι τὸ ἀμέθεκτον ἀγένητον λέγει.

Note that he calls the unparticipated ungenerated.

*ζητητέον ἐνταῦθα τὸ ἀμέθεκτον τί σημαίνει, πότερον τὸ μὴ μετέχεσθαι ἢ τὸ μὴ μετέχειν. ἔοικε γὰρ ὁ λόγος τὸ μὴ μετέχειν ἄλλου σημαίνειν, μηδὲ ἀπ᾿ ἄλλης αἰτίας ὑφίστασθαι.

One must investigate here what the meaning of ‘unparticipated’ is, whether it is not to be participated or not to participate. For the argument seems that it means not to participate in something else, neither to exist from some other cause.

f. 150v

ad prop. 100, p. 90,5:

τῆς ταυτότητος αἴτιον τὸ ἓν λέγεται:-

By ‘cause of identity’ is meant the One.

ad 100, p. 90,14–16:

ὅτι τὸ πρός τι πρῶτον ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις:-

Note that what is in relation is found in the others.

f. 152v

ad prop. 109:

ὅτι τὸ μετέχον μερικὸν καθὸ μετέχει:-

Note that what participates is particular insofar as it participates.

f. 154r

ad prop. 116:

*ὅτι ἃς ἀμεθέκτους12 εἶπε πρότ(ερον) ὄντας (sic) ἐν ἑκάστῃ σειρᾷ μονάδας ἢ ἑνάδας, ταύτας νῦν μετεχομένας λέγει διὰ τὸ πρώτιστον ἕν:-

Note: what he first said were unparticipated in every series, namely monads or henads, he now calls participated because of the first One.

f. 155v

ad prop. 121:

ὅτι ἡ ὕπαρξις (scr.: προτ(.) M) τῷ ἀγαθῷ (scr.: ἀγαθοῦ Μ) χαρακτηρίζεται:-

Note: existence is characterized by the Good.

2 Part II: Comments on the Scholia

2.1 The Problem of Participation

In many scholia the scholiast discusses the problem of participation, and in particular the question of how Proclus can affirm that the first cause is ‘unparticipated’, whereas he admits himself that all beings somehow participate in the One, as in the first line of the first proposition: “Every multitude somehow participates in the One.” To solve this problem the scholiast13 notices that the term ‘unparticipated’ is used in many senses (sch. ad prop. 24–25). In one (radical) sense ‘unparticipated’ means that something cannot at all be participated and is not participated by anything; in another (weaker) sense the term is used to indicate that a cause is transcendent, superior, out of range of what participates in it. When we take the term in this second sense, ‘unparticipated’ does not indicate a total removal of every form of participation.

As the scholiast observes: “Note that what is unparticipated is not said to be unparticipated because of negation or removal of all participation or union or relation, but because of superiority or excellence. For every superiority is found in relation and respect” (sch. 8). It is in this weaker sense that Proclus uses the term. As the scholiast notices again at prop. 99: “One must investigate here what the meaning of ‘unparticipated’ is, whether it is not to be participated [in the passive sense] or not to participate [in the active sense]. For the argument seems that it means not to participate in something else, neither to exist from some other cause.” Notice further the scholium at prop. 24, where Proclus distinguishes between the participant, what is participated and the unparticipated: “Here ‘unparticipated’ indicates what is not participated and what exists before what is participated”, but the scholiast adds: “Note that the first is called participated as pertaining to all, not to something.” In sum, “it is said that the first is both participated and unparticipated (in the sense of) transcending all things.” The scholiast also notices that Proclus sometimes calls the monads (henads) of each series unparticipated (as in prop. 100), but later seems to retract his view, insisting that all henads except the One are participable (prop. 116).

A crucial text for the scholiast is prop. 28, p. 32, 20–21: ἀλλὰ μὴν ἀνάγκη τὸ αἰτιατὸν τοῦ αἰτίου μετέχειν, ὡς ἐκεῖθεν ἔχον τὴν οὐσίαν, on which he comments as follows: “How the effect derives its being from there has been shown; how it participates in the cause he now explains: for it is not as if it were a part of its being, but as being united with it according to causality and the causal relation; for the effect’s being and its essence and existence are because of this cause, so that what participates in its cause participates in a relation (to that cause), for the cause is thought to be in relation.”14 Participation indicates above all a participation in being. For something to participate in the First means to stand in a causal relation to it and to partake in being that comes from the First: ἐκεῖθεν ἔχον τὴν οὐσίαν. The scholiast keeps saying that “participation indicates a relation” (ὅτι ἡ μετάληψις σχέσιν δηλοῖ), “that participation indicates some communion, and that what participates has something in common with what is participated” (at prop. 28). “Note that it (i.e. what reverts) has its being from it (i.e. that upon which it reverts) and is by its essence cognate to it and similar, and suchlike; not according to (full) similitude, but according to kinship and union and relation, because it has its being proximately from it and immediately and because its being is from that and that is the cause of its being according to the power that produces its being” (at prop. 34). But he qualifies “not according to full similitude”, thus also in sch. at prop. 18: “Note that, in case of sharing of being, something is better, something less, and something primary, something secondary, and something superior, something inferior, and that there is no equality and identity in them, nor are they all said to be one.” Likewise, though the effect is related to its cause, the scholiast insists that the First, as the producing cause, is “unordered and uncoordinated with respect to what is produced” (sch. at prop. 7); “that it is unrelated and uncoordinated and beyond” (sch. at prop. 8), and for that reason may be called “unparticipated.” The First stands in a relation to what it is caused, and yet is unrelated, uncaused. See also sch. at prop. 53: “He calls what exists in itself unparticipated, not that it is absolutely not participated; what is suchlike is also unrelated (ἄσχετος) as it exists in itself and is not participable nor in other things.”

Whatever the attempts of the scholiast may be, he does not go much further than the paradoxical conclusion that the One is both participated and unparticipated, both related and unrelated, depending on how one understands ‘un/participated’. However, he seems to indicate another way out of this paradox in the scholium in which he quotes Iamblichus and speaks of two kinds of generation: one without relation, another relative (see below).

We find a similar perplexity about how to understand ἀμέθεκτον in the Refutation of Nicholas of Methone.15 Already in his preface, Nicholas criticizes Proclus for this reason: “This philosopher, at the very beginning of the enterprise he set forth, says in the first proposition that every multitude in some way participates in the One, […] and in the fifth he shows that the multitude participates in the One in every way, so that the One is participated by the multitude in every way, and, proceeding to the 24th chapter, he proves that the first One, which is only One, is entirely unparticipated, as it is, manifestly, not participated either by any multitude or by any one; and thus he is convicted of overturning himself […] in saying that the same thing is altogether unparticipated and participated.”16 If Proclus admits that “all things participate in the First”, “he clearly agrees with all who say it is participable. Therefore, the many series and their principles are superfluous. And since the One and First is conceded to be participated, we are far from supposing that others besides this are unparticipated, unless then as even non-existent.”17 Therefore, “it is not at all out of place to say that the divine itself is participated, being divided indivisibly and being participated by all things in the measure in which each is able to participate in it.”18

Although Nicholas and the scholiast come to the same conclusion, namely that the First cause is both unparticipated and participated, I see no influence of Nicholas’ arguments in the scholia nor in Nicholas from the scholia. After all, that conclusion was generally admitted in patristic thought. What is lacking in Nicholas is a discussion of the meaning of the term “unparticipated” and above all the connection made between participation and relation.19

The discussion on participation becomes extremely important in the 14th century in the discussions around Palamas. Palamas’ view is another attempt to solve the question of how God, the unparticipated cause beyond all being, can be participated and become the being of all beings. He distinguishes between the ἀμέθεκτος ὑπερουσία of God and its δυνάμεις τε καὶ ἐνέργειαι that can be participated by the created beings.20 His acceptance of something μεταξύ the unparticipated God and creatures gave rise to many criticisms among his opponents. Nikephoros Gregoras was certainly right to have seen in Palamas a presence of Proclus’ teaching on participation.21 He quotes the full text of proposition 24, where a distinction is made between the unparticipated, the participated, and the participating things, and expresses his surprise that somebody who is so much against the influence of pagan philosophy, as is Palamas, could be so close to Proclus.22

One remarkable item in this context is the scholium at prop. 12: “Note that he declares both here and in prop. 28 that the first cause and the primary Good are participated. If this is the case, in what sense is the First ‘unparticipated’? In an absolute sense or according to privation?” The last formulation (παντελῶς ἢ κατὰ στέρησιν;) is very interesting. Proclus is the first to have coined the expression παντελῶς ἀμέθεκτον (see TP II, p. 22,21 and p. 57, 21–22). Following Proclus, the Pseudo-Dionysius distinguished between God’s unparticipated giving of light and the different participations in it. See De eccl. hier., 38,7–8, a text often used by Palamas and his opponents: ἡ τῶν νοερῶν ὄψεων ἀνομοιότης τὴν ὑπερπλήρη τῆς πατρικῆς ἀγαθότητος φωτοδοσίαν ἢ παντελῶς ἀμέθεκτον ποιεῖ καὶ πρὸς τὴν αὐτῶν ἀντιτυπίαν ἀδιάδοτον ἢ τὰς μετουσίας ποιεῖ διαφόρους. Following Dionysius, Maximus Confessor in Amb. ad Ion. 45, 15, 11–12 distinguishes a participation according to presence or privation (κατὰ τὴν ἕξιν ἢ τὴν στέρησιν) from what is absolutely unparticipated (παντελῶς ἀμεθέκτου κατὰ φύσιν), again a text often used in the Palamite controversy. John Kapariossotes summarizes (contra Pal., 2, 7, 43–48) Palamas’ views as follows: ὅτι ἡ μὲν θεία οὐσία ἀμέθεκτός ἐστι παντελῶς, ἡ δὲ θεία ἐνέργεια μεθεκτή. And he criticizes this view because, as he says, “if the divine cause were absolutely unparticipated, it would not care about us.” If, however, it becomes our cause, it will somehow communicate with us according to the relation existing between what is cause and what is caused (τῇ κατὰ τὸ αἴτιον καὶ αἰτιατὸν σχέσει) and he concludes that where there is communication, there is participation (ἔνθα δὲ κοινωνία, καὶ μετοχή τις οὐκ ἄπεστι). One has the impression that this opponent of Palamas read the scholia on Proclus.

For these reasons, I first thought that the scholia in M related to the debate around Palmas’ position. However, if the main scholia(*) come from the model of M, they cannot be dated to the 14th century. Most probably they were found in a manuscript that belonged to the 12th century. As said before, manuscript M represents a text tradition from the school of Psellos. One may therefore suppose that the original group of scholia come from that school too. The text in M was radically corrected in the early 14th century (before 1358, when a copy, Bodleian. Laud. graec. 18, was made). The corrector used a manuscript of the tradition of Nicholas of Methone. He also added titles from that tradition and may have been responsible for some marginal and intertextual notes. As for Nikephoros Gregoras, he certainly used a manuscript of the Nicholas-tradition for his Proclus quotations, not the Marcianus or any of its descendants.23

2.2 The Iamblichus Fragment

On f. 136r one reads a scholium about Iamblichus’ conception of causal generation. The context is prop. 30 where it is said that what is produced “both remains in the producing cause and proceeds from it”:

Ἰαμβλίχος δίττας λέγει τὰς ἀπογεννήσεις, {τὴν θε24 (?)} τὴν μὲν ἐν ἑαυτῷ μένουσαν, τὴν δὲ ἔξω προίοῦσαν καὶ κατὰ πρόοδον, καὶ τὴν μὲν ἄσχετον, τὴν δὲ σχετικήν.

Iamblichus speaks of two kinds of generation: one remains within oneself, the other proceeds outwards and according to procession, and one is without relation, the other is relative.

This reference to Iamblichus is surprising, as this doctrine is nowhere else attested. The closest parallel I could find is in a quotation of Iamblichus by Simplicius, In Cat. 135.23–25. In this text Iamblichus gives a metaphysical explanation for how the power of the One produces the two types of quantity, discrete and continuous: “According to its activity that stays within, it produces discrete quantity; according to its proceeding activity, continuous quantity. Since it both remains and proceeds together, it generates both.” (κατὰ μὲν τὴν ἑστῶσαν αὐτοῦ ἐνέργειαν τὸ διωρισμένον, κατὰ δὲ τὴν προϊοῦσαν τὸ συνεχὲς δημιουργεῖ· ἐπεὶ δὲ ἅμα καὶ μένει καὶ πρόεισιν, τὰ δύο ἀπογεννᾷ.) The distinction between an activity staying within the cause (as it were inherent in it) and its activity going outwards is often found in Proclus and very often in Pseudo-Simplicius, On the Soul (probably following Iamblichus). See, for instance, Proclus, In Tim. 3, 221.3–4: ὡς γὰρ αὐτὸς νοήσας ποιεῖ καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς ἔνδον ἐνεργείας ἀπογεννᾷ τὴν ἔξω προϊοῦσαν, and Ps.-Simplicius, In de an. 225.24–25: τὰ δὲ νοητικὰ ὑφεῖται τῶν νοητῶν ὡς εἴσω μενόντων προϊόντα εἰς τὰ ἔξω·

Is it possible that someone, having read this section in Simplicius’ In Cat. commentary, attributed this view to Iamblichus? Could it have been Psellos? Psellos expresses his admiration for the Proclean doctrine about “remaining, proceeding, and reverting”. He quotes the full text of prop. 35 and calls it the core (κεφάλαιον) of Hellenic theology and underlines its contribution to Christian doctrine, in particular about the Trinity.25 But one could not exclude the possibility that the scholium is much older and comes from the Alexandrian tradition of the text.

To conclude, the scholia in M throw a fascinating light on the discussion on participation in the period between Psellos and the debate around Palamas. They are, in their different layers, both precursors of that debate and contemporary with it. They show again the lasting fascination for Proclus’ theological thought, which, through centuries of reading Dionysian writings, had indirectly impregnated Byzantine intellectual life deeply.

1

The Parisinus gr. 2423 dates from about the same period, but it is unfortunately incomplete.

2

Bibliothecae Diui Marci Venetiarum codices graeci manuscripti. Volumen II: Thesaurus Antiquus. Codices 300–625, ed. E. Mioni (Roma: Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato, 1985), pp. 369–374. On the history of the text of the Elementatio theologica see E. Dodds, “Introduction”, in Proclus, The Elements of Theology (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1963²), pp. xxxiii–xlvi and my contribution, “La tradition du texte de l’Elementatio Theologica de Proclus”, in G. Aubry, L. Brisson, P. Hoffman, L. Lavaud (eds), Les Éléments de théologie de Proclus: Interprétations, réceptions antiques et modernes (Paris: Hermann, 2021), pp. 27–67. I am very grateful to Dragos Calma for obtaining beautiful colour images of the manuscript thanks to funding from the European Research Council within the framework of the project Neoplatonism and Abrahamic Traditions (ERC_CoG_771640).

3

I forgot to mention the intervention of this second hand in Steel, “La tradition du texte”, p. 31 (see Dodds, “Introduction”, p. XXXV).

4

Some examples of these scholia were given in an appendix of Steel, “La tradition du texte”.

5

See Steel, “La tradition du texte”, pp. 36–37.

6

I thank John D. Demetracopoulos for having read a first version and having suggested corrections.

7

I could not identify who are these τινες.

8

The beginning of this scholion is illegible in M; Pa reads τὸ τοῦ ἀμεθέκτου.

9

κατ᾿ἄρνησιν is my correction. M has κατὰ περεισιν (?); Pa reads κατὰ περείτωσιν. In support of my correction cf. Gregory Palamas, Contra Nicephorum Gregoram 2, ed. P.K. Chrestou, in Γρηγορίου τοῦ Παλαμᾶ Συγγράμματα, ed. P.K. Chrestou, vol. 4 (Thessaloniki: Kyromanos, 1988), oratio 2.29.17–18: ἢ πρὸς ἄρνησιν καὶ ἀναίρεσιν τῆς ἀκτίστου θελήσεως.

10

As we know those scholia only from Pa, we cannot know whether they were firsthand or not in M.

11

M has only ξ, I changed it into ξς (= prop. 66). The reference seems to prop. 66, p. 62, 27 ἢ ταὐτόν τι πέπονθεν and 30 ταὐτά ἐστι κατὰ τὸ ἕν. I modified ὄντων into ὅλων because the argument distinguishes things that are the same (or different) from things that are related as wholes and parts.

12

ἃς μεθέκτους sic M. In prop. 100 Proclus argues that every series is referable to one unparticipated monad (l. 6). Now it is said that all henads or monads can be participated. For ὄντας one expects οὔσας.

13

In this concluding summary I mainly use the scholia of the first(*) scholiast. As for the other scholiast (⁘), he comments that “the One is somehow participated, not absolutely, whereas it is absolutely unparticipated”.

14

See also sch. at prop. 8 and at prop. 12 where same text is quoted.

15

On how Nicholas discusses Proclus’ view on participation, see J. Robinson, “Dionysius Against Proclus: the Apophatic Critique in Nicholas of Methone’s Refutation of the Elements of Theology”, in D.D. Butorac, D.A. Layne (eds), Proclus and his Legacy (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2017), pp. 249–269, in particular p. 256 ff.

16

See Nicholas of Methone, Refutation of Proclus’ Elements of Theology. A critical edition with an introduction on Nicholas’ life and works by A.D. Angelou (Athens / Leiden: The Academy of Athens Athens / Brill, 1984), intr. p. 4.3–13 (translation J. Robinson, Nicholas of Methone’s Refutation of Proclus: Theology and Neoplatonism in 12th Century Byzantium. A Dissertation submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Notre Dame in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Graduate Program in Medieval Studies, Notre Dame (Indiana), 2014.). E. Dodds refers to this criticism on p. 211 (ad prop. 22): “[…] [Proclus] lays himself open to charges of inconsistency: τὸ ἕν is ἀμέθεκτον, yet we have already been told (prop. 1) that πᾶν πλῆθος μετέχει πῃ τοῦ ἑνός and cf. l. 6 of the present proposition. Nicholas makes great play with this difficulty; but the answer is that a term which is proprie ἀμέθεκτον is yet indirectly μεθεκτόν through the μετεχόμενα which it generates (cf. prop. 56).” Nicholas, however, considers these indirect μετεχόμενα, such as Being, Life and the different henads of the series as non-existent (ἀνυποστάτους)—in other words, purely conceptual distinctions (see also n. 17).

17

See Nicholas of Methone, Refutation, 100, p. 98.6–10 (translation Robinson).

18

See Nicholas of Methone, Refutation, 63, p. 65.7–10 (translation Robinson).

19

The term σχέσις is used several times by Nicholas, but in the sense of “mere relations” without any ontological reality. See Nicholas of Methone, Refutation, 59, p. 62.3 (on intermediate entities): μόνας ψιλὰς ἀναπλάττων σχέσεις πραγμάτων ἐρήμους; 67, p. 69.9 (on the whole before parts): ὧν αἱ ὁλότητες σχέσεις μόνον εἰσὶν ἐν πράγμασιν, ἔχουσί πως πρὸς ἄλληλα θεωρούμεναι, οὐκ αὐταὶ οὖσαι πράγματα; and 66, p. 69.25: σχέσεις ψιλαὶ ὑποκειμένοις ἑτέροις ἐνθεωρούμεναι.

20

See in particular Gregory Palamas, Pro hesychastis 3, ed. P.K. Chrestou, Γρηγορίου τοῦ Παλαμᾶ Συγγράμματα, ed. P.K. Chrestou, vol. 1 (Thessalonike: Kyromanos, 19882), pp. 615–694 3,2,23–24. On Palamas and participation see E. Perl, “St Gregory Palamas and the Metaphysics of Creation,” in Dionysius 14(1990), pp. 105–130; J. Demetracopoulos, “Palamas Transformed: Palamite Interpretations of the Distinction between God’s ‘Essence’ and ‘Energies’ in Late Byzantium”, in M. Hinterberger, C. Schabel (eds), Greeks, Latins, and Intellectual History 1204–1500 (Leuven: Peeters, 2011), pp. 263–372.

21

Palamas’ main authority is (Ps.‑)Dionysius the Areopagite, De divinis nominibus, ed. B.R. Suchla, Corpus Dionysiacum 1 (Berlin: De Gruyter, 1990), p. 222.16: μεθεκτῶς δὲ τὰς ἐκδιδομένας ἐκ θεοῦ τοῦ ἀμεθέκτου προνοητικὰς δυνάμεις (a very Proclean passage!).

22

See Nikephoros Gregoras, Byzantina Historia, ed. L. Schopen (Bonn: Weber, 1830), Logos 23.2 and 35.15–17 with quotation of the full text of prop. 24. See the contribution of Börje Bydén in this volume.

23

On Gregoras copy of the Elementatio see Steel, “La tradition du texte”, 37–38.

24

I could not make sense of the addition τὴν θε, which is also found in the copy of M, Par. gr. 2028.

25

See Michale Psellos, Philosophia Minora. Vol. II. Opuscula psychologica, theologica, daemonologica. ed D.J. O’Meara (Leipzig: Teubner, 1989), p. 118.4–17.

Bibliography

Primary Sources

Manuscripts

Printed Sources

  • Bibliothecae Diui Marci Venetiarum codices graeci manuscripti. Volumen II: Thesaurus Antiquus. Codices 300–625, ed. E. Mioni, Roma, Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato, 1985

  • (Ps.‑)Dionysius the Areopagite, De divinis nominibus, ed. B.R. Suchla, Berlin, De Gruyter, 1990, pp. 107231.

  • Gregory Palamas, Pro hesychastis 3, ed. P.K. Chrestou, Γρηγορίου τοῦ Παλαμᾶ Συγγράμματα, ed. P.K. Chrestou, vol. 1, Thessalonike, Kyromanos, 1988 2.

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  • Gregory Palamas, Contra Nicephorum Gregoram 2, ed. P.K. Chrestou, in Γρηγορίου τοῦ Παλαμᾶ Συγγράμματα, ed. P.K. Chrestou, vol. 4, Thessalonike, Kyromanos, 1988.

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    • Export Citation
  • Michael Psellos, Philosophia Minora. Vol. II. Opuscula psychologica, theologica, daemonologica. ed D.J. O’Meara, Leipzig, Teubner, 1989.

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    • Export Citation
  • Nicholas of Methone, Ἀνάπτυξις τῆς Θεολογικῆς Στοιχειώσεως Πρόκλου Πλατωνικοῦ Φιλοσόφου/ Refutation of Proclus’ Elements of Theology. A critical edition with an introduction on Nicholas’ life and works by A.D. Angelou, Athens / Leiden, The Academy of Athens Athens / Brill, 1984.

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    • Export Citation
  • Nikephoros Gregoras, Byzantina Historia, ed. L. Schopen, Bonn, Weber, 1830.

  • Proclus, The Elements of Theology, ed. and transl. E.R. Dodds, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1963².

Secondary Sources

  • Bydén, B., “Proclus (and Nicholas of Methone) in the Hesychast Controversy”, in this volume, pp. 400421.

  • Demetracopoulos, J., “Palamas Transformed: Palamite Interpretations of the Distinction between God’s ‘Essence’ and ‘Energies’ in Late Byzantium”, in M. Hinterberger, C. Schabel (eds), Greeks, Latins, and Intellectual History 1204–1500 (Leuven: Peeters, 2011), pp. 263372.

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    • Export Citation
  • Perl, E., “St Gregory Palamas and the Metaphysics of Creation”, in Dionysius 14 (1990), 105130; “Palamas Transformed: Palamite Interpretations of the Distinction between God’s ‘Essence’ and ‘Energies’ in Late Byzantium”, in M. Hinterberger, C. Schabel (eds), Greeks, Latins, and Intellectual History 1204–1500, Leuven, Peeters, 2011, pp. 263372.

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    • Export Citation
  • Robinson, J., Nicholas of Methone’s Refutation of Proclus: Theology and Neoplatonism in 12th Century Byzantium. A Dissertation submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Notre Dame in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Graduate Program in Medieval Studies, Notre Dame (Indiana), 2014.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Robinson, J., “Dionysius Against Proclus: The Apophatic Critique in Nicholas of Methone’s Refutation of the Elements of Theology, in D.D. Butorac, D.A. Layne (eds), Proclus and his Legacy, Berlin, De Gruyter, 2017, pp. 249269.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Steel, C., “La tradition du texte de l’Elementatio Theologica de Proclus”, in G. Aubry, L. Brisson, P. Hoffman, L. Lavaud (eds), Les Éléments de théologie de Proclus: Interprétations, réceptions antiques et modernes, Paris, Hermann, 2021, pp. 2767.

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Citation Info

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  • Proclus, Elementatio theologica

  • Oxford, Bodleian Library, Laud. gr. 18

  • Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, gr. 1842

  • Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, gr. 2028

  • Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, gr. 2045

  • Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, gr. 2423

  • Venezia, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, gr. Z 512 (coll. 678)

  • Bibliothecae Diui Marci Venetiarum codices graeci manuscripti. Volumen II: Thesaurus Antiquus. Codices 300–625, ed. E. Mioni, Roma, Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato, 1985

  • (Ps.‑)Dionysius the Areopagite, De divinis nominibus, ed. B.R. Suchla, Berlin, De Gruyter, 1990, pp. 107231.

  • Gregory Palamas, Pro hesychastis 3, ed. P.K. Chrestou, Γρηγορίου τοῦ Παλαμᾶ Συγγράμματα, ed. P.K. Chrestou, vol. 1, Thessalonike, Kyromanos, 1988 2.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Gregory Palamas, Contra Nicephorum Gregoram 2, ed. P.K. Chrestou, in Γρηγορίου τοῦ Παλαμᾶ Συγγράμματα, ed. P.K. Chrestou, vol. 4, Thessalonike, Kyromanos, 1988.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Michael Psellos, Philosophia Minora. Vol. II. Opuscula psychologica, theologica, daemonologica. ed D.J. O’Meara, Leipzig, Teubner, 1989.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Nicholas of Methone, Ἀνάπτυξις τῆς Θεολογικῆς Στοιχειώσεως Πρόκλου Πλατωνικοῦ Φιλοσόφου/ Refutation of Proclus’ Elements of Theology. A critical edition with an introduction on Nicholas’ life and works by A.D. Angelou, Athens / Leiden, The Academy of Athens Athens / Brill, 1984.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Nikephoros Gregoras, Byzantina Historia, ed. L. Schopen, Bonn, Weber, 1830.

  • Proclus, The Elements of Theology, ed. and transl. E.R. Dodds, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1963².

  • Bydén, B., “Proclus (and Nicholas of Methone) in the Hesychast Controversy”, in this volume, pp. 400421.

  • Demetracopoulos, J., “Palamas Transformed: Palamite Interpretations of the Distinction between God’s ‘Essence’ and ‘Energies’ in Late Byzantium”, in M. Hinterberger, C. Schabel (eds), Greeks, Latins, and Intellectual History 1204–1500 (Leuven: Peeters, 2011), pp. 263372.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Perl, E., “St Gregory Palamas and the Metaphysics of Creation”, in Dionysius 14 (1990), 105130; “Palamas Transformed: Palamite Interpretations of the Distinction between God’s ‘Essence’ and ‘Energies’ in Late Byzantium”, in M. Hinterberger, C. Schabel (eds), Greeks, Latins, and Intellectual History 1204–1500, Leuven, Peeters, 2011, pp. 263372.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Robinson, J., Nicholas of Methone’s Refutation of Proclus: Theology and Neoplatonism in 12th Century Byzantium. A Dissertation submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Notre Dame in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Graduate Program in Medieval Studies, Notre Dame (Indiana), 2014.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Robinson, J., “Dionysius Against Proclus: The Apophatic Critique in Nicholas of Methone’s Refutation of the Elements of Theology, in D.D. Butorac, D.A. Layne (eds), Proclus and his Legacy, Berlin, De Gruyter, 2017, pp. 249269.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Steel, C., “La tradition du texte de l’Elementatio Theologica de Proclus”, in G. Aubry, L. Brisson, P. Hoffman, L. Lavaud (eds), Les Éléments de théologie de Proclus: Interprétations, réceptions antiques et modernes, Paris, Hermann, 2021, pp. 2767.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

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