The six books of Proclus, the Platonic successor, on the theology of Plato…
QR code
"The six books of Proclus, the Platonic successor, on the theology of Plato…" is a philosophical translation and compendium written in the early 19th century. It presents an English rendering and arrangement of Neoplatonic theology, laying out a systematic hierarchy of divine orders, the Demiurge, and the principles by which unity, intellect, and soul structure the cosmos. Expect dense, technical metaphysics anchored in Platonic dialogues and mythic theonyms, aimed at readers of
classical philosophy, theology, and the history of ideas. The opening of "The six books of Proclus, the Platonic successor, on the theology of Plato…" delineates the supermundane “ruling” gods whose assimilative powers bind lower realities to intelligible paradigms and sustain sympathy throughout the cosmos. It recapitulates the ascent from intelligible to intellectual orders, then situates the ruling order as the distributor of likeness, measure, and order across all levels, explaining procession and return through similitude. Drawing on Timaeus, Gorgias, Politicus, Laws, Philebus, and Cratylus, it develops three triads: a paternal triad (a twofold Jupiter with Neptune and Pluto) governing essence, life and motion, and formal division with conversion; a vivific Coric triad (Ceres with a twofold Core/Proserpine and the Minerva–Diana complex) supplying soul, virtue, and generative life; and a convertive, Apollonian–solar triad that reveals truth, purifies disorder, and harmonizes the whole. The text maps these powers onto cosmic regions (inerratic, planetary, sublunary; heights, middles, underworld; east, middle, west) and treats the sun/Apollo as a supermundane source of light and intellect that perfects and elevates all things. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
Download for free
For your e-reader or reading app — Kindle, Kobo, Apple Books, Calibre etc.
Kindle → Use Send-to-Kindle
Kobo, Nook etc. → Transfer via USB
Phone, tablet or computer → Open in a reading app
Other formats & older devices
There may be more files related to this item.
About this eBook
| Author | Proclus, 412-485 |
|---|---|
| Translator | Taylor, Thomas, 1758-1835 |
| Title | The six books of Proclus, the Platonic successor, on the theology of Plato (vol. 2 of 2) : translated from the Greek, to which a seventh book is added, in order to supply the deficiency of another book on this subject, which was written by Proclus, but since lost, also, a translation from the Greek of Proclus' Elements of theology, to which are added a translation of the treatise of Proclus, On providence and fate, a translation of extracts from his treatise, entitled, Ten doubts concerning providence, and a translation of extracts from his treatise on the subsistence of evil; as preserved in the Bibliotheca Gr. of Fabricus |
| Original Publication | London: Law and Co., 1816. |
| Credits | Karin Spence and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from images made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.) |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | B: Philosophy, Psychology, Religion |
| Subject | Theology -- Early works to 1800 |
| Subject | Neoplatonism -- Early works to 1800 |
| Subject | Plato -- Early works to 1800 |
| Category | Text |
| eBook-No. | 78800 |
| Release Date | Jun 2, 2026 |
| Copyright | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 577 downloads in the last 30 days. |
Project Gutenberg eBooks are always free!