Maximus of Tyre ( el, Μάξιμος Τύριος; fl. late 2nd century AD), also known as Cassius Maximus Tyrius, was a Greek
rhetorician and
philosopher who lived in the time of the
Antonines and
Commodus, and who belongs to the trend of the
Second Sophistic
The Second Sophistic is a literary-historical term referring to the Greek writers who flourished from the reign of Nero until c. 230 AD and who were catalogued and celebrated by Philostratus in his ''Lives of the Sophists''. However, some recent ...
. His writings contain many allusions to the history of Greece, while there is little reference to Rome; hence it is inferred that he lived longer in Greece, perhaps as a professor at Athens.
Although nominally a
Platonist
Platonism is the philosophy of Plato and philosophical systems closely derived from it, though contemporary platonists do not necessarily accept all of the doctrines of Plato. Platonism had a profound effect on Western thought. Platonism at l ...
, he is really an
Eclectic
Eclectic may refer to:
Music
* ''Eclectic'' (Eric Johnson and Mike Stern album), 2014
* ''Eclectic'' (Big Country album), 1996
* Eclectic Method, name of an audio-visual remix act
* Eclecticism in music, the conscious use of styles alien to th ...
and one of the precursors of
Neoplatonism
Neoplatonism is a strand of Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and religion. The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a chain of thinkers. But there are some i ...
.
Writings
The Dissertations
There exist 41 essays or discourses on
theological
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the s ...
,
ethical
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ma ...
, and other philosophical subjects, collected into a work called ''The Dissertations''.
The central theme is
God
In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
as the supreme being, one and indivisible though called by many names, accessible to reason alone:
In such a mighty contest, sedition and discord, you will see one according law and assertion in all the earth, that there is one god, the king and father of all things, and many gods, sons of god, ruling together with him.
As animals form the intermediate stage between plants and human beings, so there exist intermediaries between God and man, ''viz.''
daemons, who dwell on the confines of heaven and earth.
The soul in many ways bears a great resemblance to the divinity; it is partly mortal, partly immortal, and, when freed from the fetters of the body, becomes a daemon.
Life is the sleep of the soul, from which it awakes at death.
The style of Maximus is superior to that of the ordinary sophistical rhetorician, but scholars differ widely as to the merits of the essays themselves.
Dissertation XX discusses "Whether the Life of a Cynic is to Be Preferred". He begins with a narrative of how
Prometheus
In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning " forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titan god of fire. Prometheus is best known for defying the gods by stealing fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technology, kn ...
created mankind, who initially lived a life of ease "for the earth supplied them with aliment, rich meadows, long-haired mountains, and abundance of fruits" – in other words, a
Garden of Eden that resonates with Cynic ideas. It was "a life without war, without iron, without a guard, peaceful, healthful unindigent".
Then, taking perhaps from Lucretius, he contrasts that Garden to mankind's "second life", which started with the division of the earth into property, which they then enclosed into fortifications and walls, and started to wear jewellery and gold, built houses, “molested the earth by digging into it for metals”, and invaded the sea and the air (killing animals, fish and birds), in what he described as a “slaughter and all-various gore, pursuing gratification of the body”. Humans became unhappy and, to compensate, sought wealth, “fearing poverty...dreading death...neglecting the care of life...They blamed base actions but did not abstain from them and “the hated to live, but dreaded to die”.
He then contrasts the two lives – that of the original Garden and of the “second life” he has just described and asks, which man would not choose the first, who “knows that by the change he shall be liberated from a multitude of evils” and what he calls “a dreadful prison of unhappy men, confined to a dreadful prison of unhappy men, confined in a dark recess, with large iron fetters round their feet, a great weight about their neck…passing their time in filth, in torment, and in weeping”. He asks, “Which of these images shall we proclaim blessed”?
He goes on to praise Diogenes of Sinopeus, the Cynic, for choosing his ascetic life, but only because he avoided the often fearful fates of other philosophers – such as Socrates being condemned. But there is no mention of he himself taking up the ascetic life himself; rather he only talks about how the Garden would be preferable to the life mankind has made for itself. So it is unlikely he was a Cynic, but was just envious of that idealised pre-civilisation Life in the Garden.
[Ditto, pp200-1.]
Maximus of Tyre must be distinguished from the
Stoic
Stoic may refer to:
* An adherent of Stoicism; one whose moral quality is associated with that school of philosophy
* STOIC, a programming language
* ''Stoic'' (film), a 2009 film by Uwe Boll
* ''Stoic'' (mixtape), a 2012 mixtape by rapper T-Pain
* ...
Claudius Maximus
Gaius Claudius Maximus (fl. 2nd century AD) was a Roman politician, a Stoic philosopher and a teacher of Marcus Aurelius. No works by him are known to exist; however, he is mentioned in a few prestigious works from classical literature.
Life
Anth ...
, tutor of
Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good ...
.
Ancient Greek Text
*Maximus Tyrius, Philosophumena, Dialexeis - Edited by George Leonidas Koniaris, Publisher Walter de Gruyter, 1995, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110882568 - this critical edition presents the Ancient Greek text of Maximus of Tyre.
Translations
*Taylor, Thomas
''The Dissertations of Maximus Tyrius'' C. Wittingham (1804)
*Trapp, Michael. ''Maximus of Tyre: The Philosophical Orations'', (NY: Oxford University Press, 1997)
References
Bibliography
* F. Fauquier/B. Pérez-Jean (sous la dir.), ''Maxime de Tyr, entre rhétorique et philosophie au II
e siècle de notre ère'', Montpellier, Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée, 2016. {{ISBN, 978-2-36781-214-4
* P. Daouti, ''Homère et Platon chez Maxime de Tyr,'' Thèse, Université Paul Valéry – Montpellier III et Université Capodistria d' Athènes, Montpellier, 2015, http://www.biu-montpellier.fr/florabium/jsp/nnt.jsp?nnt=2015MON30042.
2nd-century Romans
2nd-century philosophers
Ancient Greek rhetoricians
Middle Platonists
Roman-era philosophers
Roman-era philosophers in Athens
Roman-era Athenian rhetoricians
Year of birth unknown
Year of death unknown
People from Tyre, Lebanon