Theodorus of Asine ( el, Θεόδωρος Ἀσιναῖος; fl. 3rd–4th century AD) was a

Neoplatonist 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 ide ...

philosopher, and a native of one of the towns which bore the name of Asine, probably

Asine Asine (; grc, Ἀσίνη) was an ancient Greek city of ancient Argolis, located on the coast. It is mentioned by Homer in the Catalogue of Ships in the ''Iliad'' as one of the places subject to Diomedes, king of Argos. It is said to have bee ...

Laconia Laconia or Lakonia ( el, Λακωνία, , ) is a historical and administrative region of Greece located on the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Its administrative capital is Sparta. The word ''laconic''—to speak in a blunt, c ...

. He was a disciple of

Iamblichus Iamblichus (; grc-gre, Ἰάμβλιχος ; Aramaic: 𐡉𐡌𐡋𐡊𐡅 ''Yamlīḵū''; ) was a Syrian neoplatonic philosopher of Arabic origin. He determined a direction later taken by neoplatonism. Iamblichus was also the biographer of ...

, and one of the most eminent of the Neoplatonists.

Proclus Proclus Lycius (; 8 February 412 – 17 April 485), called Proclus the Successor ( grc-gre, Πρόκλος ὁ Διάδοχος, ''Próklos ho Diádokhos''), was a Greek Neoplatonist philosopher, one of the last major classical philosophers ...

repeatedly mentions him in his commentaries on

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

, and frequently adds to his name some laudatory epithet,"the great," "the admirable," "the noble." He wrote a work on the

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

, now lost. It is cited by

Nemesius of Emesa Nemesius of Emesa ( grc-gre, Νεμέσιος Ἐμέσης; la, Nemesius Emesenus; fl. c. AD 390) was a Christian philosopher, and the author of a treatise ''Περὶ φύσεως ἀνθρώπου'' or ''De natura hominis'' ("On Human Nature"). ...

in his ''De Natura Hominis''. Theodorus believed there was a First Cause, from which emanated a triad that was ‘The One’ This ‘One' therefore acted as a Trinity, or Three-in One (similar to that of Brahma-Vishnu-Siva and of the Christian Trinity). Each member of the triad was equivalent to one of the three sounds in ''hen'', the Greek word for 'One' - an aspiration, a long vowel, and a terminal nasal emanation into the cosmos – which is startling similar to ''ohm'' and its symbolism. And, like the sound of ''ohm'' and Brahma as breath, it represented life, creation, the universe in its entirety, and thus the transcendent One, the All. Furthermore, as Gersch points out in reference to Proclus, but in a way that is also relevant to Theodorus' use of ''hen'', the three syllables are surrounded by, enclosed within, the eternal silence of the One – since He is ultimate silence. This too is part of ''ohm''. And, as Gersch also points out, this divine silence became a significant part of later Neoplatonism and Christian mysticism, through the works of Pseudo-Dionysius. Theodoros was also, according to both Iamblichus and Proclus, concerned with numerology – relating the numbers of letters in words to their hidden meanings. He apparently believed these hidden clues offered insights into his theology of the cosmos (metaphysics), something that both Iamblichus and Procluos criticised, in part because it suggested a causal relationship that sprung from number upwards towards the divine.''Iamblichos to Eriugena'' by S Gersch, Leiden 1978, pp320ff.

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References

* {{Authority control 3rd-century philosophers Neoplatonists People from East Mani Roman-era philosophers