After apollonius death his name remained famous among philosophers and occultists. But much contemporary discussion of this ancient superhero is due to his possible relevance to the question of the historical jesus, for his story as we. And inasmuch as the following conversation also has been recorded by damis as having been held upon this occasion with regard to the mythological animals and fountains and men met with in. In part, aurelian said that apollonius told him aurelian, if you desire to rule, abstain from the blood of the innocent. Apollonius was born around ad 2 in tyana modern day bor, in southern turkey, in the roman province of cappadocia. A philosopher of the neopythagorean school, he traveled widely and became famous for his wisdom. Critics, in an attempt to discredit the bible, occasionally claim that apollonius of tyana, who lived in the. The life of apollonius of tyana universal theosophy. Apollonius of tyana article about apollonius of tyana by. Apollonius is a name given to many famous figures of ancient greek history.
The lives of jesus of nazareth and apollonius of tyana demonstrate the eternal laws of rebirth and perfection. Empress julia domna instructed the writer philostratus to write a biography of apollonius, and it is speculated that her motive for doing so stemmed from her desire to counteract the influence of. Empress julia domna instructed the writer philostratus to write a biography of apollonius, and it is speculated that her motive for doing so stemmed from her desire to counteract the influence of christianity on roman civilization. In the light of antiquity unveiled, it is clearly proved that. In the decades that followed, apollonius of tyana rose to prominence. Hermes trismegistus and apollonius of tyana in the writings. And thanks to you robertino for your contribution, be blessed with the light which never fails. However, texts about apollonius of tyana were not written until more than a century after apolloniuss death. The springs of this river well forth out of the plain, and close to its source its streams are navigable, but as they advance. Apollonius of tyana believed in a god who was pure intellect and taught his followers that the only way to converse with god was through intellect. The story of apollonius overflows with excessive and spectacular miracles.
Apollonius of tyana complete book part of a huge collection of works by g. Philostratus, the life of apollonius of tyana, 2 vols. See dzielska, apollonius of tyana, chapter 1, on problems with philostratus reliability as a historian, and arguments that damis is a fictitious figure. Events in the life of apollonius of tyana apollonius visit to the brahman sages of the himalayas, as recorded in the life of apollonius of tyana by his biographer, philostratus by dr. Apollonius travelled extensively for his time, visiting syria. It is said that apollonius, who lived in the first century, also performed miracles, had disciples, died, and appeared after his death the same as jesus. Google is proud to partner with libraries to digitize public domain materials and make them widely accessible. The author of those texts, philostratus, had never met apollonius or anyone who was alive when apollonius was alive. Apollonius began a five year silence at about the age of 20, and after the completion of this silence travelled to mesopotamia and iran. Apollonius of tyana similarities to jesus christ is undeniable.
We can say that if apollonius of tyana lived, he did so in the first century. The marble bust of apollonius can be seen at the museo di napoli in italy. Apollonius of tyana, flourished 1st century ad, tyana, cappadocia, a neopythagorean who became a mythical hero during the time of the roman empire. Apolonius was born of wealthy parents in the greek town of tyana, greece, and his birth was miraculously announced to his mother by an archangel. Stories have closely followed these idiosyncrasies of a divine man, such as those involving jesus, moses, and various other figures that have. Pdf lord jesus, apollonius of tyana, apostle paul, julia.
Librivox recording of the life of apollonius of tyana, by flavius philostratus. The 3rd century emperor alexander severus revered apollonius of tyana, christ, abraham, orpheus, and alexander the great in his private shrine. This chapter discusses apollonius as represented in flavius philostratuss c. Jan 18, 2015 apollonius was rebuked and speculated for his use of magic, as it was believed to be used for malevolent use and was later used as insults towards him white 59.
Apollonius of tyana apuhlohneeuhs of tiuhnuh was a first century c. However, philostratus, in his life of apollonius of tyana, places him staying in the court of king vardanes i of parthia for a while, who ruled between c. The life of apollonius of tyana was written no earlier than ad 217. Spends five years in silence under the pythagorean code. The life of apollonius of tyana was secretly carried to the near east where it remained over a years. Jesus christ and his associates from india and isauria.
According to philostratus life, en route to the far east, apollonius reached hierapolis bambyce manbij in syria not nineveh, as some scholars believed, where he met damis, a native of that city who. The life of apollonius of tyana philostratus 220 ad. Complete edition this is the lively account of the m. The above engraving represents apollonius of tyana, the great sage and philosopher of the first century, whose life and teachings were appropriated and utilized by the originators of the christian religion in the interests of so called christianity. She put into his hands certain memoirs of apollonius, the sage of tyana, who had died in extreme old age nearly 100 years before during the reign of the emperor. Apollonius of tyana the philosopher explorer and social. Distributes his estate left by his father to his relatives. The magical evocation of apollonius of tyana by eliphas levi. In fact, there are so many miraculous occurrences in the book that many people of the time believed apollonius of tyana to be a completely fictitious character. The treatise of eusebius, the son of pamphilus, against the life of apollonius of tyana, written by philostratus, occasioned by the parallel drawn by. Impact antiquity in the 2nd century the satirist lucian of samosata was a sharp critic of neopythagoreanism.
Last month we broadcast an article by bette stockbauer entitled jesus and his times that described the social, political and economic conditions that jesus had to. If jesus also lived, he did so in the same century as apollonius of tyana. Consequently, the parallel between the life of apollonius of tyana and the life of jesus christ cannot be mistaken. The life of apollonius of tyana, the epistles of apollonius and the treatise of eusebius. Philostratus saw the benevolence in apollonius actions and was ready to manifest his teachings and miracle stories to those who had berated. Many agnostic and atheistic scholars as well as other free thinkers believe that some portions of the gospels of jesus christ are actually modeled on the adventures of apollonius. In the greek text, apollonius is commonly written as pol as well as apollos, apollos of the new testament the eloquent jew whose preaching and baptizing at corinth.
Being a 1stcentury orator and philosopher around the time of christ, he was compared with jesus of nazareth by christians in the 4th century and by various popular writers in modern times. Here is a new translation of the surviving letters of apollonius, augmented and illuminated by recent discoveries. Apollonius of tyanas name stems from where he was born tyana in cappadocia. Apollos is one of the earliest christian leaders named in the bible 1 corinthians 16. While aristotles worldview has been widely publicised as the foundation of classical philosophy, it has been done so in ignorance of this account of the worldview expressed by apollonius of tyana, as published by philostratus in or around the year 220 ad. For those with a truly open mind, there is much to find enlightening in the parallel themes expressed in. The mystery of jesus christ and his own apostles as described in the new testament and gospels will be debated for a long time by the clergy. Lord jesus, apollonius of tyana, apostle paul, julia damano, council of nicaea and great constantineformulative stage of christianity and its connection to ancient india. Ten days later apollonius and his companions reached the sea, and boarded a ship that was bound for babylon. This is over 100 years after apollonius lived twice as long as the time between the life of jesus and the latest proposed date for the first gospel writing 75 ad and four times longer than the earliest proposed time 50 ad. Hermes trismegistus and apollonius of tyana in the. The twelve hours of apollonius of tyana written by jackdirt apollonius, is one of the historical figure heads that several researchers have seen as the catalyst for the christ stories in the bible.
Theosophical siftings the magical evocation of apollonius of tyana. Marshall mcluhan 92 sociologo canadese by far the most detailed source is the life of apollonius of tyana, a lengthy, novelistic biography written by the sophist philostratus at the request of empress julia domna. In the grecoroman context, a divine man follows a systematic guideline, established by ludwig bieler in 1935. I bought the book because i had heard that the jesus story of the gospels was actually based on stories of apollonius. Eliphas levis only recorded act of ceremonial magic was the conjuring of the spirit of apollonius of tyana. Mead, including over a dozen complete books available online.
Apollonius of tyana, a neopythagorean who became a mythical hero during the time of the roman empire. I get the distinct impression that the author phoned it in. Compare the accounts of the life of aristotle with that of apollonius. Information on life of apollonius of tyana by philostratus. Apollonius was a 1st century ce philosopher and reformer of pagan practices. That total silence on the part of those authors of the first and second centuries regarding so eminent a philosopher and teacher as was apollonius of tyana, can be accounted for upon but one theory, and that will show that it was a necessity to utterly ignore apollonius and his philosophical and religious teachings, in order that the christian. Apollonius of tyana similarities to jesus christ historic. Price apollonius of tyana is a fascinating character in his own right, intrinsically deserving of scholarly attention. A sketch of the life of apollonius of tyana, free pdf. Apollonius seems to have been some combination of philosopher and magician, although philostratus shows distaste for the latter aspect of apollonius life. He was perhaps the most famous philosopher of the gr.
History and legend are blended so beautifully that it is sometimes hard to tell which is which. Apollonius of tyana was an ancient greek philosopher. Skip to main content this banner text can have markup. Mar 04, 2012 we can say that if apollonius of tyana lived, he did so in the first century. Apollonius of tyanawas the awe and wonder of his time apollonius of tyana the true christ of the first century ad. Blavatsky on apollonius blavatsky on apollonius of tyana v. Philostratus wrote his biography of apollonius in approximately 220 ce. This book, published in 1901, does its best to discover who apollonius. In 1801 it was brought to europe and was translated into english.
The shrine of apollonius in tyana remained an object of veneration even for an early fourthcentury christian pilgrim wandering from bordeaux in 333 ad whose travelnarrative has survived. Nov 12, 2009 the actual life of apollonius of tyana is really wonderful. The treatise of eusebius, the son of pamphilus, against the life of apollonius of tyana, written by philostratus, occasioned by the parallel drawn by hierocles between him and christ greek and english, vol. Mead helena blavatsky s personal secretary is the only recent work that is wholly favorable to the tyanean. This book was written by philostratus on request of a roman empress. From arab sources we hear that in tyana tuwana in arabic and in. Philostratuss colorful biography of apollonius of tyana, recounting the sayings and miracles of a pythagorean sage, incidentally provoked a longlasting debate between pagans and christians. Is apollonius of tyana paul of tarsus apollonius of tyanna, a pythagorean philosopher and contemporary of the jesus christ of the gospels. This volume, which completes the new loeb classical library edition of the life of apollonius of tyana, provides historical context for that much discussed thirdcentury portrayal of a charismatic.
Life of apollonius of tyana is a text in eight books written in ancient greece by philostratus c. Part of the gnosis archives, a comprehensive collection of materials dealing with gnosis and gnosticism, both ancient and modern. Apollonius,stillunderhisvowofsilence,stoodinthemarketplace, and by hiscalmi and dignified demeanorand gesturescoupledwith his impressive and aweinspiringappearance,heldbackthefury. The life of apollonius of tyana index sacred texts.
Apollonius taught a yogic communion with the all, a buddhistic message of the conquest of desire, and a christlike doctrine that people should live together apollonius of tyana. Section 7 early life apollonius was born legends of the wonderful happenings at his birth were in circulation, and are of the same nature as all such birthlegends of great people. The voice which had one night cried to the ships captain, pan, great pan is dead. The life of apollonius of tyana by philostratus 220 ad of other mythological creatures. This volume, which completes the new loeb classical library edition of the life of apollonius of tyana, provides historical context for that much discussed thirdcentury portrayal of a charismatic religious teacher. Adapted from the rosicrucian digest, april 1962, pages 150153. Despite the title, the document is almost certainly not the work of apollonius. Occult the story of apollonius of tyana ancient wonder worker. Apollonius of tyana 4 a wandering philosopher, probably represented apollonius of tyana who lived a part of his life in crete and died there. Apollonius lived in the second half of the first century. Maria dzielska flavius philostratus of lemnos, a distinguished man of letters and sophist of the first half of the third century ad, describes in book four of his biography of apollonius of tyana the life of apollonius of tyana vita apollonii tyanensis a wondrous miracle that apollonius performed while in rome under emperor nero.
Apollonius, is one of the historical figure heads that several researchers have seen as the catalyst for the christ stories in the bible. He hailed from the town of tyana in the roman province of cappadocia in asia minor. Apollonius of tyana a city south of turkey is sometimes offered as a challenge to the uniqueness of jesus christ. Apollonius of tyana 3 journey to india philostratus devoted two and a half of the eight books of his life of apollonius 1.
He taught that prayers and sacrifice were useless and that god really did not want to converse with men. Both lived in the same era, and both performed works and miracles. Probably the first example in literature of an insufferable vegetarian. Therefore, critics conclude, what jesus did isnt unique. The life of apollonius of tyana, by philostratus, tr. Apollonius of tyana philostratus the athenian, flavios. Apollonius of tyana was a first century neo pythagorean, a charismatic philosopher, teacher, vegetarian and miracle worker. His date of birth is a matter of conjecture as some say he was roughly a contemporary of jesus. The site includes the gnostic library, with the complete nag hammadi library and a large collection of other primary. Its most legitimate connection to the bible is from its shortened form.
Apollonius foresaw neros attempt to open the isthmus at corinth and his subsequent retreat from greece. By far the most detailed source is the life of apollonius of tyana, a lengthy, novelistic biography written by the sophist philostratus at the request of empress julia domna. Apollonius was both an historical figure who is crossreferenced in contemporary documents, and a legendary pagan christ with all the trimmings. Hermes trismegistus and apollonius of tyana in the writings of bahaullah by keven brown published in revisioning the sacred. Apollonius of tyana was a historical figure whonis recorded to have travelled widely and performed miracles of kind attributed to jesus christ in fact it is commonly believed that apollonius is the inspiration for those who created a retrospective real jesus christ when the socalled church fathers until the 4th century seem to have believed in a mythical christ a hypothesis that has. The life of apollonius of tyana philostratus 220 ad index.
1380 728 1343 535 450 131 1373 977 534 1205 671 446 778 768 834 635 366 1134 104 1081 962 139 614 1262 1000 1052 267 947 1260 462 214 502 1033 310 848