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Prometheus TrustSubject: philosophy, mysticism, ancient wisdom, classics, religion, theology, Greek culture, Platonism, neoplatonism, spirituality.
A complete and uniform edition of all the published works of Thomas Taylor the `English Platonist', sewn hardback in modern type face on wood-free paper.
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Vol. I Proclus' Elements of Theology
143pp ISBN 1 898910 00 6 £13
This is one of the great books of the Platonic Tradition. Its scope is the whole sphere of `Authentic Reality' which Plato recommends to all who aspire to wisdom, and which Plotinus outlines in his Enneads. It takes as its starting point The One - the highest and most abstract idea that the human mind can affirm, - and follows dialectically the unfolding of this through division, analysis, demonstration, and definition. It shows how The One is perfectly manifest in the Gods, and then how it `descends' while at the same time remaining exempt, at each succeeding level of intellect, soul, and body. A work of unequalled dialectic.
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Vol. II Select Works of Porphyry 248pp ISBN 1 898910 01 4 £16
Contains three works: Abstinence from Animal Foods; in which aspiring philosophers are shown how to apply philosophical ideas and concepts in a practical way in their daily lives. A learned and wide ranging individual, Porphyry presents us with an insight in to many cultural traditions which had their expressions in the Classical world. Auxiliaries to the perception of Intelligible Natures; clearly reveals his position in the succession of later Platonists: He stands between Plotinus (whose Enneads he collected and arranged), and Proclus. The careful way in which this work explores its subject is perfected in Proclus' Elements of Theology. Concerning Homer's Cave of the Nymphs; the third work in this volume, Porphyry unfolds the allegories hidden in a small section of the Odyssey: a beautiful blend of myth and philosophy. Taylor's Allegory on the Wanderings and Trials of Ulysses is written in the same spirit, and completes this volume.
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Vol. III Collected Writings of Plotinus 490pp ISBN 1 898910 02 2 £21
Reprints, for the first time, all the known translations of the Enneads by Thomas Taylor. Originally published in five separate books, the Prometheus Trust makes them all available together in one volume. Plotinus stands as the great reviver of Platonism as a living philosophy, and a true basis for real mystical development. From his inspiration and work arose a line of profound thinkers, whose works remain a high-water mark in the religious and philosophical achievements of humanity. This new edition comprises 27 treatises on such subjects as, - The Good, The Immortality of the Soul, Providence, Dialectic, Virtue, Felicity, Eternity and Time, The Nature and Origin of Evil, Matter, and Intellect. Included are Taylor's lengthy introductions and notes, an invaluable aid to the student of Plotinian writings.
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Vol. IV Collected Writings on the Gods and the World.
272pp ISBN 1 898910 03 0 £17
This presents several texts dealing with the philosophic view of The Gods and their providential relationship with manifestation. It includes, - Sallust, On The Gods and the World; The Pythagoric Sentences of Demophilus; Taurus, On the Eternity of the World; The Thema Mundi of Julius Firmicus Maternus; The Emperor Julian's Oration to the Mother of the Gods; and To the Sovereign Sun; Synesius' On Providence; and two essays by Taylor, On the Mythology of the Greeks; and On the Theology of the Greeks. An indispensable and accessible introduction to Greek theology.
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and the World
Vol. V Hymns and Initiations
320pp ISBN 1 898910 04 9 £18
Reprints the 1824 second edition of Taylor's Mystical Hymns of Orpheus, of 87 hymns together with a dissertation on the life and theology of Orpheus, and extensive additional notes replete with the translators insights into the Orders of The Gods. The essay which accompanied the 1787 first edition, and which is substantially different from that of the 2nd edition, is added here. Also included: Six hymns of Proclus; Boethius' `Hymn to Jove'; Emperor Julian's `To the Mother of The Gods'; Eighteen hymns by Thomas Taylor; and a simplified initial guide to the Greek Theogony by the editors.
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Vol. VI The Dissertations of Maximus Tyrius
330pp ISBN 1 898910 06 5 £18
This is the first reprint of Taylor's original translation produced in two volumes in 1804; but published here as one volume. Maximus Tyrius was a leading `Middle-Platonist', who lived and worked in a period prior to that of the great Plotinus. His 41 dissertations, supplemented with Taylor's additional notes, deal with some profound philosophical and moral problems in a simple, but delightful and approachable manner. The Triumph of the Wise Man over Fortune, an essay by Taylor, is also included in this volume as an appendix.
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Tyrius
Vol. VII Oracles and Mysteries
260pp ISBN 1 898910 06 5 £16
This volume includes:- The Chaldean Oracles, compiled by Taylor from various texts & textual references; The Eleusinian and Bacchic Mysteries; The History of the Restoration of the Platonic Theology; and Hermeas' Platonic Demonstration of the Immortality of the Soul, from his scholia on the Phaedrus.
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Vol. VIII Proclus' Theology of Plato.
730pp ISBN 1 898910 07 3 £26
This volume retains all of Taylor's introduction, notes, and his reconstruction of the lost seventh book. It is an essentially religious work;- a near perfect attempt to express in a manner accessible to the reasoning mind, the universal order in, of, and around, all things. As such, Proclus' masterpiece is pan-cosmic in its scope, illuminating for us the Principles which produce, vivify, and perfect the whole of Being, Life, Intellect, Soul, Nature, and Body, while suspending all these from one exempt and superessential Unity, called The ONE and The GOOD, which all things abide in, proceed from, and return to. It has been called one of the Great Scriptures of the world. Although the sublime genius of Proclus can be seen at its best in this `magnum opus', Taylor's translation is, unbelievably, still the only one available. This is the first full republication of his original two-volume work, published by us in one volume.
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THE WORKS OF PLATO
(volumes IX to XIII in the Thomas Taylor Series: Vol. Nos. in brackets indicate Taylor's original Vol. Nos.) All Volumes have had the relevant pagination (e.g. Stephanus, etc.) added to the body of the text, along with extensive footnote references. The Commentaries (as additional notes) have also received the same attention where possible.
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Click here for the Seventh Book of The Republic (which start with the famous
passage "The Cave"
Click here for the dialogue The Epinomis
Vol. IX ( Work of Plato Vol. I)
600pp ISBN 1 898910 08 1 £26
Comprises:- Taylor's General Introduction and Glossary of Greek Terms; Olympiodorus' Life of Plato; First Alcibiades complete with almost all of Proclus' Commentary on the First Alcibiades as endnotes. The Republic, and a substantial amount of Proclus' Commentary on The Republic as endnotes. Two of Taylor's articles written after the publication of this volume, relevant to the above dialogues.
Vol. X (Works of Plato Vol. II)
600pp ISBN 1 898910 09 X £26
The Laws, Taylor has added an account of the Festivals of the Ancients, excerpted from The Descriptions of Libanius. Epinomis; The Timaeus,to which Taylor added excerpts from Proclus' Commentaries on the Timaeus, as additional notes; and The Critias.
Vol. XI (Works of Plato Vol. III)
607pp ISBN 1 898910 10 3 £26
The Parmenides, complete with most of Proclus' Commentaries on the Parmenides as additional notes; The Sophista; The Phaedrus, with a considerable portion of The Scholia of Hermias on the Phaedrus as additional notes. The Greater Hippias; The Banquet (Symposium). Included are two articles by Taylor relevant to these dialogues.
Vol. XII (Works of Plato Vol. IV)
582pp ISBN 1 898910 11 1 £26
The Theaetetus; The Politicus, additional notes by Taylor from Proclus' Theology of Plato Lib. V; The Minos; The Apology of Socrates; The Crito; The Phaedo, with extensive additional notes from Olympiodorus' Commentary on the Phaedo, and Damascius Commentary on the Phaedo; The Gorgias, with the Introduction and the additional notes taken from The Scholia of Olympiodorus on the Gorgias; The Philebus, with notes and additional notes from Olympiodorus; The Second Alcibiades.
Vol. XIII (Works of Plato Vol. V)
696pp ISBN 1 898910 12 X £26
The Euthyphro; The Meno, with Sydenham's original diagrams and additional notes; The Protagoras (Sophist); The Theages; The Laches; The Lysis; The Charmides; The Lesser Hippias, with extensive additional notes; The Euthydemus; The Hipparchus; The Rivals, with extensive additional notes by Sydenham; The Menexenus, with additional notes; The Clitopho; The Io, with extensive additional notes by Sydenham and Taylor; The Cratylus, with extensive notes from Taylor, Proclus, and Julian; Proclus' Scholia on the Cratylus, (practically the whole); The Epistles of Plato. Included is an article by Taylor and an Index to the notes contained in the Works of Plato.
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Vol. XIV Apuleius' Golden Ass and other Philosophical Writings
350pp ISBN 1 898910 13 8 £18
The Metamorphosis, or Golden Ass of Apuleius; On The God of Socrates; and, On the Philosophy of Plato. This last consists of three books, on Cosmology, Ethics, and Logic (the `Peri Hermenaius'). Also included is Taylor's poetical paraphrase of the speech of Diotima in Plato' Banquet.
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Philosophical Writings
Vols. XV & XVI Proclus' Commentary on the Timaeus of Plato
ISBNs 1 898910 14 6 and 1 898910 15 4
With pagination added from Diehls Basil edition, with Taylor's extensive footnotes and references, together with over 1500 extra references added by the Prometheus Trust. A subject index is also included. In two volumes, each being 544pp and priced at £24 (but remember our discount!).
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Timaeus of Plato
Vol. XVII Iamblichus On the Mysteries and Life of Pythagoras
ISBN 1 898910 16 2 £21
With pagination added from Pathay/des Place and many extra cross-references, this edition of On the Mysteries will be of interest to all those who value the ancients wisdom of theurgy, divination and true worship. Iamblichus' Life of Pythagoras is included in this volume together with over 40 fragments from the writings of the Pythagoreans of antiquity.
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Vol. XVIII Essays and Fragments of Proclus
ISBN 1 898910 17 0 £17
Containing the following:- On Providence, Fate, and That Which is in our Power; Ten Doubts Concerning Providence, and Their Solution; On the Subsistence of Evil, (By `subsistence' Taylor means `substantial reality'); Remaining Fragments of Lost Works of Proclus. All of which have the relevant pagination and extensive footnote references added. Marinus' Life of Proclus. Also added are seven recently discovered hymns and prayers of Thomas Taylor
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and Simplicius' Commentary.
Vol. XIX The Works of Aristotle I (The Physics)
ISBN 1 898910 18 9 £27
The first of ten volumes of Aristotle, this volume contains his Physics and over 400 pages from Simplicius' Commentary. These extracts from the Commentary give a unique insight into the Platonic understanding of Aristotle; many passages of the Commentary are unavailable in translation.
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Commentary.
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