Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Introduction
- Bibliography and abbreviations
- Corpus Hermeticum I
- Corpus Hermeticum II
- Corpus Hermeticum III
- Corpus Hermeticum IV
- Corpus Hermeticum V
- Corpus Hermeticum VI
- Corpus Hermeticum VII
- Corpus Hermeticum VIII
- Corpus Hermeticum IX
- Corpus Hermeticum X
- Corpus Hermeticum XI
- Corpus Hermeticum XII
- Corpus Hermeticum XIII
- Corpus Hermeticum XIV
- Corpus Hermeticum XVI
- Corpus Hermeticum XVII
- Corpus Hermeticum XVIII
- Asclepius
- Notes
- Indexes
Corpus Hermeticum XII
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 September 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Introduction
- Bibliography and abbreviations
- Corpus Hermeticum I
- Corpus Hermeticum II
- Corpus Hermeticum III
- Corpus Hermeticum IV
- Corpus Hermeticum V
- Corpus Hermeticum VI
- Corpus Hermeticum VII
- Corpus Hermeticum VIII
- Corpus Hermeticum IX
- Corpus Hermeticum X
- Corpus Hermeticum XI
- Corpus Hermeticum XII
- Corpus Hermeticum XIII
- Corpus Hermeticum XIV
- Corpus Hermeticum XVI
- Corpus Hermeticum XVII
- Corpus Hermeticum XVIII
- Asclepius
- Notes
- Indexes
Summary
[1]“Mind, O Tat, comes from the very essence of god – if, in fact, god has any essence – and god alone knows exactly what that essence might be. Mind, then, has not been cut off from god's essentiality; it has expanded, as it were, like the light of the sun. In humans this mind is god; among humans, therefore, some are gods and their humanity is near to divinity. For the good demon has said that gods are immortal 〈humans〉 and humans are mortal gods. In animals without reason, however, there is natural impulse.”
[2]“Where soul is there also is mind, just as there is soul wherever life is. But the soul in unreasoning animals is life devoid of mind. Mind is a benefactor of human souls; it works on them for good. In things without reason, mind assists the natural impulse arising from each, but it opposes this impulse in human souls. Every soul, as soon as it has come to be in the body, is depraved by pain and pleasure. For in a composite body pain and pleasure seethe like juices; once immersed in them, the soul drowns.”
[3]“Mind displays its own splendor to those souls that it commands, and it opposes their predilections.[…]
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- Chapter
- Information
- HermeticaThe Greek Corpus Hermeticum and the Latin Asclepius in a New English Translation, with Notes and Introduction, pp. 43 - 48Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1992