TY  - CHAP
AU  - Van Nuffelen, Peter
ED  - Hömke, Nicola
ED  - Franco Chiai, Gian
ED  - Jenik, Antonia
AB  - The present paper asks how Macrobius thinks his extensive allegories of statues of the gods and other elements of traditional religion are possible. He can be shown to espouse a Neoplatonic theory of images. This entails that truthful images are only possible of the Soul and the lower levels of the world, whereas the two highest hypostases cannot be grasped by language and man-made images. Even so, as the sun is an image of the highest principle, Macrobius’ reduction of all deities to the sun can be understood as a discourse on the highest deity, albeit obliquely. How are images, then, truthful? He defends a common theory of inspiration, according to which the creators of images participate in the Logos when creating them. Philosophy is seen as the primordial discipline, containing the knowledge necessary to create and interpret images. These conclusions allow us to pinpoint more precisely the differences between Middle and Neoplatonism.
DO  - 10.1515/9783110517569-006
ID  - OAPEN ID: 1006460
ID  - OAPEN ID: OCN: 1135844914
KW  - Monotheism
KW  - image rhetoric
KW  - late antiquity
L1  - https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/1f38febc-8cfd-4b32-9923-6d9ac61e57a8/65_[9783110517569 - Bilder] Theres.pdf
LA  - German
LA  - English
LK  - http://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/23684
PB  - De Gruyter
PP  - Berlin/Boston
PY  - 2016
SN  - 9783110516739; 9783110517040
TI  - Chapter There’s Always the Sun : Metaphysics and Antiquarianism in Macrobius
ER  - 
