Università Roma Tre

Second semester
Timetable: Wednesday, 5-8 pm (Aula 25); Thursday, 8-10 am (Aula 2 ex Italianistica)
Start date: February 28, 2024

Title of the class: Between Antiquity and Byzantium: Synesius of Cyrene, Neoplatonic Philosopher and Christian Bishop (“Eppure quale realtà è più reale in sé/ che nella sua trasformazione in altro – potrei quasi ripetere a memoria./ E non è altro, è la sua profondità medesima – anche questo non devo impararlo”, Mario Luzi)

The class shall deal with an emblematic figure of Late Antiquity: Synesius of Cyrene. After being a student of the pagan philosopher Hypatia at her school in Alexandria in the 390s, Synesius was consecrated bishop of Ptolemais by the intransigent patriarch Theophilus in 411 AD. With the exception of a few introductory lectures, each meeting shall be devoted to the analysis of a specific aspect of the author’s cultural legacy – which ranges from parenetics to literary criticism, from the philosophy of history to sacred poetry – with a particular focus on his work On Dreams.

MANDATORY TEXTS:
- Neil, B., “Synesius of Cyrene on Dreams as a Pathway to the Divine”, Phronema 30/2 (2015), pp. 19-36.
- Viltanioti, I.-F., “Synesius of Cyrene: Philosophy and Poetry ʻSharing the Same Templeʼ”, in Edwards, M. J. (ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Early Christian Philosophy, Routledge, Abingdon-New York 2020, pp. 528-548.