Audiobook18 hours
The Life of Apollonius of Tyana
Written by Flavius Philostratus
Narrated by LibriVox Community
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
5/5
()
About this audiobook
Apollonius of Tyana (ca. 40-120 AD) was a Greek Pythagorean philosopher and teacher. He hailed from the town of Tyana in the Roman province of Cappadocia in Asia Minor. His date of birth is a matter of conjecture as some say he was roughly a contemporary of Jesus.
After Apollonius' death his name remained famous among philosophers and occultists. In a "novelistic invention" inserted in the Historia Augusta, Aurelian, at the siege of Tyana in 272, was said to have experienced a visionary dream in which Aurelian claimed to have seen Apollonius speak to him, beseeching him to spare the city of his birth. In part, Aurelian said that Apollonius told him "Aurelian, if you desire to rule, abstain from the blood of the innocent! Aurelian, if you will conquer, be merciful!"
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. Philostratus’ account shaped the image of Apollonius for posterity and still dominates discussions about him in our times. To some extent it is a valuable source because it contains data from older writings which were available to Philostratus but disappeared later on. Many think that it is full of obviously fictitious stories and dialogues. Modern Christian scholars challenge its credibility in many regards. They dismiss most of it as pure invention.
One of the essential sources Philostratus claimed to know are the memoirs or diary of Damis, an alleged disciple and companion of Apollonius. Some scholars believe the notebooks of Damis are an invention of Philostratus. In any case it is a literary fake. Philostratus describes Apollonius as a wandering teacher of philosophy and miracle worker who was active in Italy, Spain and Ethiopia and even travelled to Mesopotamia, Arabia and India. In particular, he tells lengthy stories of Apollonius entering the city of Rome in disregard of emperor Nero’s ban on philosophers, and later on being summoned, as a defendant to the court of emperor Domitian where he defied the emperor in blunt terms.
Apollonius may have never left the Greek East. Many contend that he never came to Western Europe and was virtually unknown there till the third century AD when empress Julia Domna, who was herself an Easterner, decided to popularize him and his teachings in Rome. For that purpose she commissioned Philostratus to write the biography, where Apollonius is exalted as a fearless sage with supernatural powers, even greater than Pythagoras. Philostratus implies that upon his death, Apollonius of Tyana underwent heavenly assumption. Subsequently Apollonius was worshipped by Julia’s son emperor Caracalla and possibly also by her grand-nephew emperor Severus Alexander.
Two biographical sources earlier than Philostratus are lost: a book by emperor Hadrian’s secretary Maximus of Aegae describing Apollonius’ activities in the city of Aegae in Cilicia, and a biography by a certain Moiragenes. (Summary adapted from Wikipedia by Karen Merline)
After Apollonius' death his name remained famous among philosophers and occultists. In a "novelistic invention" inserted in the Historia Augusta, Aurelian, at the siege of Tyana in 272, was said to have experienced a visionary dream in which Aurelian claimed to have seen Apollonius speak to him, beseeching him to spare the city of his birth. In part, Aurelian said that Apollonius told him "Aurelian, if you desire to rule, abstain from the blood of the innocent! Aurelian, if you will conquer, be merciful!"
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. Philostratus’ account shaped the image of Apollonius for posterity and still dominates discussions about him in our times. To some extent it is a valuable source because it contains data from older writings which were available to Philostratus but disappeared later on. Many think that it is full of obviously fictitious stories and dialogues. Modern Christian scholars challenge its credibility in many regards. They dismiss most of it as pure invention.
One of the essential sources Philostratus claimed to know are the memoirs or diary of Damis, an alleged disciple and companion of Apollonius. Some scholars believe the notebooks of Damis are an invention of Philostratus. In any case it is a literary fake. Philostratus describes Apollonius as a wandering teacher of philosophy and miracle worker who was active in Italy, Spain and Ethiopia and even travelled to Mesopotamia, Arabia and India. In particular, he tells lengthy stories of Apollonius entering the city of Rome in disregard of emperor Nero’s ban on philosophers, and later on being summoned, as a defendant to the court of emperor Domitian where he defied the emperor in blunt terms.
Apollonius may have never left the Greek East. Many contend that he never came to Western Europe and was virtually unknown there till the third century AD when empress Julia Domna, who was herself an Easterner, decided to popularize him and his teachings in Rome. For that purpose she commissioned Philostratus to write the biography, where Apollonius is exalted as a fearless sage with supernatural powers, even greater than Pythagoras. Philostratus implies that upon his death, Apollonius of Tyana underwent heavenly assumption. Subsequently Apollonius was worshipped by Julia’s son emperor Caracalla and possibly also by her grand-nephew emperor Severus Alexander.
Two biographical sources earlier than Philostratus are lost: a book by emperor Hadrian’s secretary Maximus of Aegae describing Apollonius’ activities in the city of Aegae in Cilicia, and a biography by a certain Moiragenes. (Summary adapted from Wikipedia by Karen Merline)
Related to The Life of Apollonius of Tyana
Related audiobooks
Apollonius of Tyana: The Life and Legacy of the Influential Ancient Greek Philosopher Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Morals (Moralia), Book 1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Morals (Moralia), Book 2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSoldier, Priest, and God: A Life of Alexander the Great Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPlutarch's Lives—Excerpts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise and Fall of Alexandria: Birthplace of the Modern Mind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Golden Bough Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Herodotus' Histories Vol 3 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Argonautica Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Symposium (Librovox) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5History of the Britons Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5On the Nature of Things (Leonard translation) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The History of the Caliph Vathek Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHerodotus' Histories Vol 2 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fasti Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWorks and Days, The Theogony, and The Shield of Heracles Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Natural History Volume 2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCritias Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5On the Nature of the Gods Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Metamorphosis or The Golden Ass Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPhaedo: Unabridged Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5New Atlantis Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Song of Roland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beasts, Men and Gods Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Alcibiades I Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Religio Medici and Hydriotaphia Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lives of the Twelve Caesars Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Natural History Volume 1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Essays of Francis Bacon Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Iphigenia in Aulis Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Biography & Memoir For You
Fairy Tale Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5From Blood and Ash Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Twisted Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dutch House: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bell Jar Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dead Zone Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Leave the World Behind: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Divine Rivals: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5And Then There Were None Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Local Woman Missing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hang the Moon: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Overstory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The House in the Cerulean Sea Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come: One Introvert's Year of Saying Yes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Paris Apartment: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Later Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nothing to See Here Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In Five Years: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How Y'all Doing?: Misadventures and Mischief from a Life Well Lived Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Child Called It: One Child's Courage to Survive Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Year of Magical Thinking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of September 11, 2001 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5See You on the Way Down: Catch You on the Way Back Up! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ivy League Counterfeiter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World--and Why Things Are Better Than You Think Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5If He Had Been with Me Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good Girls Don't Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Life of Apollonius of Tyana
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
5/5
1 rating1 review
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Who has the last word? Who can precisely explain one or another’s life? Can a person be both god and man? Can humans be both predestined and have free will? At the end, humans are fascinating and complex. I’m left marveling at what was accounted for by his friend and the great efforts to judge by his foe. It all must have been much more or much less,