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The charismatic
teacher and miracle worker Apollonius lived in the first century AD. He
was born in Tyana (Bor in the south of modern Turkey) and may have belonged
to a branch of ancient philosophy called neo-Pythagoreanism. He received
divine honors in the third century. Although the Athenian sophist (professional
orator) Philostratus
wrote a lengthy Life
of Apollonius, hardly anything about the sage is certain. However,
there are several bits and pieces of information that may help us reconstruct
something of the life of this man, who was and is frequently compared to
the Jewish sage and miracle worker Jesus
of Nazareth.
This is the first part of an article in nine pieces. |
Local traditions Apollonius' Letters Apollonius' books Maximus of Aegae Moeragenes Damis of Nineveh Evaluation of the sources Contemporaries 'Divine men' Magic in what sense? Literature |
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Philostratus' Life of ApolloniusThe longest and most important source on the life of Apollonius is a vie romancée by the Athenian author Philostratus (c.170-c.245 CE). It describes the sage of Tyana as a superhuman, neo-Pythagorean philosopher who tried to reform cultic practices in modern Greece, Turkey and Syria. We learn that he had several disciples, traveled extensively, met important Roman officials (a.o. the emperors Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian), and discussed with several other philosophers. The author of the Life of Apollonius (LoA) takes a special stand against the accusation that the man from Tyana had been a magician and stresses that the miracles that Apollonius performed were the result of his superior knowledge, not of wizardry. (Click here for a long summary.) |
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The LoA is not a biography in our sense. It is written by a professional orator who wanted to show that the divine Apollonius was above all a champion of the Greek culture and a wise philosopher. Unfortunately, Philostratus had little affinity with philosophy; when the sage of Tyana speaks his words of wisdom, they are very hackneyed (e.g., an emperor must act as emperor as far as his imperial duties require, but as a private citizen as far as his own person is concerned) or even silly (e.g., although the soul wants to ascend to heaven, mountaineering does not bring it closer to God). Philostratus' lack of interest in philosophy and his own preoccupation with rhetoric, make the LoA a very unreliable source. However, it is possible -but difficult- to study the sources of Philostratus' book and try to see a little bit more of the true Apollonius. Philostratus mentions several sources:
In this article, we will try to analyze the pre-Philostratean traditions and try to find out which parts of the LoA antedate Philostratus. When these older accounts are independent from each other and in agreement, we may assume that they contain some element of historical truth. The result will be a portrait of Apollonius rather different from the one offered by Philostratus. |
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