Francesco Patrizi on Hermes Trismegistus and Orpheus: The Use of Hermetica and Orphica in the Nova de Universis Philosophia
Abstrakt
This study presents a comprehensive account of Patrizi's use of ancient Hermetic and Orphic texts in his most substantial philosophical work, Nova de universis philosophia, complementing this author's article devoted to the presence of Chaldean (Magian) Oracles in this treatise. As in the previous article, the study aims to survey all passages where quotations from the Hermetica and Orphica appear in the Nova de universis philosophia and to place them within the broader argument of the book.
The study also offers a broader comparison of various aspects of all these texts, which according to Patrizi constitute primordial ancient wisdom. In its final part, the author discusses Patrizi's understanding of the particular literary genres of these texts, whose degree of authority depends on whether they are based on inspired and metaphysical poetry (the Chaldean Oracles and partly the Orphica) or a proto-philosophical dialogue (the Hermetica).