porphyry: on abstinence from animal food

Castricius, we have demonstrated that animal food does not contribute either to temperance and frugality, or to the piety which especially gives completion to the theoretic life, but is rather hostile to it. For, in many instances, the motions of the irrational nature, and utility and indigence, have been, and still are the sources of injustice. For they not only similarly participate with us of natural passions, and the motions produced through these, but we may also survey in them such affections as are preternatural and morbid. For as long as any one injures another, though he should possess the greatest wealth, and all the acres of land which the earth contains, he is still poor, and has want for his intimate associate. For health is preserved through those things by which it is recovered. For in these expeditions, the water which they drank, and which was unpleasant to the sight, was concealed by the colour of the cup; and the turbid part of the water falling against the lips, through their power 5. But that which is especially preservative of health, is an undisturbed state of the soul, and a tendency of the reasoning power towards truly existing being. They, however, suffering the punishment of their sins, both from Gods and men, are, in the first place, sufficiently punished by a disposition [i.e. But if the souls of men are immortal, but those of irrational animals mortal, men will not act unjustly by destroying irrational animals. But some one may very properly wonder at those who admit that justice derives its subsistence from the rational part, and who call those animals that have no association with men, savage and unjust, and yet do not extend justice as far as to those that do associate with us; and which, in the same manner as men, would be deprived of life, if they were deprived of human society. And he who properly observes, will see that every thing proceeds with them in an orderly manner; that they fawn on him who nourishes them, and that they know their master, and give indications of him who acts insidiously. Hence, being delighted with simple food, he will not seek for animal nutriment, as if he was not satisfied with a vegetable diet. to the ineffable cause of all,] and at one and the same time worships the many essences and principles that are [rooted and concentred] in it; yet this happens at the latest period, and to a very few, and that we must be satisfied, if it takes place, when the sun of life is setting. 11. For thus their return to the human form will be more rapid. For the They on a dunghill sit, that by their lowly state, But from all these, inanimate and slender food, and which is easily obtained, will liberate us, and will procure for us peace, by imparting salvation to our reasoning power. He seemed to himself to be standing in the middle of the pillars of the temple of Hercules, and afterwards to see a bird sitting opposite to the altar, and endeavouring to fly to it, but which at length flew into his hands. For it is not directed to those who are occupied in sordid mechanical arts, nor to those who are engaged in athletic exercises; neither to soldiers, nor sailors, nor rhetoricians, nor to those who lead an active life. The immoderation of their passions, also, is suppressed by certain modulations, and stags, bulls, and other animals, from being wild become tame. And whence can anyone demonstrate that brutes do not consult? These therefore are the principal arguments of the Stoics and derivation of the name of Proserpine, as follows:--- "Socrates now delivers Nor was Socrates in jest when he swore by the dog and the goose; but in so doing, he swore conformably to the just son of Jupiter [Rhadamanthus] nor did he sportfully say that swans were his fellow-servants. For in the second book of his Judaic History, which he has completed in seven books, and in the eighteenth of his Antiquities, which consists of twenty books, and likewise in the second of the two books which he wrote against the Greeks, he speaks of these squalid 13, and to be always clothed in white garments. Having, therefore, thus tasted of the roasted flesh, he also desired to eat abundantly of it, and could not refrain from giving some of it to his wife. In the two preceding books, O Firmus Castricius, we have demonstrated that animal food does not contribute either to temperance and frugality, or to the piety which especially gives completion to the theoretic life, but is rather hostile to it. Never amidst the tombs intrude, But this being ordained, many species of injustice were exterminated from 26. the power of God which extends to all things through animals which are nurtured together, and which each of the Gods imparts. Aeschylus says, as our substitutes, who, by being tamed and subjugated to the yoke, alleviate our toil. |13. Thus, therefore, if likewise some animals are savage, these, as such, are to be destroyed, in the same manner as men that are savage; but our habitude or alliance to other and wilder animals is not on this account to be abandoned. Bogus was a king of the Mauritanians, who was slain by Agrippa in Mothone. In other animals, however, the male is conscious of the parturient throes of the female, and, for the most part, partakes of the same pains; as is evident in cocks. For the several species of these understand the Those, however, who speak stupidly about these things, assert that animals are neither delighted, nor enraged, nor terrified, nor make any provision for what is necessary, nor remember; but they say that the bee as it were remembers, that the swallow as it were, provides what is requisite, that the lion is as it were angry, and that the stag is as it were afraid. Hence also, in simple and slender food, repletion is to be avoided, and every where we should consider what will be the consequence of the possession or enjoyment of it, what the magnitude of it is, and what molestation of the flesh or of the soul it is capable of dissolving. The preparation also of these things, draws along with it many impediments, either from the weight of the body, [which they are adapted to increase,] or from the difficulty of procuring them, or from their preventing the continuity of the energy of our most principal reasonings The Pythagoreans, however, made lenity towards beasts to be an exercise of philanthropy and commiseration. We collect, however, corn and leguminous substances, when, being efflorescent, they have fallen on the earth, and are dead. For, in a certain respect, defilement and pollution manifest the mixture of things of an heterogeneous nature, and especially when the abstersion of this mixture is attended with difficulty. And this necessity is indicated by their not being able to make use of fire, through the want of combustible materials; but they dry their fish on rocks, or on the shore. Thus they found that a hawk is dear to the sun, since the whole of its nature consists of blood and spirit. The man, however, who is cautious, and is suspicious of the enchantments of nature, who has surveyed the essential properties of |30 recollections, imaginations, and opinions being collected together, excite a swarm of passions, viz. All of them, however, were forbidden to eat the flesh of swine, or fish without scales, which the Greeks call cartilaginous; or to eat any animal that has solid hoofs. * The rational part of the soul is assimilated by Plato, in the Phaedrus, to a charioteer, and the two irrational parts, desire and anger, to two horses. The longest work by Porphyry to survive more or less intact is this curious tract advocating that animals should not be killed, not even for food. 1. Let us, however, admit that sense does not require intellect for the accomplishment of its proper work, yet, when energizing about what is appropriate and what is foreign, it discerns the difference between the two, it must then exercise the power of memory, and must dread that which will produce pain, desire that which will be beneficial, and contrive, if it is absent, how it may be present, and will procure methods of pursuing and investigating what is advantageous, and of avoiding and flying from hostile occurrences. 2. For during the time of what are called purifications, they scarcely mingled with their nearest kindred, and those of their own order, nor were they to be seen by anyone, unless it was requisite for the necessary purposes of purification. Thus the bird was sacrificed, and the altar sprinkled with blood. Hence, the Now, however, we act most unjustly, destroying, indeed tame animals, because some brutes are savage and unjust, and feeding on such as are tame. inhabits;--- to this man addressing ourselves, we prescribe food consentaneous to his suspicion and knowledge of this terrene abode, and exhort him to suffer the somnolent to be stretched on their beds, dissolved in sleep. |101 denominate repentance. , Farther still, the pain arising from indigence is much milder than that which is produced by repletion, and will be considered to be so by him who does not deceive himself with vain opinions. Hence, not only those who endeavour to live according to intellect, and who establish for themselves an intellectual life, as the end of their pursuits, have perceived that this abstinence was necessary to the attainment of this end; but, as it appears to me, nearly every philosopher, preferring frugality to luxury, has rather embraced a life which is satisfied with a passage is, "Vel igitur deceptione inductus, quod sive hoc sive Hence, as long as any one is discordant about food, and contends that this or that thing should be eaten, but does not conceive that, if it But neither tame nor savage animals are to be eaten; as neither are unjust men. The Cretans, from a law established by Rhadamanthus, swore by all animals. Hence, I think we should say, that Greek is allied and has an affinity to Greek, and Barbarian to Barbarian, and all men to each other; for one of these two reasons, either because they originate from the same ancestors, or because they participate of the same food, manners and genus. Things also, which are very moderate and obvious, and which may be procured with the greatest facility, remove the tumult occasioned by the flesh. But why should it be requisite that the passions should waste away, that we should die with respect to them, and that this should be daily the subject of our meditation, if it was possible for us, as some assert, to energize according to intellect, though we are at the same time intimately connected with mortal concerns, and this without the intuition of intellect? from philosophizing], which is not capable of effecting a perfect To which may be added, that some animals, perhaps, do not speak, because they have not been taught, or because they are impeded by the ill conformation of the instruments of speech. And the immaterial indeed, are those that comprehend matter in themselves, and adorn it; but the immaterial are those that are perfectly exempt from, and transcend matter: but, according to true sacrific art, it is requisite to begin sacred operations from the material Gods; for the ascent to the immaterial Gods will not otherwise be effected. paguri, are evocated from their caverns by the melody of reeds. And the abstinence from these neither diminishes our life nor our living happily. , and Meerman In short, as Epicurus likewise has rightly said, that food is to be avoided, the enjoyment of which we desire and pursue, but which, after we have enjoyed, we rank among things of an unacceptable nature. Hence, at that period there was no war, because injustice was exterminated. The end of the work seems to be lost, but otherwise it is complete and preserves a mass of detail on pagan religious customs and beliefs. Erroneous opinions, however, are entertained in many particulars, both of a public and private nature. And hence it is reasonable to suppose, that one of the above-mentioned particulars was forbidden, but that the other was not prohibited. To see our price, add these items to your cart. + Much is related about the Egyptian priests by Herodotus, lib. But the Samanaeans are, as we have said, elected. If, however, it was afraid of being defiled, it would not receive these streams; but knowing its own magnitude, it receives all things, and is not averse to anything which proceeds into it. Indeed, they were very anxious to continue in the observance of the institutes of their country, and those who were found to have violated them, though but in a small degree were expelled [from the college of the priests]. They were likewise forbidden not only to refrain from eating, but also from killing animals that fled to their houses as supplicants. : For I have always piously worshipped those divinities which were pointed out to me by my parents as long as I lived in this age, and have likewise always honoured those who procreated my body. medimni 3 of barley, and for a woman twelve, and the quantity of liquid fruits in the same proportion. |113 with money also, the useless arts were expelled, the works of the Lacedaemonians not being saleable. And thus luxury, being gradually deprived of its incitements and nourishment, wasted away of itself. But they exercised themselves in the endurance of hunger and thirst, and were accustomed to paucity of food through the whole of their life. that they should abstain from destroying animals?] And Stasanor, who was one of Alexander's prefects, nearly lost his government through endeavouring to destroy this custom. And, indeed, so far as pertains to sense and the remaining organization, according to the sensoria and the flesh, every one nearly will grant that these are similarly disposed in us, as they are in brutes. But is it not absurd to judge of rationality and irrationality from apprehending or not apprehending the meaning of vocal sounds, or from silence and speech? That he might also in a still greater degree oppose luxury, and take away the ardent endeavour to obtain wealth, he introduced a third, and most beautiful political institution, viz. |135 to nourish, and another to fatten; and one thing to impart what is necessary, and another to procure what is luxurious. Others have not spared even their eyes, through a desire of not being divulsed from the inward contemplation [of reality]. I shall present the reader, therefore, with an extract from my translation of his treatise On the Mysteries, which appears to me to be an admirable supplement to what Porphyry has said in this book, about sacrificing animals, and a satisfactory answer to the question whether they are to be sacrificed or not. It is related, therefore, that the Massagetas and the Derbices consider those of their kindred to be most miserable who die spontaneously. 8. 4. And how is it possible that this should be the conduct of men who know what they suffer, and not rather of those who are delighted with their calamities, and who are ignorant of the evils which Consider the thing, too, in another way: Is it not ridiculous to say that such men as Socrates, Plato and Zeno, were not less vicious than any slave, but resembled slaves in stupidity, intemperance, and injustice, and afterwards 21. Essenes. But beneath, in conjunction with Pluto, she is particularly beheld Midst Night's dread orgies wont to rove, , In this case, indeed, they must be immediately destroyed. , Lipsius proposes to read, And, moreover, we shall confute the assertion of our opponents, that no wise man, nor any nation, has rejected animal food, as it leads those that hear it to great injustice, through the ignorance of true history; and we shall also endeavour to give the solutions of the question concerning advantage, and to reply to other inquiries. Hence, as much as they are pained on leaving the human form, so much will they rejoice when they leave other bodies. The Arguments of Claudius the Neapolitan who published a Treatise against Abstinence from Animal Food. There is, however, a treatise of Strato, the physiologist, in which it is demonstrated, that it is not possible to have a sensible perception of anything without the energy of intellection. The original in this place is , , Through the influence, therefore, of self-love, they say, that all other animals are irrational; wishing to indicate by irrationality, an entire privation of reason. For it was considered by them as beautiful to be It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness. This item: Porphyry's On the Abstinence From Animal Food . For there is an abundance of it in all the natures that are destitute of soul, nor do we require any other opposition to that which is rational; but immediately every thing which is deprived of soul, being irrational and without intellect, is opposed to that which possesses reason and dianoia Since, however, the cause through which the Egyptians venerated the Gods through animals requires a copious discussion, and which would exceed the limits of the present treatise, what has been unfolded respecting this particular is sufficient for our purpose. Castricius, we have nearly answered all the arguments which in reality defend the feeding on flesh, for the sake of incontinence and intemperance, and which adduce impudent apologies for so doing by ascribing a greater indigence to our nature than is fit. And Jupiter, when in love with Pasiphae, is said to have become a bull; but at another time, he is said to have been changed into an eagle and a swan; through all which the ancients indicated the honour which they paid to animals, and this in a still greater degree when they assert that Jupiter was nursed by a goat. Since, also, brutes acquire a knowledge of the arts, and these such as are human, and learn to dance, to drive a chariot, to fight a duel, to walk on ropes, to write and read, to play on the pipe and the harp, to discharge arrows, and to ride, - this being the case, can you any longer doubt whether they possess that power which is receptive of art, since the recipient of these arts may be seen to exist in them? also endnote 3]. They add, that brutes do not consult, nor form assemblies, nor act in a judicial capacity. But for 17. It is also narrated, that some dumb animals obey their masters with more readiness than any domestic servants. 10. Dicaearchus, in his narration of the manners of the ancient Greeks, and the blessed life which they then led, to which abstinence from animal food contributed, no less than other things. For virtue is the perfection of But those among them that act criminally, and are ejected, perish by an evil destiny. Nor are brutes deprived of sense because they are not men, as neither are we to be deprived of reason, because the Gods, if they possess it, are rational beings. But the Samanaeans are elected, and consist of those who wish to possess divine knowledge. Hence it is necessary that intellect should be present with ail those with whom sensible perception is present. Full content visible, double tap to read brief content. translated by Thomas Taylor. And it is evident that perfect abstinence is adapted to such a polity as this, but to corrupt communities luxurious food.5 If, likewise, we direct our attention to such other nations as regarded equity, mildness and piety to , as, with Platonic writers, Hence the latter is said to be most irrational, and is borne along in a disorderly manner by irrationality; but the former is obedient to reason, and superior to every irrational desire. But the name of the pleasure which is received through the ears is He likewise yields to the mortal part of his nature, while he remains ignorant of his real self. But he who departs from intellect, is in that place to which he departs; and when, by discursive energies, he applies himself upwards and downwards by his apprehension of things, he is there where his apprehension is. But it excludes those who are occupied in vile and illiberal * For Cyzicus was situated in an island. 2. Porphyry on Abstinence From Animal Food But how is it possible not to lament the condition of the generality of mankind, who are so involved in darkness as to cherish their own evil, and who, in the first place, hate themselves, and him who truly begot them, and afterwards, those who admonish them, and call on them to return from ebriety to a sober condition of being? For this is no small indication that Pythagoras did not think sanely, that none of the wise men embraced his opinion; since neither any one of the seven wise men, nor any of the physiologists who lived after them, nor even the most wise Socrates, or his followers, adopted it. innoxious, and ought to abstain from procuring pleasure for himself by injuring others. I have located 2 25. See, however, whether all the passions of the soul in brutes, are not similar to ours; for it is not the province of man alone to apprehend juices by the taste, colours by the sight, odours by the smell, sounds by the hearing, cold or heat, or other tangible objects, by the touch; but the senses of brutes are capable of the same perceptions. Pursuing therefore the inquiries pertaining to simplicity and purity of diet, we have now arrived, O Castracius, at the discussion of sacrifices; the consideration of which is difficult, and at the . For there is not any one of these which is not rational, and all of them are present with all animals. Each likewise bore about him a symbol indicative of the order which he was allotted in sacred concerns; for there were many orders of priests. 9. Variety also of food not only does The rest of their time they devoted to arithmetical and geometrical speculations, always labouring to effect something, and to make some new discovery, and, in short, continually exercising their skill. , . From Chris Duggan, Bookseller (St. Paul, MN, U.S.A.) But if men at that time did not eat each other, what occasion was there for this dogma? Get FREE 7-day instant eTextbook access! And such is the order [or sect] of the Diversities which we can not contend, is corrupted, and prior to him who is [ truly ].! Rhoer, have at all absurd destroying them ; and the Derbices consider those of period. 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