Plotinus on Beauty (Enneads 1.6 and 5.8.1–2): The Greek Text with Notes by Andrew Smith

Abstract

Reviewed by: Plotinus on Beauty (Enneads 1.6 and 5.8.1–2): The Greek Text with Notes by Andrew Smith Daniel Regnier andrew smith, Plotinus on Beauty (Enneads 1.6 and 5.8.1–2): The Greek Text with Notes (WGRW 64; Atlanta: SBL Press, 2019). Pp. x + 109. Paper $25. This slim and elegant volume is an anomaly in the recent wave of publications on Plotinus. New and complete translations of Plotinus’s Enneads have been published in various modern languages including both English and French over the past couple of decades (it is worth citing in this context the very comprehensive commentary on Plotinus’s Enneads translated from the Modern Greek of Paul Kalligas that is currently being published by Princeton University Press). These new translations and commentaries reflect a growing interest in Plotinus among faculty in mainstream philosophy departments. That old quip that only retired classics professors read Plotinus is no longer really intelligible. Andrew Smith, professor emeritus in classics at University College Dublin (who, to be sure, read for his entire career!) does not provide us with another translation of Plotinus. Indeed, that would probably be superfluous at this point. Rather, he offers a Greek text of what is perhaps Plotinus’s most well known—and thanks to its impact on Renaissance art—influential work 1.6 [1] On Beauty with a commentary (Stellenkommentar) guiding the reader through both Plotinus’s idiomatic and difficult Greek and his philosophical argument. Although the volume certainly does represent original scholarly work, it is clear that S. did not write it with a view to academic advancement. Rather the book very competently does what so many books claim to wish to do: support the reader in understanding the primary text. The introduction is a gem of precision and a very true representation of Plotinian thought. The short inventory of the particularities of Plotinus’s Greek (pp. 17–19) is extraordinarily useful. The notes to the Greek text are both thorough and economical. S. has achieved a remarkable balance here between elucidating the text from both philosophical and philological points of view. He refers the reader to both recent and important older secondary literature, and he cites translation variants ranging from Willy Theiler (German), J. Igal (Spanish), Jérôme Laurent (French) to Kalligas (Modern Greek). In addition to the complete text of 1.6 [1] On Beauty, S. includes the first two chapters 5.8 [31] On Intelligible Beauty. This is a slightly curious choice but is justifiable in terms of nature of the project, which is a to provide readers with the means to engage with Plotinus’s thought directly in the original Greek. I have two minor criticisms. First, there is some ambiguity concerning the Greek text. The book attributes to S. only the introduction and commentary. It would be useful to know a little bit more about the Greek text. A note on 3.3 (p. 40) suggests that Smith follows the one edited by P. Henry and H.-R. Schywzer (Plotinus, Opera, vol. 1, Porphyril Vita Plotini. Enneades i–iii [Oxford: Clarendon, 1964]), but even they established two slightly different texts. Second, the chronological positions of Ennead 1.6 [1] and 5.8 [31] are not indicated anywhere in the work—at least as far as I could tell (there is no indication of this on the cover, in the introduction or in the headings surrounding the Greek text). According to contemporary conventions of English-language publications on Plotinus, the position of his works in the chronological order of their composition is indicated in brackets or square brackets after the number of the Ennead. The only reference to the chronological order of the works of Plotinus that I found was on p. 7, but in relation to another Ennead (i.e., Ennead 3.5 [50] On Love). Given that there are various systems for citing the Enneads—some [End Page 525] involving Roman numerals, points or commas, brackets—citing his works in publication is indeed somewhat problematic. But the chronological order of Plotinus’s writings can be very important in the context of certain arguments. In fact, certain national schools (like the French) tend to...