De Principiis Research Articles

Damascius and the Ineffable Thread of Reality

Abstract This article discusses the problem of the ineffable in Damascius’ treatises De principiis and In Parmenidem. I argue that the ineffable—which is the ultimate principle proposed by Damascius—is also the theme that underlies the whole frame of the reality, in his perspective. Each level of reality that he discusses comes into play on the background of the original attempt to suggest the ineffable principle. Each of them—One, unified, soul, material forms, matter and sensible realm—tries to approximate and suggest the previous level and thus, eventually, the ineffable itself. Consequently, each level of reality develops its own degree of ineffability, and therefore presents itself to our mind in an aporetical manner. It is impossible for our mind to reveal in an exhaustive and noncontradictory fashion even the levels closest to us. The aporiai that are specific for every part of reality are eventually consequences of the original aporia of an absolute and unique principle that governs everything.

Medieval Manuscripts at Loyola University Chicago

Abstract: This article provides a summary overview of the collection of pre-1600 western European manuscripts in Loyola University Chicago Archives & Special Collections. The collection presently comprises four manuscript codices, at least thirty-eight fragments, and four documents. The codices are a thirteenth-century book of hours from German-speaking lands; a fifteenth-century Dutch prayer book; a preacher's compilation written probably in southern Germany in the 1440s; and two fifteenth-century Italian humanist booklets, bound together since the nineteenth century, transmitting Donatus's commentary on the Eunuchus (incomplete) and an anthology of theological excerpts, respectively. The fragments consist of thirteen leaves from books dismembered by modern booksellers (most are from fifteenth-century books of hours) and a larger number of binding fragments, all but two of which remain in situ. These represent the remains of ten manuscript books: four Latin liturgical books, two texts of Roman civil law, one large-format thirteenth-century Italian Bible, one thirteenth-century copy of Ptolemy's Almagest in the translation of Gerard of Cremona, one late fourteenth-century copy of the Ockhamist Tractatus de principiis theologiae , and one fifteenth-century Dutch book of hours in the translation of Geert Grote. Many of these materials have remained unidentified until now.

Not-Being, Contradiction and Difference. Simplicius vs. Alexander of Aphrodisias on Plato’s Conception of Not-Being

Abstract In explicating a passage from Physics A 3, Simplicius reports a criticism by Alexander of Aphrodisias against Plato’s conception of not-being in the Sophist. Alexander deems this conception contradictory, because it posits that unqualified not-being is. Simplicius defends Plato and gives a diagnosis of what he regards as Alexander’s interpretative mistake in raising his objection. I unpack this debate and bring out ways in which it sheds light on important aspects of Plato’s project in the Sophist and of Simplicius’ own philosophical background, notably in Damascius’ De principiis.

The Relation of the ‘Forms’ with the ‘Parts’ and the ‘Elements’ in Damascius the Neoplatonist: Epistemological Foundations

In this study, we investigate the way in which Damascius describes the relation of the ‘forms’ with the ‘parts’ and the ‘elements’ in his treatise De Principiis (II 174.1-176.7), in which he utilizes aspects of the Pre-Socratic natural philosophy as well as Aristotle’s Physica. We also shed light on the epistemological terms and conditions of his analysis. From a methodological point of view, we follow the categorical schemas found in the text, which reflect the philosopher’s general positions with respect to the formation of the natural world, through which a particularly advanced and mathematically expressed natural science for studying the structures of the universe is revealed. Considering that Damascius’ main research goal is to analytically describe the general archetypical categories of the sensible world, the greatest conclusion that we draw is that the formation of the natural world came from the activation-composition of the ‘elements’, that is, the material projections, in their separations, of the productive manifestations of the metaphysical archetypal Ideas.

Oltre l’improvviso di Platone e Aristotele. Corollario sull’ipermetafisica dell’ἐξαίφνης tra Damascio e Dionigi ps.‑Areopagita

This essay strives to illustrate the unusual philosophical category of exaiphnēs (“sudden ; instant”) which is testified in Damascius’ De principiis ; Damascius is the last diadochus of Neoplatonic Academy. It will be illustrated how Damascius takes up a rare idea contained in Plato’s Parmenides on the sudden, rigorously adjusting this notion to describe the irreducible transcendence of the ineffable principle with respect to the One, just like the sudden bursts into time without belonging to it. It will therefore be shown how this specificity of exaiphnēs appears to be taken up and enhanced in a Christological key about the Incarnation by Dionysius ps.‑Areopagite, turning somehow the theoretical reflection of the contemporary pagan philosopher Damascius into a Christian one.

A Further Usage of the Word Homousios in Latin: Lexicographical Observations

1 ACTA CLASSICA LXV (2021) 1–10 ISSN 0065–1141 A FURTHER USAGE OF THE WORD HOMOUSIOS IN LATIN: LEXICOGRAPHICAL OBSERVATIONS* Matteo Rajola University of Naples, Federico II Pre-Nicene uses of the term homousios From the fourth century on, the word homousios, meaning ‘consubstantial’, appears to be indissolubly intertwined with Christian doctrinal thinking and the need to define the ontological bonds between God the Father and God the Son.1 The word officially entered the ‘technical’ language of Christianity at the time of the Council of Nicaea (AD 325);2 from then on this term, borrowed from Greek, was widely used in Latin works, as we can see in a number of doctrinal and dogmatic texts. But even before the fourth century, homousios was used to refer to the notion of consubstantiality thanks to the significant contribution of Gnosticism .3 However, Beatrice notes that, in paganism, the use of the word homousios in relation to the speculation about the essence of the divine (consisting in Nous and Logos, that is a god-father and a god-son) is systematically explained only in the Poimandres, the first of the essays contained in the Egyptian Corpus Hermeticum.4 There are also five oracles of the same origin, quoted in the first Book of the Theosophy of an anonymous Monophysite 5 dealing with the same theological matters as the Poimandres, including the term homousios, to define the relationship between NousFather and Logos-Son, with the addition of Pneuma-Spirit to complete the * I would like to thank Alessia Avecone, the editor of Acta Classica, and the journal’s readers for their helpful comments and advice in the preparation of this article. 1 There is a rich bibliography regarding the term homousios and the Trinitarian matters related to it. We will just mention here a few contributions made later than the year 2000: Beatrice 2002; Weinandy 2011; Switala 2014. 2 Beatrice 2002:248. On the Council of Nicaea, see Edwards 2009:84–89; Scheck 2010:22–23; Calhoun 2011:194. 3 Grillmeier 1975; Beatrice 2002:248. 4 Beatrice 2002:257. The Corpus Hermeticum is a collection of philosophical-religious works dating to the 2ⁿᵈ or 3ʳᵈ century: Ehmer 2021. 5 A work in four books containing a final world chronicle (beginning of the 6ᵗʰ century). See the critical edition of Beatrice 2001. Rajola 2 picture of the Trinity. Therefore Beatrice concludes that the root of the specifically Christian meaning of the word homousios is to be found in the context of Roman-Hellenistic pagan Egypt and not in that of Gnosticism, where the usage of this word seems to have a looser semantic connection with that found in Christianity to define the ontological bonds between the Father and the Son.6 Homousios may also have been used in a Trinitarian sense before the Council of Nicaea. According to Beatrice, the use of homousios in a strictly Trinitarian sense cannot be inferred from a passage by Clement of Alexandria in which it is stated that the Logos is one with the Father due to sameness of substance:7 Sicut etiam verbum ipsum (hoc est filius), quod secundum aequalitatem substantiae unum cum patre constitit, sempiternum est et infectum (‘So the Word itself (namely the Son), that proved to be one with the Father due to the sameness of their substance, is eternal and without end.’) 8 Beatrice also points out that a passage from Origen of Alexandria’s lost Commentary on Hebrews,9 which survived in a Latin translation made by Rufinus,10 is similar to a passage from the same author’s De principiis, which likewise survived in a Latin translation.11 In both passages homousios is used in an analogical sense rather than as an attempt to define the ontological 6 Ibid. 264–69. Beatrice also devotes a section to the relationship between Emperor Constantine and the pagan and hermetic tradition of Egypt with regard to the Nicene Creed. 7 This passage is part of the Adumbrationes Clementis Alexandrini in epistolas canonicas, a fragment of a Latin translation commissioned by Cassiodorus (5ᵗʰ-6ᵗʰ century, ed. Stählin et al. 1970). Despite the risks of such a statement, this fragment was believed by various...

The Aporetic Method of Aristotle’s Metaphysics B in Damascius’ De Principiis: A Case Study of the First aporia

Abstract Damascius has become well-known in recent scholarship for his unique, radical use of the aporetic method, both to highlight the inherent limits of human thought and to reveal crucial tensions in Neoplatonic metaphysics. Though much attention has been paid to the subjective or skeptical aspects of Damascius’ aporiai, little has been noted of the parallels between Damascius’ aporetic strategy in the De Principiis and Aristotle’s own in Metaphysics B. This article analyzes the parallel by looking at Aristotle’s aim for aporiai in Metaphysics B.1 and closely comparing, as a case study, the De Principiis’ first aporia alongside Metaphysics B’s first aporia. Despite Damascius’ aporia dealing with different principles compared to Aristotle’s, the aporetic method for both ultimately exposes the limitations of thought and, exactly in the domain of these limitations, clarifies our concepts in relating to reality and attaining determinate understanding of principles.

Apokatastasis, Genesis 1.26–27, and the Theology of History in Origen's De Principiis

Many interpreters of De principiis understand the circularity of Origen's theology of apokatastasis to entail identity between the original and the final state of rational creatures. This essay argues that Origen's interpretation of the difference between creation in the image of God and perfection in likeness to God (Gen 1.26–27) gives way to a linear theology of history. In Princ. Origen envisions history as the economy of salvation, which God utilizes as the training ground for embodied rational creatures to exercise freedom, to undergo experience, and to receive the grace of God in Christ and by the Holy Spirit, all of which are necessary for their progress in virtue and attainment of eternal life. These two conceptual frameworks combine within this single work to suggest what might be referred to as Origen's "spiral theology" in which the end is similar to the beginning, but whereas in the beginning creatures fell from God, God will in the end become their "all in all" as their wills are confirmed in charity towards God so that they remain forever secure in their participation in God.

‘Master Tommy Lucretius’: Thomas Gray’s Posthumous Life Writing and Conversing with the Dead in his Poetry to Richard West

This article considers Thomas Gray’s use of Lucretius’ De Rerum Natura in his prolific period of writing following Richard West’s death. Gray claims himself as ‘Master Tommy Lucretius’ in reference to his Latin philosophical poem, De Principiis Cogitandi; this self-presentation as a Lucretian poet continues through his English poetry concerning West’s death. Gray’s reference to conversing with the dead in a letter to West suggests that Gray’s poetry concerning West can be considered a form of posthumous life writing in two specific senses: one as a continued memorializing West’s life by Gray, and the other as a concurrent chronicling of Gray’s grief. They reach their culmination when Gray puts his questioning of poetry as a form of memorial into action when using Lucretius’ biography, and its associations with suicide, as a model of the suicidal poetic narrator in his Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard. The Elegy marks an end to Gray’s use of Lucretius and De Rerum Natura to question the living’s responsibility for continuing a posthumous memorial of the dead after West’s death.

Aristotle and Early Christian Thought by Mark Edwards

Reviewed by: Aristotle and Early Christian Thought by Mark Edwards Nicolò Sassi Mark Edwards Aristotle and Early Christian Thought Studies in Philosophy and Theology in Late Antiquity London: Routledge, 2019 Pp. 226. $112.00. The ways through which the Greek philosophical and scientific legacy arrived, vascularized, and transformed late ancient and medieval Mediterranean and Near Eastern thought were manifold. Through the work of Syriac translators such as [End Page 159] Sergius of Reshayna, the works of Plato, Galen, Aristotle, and the Neoplatonists migrated eastwards. With the expansion of the Arabs in North Africa, Greek philosophy traveled and reached Iberia, where during the Reconquista it was retrieved and brought into the heart of Europe, where it influenced and transformed the medieval West. The history of the migration and reception of the works of Plato and Aristotle in later philosophy, science, and theology, is a history that traverses varied places and languages, schools and madrasas, cultures and wars. Edwards's book contributes to the writing of this history by focusing on the reception of the philosophy of Aristotle among Christian intellectuals in the first six centuries of the Common Era. The book provides a coherent narrative, based on an attentive and mainly philosophical scrutiny of primary sources and of the problematic encounter of Christian revelation and Aristotelian philosophy. Edwards's convincing reconstruction reveals how the Christian appropriation of Aristotle's thought was made possible by a transformative set of exegetical practices which aimed at accentuating the elements of his philosophy that were more compatible with Christian revelation while consciously overlooking those that were incompatible. This process was fueled by multiple forces, including the interpretive traditions of Aristotelian and Neoplatonic thinkers of the imperial and late ancient age, who throughout the centuries made Aristotelian philosophy more palatable to Christian intellectuals by rethinking it in a way that was more creative than conservative. Although some vocabulary and imagery that could be described as Aristotelianizing are indeed found in certain fathers (like the Peripatetic simile of iron in fire applied to the incarnation by Origen [De Principiis 2.6]), Edwards brings to light the limits of facile formulas such as "Christian Aristotelianism" which, according to the author, implies an active and "authentic" engagement of Christian intellectuals with Aristotle's philosophical legacy. If by Aristotelian we mean a thinker bound to uphold the doctrine that he professed against the attacks of every rival school, no Christian of the patristic era was strictly an "Aristotelian." Edwards points out how Christians approached Aristotle's texts with interests and concerns rarely shared by Hellene intellectuals. Consequently, only certain works (or certain sections) of Aristotle were used. The works of Aristotle that could substantiate, defend, or vindicate Christian revelation (namely the works on logic, physics, metaphysics, psychology, and cosmology) were used, whereas others (such as the treatises on biology, rhetoric, politics, and the minor ethical works) were ignored. During the fourth and fifth centuries, echoes of Aristotelian vocabulary, concepts, imagery, and reasoning patterns are found in the writings of the fathers engaged in the great Trinitarian and christological controversies, yet the "Aristotelianizing" vocabulary and imagery found in these thinkers are often used in ways that are different from Aristotle's, so we may wonder about what we really mean when we say that such elements in the writings of the fathers were Aristotelian. The discussion of the legitimacy or otherwise of the category "Aristotelian" for early Christian thinkers is indeed one of the fundamental questions that this book investigates, yet the only concern that I have with Edwards's argument is precisely about this. The author does not seem to be open to the possibility that [End Page 160] just like "being is said in many ways," so too being Aristotelian can be said in many ways. In the afterword he writes, "As I said in the Preface, no Christian of the patristic era is strictly an Aristotelian; conflicts between philosophy and Scripture merely exposed the limitations of philosophy, and hence there were no dilemmas such as a mediaeval thinker might encounter when he found the Church and Aristotle to be at odds with one another" (194–95). Edwards seems to say that because Aristotle had no independent authority in...

On the Origins of the Very First Principle as Infinite: The Hierarchy of the Infinite in Damascius and Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite

This paper discusses the theoretical relationship between the views of Damascius and those of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. While Damascius’ De principiis is a bold treatise devoted to investigating the hypermetaphysics of apophatism, it anticipates various theoretical positions put forward by Dionysius the Areopagite. The present paper focuses on the following. First, Damascius is the only ancient philoso­pher who systematically demonstrates the first principle to be infinite (traditional Greek thought tended to regard the arkhē as finite). Second, Damascius modifies the concept and in several important passages shows the infinite to be superior and prior to the finite (previously this assumption was held only by Melissus and, sporadically, by Gregory of Nyssa and Plotinus). Third, Damascius’ theory of being (infinite, endless and ultrarational) is the strongest ancient articulation of the nature of the One which is a clear prefiguration of the negative theology developed by Dionysius the Areopagite.

The Theological Use of Eating and Drinking Metaphors in Origen’s De Principiis

Abstract This article focuses on the theological use of the eating and drinking metaphors in Origen’s De principiis. The work is organized in three parts: 1. Physiological convictions regarding eating and drinking, where it is briefly shown how Origen understands this process in a biological approach; this is important because these convictions operate as assumptions within which the Alexandrian constructs his theology. 2. Methodological remarks about the semantic field of eating or drinking, at a level both biblical and cultural; this is important in order to justify the use of these metaphors in theological contexts. Finally, 3. Theological uses of the metaphors, which demonstrate how Origen uses these metaphors to explain and/or clarify important theological issues.

오리게네스의『원리론』 제4권에 나타난 성서해석학

오리게네스의『원리론』 제4권에 나타난 성서해석학

Potentia dei absoluta et potentia dei ordinata u Orygenesa? Nowa próba wyjaśnienia kontrowersyjnych fragmentów "De principiis"

The medieval dispute over the absolute and the ordered, power of God (poten­tia Dei absoluta et potentia Dei ordinata) began with a tract by Peter Damian entitled De divina omnipotentia. One of the questions posed in this work was whether God could indeed do everything, including those things that God did not in fact do. The same question, and a similar answer, appears in Origen’s work Contra Celsum: God can do everything except that which is evil. The impossibi­lity of doing evil, however, does not diminish the omnipotence of God, because evil, is by its very nature, non-being. Beyond that, Origen, in numerous statements appearing in his exegetical works, distinguishes between the absolute power of God, which is infinite, and the power of God that creates the world and operates within it, which has a certain God-given limit – that is, this power is adapted to the abilities of the creatures who receive it. The purpose of this article is to show that, in the light of the distinction of the potentia Dei absoluta and the potentia Dei or­dinata, fragments of De principiis (II 9.1 and IV 4.8), in which a finite world and finite power of God are posited, can be interpreted in a new way. Many contem­porary scholars, on the basis of these fragments, conclude that Origen inherited from the Greek philosophers a negative understanding of infinity as something imperfect, but the analysis carried out in this article shows something different. In talking about a certain range of God’s power, which is available to creatures, or in which creatures participate only partially, Origen does not actually exclude the proposition that, in God himself, power – existing in an absolute way – can be infinite.

Sacral and Anagogical Aspects of the “Marvellous” in Damascius. An Interpretation

In the fragments of Damascius’ Vita Isidori one can observe a significant presence of the “marvellous.” In many cases, the marvellous seems to manifest a sacral and anagogical value in line with the philosophical and religious conceptions of late Neo-Platonism. A similar value of the marvellous can also be found in a passage of De Principiis (I, 14, 1–19), where Damascius hails the totally ineffable Principle as supremely marvellous, upon which he presents it as absolutely unknowable and expressible only in an aporetic way.

Thomas Aquinas: A Historical and Philosophical Profile by Pasquale Porro

Reviewed by: Thomas Aquinas: A Historical and Philosophical Profile by Pasquale Porro Bernhard Blankenhorn O.P. Thomas Aquinas: A Historical and Philosophical Profile. By Pasquale Porro. Translated by Joseph G. Trabbic and Roger W. Nutt. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2016. Pp. xiii + 458. $65.00 (cloth). ISBN: 978-0-8132-2805-1. Anglophone philosophers and Thomists owe a debt of gratitude to Joseph Trabbic and Roger Nutt for their recent translation of Pasquale Porro's Thomas Aquinas: A Historical and Philosophical Profile. One of Europe's leading historians of medieval philosophy and editor of the prestigious journal Quaestio, Porro has achieved a truly original feat: a historical introduction to all of Thomas Aquinas's works accompanied by properly philosophical analyses of numerous key doctrines. The author integrates the best of twentieth- and twenty-first-century studies on Thomas's university and religious context, his doctrinal sources, and dialogue partners. Porro also provides many original textual and systematic interpretations of Thomas's thought. While paying adequate attention to his theological corpus, Porro rightly focuses his speculative analysis on philosophical matters (for example, he dwells at some length on the esse/essentia distinction but does nothing with transubstantiation). Metaphysical and anthropological issues receive the most attention, though ethics does not suffer from neglect. One might say that Porro does for philosophers what Jean-Pierre Torrell's masterful Thomas Aquinas (vol. 1: The Person and His Work; vol. 2: Spiritual Master) has done for theologians. In other words, Porro's opus stands out as unique within the literature on the Angelic Doctor. The fact that Torrell has just published thoroughly revised editions of both of his volumes in French shows the speed of evolution in the historical scholarship. That evolution also indicates the need for a work like Porro's in philosophy and the history of philosophy. Porro's work follows a chronological order: Thomas's years as a student (chap. 1), his first stint as master of the sacred page in Paris (chap. 2), his first years in Italy as master, especially at Orvieto (chap. 3), the Roman sojourn (chap. 4), the second term as teacher in Paris (chap. 5), and the final years in Naples as well as the aftermath of his death (chap. 6). The last chapter includes a marvelous overview of Thomism's birth pangs in the late thirteenth century. The bibliography of primary and secondary sources is simply outstanding. Thankfully, the translators have added a list of English translations of Thomas's works. The monograph includes a handy chronology, a name index, and a very thorough subject index. Porro writes in a very clear and accessible way, and the quality of his style comes out well in the English translation. He tends to alternate between a selection of citations from the primary texts and solid summaries of other texts. The references could have been more thorough (the footnotes give no page or line numbers for the text of the Leonine edition). Porro consistently centers his presentation on the thought of Thomas himself; the latter's mode of argumentation always stands in the foreground. Thomas's sources [End Page 459] (especially the Greeks and Arabs) receive frequent attention, yet without dominating the scene. Porro consistently offers a smooth combination of historical remarks, identification of sources, textual analysis, and properly philosophical evaluation. We find occasional critical remarks that are both respectful and well-founded. Porro is evidently interested in the truth of the matter. He neither slavishly follows the Angelic Doctor nor seeks to deconstruct him. Modern scholarly debates mostly remain in the background. Each section includes a prudent selection of secondary literature in the footnotes. There is little doubt that Porro has mastered the vast literature on Thomas's philosophical works and ideas. For each work of Thomas, after giving an overview of the historical setting and a brief thematic survey, Porro usually offers a more in-depth consideration of one or two key doctrines contained in the work under consideration. Among the most insightful treatments are the pages on De principiis naturae (6-12), De ente et essentia (12-26), analogy (33-40), truth (62-68), necessary...

In the end there was the beginning: Pagan cosmogonies in the age of Justinian

The conflict between the pagans and the Christian authorities of the Eastern Roman Empire has given birth to numerous polemical discussions among modern commentators, which is due to the fact that our sources on the subject were often biased. The closing of the Neo-Platonic Academy in Athens in 529 has nevertheless been cited as the end of pagan philosophy, even though its last leader, Damascius, would continue his philosophical activity around the Persian border. My paper deals with the persistent reception of one subject that was at odds with the Christian dogma, the cosmogony. Damascius is also known for his De principiis, a lengthy treaty about the One and the Ineffable that precedes it. Although the work itself is first and foremost an answer to previous Neoplatonists, it is also an extremely valuable source for other lost Pre-Socratic cosmogonies, namely the Orphic ones, which are interpreted alongside other non-Greek creation myths in the final pages of the treatise. On the other hand, John Lydus provides an intriguing adaptation of such creation myths in De magistratibus reipublicae Romanae, where he combines Platonic and Aristotelian ideas in order to build an explanatory model for the contemporary decline in offices of state. His choice of sources shows, however, that he was likely a pagan himself and that he had professed the official religion in order to avoid persecution. Thus, he bases his argumentation on a pagan cosmogony as a form of resistance against recent changes in Byzantine bureaucracy.

Auto-determinación y responsabilidad intransferible en Orígenes de Alejandría. Una consideración filosófica (De principiis III, 1)

In this article, I seek to establish the philosophical contribution of Origen to the idea of the free and responsible nature of the moral agent in De principiis III, 1. I will first show the global character of the freedom question in Origen. Second, I will provide an analysis of the phenomenological arguments found in De Principiis in order to establish the need for free will and its constitutive link with the idea of non-transferable responsibility.

La resurrezione dei morti nel Deprincipiis di Origene: note di confronto con alcuni testi precedenti

The paper especially examines De principiis II, 10,1-3; 11,1-7. The features of Origen’s idea of resurrection of the dead (universality, transformation of th...

Basil of Caesarea’s Uses of Origen in His Polemic against Astrology

AbstractBasil of Caesarea, in his polemic against astrology (Homiliae in hexaemeron 6,5−7), makes direct, creative uses of Origen’s anti-astrological treatise (Philocalia 23). My argument is based on an identical context, namely the interpretation of Gen 1:14b, and five close similarities in content, some verbatim, between Basil’s sermon and Origen’s anti-astrological polemic (and in one case a passage from De principiis). These five similarities are on the topics of the definition of genethlialogy, the system of genethlialogy, aspects, the life of the stars, and fatalism. In each instance, Basil uses Origen in a different way. These uses run the gamut from the wholesale adoption of Origen’s definition of genethlialogy to the refutation of Origen’s belief that the stars are alive. Adaptation is necessitated, not only by Basil’s inherent creativity and relative independence from Origen, but by the fact that the rhetorical form of Basil’s treatment is different from Origen’s: whereas Origen offers a commentarial treatment with a systematic question-and-answer structure, Basil’s argument is a rhetorically sophisticated diatribe, which uses sarcasm and mockery to entertain as well as persuade its audience. Basil uses Origen sometimes freely, sometimes verbatim, but always critically, to support his own goals.