PRISCIAN On Theophrastus on Sense-Perception with ‘SIMPLICIUS’ On Aristotle On the Soul 2.5-12 This page intentionally left blank PRISCIAN On Theophrastus on Sense-Perception Translated by Pamela Huby with ‘SIMPLICIUS’ On Aristotle On the Soul 2.5-12 Translated by Carlos Steel In collaboration with J.O. Urmson Notes by Peter Lautner LONDON • NEW DELHI • NEW YORK • SYDNEY Bloomsbury Academic An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 50 Bedford Square 1385 Broadway London New York WC1B 3DP NY 10018 UK USA www.bloomsbury.com Bloomsbury is a registered trade mark of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc First published in 1997 by Gerald Duckworth & Co. Ltd. Paperback edition fi rst published 2014 © 2013 Richard Sorabji, Pamela Huby, Carlos Steel, Peter Lautner Richard Sorabji, Pamela Huby, Carlos Steel, Peter Lautner have asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identifi ed as Authors of this work. All rights reserved. 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The present translations have been made possible by generous and imaginative funding from the following sources: the National Endowment for the Humanities, Division of Research Programs, an independent federal agency of the USA; the Leverhulme Trust; the British Academy; the Jowett Copyright Trustees; the Royal Society (UK); Centro Internazionale A. Beltrame di Storia dello Spazio e del Tempo (Padua); Mario Mignucci; Liverpool University; the Leventis Foundation; the Humanities Research Board of the British Academy; the Esmée Fairbairn Charitable Trust; the Henry Brown Trust. The editor wishes to thank Dolores Iorizzo for her help in preparing the volume for press. Typeset by Ray Davies Printed and bound in Great Britain Contents Preface Richard Sorabji vii Priscian: On Theophrastus on Sense-Perception Translation by Pamela Huby Introduction 3 Bibliography 5 Textual Emendations 7 Translation 9 Notes 49 English-Greek Glossary 71 Greek-English Index 82 Index of Passages 99 ‘Simplicius’: On Aristotle On the Soul 2.5-12 Introduction and translation by Carlos Steel Notes by Peter Lautner Introduction 103 Textual Emendations 141 Translation 143 Notes 213 English-Greek Glossary 230 Greek-English Index 234 Index of Names and Subjects 260 This page intentionally left blank Preface Richard Sorabji The translation of ‘Simplicius’ on On the Soul by Carlos Steel is based on a complete draft by J.O. Urmson. Urmson’s original annotations are marked J.O.U. Apart from a few annotations by the general editor, some- times marked ‘Ed.’, the great bulk have been supplied by Peter Lautner. There is a purpose in presenting this translation alongside Pamela Huby’s translation, with notes, of Priscian’s Paraphrase of Theophrastus on Sense-Perception. The juxtapostion should help readers to make up their own minds regarding the question of authorship. In 1972, F. Bossier and C. Steel questioned the attribution of the On the Soul commentary to Simplicius and argued for its attribution to his colleague Priscian of Lydia instead. They thus revived the hypothesis put forward by Franciscus Piccolomini in 1602. But their article, ‘Priscianus Lydus en de In de Anima van Pseudo (?) Simplicius’ (Tijdschrift voor Filosofie 34, 1972, pp. 761- 822), being in Dutch, has been less widely read than it deserves to be. Carlos Steel has now updated his views and presents a revised version of the article in English. The portion of the text he here translates is commenting on Aristotle’s views on sense perception. This makes a com- parison all the easier, because Huby’s text, which is acknowledged to be by Priscian, purports to represent the views of Aristotle’s successor, Theo- phrastus, on the very same subject: sense perception. Both texts give a highly Neoplatonist account. Theophrastus’ text was an eight-book treatise on Physics. The fifth book discussed not only sense-perception, but also intellect and imagination and Aristotle’s views on all of these. These topics are reflected in Priscian’s paraphrase. There is a reference by ‘Simplicius’ at in DA 136,29 to his own epitome of Theophrastus’ Physics. Bossier and Steel (p. 763) take this to be a reference by Priscian to the paraphrase of Theophrastus on Sense- Perception which is translated here. Priscian and Simplicius, to whom the commentaries are ascribed, were among the seven Neoplatonist philosophers who went to Persia when the Christian Emperor Justinian closed the Athenian School in 529. The identity of ‘Simplicius’ remains to be decided. This page intentionally left blank PRISCIAN On Theophrastus on Sense-Perception translated by Pamela Huby