Select Works of Porphyry (Thomas Taylor Series volume II)

Volume II of the Thomas Taylor Series. This volume contains three works by Porphyry, the successor of Plotinus: Abstinence from Animal Foods, in which aspiring philosophers are shown how to apply philosophical ideas and concepts in a practical way in their daily lives. A learned and wide ranging individual, Porphyry presents us with an insight in to many cultural traditions which had their expressions in the Classical world. Auxiliaries to the perception of Intelligible Natures, which clearly reveals Porphyry's position in the succession of later Platonists: He stands between Plotinus (whose Enneads he collected and arranged), and Proclus. The careful way in which this work explores its subject is perfected in Proclus' Elements of Theology. Concerning Homer's Cave of the Nymphs, in which Porphyry unfolds the allegories hidden in a small section of the Odyssey: a beautiful blend of myth and philosophy. Thomas Taylor's own Allegory on the Wanderings and Trials of Ulysses is written