Philostratus, The Life of Apollonius of Tyana: Volume I. Books 1-5 (Loeb Classical Library No. 16) [Hardcover]

Flavius Philostratus (Author), Philostratus (Author), F. C. Conybeare (Author)

Book Description

Series: Loeb Classical Library | Publication Date: January 1, 1912

THIS EDITION HAS BEEN REPLACED BY A NEWER EDITION.

Novel and biography are joined in this literary work with a historical core. Philostratus' life of the first century mystic from Tyana was written at the request of the empress Julia Domna. It portrays a man with supernatural powers, a Pythagorean who predicts the future, cures the sick, raises the dead, and himself prevails over death, ascending to heaven and later appearing to disciples to prove his immortality. The account has a rich and varied setting: Apollonius' ministering carries him throughout the eastern Mediterranean world, as far south as Ethiopia, and eastward to India. Philostratus' Life of Apollonius was long viewed by Christians as a dangerous attempt to set up a Christ-like rival.

This two-volume edition of the Life of Apollonius of Tyana includes, in the second volume, a collection of Apollonius' letters and a treatise by the Christian bishop and historian Eusebius attacking Apollonius as a charlatan.

Also available by Philostratus 'the Athenian' in the Loeb Classical Library is his Lives of the Sophists, a treasury of information about notable sophists that yields a good picture of the predominant influence of Sophistic in the educational, social, and political life of the Empire in the 2nd and 3rd centuries.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Loeb Classical Library (January 1, 1912)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674990188
• ISBN-13: 978-0674990180
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,952,424 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sorry Folks, This is not About Jesus, February 10, 2002

By 

Don G. Evans (Randallstown, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Philostratus, The Life of Apollonius of Tyana: Volume I. Books 1-5 (Loeb Classical Library No. 16) (Hardcover)

It is an interesting habit of many Amazon reviewers, when touching on topics relating to religion, to use their reviews as platforms for the expression of not infrequently bizarre ideas of tenuous or even non-existent relationship to the book being reviewed. As for Philostratus Life of Apollonius, the book is of interest despite its real or imagined relationship to Christianity. It recounts the story of a philosopher, wizard, sage or charlatan (there is evidence for all these descriptions) who lived an apparently long and well-traveled life in the first century of the common era. Did he actually exist? The texts suggest a strong parallel to the same question in regard to Jesus. While it is not impossible that stories about both were made up by various authors for purposes which defenders of such ideas never make too clear, responsible historical scholarship takes the less sensational route of positing a historical figure around whom stories grew reflecting both historical and legendary components. While this is much more boring than positing ancient conspiracies, common sense should tell us that it is, absent compelling contrary evidence, the most logical and parsimonious way to interpret the texts that have come down to us. Why indeed should the presence of supernatural attributions mean that the persons to whom they are ascribed never existed? Surely it makes more sense to have a historical view that recognizes our sources as containing fact, myth, and that hazy in between that so many modern readers seem to have trouble accepting. As to the juicy question whether the Gospels are derived from stories about Apollonius, I invite readers to read Philostratus for themselves, along with accounts of other pagan wonder-workers of antiquity from Pythagoras on. They will see that the peculiarly Judaeo-Hellenistic features of the Gospel story are no more or less similar to tales about Apollonius than they are to virtually any other ancient myths or legends, and that authors who pretend otherwise are either misleading their readers or have not read the texts they presume to expound. There is also no evidence that Philostratus was trying to set up Apollonius as an alternative to Christ, although a certain Hierocles tried to do this in the third century, earning a comprehensive (and rather entertaining) rebuke by the church historian Eusebius, conveniently included in volume two of this edition of the Life. The Life is basically a kind of historical novel, with many fictional elements woven around a historical core. Aside from its tenuous relationship to Christianity, it is worth reading in its own right. There are many amusing stories, more than a little natural history (real and fantastic), and some gripping accounts of Apollonius dealings with the Roman emperors Vespasian and Domitian. I must say that much of the first volume can be rather slow, but towards its end, and pretty much throughout the second volume, the pace picks up as our author becomes more the novelist and less the dry compiler, to the benefit of his readers. Check it out for yourself!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The classic translation, April 8, 2005

By 

Horatio5 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Philostratus, The Life of Apollonius of Tyana: Volume I. Books 1-5 (Loeb Classical Library No. 16) (Hardcover)

Conybeare's is the classic translation of Philostratus' 3rd century Greek work. I look forward with interest to C.P.Jones' updated loeb translation later this year but he will have a hard time rendering the Greek as well as Conybeare who makes an attractive read for non-specialists but sticks faithfully to the original Greek as best he can too.

The index at the back of the volumes is also extremely useful and comprehensive.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not about Christianity, but a Must Read, March 3, 2001

By 

Tobey H. Llop "Tobiwan" (E. Amherst, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Philostratus, The Life of Apollonius of Tyana: Volume I. Books 1-5 (Loeb Classical Library No. 16) (Hardcover)

This biography, written about 170 C.E. is of the life of the person who could well have been the model for the legendary Jesus Christ. Even if one accepts "on faith" that the Gospels, which appeared about 325 C.E., conveniently back dated, this is an important book. It was written between the times when the first Christians were wiped out by the legions of Caligula and when the modern religion claiming the name was custom created for Constantine to support his conquests. It's author had no involvement in the contraversies between the Jewish sects, nor did his subject, both being Greek.