THEIA

Centre Jean Pépin UMR8230 CNRS Paris / MSCActions European Commission

Themistii in libros Aristotelis De Anima paraphrasis

Themistius’ Paraphrases of Aristotle’s On the Soul has come down to us in Greek (CAG V/3).

In the K. al-Fihrist, we are told that Iṣhāq b. Ḥunayn (d. 911) translated it in its entirety (K. al-Fihrist, Flügel: 251,12). Iṣhāq’s Arabic translation is extant and edited. This translation counts as an independent witness that helps in improving the Greek text (Lyons 1955, 1973: XIII; Browne 1986). Among the Arab authors who refer to his Paraphrase by name there are Avicenna, Ibn Bājja, and Averroes. Several of their references to him are, however, concerned with minor points. The main influence of his exegesis on the Arabic thought concerns his interpretation of Aristotle’s account on intellect and its implications for the issue of the immortality of the soul. These sources frequently mention his authority in opposition to Alexander of Aphrodisias’ interpretation, in particular, regarding the issue of the immortality of the intellect and that of the nature of the passive and speculative intellects (Taylor 2009, 2013). Among the Latin authors notabily there is Thomas Aquinas (De Corte 1932, Verbeke 1955, Coda 2017) and other magistri followed in Thomas’ footsteps (Mahoney 1973).

The Paraphrase of Aristotle’s On the Soul was translated from Greek into Latin by William of Moeberke in Viterbo, 1267. Moeberke’s Latin translation is extant and edited (Verbeke 1973). Another Latin translation of this Paraphrase was carried out by Ermolao Barbaro the Younger (1454–1493), between 1471 and 1480, in Naples, and first published in 1481; this translation was also based on the Greek original. Barbaro the Younger’s Latin translation has been reviewed by the translator himself in 1492 and repeatedly published with his translations of Themistius’ In An. Post. and In Phys. (Todd 2003), and is edited, too (CAG Versiones Latinae/XVIII 1978). Another annotated Latin translation of chapter 3 (paragraphs 4–13) of his Paraphrase of Aristotle’s On the Soul by Ludovico Nogarola was carried out in Verona (c. 1554). Nogarola’s Latin translation was based on the Greek original; it has been repeatedly published (Todd 2003). Several versions (s. XVI, 1582–1588) of a Latin translation of his Paraphrase by Federico Bonaventura have come down to us and these have been repeatedly published (Todd 2003).

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A. Editions:
a. Greek Text
– Editio princeps – ΤΑ ΤΟΥ ΘΕΜΙΣΤΙΟΣ ΕΥΦΡΑΔΟΥΣ ΑΠΑΝΤΑ, ΤΟΥΤΕΣΤΙ ΠΑΡΑΦΡΑΣΕΙΣ, ΚΑΙ ΛΟΓΟΙ. ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ ΑΦΡΟΔΙΣΙΕΩΣ ΠΕΡΙ ΨΥΧΗΣ ΒΙΒΛΙΑ ΔΥΟ, ΚΑΙ ΕΝ ΠΕΡΙ ΕΙΜΑΡΜΕΝΞΣ. Omnia Themistii Opera, hoc est Paraphrases et Orationes. Alexandri Aphrodisiensis libri duo de anima, et de fato unus, ed. Vittore Trincavelli, in ædibus hæredeum Aldi Manutii & Andreæ Asulani, Venetiis 1534.

– Spengel (1866): Themistii paraphrases Aristotelis librorum quae supersunt ed. L. Spengel, Teubner, Leipzig 1866 (based on the Editio Princeps and on the MS Monace
– Heinze (1899): Themistii in libros Aristotelis De Anima paraphrasis ed. R. Heinze, Reimer, Berlin 1899 (CAG V, 3).

Manuscript Tradition – NB: section still under construction:
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, grec 1888, fol. 153b-225r (XV cent., PINAKES ENTRY)
Paris, Bibliothèque Mazarine 4456 (olim 1228), fol. 23-75

Dated 1450
Copyst: Hieronymus Charitonymus [PINAKES ENTRY])

b. Arabic Translation
– Lyons (1973): M.C. Lyons, An Arabic Translation of Themistius’ Commentary on Aristotle’s De Anima, Cassirer, Oxford 1973 (Oriental. Studies, 2).

c. Moerbeke’s Latin Translation
–Verbeke (1973): Thémistius. Commentaire sur le traité de l’ âme d’ Aristote, traduction de Guillaume de Moerbeke. Édition critique et étude sur l’utilisation du commentaire dans l’oeuvre de saint Thomas par G. Verbeke, Brill, Leiden 1973 (Corpus Latinum Commentariorum in Aristotelem Graecorum, 1).

R.B. Todd, “Themistius”, in V. Brown (Editor in Chief) – J. Hankins – R.A. Kaster (Associate Editors), Catalogus translationum et commentariorum. Mediaeval and Renaissance Latin Translations and Commentaries. Annotated Lists and Guides, vol. VIII, The Catholic University of America Press, Washington D.C. 2003, pp. 59-102, esp. p. 78, claims that Moerbeke’s authorship is established “mainly on stylistic grounds”, echoing Paravicini Bagliani, “Guillaume de Moerbeke et la cour pontificale”, in J. Brams – W. Vanhamel (eds.), Guillaume de Moerbeke. Recueil d’études à l’occasion di 700e anniversaire de sa mort (1286), Leuven U.P., Leuven 1989 (Ancient and Medieval Philosophy. De Wulf-Mansion Centre, Series I, 8), pp. 23-52, part. p. 24 n. 2: “l’attribution de cette traduction à Guillaume de Moerbeke se fonde aussi sur des argumentations d’ordre linguistique”. Paravicini Bagliani refers to Verbeke, Thémistius. Commentaire sur le traité de l ’âme d’ Aristote (above, part A), pp. lxiii-lxviii, who, following the lead of L. Minio-Paluello, “Guglielmo di Moerbeke traduttore della Poetica di Aristotele, 1278”, Rivista di filosofia neo-scolastica 39 (1947), pp. 1-17 (repr. in Id., Opuscula. The Latin Aristotle, Hakkert, Amsterdam 1972, pp. 40-56), compares the Latin renderings of various Greek particles, reaching the conclusion that “l’identité du traducteur ne fait pas de doute, à cause de la convergence des données de la critique externe (lieu et date de traduction) avec celles de la critique interne, bien que ces dernières soient incomplètes. La méthode de traduction est certainement celle de Guillaume de Moerbeke et les informations sur le lieu et la date de la version correspondent avec ce que nous savons par ailleurs sur l’activité du célèbre dominicain flamand”.

B. Translations:

Barbaro Jr. (1481, 1499): Themistii Peripatetici lucidissimi Pharaphrasis in Aristotelis Posteriora, et Physica … Memoria et Reminiscentia … Ermolao Barbaro … interprete, Venetiis 1481, 1499 (2nd. revised and posthumous edition).

Ludovico Nogarola (1554): Themistii Peripatetici lucidissimi Paraphrasis … Hermolao Barbaro Patricio Veneto Interprete. Additae sunt et Lucubrationes quae Themistii obscuriora loca apertissima reddunt. Additus est index necnon contradictionum solutiones Marci Antonii Zimarrae … His demum omnibus adiecimus Eiusdem Themistii Paraphrasem in librum Tertium de Anima nuper a Magnifico Comite D. Ludovico Nogarola Veronensi, latinitate donatam …, Apud Hieronymum Scotum, Venetiis 1554.

Federico Bonaventura (between 1582 and 1588): Federici Bonauenturae Urbinatis Opuscula quomodo calor a sole corporibusque caelestibus producatur secundum Aristotelem. Utrum homo affici rabie possit, affectus interire ex Aristotelis sententia. De lactea via Arist. sententiae explicatio, & defensio. Accessit eiusdem auctoris versio paraphrasis Themisti in tertium Aristotelis librum de anima. Ad serenissimum … Franciscum Mariam… Vrbini ducem …, ex typographia Marci Antonij Mazzantini, apud Aloysium de Ghisonis, Urbini 1627

On these Latin translations cf. R.B. Todd, “Themistius”, in V. Brown (Editor in Chief) – J. Hankins – R.A. Kaster (Associate Editors), Catalogus translationum et commentariorum. Mediaeval and Renaissance Latin Translations and Commentaries. Annotated Lists and Guides, vol. VIII, The Catholic University of America Press, Washington D.C. 2003, pp. 59-102, esp. pp. 79-84.

a. English Translations
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b. Italian Translation
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