The Representation of Athena and the Autochthony Myth in Plato’s Timaeus
By Valerio Caldesi Valeri (University of Kentucky)
Before articulating its complex theories on the birth of the universe and the genesis of mankind, Plato’s Timaeus has Critias report a time-honored story, according to which an Egyptian priest describes Athena as settling Athens in Greece and Sais in Egypt. A cursory reference is made there to the Athenian autochthony myth wherein Athena brushed off Ephaestus’ sperma onto the earth/Ge thus generating the land’s first inhabitant, whose rearing Athena supervised. (23e)
The Concept of "Physis" in the Sophistic Fragments of Antiphon
By Luke Lea (Columbia University)
Against the prevalent scholarly reconstruction of the concept of physis in Antiphon’s sophistic fragments, this paper argues that Antiphon’s physis serves as the anchor of a well-developed ethical theory, in which physis features as the sole locus of human value. These fragments include perhaps the earliest surviving discussion of the nomos/physis antithesis, which left so definitive a mark on the Greek literature of the classical period.
Similarity and Dependence in the Final Ranking of Plato's Philebus
By Ross Gilmore (University of Kansas)
In this paper, I offer a new reading of the so-called Final Ranking which concludes Plato’s Philebus. Specifically, I argue that the principle which organizes the five-tiered ranking is dependence.
Pragma, Karma, and Pyrrho
By David H. Sick (Rhodes College)
Recent studies on Pyrrhonism have taken seriously the mention in Diogenes Laertius (9.61) that its eponymous founder, Pyrrho, studied with Indian Gymnosophists while he travelled in the retinue of Alexander the Great. Most notably Christopher Beckwith (2015) argued that Pyrrhonism is one of the earliest documented representations of Buddhism, but more generally scholars (Flintoff, Hanner, Kuzminski, McEvilley) have noted similarities in Buddhist skepticism and the Pyrrhonist version of the same school of thought.
Platonic Philosophy in Hellenistic Alexandria: The Case of Eratosthenes of Cyrene
By Sara Panteri (University of Michigan)
The communis opinio posits a division of roles in the Hellenistic period between the cultural hubs of Athens and Alexandria. Athens remained the place for philosophy, whereas those in Alexandria engaged in scientific research (e.g., mathematics, geography, and anatomy) and paid scant attention to philosophy (Fraser 1972; Netz 2020).
Crossroads of the Dialogue: Rethinking the "Parabasis" in Plato's Euthydemus
By Matthew B Pincus (University of Virginia)
Crossroads of the Dialogue: Rethinking the “Parabasis” in Plato’s Euthydemus