PORPHYRY Greek philos opher of the Neo-Platonic school, celebrated as an antagonist of Christianity: b. either at Tyre, whence he is called Tyrius, or at Batanea, the Bashan of Scripture, a town of Syria, whence he is also called Bataneotes, about 233 A.n.; d. Rome, about 304. His original name was Mai elms, from the Syrophmnician melech, king. Longinus, whose he became, gave him the title of Porphyrios, that is, purple-clad. He early became the pupil of Origen, and afterward studied under Apollonius and Longinus in Athens. At 30 he came for the second time to Rome to place himself under the teaching of Plotinus. Porphyry at first disputed the doc trine taught him, in a treatise in support of the position "that the things perceived by the mind exist out of the mind?" which he submitted to Plotinus. Amelius, his associate and assistant, wrote a treatise in reply; and after some fur ther controversy Porphyry read a recantation in the school. This incident is important, as indicating the teaching of Longinus, and pos sibly by implication of Ammonius, the instructor of Plotinus. Porphyry finished by entirely adopting the opinions and obtaining the con fidence of Plotinus, whose literary assistant and executor he became, and whom he induced to commit his views to writing. Porphyry was naturally of a hypochrondriacal disposition, and the abtruse mysticism of Plotinus incited in him a tendency to cherish thoughts of suicide, which Plotinus perceiving recommended to him a change of situation, and about 268 he went to Sicily. Here he is said to have written his treatise against the Christians in 15 books. It was publicly burned by the Emperor Theodo sius, and is known only from fragments in the authors who have refuted him. Porphyry, as well as Plotinus, recognized Christ as an emi nent philosopher; but charged the Christians with corrupting his doctrines. The philosophy of Porphyry is completely identified with that of Plotinus (q.v.). Porphyry represented chiefly the religious phase of this philosophy, and we need here only refer to its relation to the popu lar mythology and theurgy, which has been merely adverted to in the life of Plotinus. The best ancient philosophers found no difficulty in reconciling polytheism with the belief in one supreme and omnipotent God. Plotinus
and Porphyry joined a belief in good and evil demons and a respect at least for the Greek mythology with their philosophical tenets. These beliefs have been the ground of accusa tions of inconsistency against Porphyry, who dwells on them occasionally in his writings. He believed, as did Plotinus, in enchantment as a means of acquiring power over demons and the souls of the dead; but always ranked philoso phy higher than mythology, and from his letter to the Egyptian prophet Anebo it appears that at a later period of his life doubts of the popu lar theology, and of the theurgical notions asso ciated with it, had begun to prevail with him. The practical tendencies of his philosophy were ascetic. He held that all matter was polluted, and that no material sacrifice ought to be of fered to the supreme God. He abstained from animal food, and would also, had it been pos sible, have abstained from vegetable diet. He distinguisheA four degrees of virtue— political virtue, or that of moderation is the first grade; purifying virtue, which sets the soul free from passion, and by means of which men are made to resemble demons, is the second - grade; in the third grade, which corresponds with the absorbing devotion of philosophy, man becomes a god; and in the fourth, answering to the ecstatic state of Plotinus, he becomes the father of the gods. He recognizes a soul in animals, and accords to them a certain amount of in telligence and reason. Porphyry was a volu minous writer, but comparatively few of his works are extant. Besides his editorial work for Plotinus, the most important are his Lives of Plotinus and Pythagoras, the latter supposed to be a fragment of a larger history of phi losophers. Among his other works are 'Prin ciples Concerning Intelligibles,' a resume of the Philosophy of Plotinus ; the 'Cave of the Nymphs in the Odyssey); four books, 'On Abstinence from Animal Food); an (Introduc tion to the Categories of Aristotle); a (Com mentary on the Harmanica of Ptolemy,) a 10 volume work in verse,
Philosophia ex Oraculis Libri,' and a contribution to a symbol ical interpretation of Homer. Consult Bouillet,