Diotimos Library · Renaissance Collection · Bilingual Edition
Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume I
Proem and Books I–IV · Latin with an independent English translation
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Latin Page · Branch 164 of 174
Book IV · Chapter 1 · §§ 92–94
Latin
p. 330Sunt praeterea in igne et aere, propter situm perspicuitatemque ipsorum caelis convenientem, partes aliquae quasi e regione sideribus respondentes, quae directis quibusdam nobilitate influxibus sufficienter praeparantur ad mentes suscipiendas.
Partes autem seu aquae terraeque crassiores, sive ignis aerisque in terris diffusi, a globis propriis segregatae animos non merentur, quia et globorum amittunt dignitatem et propter perpetuum corporum externorum impetum simplicitatem suam puritatemque non servant. Quod si diligentius miscentur invicem quousque diuturna qualitatum temperatione aequalitatem quandam recuperent similem sphaerarum aequalitati, primum quidem mirabiles operationes quasdam consequuntur in mixtis, deinde vitam in plantis, tum sensum, denique rationem.
Si quis autem divinorum auctorum nomina nosse desideret, sciat Orphei theologiam sphaerarum animas ita partiri, ut quaelibet vim geminam habeat: unam in cognoscendo positam, alteram in sphaerae corpore vivificando atque regendo. Ergo in elemento terrae illam vim Plutonem Orpheus nominat, hanc Proserpinam. In aqua Oceanum illam, hanc Thetin. In aere fulminatorem Iovem atque Iunonem. In igne Phanetam et Auroram. In anima sphaerae lunaris illam Bacchum Licnitum, hanc Thaliam Musam. In anima rursus Mercurii sphaerae illam vim Bacchum Silenum, hanc Euterpen. Veneris Lysium et Erato. Solis Trietericum et Melpomenen. Martis Bassareum atque Clio. Iovis Sabasium et Terpsichorem. Saturni Amphietum, Polymniamque. Octavae sphaerae Pericionium et Uraniam. In anima vero mundi vim primam vocat Bacchum Eribromum, secundam Musam Calliopen.
Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume I: Book IV
p. 331Moreover, because their position and transparency accord with the heavens, certain parts of fire and air answer to the stars as though stationed directly opposite them. Through certain direct influxes, these parts are ennobled sufficiently to receive minds.
The coarser parts of water and earth, however, as well as the parts of fire and air dispersed through the earth, do not merit souls once they have been separated from their proper globes. They lose the dignity of those globes and, under the perpetual assault of external bodies, fail to preserve their own simplicity and purity. But if they are mingled with one another more carefully, until through a long tempering of their qualities they recover a certain balance like that of the spheres, they first attain certain marvelous operations in mixed bodies, then life in plants, thereafter sensation, and finally reason.
If anyone wishes to know the names given by divine authorities, let him know that Orphic theology divides the souls of the spheres so that each possesses a twofold power: one devoted to knowing, the other to giving life to and governing the body of its sphere. Thus, in the element of earth Orpheus calls the former power Pluto and the latter Proserpina; in water, Oceanus and Thetis; in air, Jupiter the Thunderer and Juno; in fire, Phanetas and Aurora. In the soul of the lunar sphere he calls them Bacchus Licnitus and the Muse Thalia; in the soul of Mercury's sphere, Bacchus Silenus and Euterpe; in Venus, Lysius and Erato; in the Sun, Trietericus and Melpomene; in Mars, Bassareus and Clio; in Jupiter, Sabasius and Terpsichore; in Saturn, Amphietus and Polyhymnia; and in the eighth sphere, Pericionius and Urania. In the soul of the world he calls the first power Bacchus Eribromus and the second the Muse Calliope.
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Reading Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume I · Book IV · IV.1.92–IV.1.94
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Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology places the immortality of the soul at the center of an extended philosophical ascent through body, soul, angel, and God. This exact page-aligned Renaissance edition presents the authorial Proem and Books I–IV in a newly established Latin reading text with an independent English translation prepared by Diotimos Editions.
Historical Text and Translation
The Latin reading text is based on the Florence editio princeps printed by Antonio Miscomini on 7 November 1482 and principally collated against the Paris 1559 printing, with a 1641 Opera printing used only as a late control and OCR aid. Abbreviations are expanded, spelling and punctuation are conservatively normalized, and substantive departures among the witnesses are documented in the edition’s apparatus.
About Diotimos Editions
Diotimos Editions prepared this independently worded English translation in house. It aims for a dignified but readable modern register while preserving Ficino’s argumentative sequence, metaphors, technical distinctions, repetitions, conditions, purpose clauses, and direct appeals; long periods are divided only where clarity requires it.
Rights
Ficino’s Latin source work is in the public domain. The 2026 English translation and Diotimos editorial matter are original to this edition and remain © 2026 Diotimos.