Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume II

Name: Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume II
Author: Marsilio Ficino

Books V–VIII · Latin with an independent English translation

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Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume IIBook VI · Chapter 2 · §§ 15–16

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Latin Page · Branch 80 of 191

Book VI · Chapter 2 · §§ 15–16

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Latin

p. 154

Si quis autem horum qui vincti sunt forte solvatur, subitoque lampadem et alia sub illa quae sequuntur a tergo retro versus intueri cogatur, caligabit protinus et dolebit; ac propter splendorem intueri non poterit illa quorum umbras paulo ante cernebat. Multoque id magis illi mali continget si a spelunca sursum ad caeleste diurnumque lumen repente trahatur. Quare non subito, sed paulatim convenientibus gradibus, ab umbris rerum ad res ipsas, item a luminis imagine ad lumen ipsum est perducendus, ita ut quae in spelunca sunt apud illos prius illic in aqua videat quam ibidem in se ipsis inspiciat. Rursus quae extra speluncam apud nos sunt, primo nocte hic ad lunam in aqua similiter, deinde in se ipsis terrena haec, similiterque in caelo caelestia nocte itidem solum intueatur. Postea vero die tam solem ipsum quam quae sub sole videntur prius in aqua, post in se ipsis illa, demum solem in caelo suspiciat. Hac potissimum ratione singula sincere facileque discernet; atque existimabit se caecum deceptum miserumque fuisse, quando sub specu vinctus exiguis rerum umbris fuerat occupatus.

Proinde quae comparatio est speluncae illius ad hunc mundum quem visibilem nominamus, eadem ferme mundi huius ad illum quem invisibilem divinumque vocamus. Siquidem hic animae miserae moribundi corporis clausae tenebris et carcere caeco neque se ipsas umquam neque alia ulla revera neque verum solem, immo sui aliorumque umbras et exilem quandam veri solis imaginem intuentur. Verae enim mentes, verae res quaeque, verus sol in mundo solum sunt invisibili; quae si absque congruis educationis disciplinarumque gradibus repente intueri conemur, caligamus protinus et dolemus.

Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume II: Book VI

p. 155

If one of the prisoners happens to be released and is suddenly forced to turn about and look back toward the lamp and the other things passing behind him beneath it, his vision will at once be clouded and he will suffer pain. Because of their brilliance, he will be unable to look at the things whose shadows he had seen shortly before. Far more will this harm befall him if he is suddenly dragged upward from the cave into the celestial light of day. He must therefore be led not suddenly but gradually, by fitting stages, from the shadows of things to the things themselves, and likewise from the image of light to light itself. Thus, while still in the cave, he should first see in water the things that are there among the prisoners before looking at those same things there in themselves. Once outside the cave here in our world, he should again first view earthly things in water at night by moonlight, then see those earthly things in themselves; likewise, he should behold the heavenly things in heaven, again only at night. Afterward, by day, let him first view in water both the sun itself and the things seen under the sun, then those things in themselves, and finally raise his eyes to the sun in heaven. By this method above all he will discern each thing easily and without distortion. He will judge that he was blind, deceived, and miserable when he was bound beneath the cave, occupied with the meager shadows of things.

Thus the relation of that cave to this world which we call visible is nearly the same as the relation of this world to the one we call invisible and divine. Here miserable souls, shut within the darkness and blind prison of a dying body, never truly behold themselves, any other things, or the true sun. They see instead the shadows of themselves and others and a feeble image of the true sun. For true minds, all true realities, and the true sun are found only in the invisible world. If we attempt to behold them suddenly, without the fitting stages of education and discipline, our vision is at once clouded and we suffer pain.

273.The source paragraph begins at the painted M1482 sign before Si quis autem.

274.The ordered pedagogy remains fully articulated: shadows, reflected cave-objects, cave-objects themselves, earthly reflections by moonlight, earthly and celestial things at night, daytime reflections, things under the sun, and finally the sun itself.

275.Sincere is rendered ‘without distortion,’ its force here being undeceived or unmixed perception rather than moral sincerity.

276.The source paragraph begins at the painted M1482 sign before Proinde and explicitly maps cave to visible world, and visible world to invisible divine world.

277.Moribundi corporis is ‘a dying body,’ preserving Ficino's stronger claim rather than weakening it to ‘mortal body.’

278.The threefold verae mentes, verae res quaeque, verus sol is preserved as true minds, all true realities, and the true sun.

About This Reading Edition

Volume II continues Ficino’s inquiry into the immortality of the soul through Books V–VIII. Its arguments consider the rational soul’s self-motion, its relation to the body, sensation, and the powers of the mind. The Latin and independent English translation follow the supplied edition’s facing pages and matching comparison units.

Historical Text and Translation

The Latin reading text is independently established from the Florence 1482 editio princeps (M1482), collated against the Paris 1559 printing (G1559), with the Paris 1641 Opera used only as a late control. Abbreviations are expanded, spelling and punctuation are conservatively normalized, and consequential readings are recorded in the apparatus.

About Diotimos Editions

Diotimos Editions prepared this independent English translation in the voice established in Volume I, preserving Ficino’s argumentative sequence, metaphors, technical distinctions, repetitions, conditions, purposes, and qualifications. Editorial notes and witness variants accompany their passages as numbered notes. The edition and source statement, contents, and reading guidance are also retained. The source locator register remains available in the downloadable edition.