The Notion of Fire in the Chaldean Oracles: Classical and Innovative Methods of Lexical Analysis for Mapping Intertextuality
The Notion of Fire in the Chaldean Oracles: Classical and Innovative Methods of Lexical Analysis for Mapping Intertextuality

Summary/Abstract: The article proposes a lexical analysis of the Chaldean Oracles, focusing on fire-related vocabulary, to map its influence on early modern philosophy. The research combines both classical qualitative methods and computational approaches to examine distinctive expressions found in this ancient wisdom text. Particular attention is given to the multifaceted symbolism of fire in the Oracles and its reception in some early modern English texts. The study utilizes distant reading queries on digital corpora, primarily the Early Print website’s Corpus Search function, to trace the reappearance of specific fire related phrases in early modern texts. While some queries yielded stimulating connections, such as the use of ‘intellectual fire’ in Ralph Cudworth’s works, others produced fewer results, highlighting both the potential and the limitations of this approach. The analysis reveals that while the Chaldean Oracles remained an important reference in 17th-century philosophical debates, the patterns of their influence were complex and not always reflected in verbatim quotations.

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