The Training of Porphyry’s ‘Athlete’: The Ascetic Philosopher in On the Abstinence from Eating Flesh.
The Training of Porphyry’s ‘Athlete’: The Ascetic Philosopher in On the Abstinence from Eating Flesh.

Summary/Abstract: The image of the historical athlete who enters the ancient Greek stadium is a perfect medium for clarifying theconceptual philosopher’s liberation from material bonds and ascent to the higher causal order in Porphyry’sOn the Abstinence from Eating Flesh. The image is emphasized when Porphyry prescribes the practice ofvegetarianism and immaterial sacrifice for the conceptual philosopher’s preparation for the specific ‘contest’of freeing from material concerns such as food and sacrifice and eventual transformation in to the as the priestof the Highest God.

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