Synesius of cyrene biography of abraham

Synesius of Cyrene c. Synesius was a member of a well-known and rich family of Cyrene , which claimed descent from the half-legendary founders of the city, members of the Spartan royal house. His family's wealth enabled him and his brother Euoptius to travel to Greece before and study in Alexandria after , where Hypatia introduced them to Neo-Platonism.

Synesius (c A.D.),wrote more than letters in total, some of which record the addresses he gave across urban and rural Cyrenaica.

This philosophy taught that there was one, supreme God, that everything in the universe was in harmony or "sympathy", as it was called , and that God cared for Creation providence. Synesius would never cease to believe this, and always remained friends with the wise woman, with whom he continued to exchange letters note [E. In these years, he composed several texts, which show that he was a talented writer.

His Greek is usually an excellent Attic , but his hymns - lighthearted and majestic at the same time - are composed in good Dorian. In these hymns, he praises the beauty of the universe. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he does not treat the subject in a pedantic way. One of his works is On Dreams , which are, in his view, divine revelations that a good philosopher can understand; they are a way to "become linked with the spheres, that is to say, be carried up as if to its own natural state of being", and reach the origin of our existence without having to perform rituals or visit the temples which had been closed in His treatise On Dog Breeding is now lost.

Written by that excellent philosopher Synesius, Bishop of Thebes, or (as some say) Cyren.

A trip from Alexandria to Cyrene, during which he survived shipwreck, is commemorated in a boyish Letter 4. In , he visited the emperor Arcadius in Constantinople , to whom he offered aurum coronarium crown gold. He also wanted to petition for lower taxes for his native city, which had suffered from tribal invaders. It took some time before he caught the emperor's ear, but when he was allowed to speak, he spoke out clearly: his speech On Imperial Rule contains of course all the usual topical statements about the role of a philosopher as impartial and disinterested adviser of a ruler, but also a bold statement that the ruler must act against the abuse of power and corruption, and send away the Germanic troops.