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Select Works of Plotinus · 230 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor

Select Works, Section 229

Section 8 8. But what are we to understand by this Zeus with the garden into which, we are told, Poros or Wealth entered? And what is the garden? We have seen that the Aphrodite of the Myth is the Soul and that Poros, Wealth, is the Reason-Principle of the Universe: we have still to explain Zeus and his garden. We cannot take Zeus to be the Soul, which we have agreed is represented by Aphrodite. Plato, who must be our guide in this question, speaks in the Phaedrus of this God, Zeus, as the Great Leader- though elsewhere he seems to rank him as one of three- but in the Philebus he speaks more plainly when he says that there is in Zeus not only a royal Soul, but also a royal Intellect. As a mighty Intellect and Soul, he must be a principle of Cause; he must be the highest for several reasons but especially because to be King and Leader is to be the chief cause: Zeus then is the Intellectual Principle. Aphrodite, his daughter, issue of him, dwelling with him, will be Soul, her very name Aphrodite [= the habra, delicate] indicating the beauty and gleam and innocence and delicate grace of the Soul. And if we take the male gods to represent the Intellectual Powers and the female gods to be their souls- to every Intellectual Principle its companion Soul- we are forced, thus also, to make Aphrodite the Soul of Zeus; and the identification is confirmed by Priests and Theologians who consider Aphrodite and Hera one and the same and call Aphrodite's star the star of Hera.
Themes
◇Anthropomorphismtheology

Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery.

[auto] Divine principles are personified as Poros (Father) and Penia with human-like characteristics and relationships.

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◇Cosmic Dualismtheology

Ontological opposition between two primal principles (light/darkness, truth/lie, spirit/matter) as the fundamental structure of reality.

[auto] The passage highlights the ontological tension between Reason/Form and indeterminate striving within Love.

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◇Divine Marriagesoteriology

The reunification of complementary divine principles (male-female, spirit-matter) as a symbol of wholeness and salvation.

[auto] The birth of Love is depicted as a union of complementary principles, Poros (Possession) and Penia (Poverty).

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◇Emanation Hierarchycosmology

A chain of divine beings or principles flowing downward from a single transcendent source (the One or the Father), each level less perfect than the one above.

[auto] The passage describes a structured descent from the Intellectual realm to the Soul and finally the sense realm.

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◇Hidden Sayingssoteriology

Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.

[auto] The text interprets Plato's myth allegorically to reveal a deeper metaphysical significance beyond the literal story.

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◇Logoscosmology

The divine reason, word, or ordering principle through which the universe was created; mediates between the transcendent God and the material world.

[auto] Love is explicitly identified as a 'Reason-Principle' born from the union of Reason and striving.

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◇Opposites Transcendedanthropology

The dissolution of binary oppositions (male/female, inner/outer, above/below) as a mark of spiritual completion.

[auto] Love is presented as a synthesis that unites opposing forces of Reason and indeterminate striving.

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◇Spiritual Ascentpraxis

A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source.

[auto] The Soul is described in relation to its attainment of the Good, implying a journey upward from indetermination.

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Related passages · 2 parallels
◆greek_mystery|Orphic Hymns|Hymn V. PROTOGONUS, Or the FIRST-BORN (part 2)
“For Phanes is not only among the intelligible Gods, but also among the intellectual ones; in the demiurgic order, and among the super-mundane and mundane Gods. And Night and Heaven in a similar manner: for the peculiarities of these are re…”
Both passages explore the concept of a primordial, divine being that is the source of all creation and existence. Passage A discusses Love as a principle that emanates from the Intellectual Realm, while Passage B describes Phanes, the first-born god who is the origin of all things. Both texts delve into the nature of these beings and their roles in the cosmic order.
◆jewish_mysticism|The Book of Concealed Mystery (Siphra Dtzenioutha)|1b
“If the reader turn to the introduction, to the Table showing the Sephiroth arranged in three pillars, he will see that Malkuth is, as it were, the antithesis of Kether; and hence it is said that "Malkuth is Kether after another manner." And…”
Both passages discuss the relationship between higher and lower divine principles, with Passage A describing the Intellectual Principle (Zeus) and the Soul (Aphrodite), and Passage B discussing the Sephiroth and the relationship between Kether and Malkuth, as well as the expansion of the Most Ancient One into Microprosopus (Beauty). Both explore the hierarchical and interconnected nature of divine realities.