The beginning of our proof is as follows:- The soul through all her being is immortal, for that which is ever in motion is immortal; but that which moves another and is moved by another, in ceasing to move ceases also to live.
Only the self-moving, never leaving self, never ceases to move, and is the fountain and beginning of motion to all that moves besides.
Now, the beginning is unbegotten, for that which is begotten has a beginning; but the beginning is begotten of nothing, for if it were begotten of something, then the begotten would not come from a beginning.
But if unbegotten, it must also be indestructible; for if beginning were destroyed, there could be no beginning out of anything, nor anything out of a beginning; and all things must have a beginning.
And therefore the self-moving is the beginning of motion; and this can neither be destroyed nor begotten, else the whole heavens and all creation would collapse and stand still, and never again have motion or birth.
But if the self-moving is proved to be immortal, he who affirms that self-motion is the very idea and essence of the soul will not be put to confusion.
For the body which is moved from without is soulless; but that which is moved from within has a soul, for such is the nature of the soul.
But if this be true, must not the soul be the self-moving, and therefore of necessity unbegotten and immortal?
Enough of the soul's immortality.
Of the nature of the soul, though her true form be ever a theme of large and more than mortal discourse, let me speak briefly, and in a figure.
And let the figure be composite-a pair of winged horses and a charioteer.
Now the winged horses and the charioteers of the gods are all of them noble and of noble descent, but those of other races are mixed; the human charioteer drives his in a pair; and one of them is noble and of noble breed, and the other is ignoble and of ignoble breed; and the driving of them of necessity gives a great deal of trouble to him.
I will endeavour to explain to you in what way the mortal differs from the immortal creature.
The soul in her totality has the care of inanimate being everywhere, and traverses the whole heaven in divers forms appearing--when perfect and fully winged she soars upward, and orders the whole world; whereas the imperfect soul, losing her wings and drooping in her flight at last settles on the solid ground-there, finding a home, she receives an earthly frame which appears to be self-moved, but is really moved by her power; and this composition of soul and body is called a living and mortal creature.
For immortal no such union can be reasonably believed to be; although fancy, not having seen nor surely known the nature of God, may imagine an immortal creature having both a body and also a soul which are united throughout all time.
Let that, however, be as God wills, and be spoken of acceptably to him.
And now let us ask the reason why the soul loses her wings!
The wing is the corporeal element which is most akin to the divine, and which by nature tends to soar aloft and carry that which gravitates downwards into the upper region, which is the habitation of the gods.
The divine is beauty, wisdom, goodness, and the like; and by these the wing of the soul is nourished, and grows apace; but when fed upon evil and foulness and the opposite of good, wastes and falls away.
Themes
◆Body As Obstacleanthropology
The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return.
The passage contrasts the soul's self-motion with the body's external motion, stating that the body is soulless and the union of soul and body results in mortality.
Augustinian and Plotinian doctrine that evil has no positive being of its own but is a lack, distortion, or absence of the good — denying ontological dualism while preserving moral seriousness.
The passage explicitly defines evil as what causes the soul to lose its wings and fall away from divine beauty, framing it as a deprivation rather than a positive force.
The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.
The 'beginning' or self-moving principle is described as unbegotten and indestructible, functioning as a singular first source of motion and existence.
Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight.
The author uses apparent contradictions such as 'unbegotten yet begotten' and 'self-moving yet moved' to illustrate the nature of the soul's immortality.
The soul's journey back to its divine origin, reversing the fall into matter through stages of purification or illumination.
The soul is depicted as losing its wings when fed upon evil and falling away, implying a return to its divine origin through purification from such states.