The concept of the Sun as ἡγεμονικόν in the Stoa and in Manilius’ Astronomica

n 21 (September, 2017) • Archai: As Origens do Pensamento Ocidental

Autor: Eduardo Murtinho Braga Boechat

Resumo:

Hegemonikon in Stoic vocabulary is the technical term for the chief part or ‘command-centre’ of the soul. As we know, the Stoics considered the cosmos a living organism, and they theorised both about the human soul’s Hegemonikon and about its counterpart in the World-soul. My ultimate purpose in this paper is to show that the Stoic concept of the cosmic hegemonikon can be observed in Manilius’ Astronomica. The paper is divided in two parts. To begin with, I will examine and discuss the evidence concerning this concept in the relevant texts of the Early and Middle Stoa. The analysis will make clear that by the time of Manilius the concept of hegemonikon involved a background of astronomical theory introduced by the Stoic Posidonius. In the second section, I will go on to relate the concept of hegemonikon to the doctrines conveyed by Manilius. Additionally, we shall see that Manilius’ polemic allusions to Lucretius’ De Rerum Natura suggest that the concept was intensely debated in the Post-Hellenistic philosophical circles.

 

ISSN: 1984-249X

DOI: DOI: https://doi.org/10.14195/1984 -249X_21_3

Texto Completo: http://periodicos.unb.br/index.php/archai/article/view/17167/19007

Palavras-Chave: Ancoent Cosmology,Stoics,Manilius,Greek Astro

Archai: As Origens do Pensamento Ocidental

Archai: Journal on the origins of Ancient Thought is published three times a year by Archai UNESCO Chair (University of Brasilia, Brazil).

It is published in Brazil (University of Brasília/Annablume) and in Portugal (Coimbra University Press, IUC), both printed and electronic free online access.

All manuscripts will undergo blind-review by peers.

Archai Journal is committed to a speedy and author-friendly review process; Authors can expect to receive notification the editorial decision within four months.

It is indexed by Web of Science - ESCI (Emerging Sources Citation Index), SciELO, European Reference Index for the Humanities and Social Sciences (ERIH Plus), L’Année Philologique, Philosopher‘s Index, DOAJ, Phil Brasil, Latindex, Cengage Learning, Google Schoolar, BASE, Diadorim, PKP Index and Portal de Periódicos da CAPES. It has Impact Factor 5.171 in the Scientific Journal Impact Factor and it got the second best grade (A2) of its field (Philosophy) in the latest Qualis CAPES evaluation.