Select works of Porphyry — Reading Companion

The Argument from Historical Progression

In the first book on abstinence, Porphyry reconstructs a three-stage history of human diet: the primitive 'life from the fruits of the earth,' then a pastoral phase where animals were tamed or attacked, and finally agriculture. He cites Dicæarchus to claim that the earliest period was peaceful and 'abstinence from animal food contributed' to that blessed state. The logic is causal: 'together with injustice towards animals, war was introduced among men.' This is not a vague moral plea but a specific historical claim, supported by reference to Lycurgus's Spartan reforms, which minimized meat-eating and, in Porphyry's view, reduced crime. The argumentative structure is cumulative, moving from ancient testimony to political example.

Lycurgus as a Case Study in Dietary Legislation

Porphyry devotes a sustained passage to the Lacedæmonian lawgiver Lycurgus, who 'so arranged his polity, as to render food of this kind requisite in the smallest degree.' The details are concrete: each citizen's allotment was measured in barley and liquid fruits, not in herds or money. Iron currency of great weight and little value replaced gold and silver, making theft impractical. Porphyry reports that Lycurgus laughed upon seeing evenly stacked grain heaps, remarking that Laconia seemed 'to belong to many brothers.' The effect of these reforms, Porphyry claims, was that 'many species of injustice were exterminated.' The passage functions as a historical proof that reducing meat-eating correlates with reduced crime—a key piece of evidence in his larger argument.

Taylor's Translator's Voice and the Homeric Appendix

Thomas Taylor's presence is felt throughout the volume, not only in the introduction but in an appendix 'explaining the allegory of the wanderings of Ulysses.' The excerpts do not include this appendix, but its inclusion signals a Neoplatonic reading of Homer as allegory for the soul's journey. Taylor's dedication to the Reverend William John Jolliffe uses the language of 'testimony of great esteem' and 'tribute of the warmest gratitude,' placing the work in a patronage network. His translation choices—such as rendering Porphyry's Greek into a formal, periodic English—shape the philosophical tone. Readers should note that Taylor is not a neutral conduit; his own Platonic commitments color the presentation.

Diction and the Rhetoric of Abstinence

Porphyry's vocabulary in the excerpts is notably concrete and evaluative. He speaks of 'the audacity of those' who deny the link between meat-eating and injustice, and describes the slaughter of animals as an act of 'audacity' itself. The word 'exterminated' appears twice in relation to injustice—once for Lycurgan Sparta, once for the primitive age—suggesting a totalizing view of moral reform. The phrase 'the mother of injustice' is attributed to opponents and then inverted: history shows that slaughter, not abstinence, breeds war. This rhetorical move—turning a common accusation on its head—is characteristic of Porphyry's dialectical style. The prose is dense with subordinate clauses and cited authorities, creating an impression of scholarly weight.

The Neoplatonic Framework of the Soul

The volume's third treatise, 'Auxiliaries to the Perception of Intelligible Natures,' is not excerpted here, but its title points to the Neoplatonic ascent that frames the entire collection. The epigraph from Plotinus—'the life of gods and of divine and happy men is a liberation from other things here, a flight of alone to alone'—sets a metaphysical goal. Porphyry's ethical arguments about diet are thus nested within a larger project of purifying the soul for intellectual vision. The Homeric cave of the nymphs, interpreted as an image of the cosmos, reinforces this: the physical world is a cave from which the soul must ascend. Readers should approach the abstinence treatise not as a standalone ethical work but as part of a systematic philosophy of liberation.

This edition rewards attention to the interplay between Porphyry's arguments and Taylor's interpretive frame. The historical claims about diet and war, the allegorical reading of Homer, and the metaphysical ascent are all woven together. Readers interested in the rhetorical construction of philosophical authority will find much to examine in how Porphyry cites ancient sources and how Taylor presents him as a 'Mercurial chain' between Plotinus and the modern world.

I’ve been carrying these old Taylor translations around for years now, and the way he sees Porphyry as a quiet guide—insisting that how we treat animals shapes how we treat each other—still lingers. It reminds me of hours spent with A System of Logic, Ratiocinative and Inductive (Vol. 1 of 2) — Reading Companion, where reasoning feels less like a weapon and more like a slow, careful clearing of the mind. Different centuries, same patient hush.