Onatas (philosopher)

Onatas (Greek: Ὀνάτας; fl. c. 5th century BC) of Croton[1] or Tarentum[2] was a Pythagorean philosopher.[3] Nothing is known about his life, but a long passage from a work entitled On God and the Divine (Greek: Περὶ θεοῦ καὶ θείου) is preserved in Stobaeus.[4] The work probably dates from the 1st century BC or AD and is part of the pseudonymous Neo-Pythagorean literature.

The author ("Pseudo-Onatas") argues that God is a governing part of the universe,[5] although the universe itself is not God but only divine.[6] He argued against the belief in a single deity on the basis of the many "powers" in the universe; they must belong to different gods.[7] He also claimed that the earthy mixture of the body defiles the purity of the soul.[8]

Notes
  1. Iamblichus, Vit. Pyth. 267
  2. Joannes Laurentius Lydus, De Mens. 2. 12
  3. Trevor Curnow, (2006), The philosophers of the ancient world: an A to Z guide, page 201
  4. Stobaeus, i. 1. 39
  5. Documenti e studi sulla tradizione filosofica medievale, (1999), Volume 10, page 3. Società internazionale per lo studio del Medioevo latino, Centro italiano di studi sull'alto Medioevo.
  6. P. L. Reynolds, "The Essence, Power and Presence of God" in Édouard Jeauneau, Haijo Jan Westra, (1992), From Athens to Chartres: neoplatonism and medieval thought, page 355. BRILL
  7. James M. Reese, (1970), Hellenistic influence on the Book of Wisdom and its consequences, page 56. Pontificium Institutum Biblicum
  8. James M. Reese, (1970), Hellenistic influence on the Book of Wisdom and its consequences, page 87. Pontificium Institutum Biblicum
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