Apollonius Tyanæus

From Thelemapedia

Categories: The Gnostic Saints | Magicians | Philosophers

Apollonius Tyanaeus (2-98)—also called Apollonius of Tyana and Apollon—was a philosopher and mathematician of Greek origin. His teaching influenced scientific thought for centuries after his death. He is a Gnostic Saint of EGC.

He was born in the city of Tyana, in the Roman Empire province of Cappadocia in Asia Minor. Educated in the nearby city of Tarsus, his life took on nearly legendary proportions when, it is said, he visited Rome and raised the daughter of a senator from the dead. This myth was likely a reflection of his growing fame as a healer and spiritual leader. Apollonius was also an initiate of the Eleusinian Mysteries.

He wrote many books and treatises on a wide variety of subjects during his life, including science, medicine, and philosophy. His scientific theories were ultimately applied to the earth-centered Ptolemaic idea that the sun revolved around the earth. A few decades after his death, the Emperor Hadrian collected his works and ensured their publication throughout his realm.

His fame was still evident in 272, when the Emperor Aurelian besieged Tyana, which had rebelled against Roman rule. In a dream or vision, Aurelian claimed to have seen Apollonius speak to him, beseeching him to spare the city of his birth. In part, Aurelian said Apollonius told him "Aurelian, if you desire to rule, abstain from the blood of the innocent! Aurelian, if you will conquer, be merciful!" Aurelian, who admired Apollonius, spared Tyana.

Some scholars, both ancient and comtemporary, believe that Apollonius was actually the Christian Apostle Paul, as many of his teachings coincide with those of Paul, and Apollonius is said to have done many of the same things Paul did. But there is no concrete evidence of this. It is equally possible that he was one of the models for the syncretistic figure of Christ, since "many anecdotes in the life story of Apollonius are duplicated in that of Jesus" (Sabazius, 1995).

He is best known through the medium of the writer Philostratus. Apollonius was a vegetarian, and a disciple of Pythagoras. He is quoted as having said "For I discerned a certain sublimity in the discipline of Pythagoras, and how a certain secret wisdom enabled him to know, not only who he was himself, but also who he had been; and I saw that he approached the altars in purity, and suffered not his belly to be polluted by partaking of the flesh of animals; and that he kept his body pure of all garments woven of dead animal refuse; and that he was the first of mankind to restrain his tongue, inventing a discipline of silence described in the proverbial phrase, "An ox sits upon it." I also saw that his philosophical system was in other respects oracular and true. So I ran to embrace his teachings..."

External links

• Apollonius of Tyana Discussion Group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ApolloniusofTyana)
• Apollonius article at Livius.org (http://www.livius.org/ap-ark/apollonius/apollonius01.html)

References

• Wikipedia (2004). Apollonius of Tyana (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollonius_of_Tyana). Retrieved Sept. 22, 2004.
• Sabazius (1995). Apollonius Tyanaeus (http://www.hermetic.com/sabazius/apollonius.htm). Retrieved Sept. 22, 2004.