Philosopher and orator of Constantinople whose paraphrases of Aristotle were read in Arabic; Abū Bishr Mattā translated his paraphrase of the Posterior Analytics, and his reply to Maximus on reducing the second and third figures to the first survives only in Arabic.
Life
Themistius was born in Paphlagonia, in northern Asia Minor, probably in 317, and followed his father Eugenius as a teacher of philosophy. From 345 he taught in Constantinople, where he spent the rest of his life apart from a short stay in Rome. He entered the senate of Constantinople in 355 and served a succession of emperors, from Constantius II to Theodosius I, as orator and envoy; he was briefly prefect of the city (383–384) and tutor to Theodosius’ son Arcadius. He died around 388.
His paraphrases restate Aristotle’s treatises more briefly and plainly. Of the logical ones, the paraphrase of the Posterior Analytics survives in Greek; those on the Categories and the Topics are lost, and the paraphrase of the Prior Analytics that has come down under his name is now ascribed to a ‘Pseudo-Themistius’. Paraphrases of the Physics and On the Soul also survive in Greek, and those of On the Heavens and Metaphysics XII (Λ) in Hebrew translation.
Arabic readers knew his paraphrases of the Prior and Posterior Analytics and the Topics, among other works, though few of the Arabic versions survive (Coda). Abū Bishr Mattā translated the paraphrase of the Posterior Analytics from Syriac into Arabic; that version is lost, but Ibn Rushd knew it, and a Latin translation made from the Arabic by Gerard of Cremona survives. Ibn Rushd also knew the paraphrase of the Topics, which the Fihrist mentions twice. A short logical treatise, the reply to Maximus on the reduction of the second and third figures of the syllogism to the first, is lost in Greek and survives in Arabic. The Stanford Encyclopedia notes that al-Fārābī had translations of ‘logical writers from the Roman Empire, such as Alexander of Aphrodisias and Themistius’, and Ibn Sīnā names him among the Greek authorities in his logical works.
Uncertain or disputed
- Birth year: G. Verbeke gives ‘about 320 (presumably in 317)’.
- The years of his prefecture of Constantinople: Verbeke gives 383–384; Wikipedia gives 384, for a few months.
- The Fihrist mentions a Topics paraphrase twice (in the entries on Aristotle and on Abū Bishr Mattā); Hasnawi (2007) suggests these may be two different works (D’Ancona, SEP, note 118).
- The Arabic form of his name is given here as commonly cited (Thāmisṭiyūs); it was not checked against an Arabic primary source for this page.
Works
- Paraphrase of the Posterior Analytics — بر ارسطوSurvives in Greek. Arabic translation by Abū Bishr Mattā from Syriac (lost); Latin translation from the Arabic by Gerard of Cremona.شرح
- Paraphrase of the Topics — بر ارسطوLost in Greek and in Arabic; known to Ibn Rushd, who quotes it.شرح
- Treatise in reply to Maximus on the reduction of the second and third figures to the firstLost in Greek; preserved in Arabic.اثر
Reception
Fragments of his lost paraphrases come down mainly through Ibn Rushd and other Arabic authors; some Arabic versions were put into Hebrew in the thirteenth century (Coda).
His paraphrase of On the Soul, and of Metaphysics Λ, translated by Isḥāq b. Ḥunayn, became very influential in Arabic philosophy (D’Ancona, SEP).
Sources (7)
- G. Verbeke, ‘Themistius’, Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography, via Encyclopedia.com
- Wikipedia, ‘Themistius’
- Elisa Coda, ‘Themistius, Arabic’, Encyclopedia of Medieval Philosophy 2 (Springer, 2011), 1260–1266, abstract
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ‘Greek Sources in Arabic and Islamic Philosophy’ (Cristina D’Ancona)
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ‘Greek Sources in Arabic and Islamic Philosophy’, notes 94 and 118
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ‘al-Farabi’s Philosophy of Logic and Language’
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ‘Ibn Sina [Avicenna]: Logic’