With this paper, I aim to demonstrate that, in Late Antiquity, the definition of magic was inherent to the definition of its opposite, religion. Assuming that the separation of magic and religion is the symptom of cultural clashes. I argue that Iamblichus' (240-325 AD) De Mysteriis was participating in a politico-religious reorganization of the Roman Empire. / The first part of the study analyses the religions beliefs of Porphyry (232--305 AD). With this analysis, I demonstrate that Iamblichus rectified Porphyry's philosophical approach to religion, which minimizied the distinctions between magic and religion. / In the second part of the study, I demonstrate how Iamblichus' response to Porphyry rearranged religious evidence into a new holistic system called "theurgy." By drawing from Neoplatonic political theory, I also explain how the De Mysteriis inseparably bounded politics with theology.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.81484 |
| Date | January 2004 |
| Creators | Dufault, Olivier |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Arts (Department of History.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002181059, proquestno: AAIMR06501, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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