1. But now, what is man? What else if neither body nor soul? (81) -Aye, dear Asclepius, who ever is not soul, is neither Nous nor body. For one thing is what becomes the body of man, and another thing what comes in addition to man. Then, what should be called truly a man, (82) O Asclepius, and what…

1. Just as the gods are God’s possession, so is man too; and man’s possession is the world: (69) if there were nobody to see it, what would be seen would not even exist. (70) Only man understands the intelligible things and sees the visible, for they are no aliens to him. (71) Man has at once the two natures, the…

1. Reasonable speech (52) is the servant of Nous. (53) For what Nous wants, speech in turn interprets. (54) Nous sees everything, (55) and eyes all corporeal things. (56) And yet Nous does not become an observer for the eyes, but the eyes for Nous. 2. To Nous nothing is incomprehensible, (57) to speech nothing ineffable: (58) when you keep silent, you understand; (59) when you talk, you just talk. Since…

1. The living beings in heaven are constituted of fire and air, (43) and those which are on earth of the four elements, (44) Man is a reasonable living being, (45) for he has Nous; (46) but all of he other living beings which are endowed with voice (47) have breath and soul, since all that decreases and increases is a living being. (48) 2. And among the…

1.  Nothing is inhabited by God, (36) for where heaven is, God is too, (37) and where the world is, heaven is too. I think (36a) that God is in heaven, and heaven in the world. 2. Many places are inhabited by humans; for where the world is, the earth is too, (38) but man is not on every earth. The sea is large as…

The Definitions of Hermes Trismegistus to Asclepius is a collection of aphorisms attributed to the legendary Hellenistic figure Hermes Trismegistus (a syncretic combination of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth), most likely dating to the first century CE. These aphorisms contain the core of the teachings which are found in the later…

1. Nous is the invisible good; (16) soul is a necessary movement adjusted to every kind of body. (17) A body is made out of the four qualities, (18) as well as a tempered composition (19) of worm, cold, dry and wet: of warm i.e. of fire, of cold i.e of air, of dry i.e of earth, of wet i.e of water. (20) Breath is…