Philo Complete Works (16 volumes)

Description

“Either Plato becomes a follower of Philo, or Philo becomes a follower of Plato.”

This jest by Jerome is characteristic of Philo’s work, in which he sought to integrate Hellenistic philosophy with biblical interpretation, searching for God through the Logos.

Philo of Alexandria was a Jew who spoke and wrote in Greek, descended from a prominent family in the largest Jewish community of the Roman Empire. He was also a Roman citizen, as his father had supported Julius Caesar during the Roman civil war and had been rewarded with Roman citizenship. This may have been the reason why Philo, along with his brother Alexander, led the Jewish delegation that visited Emperor Caligula in 37 A.D., aiming to safeguard the Jewish community of Alexandria during a period of significant religious unrest.

Philo was extraordinarily prolific, far more than any other Jewish writer of his era. He composed over 70 works in Greek, of which roughly two-thirds have survived. Through his writings, he preserved some of the earliest Jewish sources, and he was later discussed by Josephus, Celsus, and much later by Hegel.

His works include:

• Texts interpreting the Bible, mainly the books of Genesis, Exodus, and Deuteronomy. A key feature of these texts is Philo’s allegorical approach, through which he sought to harmonize the biblical texts with Hellenistic philosophy.
• Historical texts related to his mission as a representative of the Jews of Alexandria in Rome.
• Philosophical essays. One of Philo’s most important ideas was that human beings can approach the divine through the Logos, virtue, and philosophical contemplation.

Each volume presents the original text on the left-hand pages and a modern Greek translation on the right-hand pages.