What is it about?
The concept of philía or friendship plays a central role in the huge collection of over 1500 personal letters addressed by the fourth-century C.E. Antiochian professor of rhetoric Libanius to friends, students, parents, colleagues, and municipal or provincial officials. Against the background of diverse contemporary concepts of friendship such as neo-platonic philosophical theories, cultural bonds of shared Greekness, Roman concepts of formal amicitia, even Christian notions of charity, clear outlines of Libanius’s very personal understanding of the concept and value of friendship emerge.
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Why is it important?
Libanius never gives a definition or explanation of his own personal understanding of friendship, which is nonetheless core to his wide-ranging and far-reaching network of personal relations with friends, peers and celebrities. His notion of friendship therefore needs to be elicited the arduous way from a meticulous analysis of his vast correspondence, which is the objective of the present article.
Perspectives
I am glad to have been able to contribute this article to a volume on friendship in ancient Greek thought and literature dedicated to two very good friends and colleagues, Michael J. Edwards and Chris Carey, whose excellent work has been a constant inspiration to me for many years.
Manfred Kraus
Eberhard Karls Universitat Tubingen
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Philia in Libanius’ Letters, June 2023, Brill,
DOI: 10.1163/9789004548671_023.
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