To Begin so Early and to Persevere over a Long Period of Time. Reflections on Time on the Horizon of Human Experience in the Anonymus Iamblichi

The interest of scholars in the Anonymous of Iamblichus has been oriented in two main ways: it focuses either on the problem of its dating and authorship, or on one or other of the many themes which seem to have been on the agenda of the investigation of its author. My interest is in this second way and I propose to examine the author’s conception of time on the horizon of human nature. What makes man truly man (ἀνὴρ ἀληθῶς ἀγαθός – DK 89, 4)? I intend to point the importance of the notion of time in the context of the human experience for who aspires to be an agathos, an enkratestaton. First, I will examine the lexical and semantic field of time employed to characterize the human condition and justify the prerogatives of author regarding human behaviour and action. Second, I will discuss the different aspects and contexts considered by the author to develop his argument. Among these aspects we have: (i) the distinction between what is innate in us (φῦναι), and what must be acquired through effort (φιλοπονία) and perseverance over time (πολὺν χρόνον); (ii) the opinion that anyone who wants to guide theirlife in view of what is beautiful and good (καλόν καὶ ἀγαθόν) must to be initiated very early (πρωιαίτατα), or should start “immediately and increasing to the end” (αὐτίκα τε ἀρξάμενον καὶ συναυξηθὲν είς τέλος); (iii) the need for him to use his own resources “always and not occasionally” (DK 89, 1–2). We will examine in our paper the passages in which a concept of time appears, in order to show that this is one of the centrepieces of the author’s argument and the way par excellence to understand the underlying concept of human nature at the thought of its author.