Philo of Alexandria - Books and Journals

critical studies 2004 323
20496. S. Pessin, ‘Loss, Presence, and Gabirol’s Desire: Medieval Jewish
Philosophy and the Possibility of a Feminist Ground,’ in Women and
Gender in Jewish Philosophy (Indianapolis 2004) 27–50.
As far back as the Pythagorean ‘Table of Opposites,’ the feminine principle is
seen as the negative counterpart of the masculine. One finds what Pessin calls
‘the feminine-as-loss dynamic’ in such philosophers as Plato, Aristotle, Philo,
andMaimonidesaswellasinkabbalisticwritings.Incontrasttothesethinkers,
Solomon Ibn Gabirol (d. 1056) provides grounds for evaluating the feminine
in a positive way. Unlike his philosophical predecessors he offers a positive
evaluation of matter, usually associated with the feminine, links matter to the
divine, and sees the passive stance as the positive erotic desire to be completed,
in implicit contrast to the masculine erotic desire for power. To illustrate the
subordination of female to male in Philo’s thought, Pessin focuses especially on
his allegorization of Adam and Eve in Leg. 2 and observes that ‘it is not merely
subordination or suppression, but the demise of the feminine other that marks
the Adamic vitality’ (p. 37). (EB)
20497. R. M. Piccione, ‘De Vita Mosis I 60–62: Philon und die
griechische παιδεία,’ in R. Deines and K.-W. Niebuhr (edd.), Philo
und das Neue Testament: Wechselseitige Wahrnehmungen. 1. Internationales
Symposium zum Corpus Judaeo-Hellenisticum Novi Testamenti
(Eisenach/Jena, Mai 2003), Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum
Neuen Testament 172 (Tübingen 2004) 345–357.
The author aims to show by means of a concrete example the extent to which
Philo blends background material from Greek literature with Jewish theological
motifs in a synthesis full of allusions. The example is found in the life of Moses,
where he speaks about the role of the shepherd practised by Jethro in Midian.
Philo is aware that in his description he has to reach out to a wide readership. For
this reason he does not use the famous biblical shepherd David as an example,
but brings into play the classical background of Xenophon’s Cyropaedia and
its tradition. The role of shepherd was treated with disdain by many people in
the ancient world, notably in Egypt (cf. Agr. 51), although it was favoured in
the Platonic tradition. It certainly contrasts with the conception of the divine
king such as we find in Hellenistic-Roman ideology, so we may conclude that
Philo was clever in exploiting the theme of paideia as it had developed in the
Xenophontic tradition. (DTR)
20498. P.Pontani,‘Incontrodilingueeculture:levicendedialcuni
lessemi greci nelle traduzioni armene da Filone,’ in A. M. Mazzanti
and F. Calabi (edd.) La rivelazione in Filone di Alessandria: natura,
legge, storia. Atti del VII convegno di studi del Gruppo Italiano di Ricerca
su Origene e la traditione alessandrina (Bologna 29–30 settembre 2003),
Biblioteca di Adamantius 2 (Villa Verruchio 2004) 267–287.