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Hermes Trismegistus

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Encyclopedia of Medieval Philosophy
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Abstract

Hermes is best known in the Renaissance as the supposed author of the Corpus Hermeticum, a collection of 17 Greek texts on spiritual education of which 14 were translated into Latin by Marsilio Ficino in 1463. One text of the ancient Corpus Hermeticum was translated into Latin in late Antiquity under the title “Asclepius” (the Greek text is lost), and was the main conduit through which the doctrine of Hermes Trismegistus was known in the Latin West. The theoretical Hermeticism in the Corpus Hermeticum was accompanied by numerous texts of technical Hermeticism (in alchemy and talismanic-making), most of which were transmitted via Arabic.

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Burnett, C. (2011). Hermes Trismegistus. In: Lagerlund, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Medieval Philosophy. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9729-4_209

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9729-4_209

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

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