Oration on the Dignity of Man

animals. But, having completed his creation, the Craftsman original: "мастер" (master/craftsman). Pico uses the term "Artifex," referring to God as the Divine Architect or Artist of the universe. desired that there be someone who could appreciate the meaning of such a vast work, love its beauty, and marvel at its scale. Therefore, after finishing all his tasks, as Moses Referring to the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. and Timaeus Referring to Plato's dialogue "Timaeus," which describes the creation of the physical world by a "demiurge." testify, he finally thought of creating man. But there was nothing left in the archetypes The "pro-images" or ideal forms upon which the world was modeled. from which the creator could produce a new lineage, nor in his storehouses what he might give as an inheritance to a new son, nor in the seats of the heavens where the contemplator of the universe might sit. Everything was already finished; everything had been distributed among the highest, middle, and lowest spheres. Yet it was not fitting for the Father’s power to be lacking in his final progeny, as if it were exhausted; it was not appropriate for his wisdom to waver in a necessary task for lack of counsel; nor was it consistent with his beneficent love that the one who was meant to praise divine generosity in others should be forced to condemn it in himself. At last, the best of creators ordained that he to whom he could give nothing of his own should have in common everything that belonged to each individual creature. Thus, God agreed that man should be a creature of indeterminate image and, placing him at the center of the world, said:

"We have given you, O Adam, no fixed seat, no form of your own, no specific duty, so that whatever seat, whatever appearance, and whatever duty you yourself desire, you may have according to your own wish and decision. The nature of all other creatures is defined within the bounds of laws established by us. You, however, unconstrained by any limits, shall determine your own nature by your own judgment, into whose power I have placed you. I have set you at the center of the world so that from there you might more easily observe everything that exists in the world. I have made you neither celestial nor terrestrial, neither mortal nor immortal, so that you, like a free and glorious master, may shape yourself into whatever form you prefer. You may degenerate into lower, irrational beings, or you may be reborn by the soul's decision into higher, divine ones."

O, the supreme generosity of God the Father! O, the highest and most wonderful happiness of man, to whom it is granted to possess whatever he chooses and to be whatever he wants! At the moment of birth, beasts receive from their mother's womb everything they will ever possess, as Lucilius Gaius Lucilius, a Roman satirist. The idea is that animals are born with their instincts and "tools" for life already complete. says. Higher spirits Meaning angels or celestial intelligences. become, either immediately or soon after, what they will remain for all eternity. Into man, at his birth, the Father planted seeds and germs of every kind of life, and according to how each person nurtures them, they will grow and bear their fruit within him. If he nurtures vegetative seeds, he will be a plant; if sensory ones, he will become an animal; if rational ones, he will turn into a celestial being; if intellectual ones, he will become an angel and a son of God. And if he is not satisfied with the fate of any of these creatures, let him return to his original unity and, becoming one spirit with God in the solitary darkness of the Father who stands above all, he will surpass everyone. And how can we not marvel at our chameleon-like nature! Or rather, what else could one marvel at more? And Asclepius the Athenian Likely a reference to the Hermetic text Asclepius, though the speaker identifies him as an Athenian to emphasize a connection to Greek wisdom. said rightly that because of his changing form and shifting character, man was symbolically depicted in the mysteries as Proteus In Greek mythology, Proteus was a sea god capable of changing his shape at will. Here, he represents human adaptability.. Hence the famous transformations original: "метаморфозы" (metamorphoses). mentioned by the Hebrews and the Pythagoreans. Indeed, in the secret Hebrew theology, the holy—

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Vocabulary: creation, Adam, Moses, Timaeus, Lucilius, Asclepius, Proteus, metamorphoses, divine generosity, dignity of man