The Complete Works of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola

THE LIFE OF GIOVANNI PICO DELLA MIRANDOLA

...concluded his Apologetic work The Apologia, Pico's written defense of his thirteen disputed theses.. He used to say: "Let those who hate me not read those writings because they are mine; and let those who love me not read them, because from those things which are mine, they might think too much on things that are not our own." The goodness of God Furthermore, he judged that by the immense goodness of God—who draws good even out of evil—it had been brought about (as he told me) that the calumny falsely imposed by those of ill-will served to correct his true errors. It was as if a most brilliant beam of light shone upon him while he was wandering in the darkness, allowing him to see how far he had strayed from the path of truth.

For previously, he had been both desirous of glory and inflamed by vain love, moved by the allurements of women. Indeed, many women burned with love for him because of the beauty of his body and the grace of his face—to which were added his vast learning, ample riches, and nobility of birth. Conversion of the soul to God Not shrinking from their devotion, he had for a little while set aside the "way of life" A reference to the spiritual or moral path. and slipped into a life of pleasures. But awakened by that conflict The Roman controversy, he restrained his mind, which had been dissolving in luxury, and turned it toward Christ. He exchanged womanly flatteries for the joys of the celestial homeland; neglecting the breeze of petty glory which he had once sought, he began to seek the glory of God and the benefit of the Church with his whole mind. He so composed his character that, henceforth, he could be approved even by the judgment of an enemy.

When his glorious fame began to fly through both neighboring and remote lands, many of those philosophers who were considered most learned flocked to him—as if to a "marketplace of the good arts" Cicero original: "mercaturam bonarum artium." A phrase borrowed from Cicero to describe a center of intellectual exchange., as Cicero says—either to engage in literary contests or, for those with a more upright mind, to hear and hold the healthy dogmas of right living. These teachings were sought all the more because they flowed from a man who was both highly learned and noble, and who had once followed the devious, winding paths of the pleasure-seeking crowd. Indeed, those things seem to have the greatest weight in instilling moral discipline in the minds of listeners which are both good by their own nature and proceed from a teacher who has converted to the paths of justice from the distorted and crooked way of lust.

Burning of love poems; Study of sacred literature He had previously toyed with "loves" in elegiac poetry; for the sake of religion, he consigned these works, written in five books, to the flames. He likewise toyed with many things in Tuscan rhymes Pico's vernacular Italian poetry, which he destroyed alongside his Latin verses., which an equal fire consumed for the same reason. Then, embracing sacred literature with most ardent study, at the age of twenty-eight, he offered to the temple of God—like the first fruits of his harvest—the Heptaplus, a work on the six days of Genesis and the day of rest. It was a work perfect in genius and elaborated with great industry, filled with both the sublime dogmas of the philosophers and the deepest mysteries of our Christian theology. It was woven together with a sevenfold variety of interpretations and divided into a sevenfold number of chapters for each exposition, perfectly matching the name of the book The Heptaplus (Greek for "sevenfold") is Pico's mystical commentary on the creation story in Genesis..

However, because of the things unearthed from the "bosom of nature," the difficult explanations of divine questions, and the most hidden meanings of the Prophet Moses, traditionally regarded as the author of Genesis., as well as the elegance of its language, this work does not offer itself to those unlearned in philosophy and eloquence. Rather, the use of its precious and rare "furniture" is prepared for only a few; noticing this himself, he made a charming mention of this fact at the end of his preface.

What he pronounces concerning sacred literature As soon as he first tasted sacred literature, he exulted joyfully, pronouncing that he had found not only true wisdom but also true eloquence. To omit many of the praises he gave to the New Testament, he used to say that the Epistles of Paul surpassed the writings of all orators in eloquence. Eloquence of the Old Law He specifically cited the works of Tully Marcus Tullius Cicero. himself and of Demosthenes, the primary master of the art of speaking—not because the Scriptures were "scorched with curling irons" original: "calamistris inustæ." A Latin rhetorical metaphor for a style that is artificially curled or overly decorated. or packed with artificial dyes and ringlets collected from everywhere, but because they smelled and tasted of a true, solid eloquence, supported by true sentiments and true art...

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