On Abstinence from Animal Food

...vain exploration; in these matters, the great Plotinus Plotinus (c. 204–270 AD), the founder of Neoplatonism, who taught that the soul must ascend back to the "One" was attentive. For he followed immediately, whether because he had a premonition of what was happening, or because he was searching for the young man who had fled; he found him lying there Porphyry had withdrawn to Sicily to starve himself to death. He devised words for him that would both recall the soul which was just then about to fly away from the body, and strengthen the body to hold it. And so, having now recovered his spirit, he arose.

Plotinus later recorded the words he had spoken in a book, among those that are now extant. But since philosophers used to hide their secrets behind an obscurity of speech—not unlike the way poets use fables—Porphyry, who approved of the remedy of clarity and had tasted its benefits by experience, brought these ideas into the light by illustrating them with his own commentaries.

Having then returned to Rome, Porphyry devoted himself to the study of oratory, even appearing in public to display his skills. Nevertheless, every assembly and every gathering attributed Porphyry’s glory to Plotinus. For Plotinus, because of the heavenly power of his soul and his abstruse, enigmatic way of speaking, seemed profound and difficult to grasp.

Porphyry, however, was like a kind of Homeric chain original: "Homerica catena." This refers to the Golden Chain in the Iliad that binds heaven to earth; in this context, Porphyry acts as the link that brings "heavenly" philosophy down to human understanding let down to men; with his varied erudition and knowledge, he proclaimed all things with ease and transparency. And he himself says—though perhaps he had written these things when he was still quite young—that he had encountered no public oracle. In the same book, he discusses many other matters, such as what care should be... The text cuts off here; the catchword "benda" suggests the Latin "habenda," meaning "to be had" or "to be maintained"