On Abstinence from Animal Food

...should be regarded; and that he had put to flight and cast out a certain demonic nature from a bathhouse, which the locals called Causathan This refers to an anecdote where Porphyry or his circle purportedly performed an exorcism of a local spirit.

His fellow students, as he himself writes, were quite distinguished: Origen Origen the Pagan (3rd century AD), a Neoplatonist student of Ammonius Saccas, not to be confused with the Christian Church Father, Amelius, and Aquilinus. Their writings are still extant, yet no beauty is perceived in them, even if their doctrines and opinions are sound and they adhere strictly to their words. Porphyry, however, praises the eloquence and gravity of these men, though he himself surpasses them all in grace. He alone truly reveals and proclaims his teacher’s work, having neglected no branch of learning.

Indeed, anyone might wonder and find it difficult to decide what he most preferred to study: whether it was the art of rhetoric oratory: the skill of public speaking and persuasion, or those things which pertain to the exact inquiry of grammar In the ancient world, "grammar" involved the deep philological study and interpretation of classical texts. It remains ambiguous whether he devoted his primary study to arithmetic, geometry, music, or the parts of philosophy—both those concerning reason original: "rationis" — referring to logic and theoretical philosophy and those concerning administration original: "administrationis" — referring to ethics and political philosophy.

As for his works on natural and divine contemplation, they are so sublime that they seem more appropriate for sacred rites and religious mysteries than for common reading. Thus, that man emerged as a person perfectly fashioned for every virtue. At one moment, one might admire his words more than his doctrines; at another, his decrees and insights more than his sheer power of speech. His wife...