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Episode 213·February 25, 2026·post-antiquity

Philosophy and Occult Sciences at Constantinople: Maria Papathanassiou on Stephanos of Alexandria, Part I

We are delighted to speak with Maria Papathanassiou, who has devoted a considerable portion of many decades of work to decoding the remnants of the prodigious scientific and philosophical output of Stephanos of Alexandria.

Listen on SHWEP5 sources in collection · 5 translated

Primary Sources

Commentary on the Song of Songs

Gallico, Elisha ben Gabriel · 1587 · Hebrew · 161 pages

In this masterful Hebrew commentary, Gallico reimagines the Song of Songs not merely as an allegory of love, but as a rigorous manual for spiritual refinement and eschatological transformation. He advances the bold claim that human beings possess a unique advantage over angelic beings: because we mu

Fully translated

The Song of Solomon, Interpreted According to the Mystical Sense

[Guyon, Jeanne-Marie] · 1688 · French · 262 pages

Jeanne-Marie Guyon’s commentary on the Song of Solomon is a provocative manual for spiritual 'annihilation.' By interpreting the biblical poem’s sensual imagery as a progression toward mystical death, Guyon argues that true maturity requires the soul to abandon even its own desire for salvation in f

Fully translated

The Complete Works of Flavius Josephus

Flavius Josephus (ed. Hudson & Havercampus) · 1726 · Latin · 1113 pages

The Havercamp edition stands as a monument to scholarly persistence, documenting not only the history of the Jewish nation but the equally volatile history of the text itself. It forces readers to confront the reliability of ancient accounts by layering numismatic verification against traditional na

Fully translated

Commentary on Aristotle's On Interpretation

Stephanos of Alexandria · 1885 · Ancient Greek · 114 pages

As one of the last masters of the Alexandrian academic tradition, Stephanos of Alexandria offers a brilliant Neoplatonic synthesis of Aristotelian logic. This commentary moves beyond mere technicality to address the fundamental nature of human expression, arguing that while thoughts are universal, l

Fully translated

Testament of Solomon (McCown Critical Edition)

King Solomon (attr.) · 1922 · English · 328 pages

The Testament of Solomon is not a polished religious treatise but a raw, unedited handbook of occult practice. It reveals a world where demons functioned like modern bacteria and magic served as the primary, desperate medicine for human suffering. C.C. McCown treats these manuscripts as artifacts of

Fully translated

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