Onatas (philosopher)

Onatas (Ancient Greek: Ὀνάτας) was a Pythagorean philosopher who lived in or around the 5th century BC,[1] possibly in either Croton[2] or Tarentum[3] in Magna Graecia. Nothing more is known about his life, but he is credited by Stobaeus as the author of a pseudonymous Neo-Pythagorean work from the 1st century BC or AD entitled On God and the Divine (Ancient Greek: Περὶ θεοῦ καὶ θείου), which Stobaeus excerpts a long passage from.[4] The author of the passage ("Pseudo-Onatas") argues against the belief in a single deity, on the basis that the universe itself is not God but only divine,[5] but that God is a governing part of the universe.[6] He argues that since there are many "powers" in the universe, therefore they must belong to different gods.[7] Pseudo-Onatas also claimed that the earthy mixture of the body defiles the purity of the soul.[8]

Onatas
Ὀνάτας
Bornc. 5th century BCE
Croton or Tarentum
EraAncient philosophy
RegionAncient Greek philosophy
SchoolPythagoreanism

Notes
  1. Trevor Curnow, (2006), The philosophers of the ancient world: an A to Z guide, page 201
  2. Iamblichus, Vit. Pyth. 267
  3. Joannes Laurentius Lydus, De Mens. 2. 12
  4. Stobaeus, i. 1. 39
  5. P. L. Reynolds, "The Essence, Power and Presence of God" in Édouard Jeauneau, Haijo Jan Westra, (1992), From Athens to Chartres: neoplatonism and medieval thought, page 355. BRILL
  6. Documenti e studi sulla tradizione filosofica medievale, (1999), Volume 10, page 3. Società internazionale per lo studio del Medioevo latino, Centro italiano di studi sull'alto Medioevo.
  7. James M. Reese, (1970), Hellenistic influence on the Book of Wisdom and its consequences, page 56. Pontificium Institutum Biblicum
  8. James M. Reese, (1970), Hellenistic influence on the Book of Wisdom and its consequences, page 87. Pontificium Institutum Biblicum


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