Synesius of Cyrene

• Born at Cyrene in Libya between 370 and 375 of a noble pagan family, he received his early schooling in his native town.
• For his higher studies he betook himself to Alexandria, where the famous Hypatia initiated him into the mysteries of Neo-platonism philosophy.
• He visited Athens and was deeply disappointed because 'philosophy had departed from the city'.
• In 399 the citizens of the Pentapolis sent him as their ambassador to the imperial court at Constantinople.
• He returned in 402 after he had obtained a remittal of the excessive taxes levied on his country.
• Soon afterwards he went to Alexandria to be married. His words 'God and the law and the sacred hand of Theophilus gave me my wife' (Ep. 105) indicate that it was a Christian wedding ceremony, performed by the Pope of Alexandria. He was elected bishop and metropolitan of the Pentapolis by the people of Ptolemais and the patriarch of Alexandria did not hesitate to consecrate him. St. Synesius was reluctant to accept: “Though I am fond of amusements – for from my childhood I have been accused of being mad after arms and horses – still, I will consent to give them up – though I shall regret to see my darling dogs no longer allowed to hunt, and my bows moth-eaten! Still, I will submit to this if it is God’s will.”
• As a bishop, St. Synesius governed his diocese very successfully with strong sentiment for justice and peace. Nevertheless in his heart he remained more of a Platonist than a Christian, as his writings betray.
• None of his letters exhibit a date later than 413; therefore he must have died shortly afterwards.
• He belongs to those historical figures between dying Hellenism and rising Christianity which attract our

attention at once. He has been called ‘the Platonist in the mitre.’

1. The Discourse on Royal is a courageous speech made in 400 at Constantinople, in the presence of the Emperor Arcadius, in which he describes the duty of a young ruler to be the image of God. His criticism of the existing conditions at the imperial court is of astonishing frankness. 2. The Egyptian Discourses or On Providence: a strange treatise: Its content is mostly supplied by events at the imperial capital, disguised as the native myth of Osiris and Typhos, the one the image of virtue, the other of crime. He was a true disciple of Plato who believes in the return of all things and the unlimited succession of worlds. 3. Dion or His Mode of Life was written in his own defense about 405. It consists of 3 parts. The first deals with Dion of Prusa and his writings; the second justifies his preoccupation with philosophy and rhetoric; in the third he gives his own philosophy of life as Dion's follower. He criticizes the monks who despise literary work, and prefers the Greek way of life to 'the other', the Christian (Dion 9, 13). He attacks the sophists for their ambition, because they look only for honor and reputation, not for truth. 4. The Praise of Baldness is a humorous sophistic on the advantages of being bald. He uses arguments from nature, history and mythology, looking at baldness as a sign of wisdom and a stamp of similarity with God. He refutes a treatise of Dio Chrysostom: “The Praise of Hair.” 5. On Dreams composed in 403 or 404, is a tractate on the causing and the meaning of dreams which the author regards as divine revelations. 6. The Gift is dedicated to a certain Paeonius at Constantinople, to whom he sent it with a fine astronomical instrument. 7. Letters: Consist of 156 items. Some of them were written to Hypatia, his teacher. 8. Hymns. 9. Two Orations:Both of them are masterpieces of rhetoric. 10.Homilies: Only two fragments remain, and give us an

impression of him as a preacher.