Philosophy as a way of life

A very large part of Courcellc's work was devoted to tracing the fortunes of great themes such as "Know thyself" or great works such as Augustine's Confessions or Boethius' Ctm$o/ation of Phi/O$t>Pkl' in the history of Western thought. Not the least original of his contributions, appearing in several of the major works he wrote from this perspective, was his association of literary study and iconographical inquiry, pertaining, for example, to illustrations produced throughout the ages for the Confessions or the Consolation. These iconographical studies, which are fundamental in reconstructing the history of religious mentalities and imagination, were all undertaken in collaboration with Mrs Jeanne Courcelle, whose great knowledge of the techniques of art history and iconographic description greatly enriched her husband's work.

This all-too-brief recollection permits a glimpse, I hope, of the general development, the itinerary, of Courcelle's research. Starting from late antiquity, he was led to go back in time, especially in his book on , the theme of

"Know thyself," toward the philosoP.hY of the imperial and Hellenistic period, and, on the other hand, to follow, across the years, ancient works, themes, and images as they evolved in the Western tradition. Finally, it is my hope that this history of Hellenistic and Roman thought I am now going to present to you reflects the spirit and the profound orientation of Courcelle's teaching and work.

According to the scheme given by Petrus Ramus, I have just spoken of what he himself called the ratio muneris officiique 11ostri: the object and method of the teaching entrusted to me. In the title of my chair, the word tliought can seem very vague; indeed it can be applied to an immense and undefined domain ranging from politics to art, from poetry to science and 11hi ln11011hy, or religion and magic. In any event, the term invites one to 11111kl1 hr1,111h1 11king

Forms of Life and Forms of Discourse

53

excursions into the vast world of wondrous and fascinating works produced during the great period of the history o( humanity that I propose to study.

Perhaps we will accept this invitation from time to time, but our intention is to turn to the essential, to recognize the typical or the significant, to attempt to grasp the Urphiinomene, as Goethe would say. And specifically, philosophia, the way the term was understood then, is one of the typical and significant phenomena of the Greco-Roman world. It is this above all which engages our attention. Nevertheless, we have preferred to speak of "Heilenistic and Roman thought" to reserve the right to follow this philosophia in its most varied manifestations and above all to eliminate the preconceptions the word philosophy may evoke in the modem mind.

"Hellenistic and Roman": these words themselves open an immense period before us. Our history begins with the highly symbolic event represented by Alexander's fantastic expedition and with the emergence of the world called Hellenistic, that is, with the emergence of this new form of Greek civilization beginning from the moment when Alexander's conquests and, in their wake, the rise of kingdoms extended this civilization into the barbarian world from Egypt to the borders of India, and then brought it into contact with the most diverse nations and civilizations. The result is a kind of distance, a historical distance, between Hellenistic thought and the Greek tradition preceding it.

Our history then covers the rise of Rome, which will lead to the destruction of the Hellenistic kingdoms, brought to completion in 30 BC with Cleopatra's death. After that will come the expansion of the Roman empire, the rise and triumph of Christianity, the barbarian invasions, and the end of the Western empire.

We have just traversed a millennium. But from the standpoint of the history of thought, this long period must be treated as a whole. Indeed it is impossible to know Hellenistic thought without recourse to later documents, those of the imperial era and late antiquity, which reveal it to us; and it is equally impossible to understand Roman thought without taking its Greek background into account.