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"But again, if unification is in itself good, and all good tends to create unity, then the Good unqualified and the One unqualified merge in a single principle, a principle which makes things one and in doing so makes them good. Hence it is that things which in some fashion have fallen away from their good are at the same stroke deprived of participation of unity; and in like manner things which have lost their portion in unity, being infected with division, are deprived of their good. Goodness, then, is unification, and unification is goodness; the Good is one, and the One is primal good."

Proclus, Elements of Theology 13

The attendance offerings made to the dead on a battlefield in the normal course of observance corresponded closely to the traditional rites of necromantic evocation, as in the case of tomb attendance. This emerges with particular clarity from Plutarch's denoscription of the annual offerings made to the dead of the battle of Plataea, which were still made at the end of the first century AD., when he wrote. An elaborate procession went from the city to the battlefield. Offerings were made of wine, milk, olive oil, and sacred-spring water, as well as myrtle leaves, garlands, and myrrh. A black bull was sacrificed, and the dead were explicitly invited to drink its blood (no doubt about the blood offering here, but these glorious dead warriors should presumably be considered heroized). Prayers were made to chthonic Zeus and chthonic Hermes. Offerings of some sort were already being made to the dead of the battle by the citizens of Plataea in 427 B.C., at which point they were already hallowed by tradition. ~ Daniel Ogden

"It is possible to know oneself with respect to one's external possessions; and of course it is possible to know oneself with respect to one's body; and it is possible to know oneself as a civic or social person, when one knows oneself in the tripartition of one's soul; and it is possible to know oneself as a purificatory person, when one knows oneself in the act of liberation from the affections; and it is possible to know oneself as a contemplative person, when a person contemplates himself as liberated; it is possible to know oneself theologically, when a person knows himself according to his paradigmatic Form; and it is possible to know oneself as an inspired person, when a person knows himself as a unity and, thus bonded to his proper god, acts with inspiration."

Olympiodorus, On Plato's First Alcibiades 172.5

"Plotinus, chief with Plato among the professors of philosophy, in a treatise On the Virtues, arranges the grades of the virtues according to a proper and natural classification. In his scheme each of the above four virtues embraces four types: the first, political virtues; the second, cleansing virtues; the third, virtues of the purified mind; and the fourth, the exemplary virtues.

Man has political virtues because he is a social animal. By these virtues upright men devote themselves to their commonwealths, protect cities, revere parents, love their children, and cherish relatives; by these they direct the welfare of the citizens, and by these they safeguard their allies with anxious forethought and bind them with the liberality of their justice; by these "They have won remembrance among men." To have political prudence one must direct all his thoughts and actions by the standard of reason, and wish for or do nothing but what is right, and have regard for human affairs as he would for divine authority. In prudence we find reason, understanding, circumspection, foresight, willingness to learn, and caution. To have political courage, one must exalt his mind above all dread of danger, fear nothing except disgrace, and bear manfully both adversity and prosperity. Courage endows one with magnanimity, confidence, composure, nobleness, constancy, endurance, and steadfastness. To have political temperance, one must strive after nothing that is base, in no instance overstepping the bounds of moderation but subduing all immodest desires beneath the yoke of reason. Temperance is accompanied by modesty, humility, self-restraint, chastity, integrity, moderation, frugality, sobriety, and purity. To have political justice, one must safeguard for each man that which belongs to him. From justice comes uprightness, friendship, harmony, sense of duty, piety, love, human sympathy. By these virtues the good man is first made lord of himself and then ruler of the state, and is just and prudent in his regard for human welfare, never forgetting his obligations."

Macrobius, Commentary on the Dream of Scipio 1.8.5-8

Many words, both base and noble, come to men’s ears;
Do not be perplexed by these nor allow them
To hinder you; and if some falsehood be told,
Gently withdraw. In everything do as I tell you!
Let no one persuade you by word or deed
To do or say what does not prove better for you.
Take counsel before the deed, so that no foolishness may arise;
It is a miserable man who acts and speaks thoughtlessly.

Golden Verses 21-28

To sum up the matter, as is the steersman in the ship, the charioteer in the chariot, the leader in the chorus, law in the city, the general in the army, even so is God in the Universe; save that to them their rule is full of weariness and disturbance and care, while to him it is without toil or labour and free from all bodily weakness. For, enthroned amid the immutable, he moves and revolves all things, where and how he will, in different forms and natures; just as the law of a city, fixed and immutable in the minds of those who are under it, orders all the life of the state. For in obedience to it, it is plain, the magistrates go forth to their duties, the judges to their several courts of justice, the councilors and members of the assembly to their appointed places of meeting... The various activities of the citizens in obedience to one ordinance or lawful authority are well expressed in the words of the poet,

And all the town is full of incense smoke,
And full of cries for aid and loud laments.

So must we suppose to be the case with that greater city, the universe. For God is to us a law, impartial, admitting not of correction or change, and better, methinks, and surer than those which are engraved upon tablets. Under his motionless and harmonious rule the whole ordering of heaven and earth is administered, extending over all created things through the seeds of life in each both to plants and to animals, according to genera and species. …

We call him Zen and Zeus, using the two names in the same sense, as though we should say 'him through whom we live'. He is called the son of Kronos and of Time, for he endures from eternal age to age. He is God of Lightning and Thunder, God of the Clear Sky and of Ether, God of the Thunderbolt and of Rain, so called after the rain and the thunderbolts and other physical phenomena. Moreover, after the fruits he is called the Fruitful God, after cities the City-God: he is God of Birth, God of the House-court, God of Kindred and God of our Fathers from his participation in such things. He is God of Comradeship and Friendship and Hospitality, God of Armies and of Trophies, God of Purification and of Vengeance and of Supplication and of Propitiation, as the poets name him, and in very truth the Saviour and God of Freedom, and to complete the tale of his noscripts, God of Heaven and of the World Below, deriving his names from all natural phenomena and conditions, inasmuch as he is himself the cause of all things.

pseudo-Aristotle, On the Cosmos 400b-401a

Form is defined as an eternal model of things that are in accordance with nature. For most Platonists do not accept that there are forms of artificial objects, such as a shield or a lyre, nor of things that are contrary to nature, like fever or cholera, nor of individuals, like Socrates and Plato, nor yet of any trivial thing, such as dirt or chaff, nor of relations, such as the greater or the superior. For the forms are eternal and perfect thoughts of God.

They justify the existence of the forms in the following way also. Whether God is an intellect or is possessed of intellect, he has thoughts, and these are eternal and unchanging; and if this is the case, forms exist.

Alcinous, The Handbook of Platonism 9.2 - 9.3

Zeus of the flashing bolt was the first to be born and the latest,
Zeus is the head and the middle; of Zeus were all things created;
Zeus is the stay of the earth and the stay of the star-spangled heaven;
Zeus is male and female of sex, the bride everlasting;
Zeus is the breath of all and the rush of unwearying fire;
Zeus is the root of the sea, and the sun and the moon in the heavens;
Zeus of the flashing bolt is the king and the ruler of all men,
Hiding them all away, and again to the glad light of heaven
Bringing them back at his will, performing terrible marvels.

Orphica 46

The height of foolishness is, not simply one’s being ignorant, but one’s being unaware of the very fact that one is ignorant and so consenting to false mental impressions, assuming things which are true to be false, as when they suppose that evil is beneficial and virtue a pernicious impediment; and indeed, the opinion stays with most people late into life, people who consider the committing of injustice a supreme benefit and acting rightly a detriment, and for that reason abhorring it. These Aristotle refers to as aged children, because their mind differs minimally from that of a child.

Calcidius, On Plato’s Timaeus 2.9.209

Since it is necessary for the things in this world to be ruled by the management of the soul (if indeed some rhythm and order are to be gained) and since the soul is neither able to be present and to do things on earth unless it should be contained by the binding material of the body ... nor yet at any time truly and in consonance with the universe would be able to perfect its foreknowledge of sensible objects unless it should also have sagacity and perception of the beautiful things from that place, the soul therefore needed a certain double nature, which was both in possession of judgment and would not deprecate the things of earth for their connection with the body. He who manages the universe altogether, the ancients say, contriving that the soul be the [governor] of bodies, divided the substance of reason from the divine portion itself (by which it is to set in order the things in this world) and attached desire (through which it yearns for the things of earth) from the irrational part; and taking care lest through much occupation with sensible objects the soul should forget, at last, the beautiful things of that place and be fettered by a passionate clinging to its more dishonorable things, he instilled memory in the soul as an antidote for its irrationality and dispatched with the soul as it comes down such inexpressible beauty of the sciences that the soul, by turning its innate love to this beauty and being set in order, would both rightly spend its life in this material world in noble impulses and actions and will then make its departure by blessed power. These are the soul's two ideal parts: the rational, through which it perfects what is in accord with judgment; and the irrational, through which it is concerned with the body. And the irrational part was assigned in turn a twofold distinction from which it operates: the ancients named the one part addicted to much indulgence "epithymetic" and they addressed the one considered in a state of disproportionate intensity as "thymic."

Aristides Quintilianus, On Music 2.2

For of the Gods themselves, the divine Homer makes oppositions; representing Apollo as hostilely opposed to Neptune, Mars to Minerva, the river Xanthus to Vulcan, Hermes to Latona, and Juno to Diana. For it is requisite to survey generation in incorporeal natures, in bodies, and in both. It is likewise necessary to consider Neptune and Apollo as the fabricators of the whole of generation, the one totally, but the other partially. But Juno and Diana, as the suppliers of vivification, the former rationally, but the latter physically. Minerva and Mars, as the causes of the contrariety which pervades through both existence and life; the former, of that which is defined according to intellect; but the latter, of that which is more material and passive. Hermes and Latona, as presiding over the twofold perfection of souls; the former indeed, over the perfection which is obtained through the gnostic powers, and the evolution into light of productive principles; but the latter, over the smooth, spontaneous, and voluntary elevation which is acquired through the vital powers. Vulcan and Xanthus, as the primary leaders of the whole of a corporeal constitution, and of the powers which it contains; the former, of those that are more efficacious; but the latter of those that are more passive, and as it were more material. But he leaves Venus by herself, in order that she may illuminate all things with union and harmony ...

Proclus, Commentary on the Timaeus of Plato 1.79

"You will also find in Homer other principles and origins of all-various names, which are considered by the stupid as nothing more than fables, but are regarded by the philosopher as realities. There is also in him the principle of virtue, but it is called Minerva, and is present with its possessor in all-various labours. There is likewise the principle of love, but it is ascribed to Venus, who presides over the cestus, and imparts desire. The principle of art too is to be found in him, but it is Vulcan who governs fire and communicates art. But with him Apollo rules over the choir, the Muses over the song, Mars over war, Aeolus over the winds, Ocean over rivers, and Ceres over fruits; and there is nothing in Homer without deity, nothing without a ruler, nothing without a principle, but all things are full of divine speeches, and divine names, and divine art."

Maximus Tyrius, Dissertation 16

To one desiring to know by what path blessedness is reached the reply is, 'Know thyself'.

Macrobius, Commentary on the Dream of Scipio 1.9.2

But that there are Forms of these concepts - I mean the just, the beautiful, the good and, as [Plato] says, all other such things, i.e. temperance, courage, wisdom - you can convince yourself if you reflect that every virtue, and every perfection in accordance with virtue, makes us like the divine, and the more fully we possess it, the nearer we are to the life of intelligence. If, then, beauty and goodness and each of the virtues make us more like Intellect, Intellect must certainly possess their intellectual paradigms. ... We must then conclude that the Ideas of the virtues and of Beauty and Good exist in Intellect prior to Soul.

But again, we must look at each of these from two different points of view, first of all, in one way as a divine henad [i.e., God], and in another as an intellectual Idea, for these do not belong to the same rank of being. The Just, for example, exists otherwise among the Forms than among the gods. In the former case it is one Idea among others, distinct from all of them; it is a character in something other than itself, and the intellection it carries it imparts only as far as souls. But among the gods, Dikē is all in a manner peculiar to itself, and its providence goes forth to the lowest grades of being, beginning with the primary intellectual deities, for there is where it first becomes manifest; whereas the Just is an Idea in the intellect of the Demiurge, as we said. ... Hence we must not confuse the doctrine about Forms with those about the gods, nor regard the organisation of the particular Forms as identical with that of the divine henads, but study the gods in themselves, distinct from essences and multiplicity.

Proclus, Commentary on Plato's Parmenides 3.810-11

Artemis hunting a stag, surrounded by Zeus (left), Nikê (top) and Apollo (right). The goddess is wielding a torch like a spear, the torch refering to her role as the bringer of light. Attributed to the Herakles Painter, between 370 and 350 BCE

Medieval manunoscript of Calcidius' Latin translation of Plato's Timaeus, First half of the tenth century

When you’re about to embark on any action, remind yourself what kind of action it is. If you’re going out to take a bath, set before your mind the things that happen at the baths, that people splash you, that people knock up against you, that people steal from you. And you’ll thus undertake the action in a surer manner if you say to yourself at the outset, ‘I want to take a bath and ensure at the same time that my choice remains in harmony with nature.’ And follow the same course in every action that you embark on. So if anything gets in your way while you’re taking your bath, you’ll be ready to tell yourself, ‘Well, this wasn’t the only thing that I wanted to do, but I also wanted to keep my choice in harmony with nature; and I won’t keep it so if I get annoyed at what is happening.’

Epictetus, Handbook 4

The Intellect of the Father whirred, conceiving with his unwearying will
Ideas of every form; and they leapt out in flight from this single source
For this was the Father’s counsel and achievement.
But they were divided by the fire of intelligence
And distributed among other intelligent beings. For their lord had placed
Before this multiform cosmos an eternal intelligible model;
And the cosmos strove modestly to follow its traces,
And appeared in the form it has and graced with all sorts of Ideas.
Of these there was one source, but as they burst forth innumerable others were broken off and scattered
Through the bodies of the cosmos, swarming like bees
About the mighty hollows of the world,
And whirling about in various directions -
These intelligent Ideas, issued from the paternal source,
Laying hold on the mighty bloom of fire.
At the prime moment of unsleeping time
This primary and self-sufficient source of the Father
Has spouted forth these primally-generative Ideas.

The Chaldean Oracles fragment 37

You must picture to such men the extent of the undertaking [of philosophy], describing what sort of inquiry it is, with how many difficulties it is beset, and how much labor it involves. For anyone who hears this, who is a true lover of wisdom, with the divine quality that makes him akin to it and worthy of pursuing it, thinks that he has heard of a marvelous quest that he must at once enter upon with all earnestness, or life is not worth living; and from that time forth he pushes himself and urges on his leader without ceasing, until he has reached the end of the journey or has become capable of doing without a guide and finding the way himself. This is the state of mind in which such a man lives; whatever his occupation may be, above everything and always he holds fast to philosophy and to the daily discipline that best makes him apt at learning and remembering, and capable of reasoning soberly with himself; while for the opposite way of living he has a persistent hatred. Those who are really not philosophers but have only a coating of opinions, like men whose bodies are tanned by the sun, when they see how much learning is required, and how great the labor, and how orderly their daily lives must be to suit the subject they are pursuing, conclude that the task is too difficult for their powers; and rightly so, for they are not equipped for this pursuit. But some of them persuade themselves that they have already sufficiently heard the whole of it and need make no further effort.

Plato(?), Letter VII 340c-e