Porphyry

Porphyry (/ˈpɔːrfɪri/; Greek: Πορφύριος, Porphyrios "purple-clad") may refer to:

See also

Porphyrius Uspensky

Bishop Porphyrius (Russian: Епископ Порфирий, secular name Konstantin Aleksandrovich Uspenski, Russian: Константин Александрович Успенский; 8 September 1804 - 19 April 1885), was a Russian traveller, theologian, orientalist, archaeologist and byzantinologist, founder of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem and also discovered several ancient codexs. In latter year he was auxiliary bishop of Chigirin.

Life

Konstantin Uspensky was born on 8 September 1804 in Kostroma, Russian Empire. He finished religious school in 1818 and four years after, he finished his studies at the Theological Seminary in Kostroma. In 1829, he finished studies at Saint Petersburg Theological Academy. That same year, he became a priest and received the name of Porphyrius.

In 1834, he became an archimandrite in Odessa. It was in Odessa where he became interested in Oriental Orthodoxy, learnt Modern Greek and Italian. He travelled to Palestine in 1842 and became head of the newly established Russian Orthodox Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem in 1847, which he headed until 1854. In 1845 and 1846, he travelled to Mount Athos in Greece and Mount Sinai in Egypt. He saw the Codex Sinaiticus in Saint Catherine's Monastery in 1844 (one year after Constantin von Tischendorf's first visit). After a visit to the monastery of Mar Saba, he took the codex, which was later named after him (Uspenski Gospels), Codex Porphyrianus, and he brought it together with others manuscripts to Russia. Four pre-Iconoclast encaustic icons brought by Uspensky from Sinai are still preserved in Kiev, Ukraine.

Porphyry (philosopher)

Porphyry of Tyre (/ˈpɔːrfəri/; Greek: Πορφύριος, Porphyrios; c. 234 – c. 305 AD) was a Neoplatonic philosopher who was born in Tyre. He edited and published the Enneads, the only collection of the work of his teacher Plotinus. His commentary on Euclid's Elements was used as a source by Pappus of Alexandria.

He also wrote many works himself on a wide variety of topics. His Isagoge, or Introduction, is an introduction to logic and philosophy, and in Latin translation it was the standard textbook on logic throughout the Middle Ages. In addition, through several of his works, most notably Philosophy from Oracles and Against the Christians, which was banned by emperor Constantine the Great, he was involved in a controversy with a number of early Christians,.

Biography

Porphyry's parents were Greek, and he was born in Tyre. His parents named him Malchus ("king") but his teacher in Athens, Cassius Longinus, gave him the name Porphyrius ("clad in purple"), possibly a reference to his Phoenician heritage, or a punning allusion to his name and the color of royal robes. Under Longinus he studied grammar and rhetoric.