Poem of Zosimus, Act 3Ποίημα Ζωσίμου (πρᾶξις γʹ)
Zosimus of Panopolis Poem of Zosimus, Act 3 PDF
The Poem of Zosimus, Act 3 is a section of a core alchemical treatise composed in Greek by Zosimus of Panopolis in Egypt around 300 CE. This work is a seminal text in the history of alchemy, seamlessly integrating practical laboratory instructions for the transmutation of metals with profound mystical and theological speculation. It presents the alchemical art not merely as a technical craft but as a spiritual discipline aimed at the purification and redemption of the soul. The literary style is a distinctive blend of prose and visionary verse, heavily infused with the Hermetic and Gnostic philosophies prevalent in late antique Egypt.
The text survives as part of a larger, fragmentary corpus attributed to Zosimus. The original architecture of the complete Poem, including the total number of its constituent "acts," remains unclear due to the incomplete and often indirect nature of the manuscript tradition. It is preserved chiefly through later Greek and Syriac copies contained within Byzantine anthologies. For modern scholarship, this act and the wider Zosimean corpus serve as an indispensable source for comprehending the intricate fusion of ancient technology, natural philosophy, and esoteric religion in the late Roman world. The work was intended for a closed community of initiates who viewed the physical processes of the laboratory and the spiritual journey of the soul as intimately parallel and mutually illuminating pursuits.
| [20] | ΠΟΙΗΜΑ ΤΟΥ ΑΥΤΟΥ ΖΩΣΙΜΟΥ. ΠΡΑΞΙΣ Γ Καὶ πάλιν κατενόησα τὸν θεῖον καὶ ἱερὸν φιαλοβωμὸν, καὶ εἶδόν τινα ἱεροπρεπῆ λευκοποδήρην ἐνδεδυμένον ἱερουργοῦντα τὰ φοβερὰ ἐκεῖνα μυστήρια, καὶ εἶπον· «Ἆρα τίς ἐστιν οὗτος;» καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπέ μοι· «Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ ἱερεὺς τῶν ἀδύτων. Οὗτος βούλεται αἱματῶσαι τὰ σώματα, καὶ ὀμματῶσαι τὰ ὄμματα, καὶ τὰ νενεκρωμένα ἀναστῆσαι.» Καὶ οὕτω πάλιν πεσὼν ἐκοιμήθην ἄλλον ὀλίγον, καὶ αὐτὸ δὴ ἐν τῷ ἐπανέρχεσθαί με ἐπὶ τὴν τετάρτην κλίμακα, εἶδον κατ’ ἀνατολὰς ἐρχόμενον, κατέχοντα ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὑτοῦ μάχαιραν. |
| 2 118 [10] | Καὶ ἄλλος ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ φέρων περιηκονισμένον τινὰ λευκοφόρον καὶ ὡραῖον τὴν ὄψιν, οὗ τὸ ὄνομα [αὐτοῦ] ἐκαλεῖτο μεσουράνισμα ἡλίο υ , καὶ ὡς πλησίον ἦλθον τῶν κολάσεων, λέγων ὅτι μάχαιραν κρατῶν, «Περιέτεμε αὐτοῦ τὴν κεφαλὴν, καὶ τὰ κρέατα αὐτοῦ θήσων ἀνὰ μέρος, καὶ τὰς σάρκας αὐτοῦ ἀνὰ μέρος, ὅπως αἱ σάρκες αὐτοῦ πρῶτον ἑψηθῶσιν ὀργανικῶς, καὶ τότε τῇ κολάσει παραπορευθῶσιν.» Καὶ οὕτως πάλιν ἔξυπνος γενόμενος εἶπον· «Καλῶς ἐπενόησα καὶ ὅτι περὶ ταῦτά ἐστιν τὰ ὑγρὰ τῆς μεταλλικῆς.» Καὶ πάλιν ὁ βαστάζων τὴν μάχαιραν ἔφη· «Πεπληρώκατε τὴν κάτω ἑπτὰ κλίμακας. Ὁ δὲ ἕτερος ἔφη ἅμα τῷ ἐκβαλεῖν τοὺς κρουνοὺς δι’ ὑγρῶν πάντων· «Ἡ τέχνη πεπλήρωται.» |