Hymn to the Muses,Proclus

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FROM THE CONFUSING TUMULT OF BECOMING,
DO THOU LEAD ME STEADILY UPWARD AND ONWARD,
A WANDERING SOUL,
TO THE HOLY LIGHT.
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(Eugene Abel : Orphica,Leipzig 1885,
W.Nestle : Griechische Religiositata,1934)

Causes,inner and outer - Plotinus - Ennead III

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To sum up the argument,

all things are foreshown and all events are brought into being by causes,

which are of two kinds :

there are some things which are caused by the SOUL

and others which result from other causes,those of the surrounding ENVIRONMENT.

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The actions of the souls may result from their OWN MOTION

and in accordance with sound reason ;

that is when they do their OWN PROPER WORK.

But when they are hindered from their own proper action,

they do not act but rather suffer.

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So that the causes which prevent the soul from thinking lie outside the soul,

and perhaps one ought to say that this takes place in accordance with FATE -or DESTINY-,

that is,

if one holds that destiny is a cause external to ourselves.

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But the BEST ACTIONS are those which SPRING from WITHIN OURSELVES.

We are our real selves when we are alone.

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The wise and the good perform wise and good acts by themselves.

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The others,do good deeds,

when they can catch their breath

-or when the passions are in abeyance-,

but not because they draw these wise thoughts from outside themselves,

when-ever they do think wisely,

but simply because they are for the moment unhindered by obstacles.

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Neoplatonist Proclus (410-485 A.C.),Hymn to Helios

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"Arise,
shine,
thou greatest of the gods,
thou blessed one,
crowned with flame,
Image of God,
the begetter of all,
thou guiding star of Souls !
.
Hear me,
and cleanse me from all the defilements of sin !
.
Accept my bitter tears and pleading !
.
The horrid stain,
remove from me,
and keep far from me the penalty I deserve,
and make mild the stern eye of all-seeing Dike ! "
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Power,Literature of Power

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Utility of a different sort was the object of a group of earnest men,
mainly STOIC at first and then -omitting the Christians- Neoplatonic,
who sought to make themselves and their fellows at home in the world.
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Some,like Epictetus or Plotinus,addressed their disciples ;
others,like Dion of Prusa or Maximus of Tyre,addressed large audiences ;
still others,like Plutarch and the Neoplatonists,addrssed a reading public.
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A group of orators,including Themistius and Libanius,aimed rather at entertainment that edification.
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Perhaps Lucian,
who deserves a place in the shortest list of ancient books worth the modern reader's attention,
shares the functions of teacher and entertainer.
His imaginative writings make a transition to the Greek romances,
which exerted a very great influence on our own function forms.
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