The Enneads
by Plotinus · Ἐννεάδες
Assigned by 4 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- c. 253-270 (edited c. 301)
- Era
- Roman Empire
- Form
- Treatise
- Language
- Greek
- Length
- Epic · 700 ppover 700 pages
- Difficulty
- Formidable5 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendThe Enneads, translated by Stephen MacKenna, abridged by John DillonPenguin Classics, 1991MacKenna's translation, the one Great Books uses, in a well-chosen abridgement; Gerson's Cambridge edition is the modern complete text.
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The collected treatises of Plotinus, arranged after his death by his pupil Porphyry into six groups of nine. They describe a reality that descends from the One, beyond being and thought, through Intellect, where the Platonic forms live, to Soul, which animates the sensible world, and set out how the soul can turn back and ascend to union with its source. Individual treatises treat beauty, the descent of the soul, time and eternity, providence, evil as the absence of good, and the virtues.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns The Enneads are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
