The Golden Chain

This anthology of Pythagorean and Platonic philosophy promotes a new and fresh view of what Hellenic philosophy is and what kind of wisdom it offers us. The book demonstrates, through excerpts from the great Pythagorean and Platonic writers, that to these thinkers philosophy is a way of life and a means of spiritual realization-not the dry, rationalistic, mental exercise philosophy has become in the modern world. The Golden Chain of the title refers to the ancient belief that such philosophy transmits a heritage of unitive knowledge through a succession of enlightened teachers and students.