Morphology

Word formed by two elements. The verb τελέω, 1. to finish, complete, fulfill; 2. To pay; 3. To celebrate, perform, to initiate in the mysteries, to endow a thing with potency, consecrate it; and the agjectival suffix -ικός, ική.

The verb comes from the substantive τέλος ➚, 1. end, realization; 2. culmination, perfection; 3. limit, conclusion; 4. Office, function; 5. Tribute, tax; 6. Offerings, sacrifices, ceremonies, rites, festivals, mysteries; 7. Military division, detachement. (Montanari 2015: pp. 2099-2100)

Etymology

Τέλος ➚ has, according to scholars, two possible roots: the ancient root *kᵂel- “to turn”, that of τέλομαι or the root *tel- “to lift, bear”. According to Chantraine τέλος ➚ could derive from the extended root *tel-ₔ₂- “to lift”, that of τέλλω. (Chantraine 1999: p. 1103) According to Waanders instead of *tel-ₔ₂- “to lift, to hold up”, τέλος ➚ derives from *tel-ₔ₁-, “to carry out, to perform”. with the metaphorical meaning attached to it at an early date. Thus, although τελέω is generally considered by the ancients as well as by modern scholars, to have derived from τέλος ➚, τελέω could be the primary verb and the noun τέλος ➚ would consequently derive from it. The verb would come from *τέλεμι, derived from *tel-ₔ₁-mi (Waanders 1983, p. 18).

According to Waanders: “the earliest attested meanings are '(full) performance, completion', 'realization', 'task', to which the other meanings can be related in a coherent way”. As a corroboration of this etymology, Waanders proposes to interpret the Mycenaean forms te-re-ta as τελε(ς)τᾱ́ς “a high-ranking person” (Waanders 1983: p. 20). In this precise sense the term is attested in an inscription of VI-V century BCE from Olympia, where the dialectal form τελεστά means “magistrate” (HGIU 29; Ballériaux 1990, p. 36).

Testimonies

1) The term τελεστική ➚ is first attested in IV century BCE, used by Plato only two times, both in Phaedrus (248d; 265b).

In the first passage (448d) Plato is listing the different stages of human condition and at the middle, in 5th position we can find “the life of a prophet or someone who conducts mystic rites” (πέμπτην μαντικὸν βίον ἤ τινα τελεστικὸν ἕξουσαν). It is the very first time this expression is used by Plato and the scholars’ interpretation has not been so straightforward. Omer Ballériaux (1990, p. 35) states “Les traducteurs du Phèdre se montrent, à cet endroit, bien hésitants.” Generally, it is interpreted as something regarding mystic rites and mystery cults.

In the second passage (265b) Plato says that telestic madness comes from Dionysus. However there’s still no explanation of the term. To explain this telestic mania (μανία ➚ ➚) Ballériaux (1990, p. 36) turns to the passage 244d-e, where Plato writes about a mania without naming it, and by exclusion Ballériaux believes that it is the telestic one:

τό τε ὄνομα τοῦ ὀνόματος ἔργον τ’ ἔργου, τόσῳ κάλλιον μαρτυροῦσιν οἱ παλαιοὶ μανίαν σωφροσύνης τὴν ἐκ θεοῦ τῆς παρ’ ἀνθρώπων γιγνομένης. ἀλλὰ μὴν νόσων γε καὶ πόνων τῶν μεγίστων, ἃ δὴ παλαιῶν ἐκ μηνιμάτων ποθὲν ἔν τισι τῶν γενῶν ἡ μανί ἐγγενομένη καὶ προφητεύσασα, οἷς ἔδει ἀπαλλαγὴν ηὕρετο, καταφυγοῦσα πρὸς θεῶν εὐχάς τε καὶ λατρείας, ὅθεν δὴ καθαρμῶν τε καὶ τελετῶν τυχοῦσα ἐξάντη ἐποίησε τὸν [ἑαυτῆς] ἔχοντα πρός τε τὸν παρόντα καὶ τὸν ἔπειτα χρόνον,

Moreover, when diseases and the greatest troubles have been visited upon certain families through some ancient guilt, madness has entered in and by oracular power has found a way of release for those in need, taking refuge in prayers and the service of the gods, and so, by purifications and sacred rites, he who has this madness is made safe for the present and the after time, and for him who is rightly possessed of madness a release from present ills is found.

Ballériaux believes that telestic madness is the kind of Dionysiac madness that hits télestes, in his words “devins-exorcistes” that freed families hit by divine punishment for a past fault inherited from an ancestor (Ballériaux 1990, pp. 42-43). According to the French scholar télestes were the same manteis and agyrtais that Plato mentions in Republic (II, 364b), diviners that could free from ancient unpunished wrongs thanks to a god-inspired madness, the telestic madness.

Pl. Phdr. 248d-e

[…] τότε νόμος ταύτην μὴ φυτεῦσαι εἰς μηδεμίαν θήρειον φύσιν ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ γενέσει, ἀλλὰ τὴν μὲν πλεῖστα ἰδοῦσαν εἰς γονὴν ἀνδρὸς γενησομένου φιλοσόφου ἢ φιλοκάλου ἢ μουσικοῦ τινος καὶ ἐρωτικοῦ, τὴν δὲ δευτέραν εἰς βασιλέως ἐννόμου ἢ πολεμικοῦ καὶ ἀρχικοῦ, τρίτην εἰς πολιτικοῦ ἤ τινος οἰκονομικοῦ ἢ χρηματιστικοῦ, τετάρτην εἰς φιλοπόνου <ἢ> γυμναστικοῦ ἢ περὶ σώματος ἴασίν τινος ἐσομένου, πέμπτην μαντικὸν βίον ἤ τινα τελεστικὸν ἕξουσαν· ἕκτῃ ποιητικὸς ἢ τῶν περὶ μίμησίν τις ἄλλος ἁρμόσει, ἑβδόμῃ δημιουργικὸς ἢ γεωργικός, ὀγδόῃ σοφιστικὸς ἢ δημοκοπικός, ἐνάτῃ τυραννικός.

[…] then it is the law that this soul shall never pass into any beast at its first birth, but the soul that has seen the most shall enter into the birth of a man who is to be a philosopher or a lover of beauty, or one of a musical or loving nature, and the second soul into that of a lawful king or a warlike ruler, and the third into that of a politician or a man of business or a financier, the fourth into that of a hardworking gymnast or one who will be concerned with the cure of the body, and the fifth will lead the life of a prophet or someone who conducts mystic rites; to the sixth, a poet or some other imitative artist will be united, to the seventh, a craftsman or a husbandman, to the eighth, a sophist or a demagogue, to the ninth, a tyrant.

Pl. Phdr. 265b,4

Τῆς δὲ θείας τεττάρων θεῶν τέτταρα μέρη διελόμενοι, μαντικὴν μὲν ἐπίπνοιαν Ἀπόλλωνος θέντες, Διονύσου δὲ τελεστικήν, Μουσῶν δ’ αὖ ποιητικήν, τετάρτην δὲ Ἀφροδίτης καὶ Ἔρωτος, ἐρωτικὴν μανίαν ἐφήσαμέν τε ἀρίστην εἶναι,

And we made four divisions of the divine madness, ascribing them to four gods, saying that prophecy was inspired by Apollo, the mystic madness by Dionysus, the poetic by the Muses, and the madness of love, inspired by Aphrodite and Eros, we said was the best.

2) After Plato it is used in II and III centuries CE by Plutarchus and Aelianus as an adjective with the meaning of “mystical”.

Plu.Sol. 12,4

ἐδόκει δέ τις εἶναι θεοφιλὴς καὶ σοφὸς περὶ τὰ θεῖα τὴν ἐνθουσιαστικὴν καὶ τελεστικὴν σοφίαν, διὸ καὶ παῖδα νύμφης ὄνομα Βάλτης καὶ Κούρητα νέον αὐτὸν οἱ τότε ἄνθρωποι προσηγόρευον.

He was reputed to be a man beloved of the gods, and endowed with a mystical and heaven-sent wisdom in religious matters.

Ael.NA 2.42

καρδίαν δὲ οὐκ ἂν φάγοι ποτὲ ἱέραξ, τελεστικὸν δήπου δρῶν καὶ μυστικὸν ἐκεῖνος τοῦτο.

But a falcon will never eat the heart, thereby presumably fulfilling some mystic rite.

3) In the second half of the II century CE we find for the first time τελεστική ➚ in the noun form. It is attested in Maximus of Tyre, who in the 38th discourse speaks about the divine nature of Virtue. To demonstrate the divine origin of human virtue he takes as examples things that although inferior than virtue are still inspired by divine nature. One of these lesser arts is τελεστική ➚, that together with μαντική ➚, ποιητική ➚, καθάρσεις ➚ and χρησμῳδίας ➚, compose a list of things that Maximus considers established as coming from divine inspiration. By stating this hierarchy, the author wants to demonstrate the divine origin of Virtue, which being better than those things has to come from divine doing too. “You should be prepared to find that, if God is able to share out and distribute such things as these, he is far more able and willing to distribute Virtue.” (Trapp 1997, p. 303). In the joint citation of mantic, telestic and poetic arts, Maximus may remember the passage from Plato’s Phaedrus 265b, even if here he does not mention erotic mania and adds “purifications and prophecies” (Trapp 1997, p. 302).

Max. Tyr. 38 5,2

‘Ὦ σχέτλιε, τί ταῦτα ἐρεῖς, ὃς ἡγεῖ τὸ καλλιστεῦον τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων ἀγαθῶν παρὰ μὲν ἀνθρώπου τέχνης τάχιστα ἥξειν, ἐκ δὲ θείας ἀρετῆς ἀπορώτατα; Καίτοι μαντικήν, καὶ τελεστικήν, καὶ ποιητικήν, καὶ καθάρ- σεις, καὶ χρησμῳδίας, ξυλλήβδην ἅπαντα, οὐκ ἂν εἴποις ἀντάξια εἶναι τῆς ἀρετῆς·

'You fool, what nonsense is this? Do you really think that the finest of human goods can instantaneously be derived from human science, but only with the greatest difficulty from divine Virtue? Yet at the same time you would not be prepared to say that the arts of the seer and the priest and the poet, and purifications and prophecies, were equal in worth to Virtue, even taken all together.

4) In V CE neoplatonic authors Hermias and Proclus speak of τελεστική ➚ as connected with theurgy, defined by Dodds as a branch of τελεστική ➚ “applied to a religious purpose and resting on a supposed revelation of a religious character” (Dodds 1951, p. 291) or by Proclus’ words “all the operation of divine possession” (Theol. Plat. p.63; Dodds, ib.) Dodds considers τελεστική ➚ as being one of two rituals, the other being the temporary incarnation of a god in a human being, a medium. τελεστική ➚ is defined by Dodds as “the consecrating and animating of τελεστική ➚ statues in order to obtain oracles from them” (Dodds 1951, p. 292). This ritual that consecrates statues, making them move under divine possession would have originated in Egypt (Dodds 1951, p. 293). Other authors don’t agree with the scholar and think τελεστική ➚ could come from traditional Greek religious rituals, as there are a lot of similar examples of moving statues in Greek literature (Boyancé 1955). The original source is believed to be either the Chaldean oracles, the orphic cults or the Eleusinian mysteries, but scholars are not unanimous on this.

Tελεστική ➚ is based on the concept of συμπάθεια ➚, that implies a web of references linking image with original (i.e. the material world with the divine world). This way marks (χαρακτήρης ➚), objects such as plants or minerals, and even animals become symbols (σύμβολα ➚) and carry in themselves a bit of divine essence, each type of plant, animal or mineral corresponding to a different god. From this perspective τελεστική ➚ could be defined as a religious ritual that, using material symbols and marks, calls, through the power of συμπάθεια ➚, the divine essence inside an inanimate receptacle, ὑποδοχή ➚, in most cases these receptacles are statues that come alive and move or give oracles.

However some scholars believe τελεστική ➚ to have a double meaning: on one hand the pragmatic ritual, on the other hand it would be an intellectual concept to be understood on a philosophical level. According to Van Liefferinge (1999, p. 94) Proclus was the first to coin the term τελεστική ➚τέχνη ➚ and to give it the specific meaning of consecrating statues, even if we find it also in Hermias (p. 99, l. 15). However in neoplatonic authors τελεστική ➚ can also mean something higher, a way for the soul to rise and return among the divine world from which it fell. This would mean that τελεστική ➚ entails in general an action of divine power and agency, that can provide movement in both directions, upwards, when the soul rises to the gods, and downwards, when humans summon divine presence through marks and objects that share συμπάθεια ➚ with the original (Van Liefferinge 1999).

According to Ballériaux (1989, p. 23) in Hermias’ commentary on the Phaedrus the role of τελεστική ➚ goes beyond the ritual aspect of consecrating and animating statues. Hermias’ commentary comes from a lecture of the neoplatonic philosopher Syrianus, Hermias and Proclus’ teacher. Ballériaux believes that τελεστική ➚ as consecration of statues is only one of the possible enthusiasms, i.e. the divine possession of the soul. These different possessions are described at 84,21 – 87,4, after which Hermias describes the last enthusiasm, the possession of statues (87, 4-18).

According to Shepperd (1982) too, Proclus thinks about different types of τελεστική ➚: a pragmatic ritual that enables men to come in contact with the divine even if only for a fleeting moment, and, on a higher level a philosophical union of soul and divine essence (see Proclus In Parm. V 990, 27-29).

The term is still used in IX CE by another neoplatonic philosopher, Psellus.

Herm. in Phdr. 87, 4-18

Πῶς μὲν οὖν ἡ ψυχὴ ἐνθουσιᾷ, εἴρηται. Πῶς δὲ καὶ ἄγαλμα λέγεται ἐνθουσιᾶν; Ἢ αὐτὸ μὲν οὐκ ἐνεργεῖ περὶ τὸ θεῖον, ὅ γε ἄψυχόν ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ τὴν ὕλην ἡ τελεστικὴ διακαθήρασα καί τινας χαρακτῆρας καὶ σύμβολα περιθεῖσα τῷ ἀγάλματι πρῶτον μὲν ἔμψυχον αὐτὸ διὰ τούτων !! ἐποίησε καὶ <οἷόν τε> ζωήν τινα ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου καταδέξασθαι, ἔπειτα μετὰ τοῦτο ἐλλαμφθῆναι παρὰ τοῦ θείου αὐτὸ παρεσκεύασεν· ὅπερ ἄγαλμα ἀεὶ χρηματίζει ἕως δύνανται δέχεσθαι οἱ ἐπιτήδειοι· τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἄγαλμα ὡς ἂν τελεσθῇ μένει ἐφεξῆς ἕως ἂν πάντῃ ἀνεπιτήδειον γένηται πρὸς τὴν θεῶν ἔλλαμψιν· ὁ μέντοι δοχεὺς παρὰ μέρος· νῦν μὲν γὰρ δεξάμενος ἀπο- παύεται, αὖθις δὲ πάλιν ἐμφορεῖται· τὸ δὲ αἴτιον ὅτι ἡ μὲν ψυχὴ ἐμφορου- μένη αὐτὴ ἐνεργεῖ περὶ τὸ θεῖον, διὸ ἀποκάμνει ὑπὲρ τὴν ἑαυτῆς δύναμιν ἐνεργοῦσα (ἦ γὰρ ἂν ἦν θεὸς καὶ ὁμοία ταῖς τῶν ἄστρων ψυχαῖς, εἰ μὴ ἀπέκαμνε), τὸ δὲ ἄγαλμα ὡς ἂν πάθῃ οὕτω μένει ἐλλαμπόμενον, διὸ καὶ ἡ ἀνεπιτηδειότης αὐτοῦ εἰς στέρησιν παντελῆ χωρεῖ, ἐὰν μὴ πάλιν ἐκ νέας ὑπὸ τοῦ τελεστοῦ τελεσθῇ καὶ ἐμψυχωθῇ.

Herm. in Phdr. 99, 9-20

Ἐπισημαντέον δὲ τοῦτο καὶ ζητη- τέον πῶς εἰπὼν ἔνθουν μαντείαν καὶ ἀντεξετάσας αὐτῇ τὴν ἀνθρωπικὴν μαντείαν ἣν ἐκάλεσεν οἰωνιστικὴν, καὶ πάλιν εἰπὼν ἔνθουν ποιητικὴν καὶ ἀντιπαραβαλὼν αὐτῇ πάλιν τὴν ἀνθρωπικὴν καὶ τεχνικὴν ποιητικὴν, ἐπὶ τῆς τελεστικῆς τοῦτο οὐκ ἐποίησεν, ἀλλὰ μόνον τὴν ἔνθουν ἐξέθετο τελεστικήν. Καίτοι καὶ ἐκεῖ ἔστιν ἡ ὑποδυομένη ταύτην ἀνθρωπικὴ καὶ τεχνικὴ τελεστικὴ, οἵᾳ χρῶνται καὶ οἱ ἱερεῖς περὶ τὰς θεραπείας τῶν ἀγαλμάτων νόμῳ πόλεως καὶ κατὰ τὰ οἰκεῖα πάτρια· καὶ αἱ ἐπῳδαὶ δὲ καὶ αἱ διὰ βοτανῶν ἢ λίθων θεραπεῖαι εἴησαν ἂν τῆς τεχνικῆς τελεστικῆς. Ἢ οὖν ὡς σαφὲς παρῆκε· πολὺ γὰρ τοῦτο ἐν ταῖς πόλεσιν, ἢ ὡς μηδὲν μέγα ἀνύουσαν, ἢ εἰ καὶ ἀνύει κατὰ τὸν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐνθουσιασμὸν ἀνύει· εἰκόνας γὰρ φέρουσιν αἱ ὑποδυόμεναι τῶν ἀληθινῶν αἰτιῶν.

Procl. in Prm. 719, 23

Καὶ μὴν καὶ ἡ κατὰ καιρὸν μετάδοσις μίμημα φέρει τῆς ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ κατά τινος τῶν θείων εὐκαιρίας ἐκφάνσεως, οἷον εὐγονίας, ἰατρικῆς, θείας μαντείας, τελεστικῆς,

And even the opportune imparting (of Zeno's writing) has a likeness to the appearance on appropriate occasions in the world's history of some divine gift, such as fertility, or the medical art, or prophecy, or initiation into the mysteries

Procl. in Prm. 990, 27

Καὶ γὰρ ἐπὶ θεωρίας καὶ ἐπὶ τελεστικῆς καὶ τοῦτό ἐστι τὸ ποιοῦν ἀσφαλῆ καὶ ἄπταιστον ἡμῖν τὴν ἄνοδον, ἡ ἐν τάξει πρόοδος· ὡς γοῦν φησι καὶ τὸ Λόγιον·

For in the case both of metaphysical speculation and of theurgy it is this that makes our ascent safe and unerring, that is, an orderly scheme of progress.

Psellus Epistula ad Michaelem Cerularium 142

Τὴν μὲν γὰρ ἀπόρρητον καὶ τελεστικὴν σοφίαν ἴσως ἐπίστασαι, τὴν δὲ διὰ λόγου καὶ τῆς καταλλήλου θεωρίας ἠγνόηκας. ἔστι κἀμοὶ θρόνος ἐνταῦθα ὑψηλὸς καὶ μετέω- ρος, οὐδὲν ἥττων τοῦ σοῦ, ἵνα μὴ λέγω ἀπροδεέστερος, καὶ οὔτε θεολογήσεις μὴ τῇ ἐμῇ γλώσσῃ προσχρώμενος, οὔτε κανό- νας ἐκθήσεις οὔτ’ ἄλλο τι ποιήσεις τῶν θειοτέρων· ἐμοὶ γὰρ ὡς μέτρῳ καὶ κανόνι ταῦτα μεμέτρηται.

5) The term is also attested on the Rosetta stone, meaning “treasury of a priesthood” or “payment for initiation into a priesthood” (Waanders1983, p. 168). In his commentary to the inscription André Bernand writes “télestikon (ou droit d'accès à la prêtrise)” (Bernand 1992, vol.2, p. 48).

The Rosetta Stone, OGIS 90, A ➚

British Museum, inv. n. EA24 stele, granodiorite; trilingual decree; h. 112.30, d. 28.40, w. 75.70;

from Sais ➚; 196 BCE;

Found re-used at Fort St Julien, el-Rashid (Rosetta).

Now in London

(16) προσέταξεν δὲ καὶ περὶ τῶν ἱερέων ὅπως μηθὲν πλεῖον διδῶσιν εἰς τὸ τελεστικὸν οὗ ἐτάσσοντο ἕως τοῦ πρώτου ἔτους ἐπὶ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ·

16 […] et qu'il a ordonné, en ce qui concerne les prêtres, qu'ils ne paient rien de plus pour les droits à la consécration que ce à quoi ils étaient imposés jusqu'à la première année, sous son père (Translation by Bernand 1992, vol.1, p. 44).

Photo: ➚

6) The term is also used in some papyri of the Herculaneum collection, one of them being a passage of Epicurus’ De Natura.

P.herc 1148 ➚

ἐξέφευ̣[γε] τὴν ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀέ-
ρος στο[λ]ήν, λεπτομερὲσ πα[ν-]
τελῶς αὐτὸ ὂν καὶ οὐ δυ-
νάμενου ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀέρος ἐν
5 ἀθροισμῶι λαμβάνεσθαι
συναγωγὴν ἐπιδεχομέ-
νωι· οὔτε γὰρ ἐμβρείθεια
——
ποσή τις στολὴν ἐπιδέχε-
ται οὔτ[ε] λεπτομέρεια, ἀλ-
10 λὰ συμμετρία τις ποσὴ
καὶ τοῦ τοιούτου συντελεσ-
τικὴ γί[ν]εται· ἀλλὰ γὰρ
——
καὶ τοῦτ̣ο γελοίως ἐκ τῆς
φαντασίας ἀναλελόγισται
15 καὶ οὐκ ἐπισταμένως τἀ-
φανὲς δι̣ὰ τοῦ φαινομένου
συλλογί[ζ]εσθαι· καὶ ἡ γῆ δὲ
——
π[ά]λιν̣ οὐ[κ] ἐ[κ τοῦ] αὐτ̣[οῦ τ]ρό-
που δ̣ύν[αται ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣] ἐξ οὗ
20 δ[ ̣ ̣ ̣]νη[- ca.9 -]ειονου
μ [ ̣ ̣] απο [- ca.9 -]ην[ ̣]α -
——
σ[ ̣ ̣]κι[- ca.9 -]ειδ[ ̣ ̣]
[ ̣ ̣ ̣]ω[- ca.10 -]ι̣α[ ̣ ̣ ̣]

Text taken from Papyri.info.

Catalogue of occurrences

Literary sources

• Pl. Phdr. 248d-e ➚
• Pl. Phdr. 265b,4 ➚
• Plu. Sol. 12,4 ➚
• Ael. NA 2.42 ➚
• Max. Tyr. 38 5a, 2 ➚
• Herm. in Phdr. 87, 4-18 ➚
• Herm. in Phdr. 99, 9-20 ➚
• Procl. in Prm. 719, 23 ➚
• Procl. in Prm. 990, 27 ➚
• Psellus Epist. ad Michaelem Cerularium 142 ➚

Inscriptions

• OGIS 90,A ➚

Papyri

• P.herc 1148 ➚

Discussion / interpretation

τελεστική ➚, ritual practice one uses to induce the presence of a certain god inside an inanimate object used as a receptacle (ὑποδοχή ➚), often a statue of said god. Usually other objects, like plants or minerals, and marks(χαρακτήρης ➚), engraved or written, were used to strengthen the bond between god and receptacle. It is also considered a religious and philosophical concept, first attested in Plato and later resumed by the Neoplatonic authors. Interpreted by modern scholars as either linked to theurgy, if not even one of its synonyms.

First attested in Plato, with the meaning of mystic madness linked to the god Dionysus, τελεστική ➚ is then used in the late hellenistic period when the meaning becomes linked with theurgy. It would entail the “consecrating and animating of magic statues in order to obtain oracles from them.” (Dodds 1951). This term is later used by Maximus of Tyre in II CE and by neoplatonic authors, like Hermias and Proclus in V CE, and Psellus in XI CE. Dodds considers τελεστική ➚ as one of the rituals that use theurgy intended as a magic power that concerns divine possessions. Other authors believe τελεστική ➚ to be an ancient rite engrained in the traditional Greek religion that only later, in neoplatonic texts, is associated with theurgy, and becomes a way to reunite the soul with the divine (Boyancé 1955; Van Liefferinge 1999).

Bibliography

All texts, unless otherwise stated, come from TLG ➚

All translations, unless otherwise stated, come from Perseus ➚

Ballériaux 1989 = Ballériaux, Omer. Φιλοσόφων τὰ θεουργικὰ ἐξετάζειν. Syrianus et la télestique. In “Kernos”, n. 2, 1989, pp. 13-25. ➚

Ballériaux 1990 = Ballériaux, Omer. Mantique et télestique dans le Phèdre de Platon. In “Kernos” [online], n. 3, 1990, pp. 35-42.

Bernand 1992 = Bernand, André. La Prose sur pierre dans l'Égypte hellénistique et romaine. 2 vols. Paris 1992

Bernand 1982 = Bernand, Étienne. Inscriptions grecques d'Égypte et de Nubie: Répertoire bibliographique des OGIS. «Annales littéraires de l'Université de Besançon», 272. «Centre de Recherche d'Histoire Ancienne», 45, Paris 1982.

Boyancé 1955 = Boyancé, Pierre. Théurgie et télestique néoplatoniciennes. In “Revue de l'histoire des religions”, n. 147.2, 1955. pp. 189-209. ➚

Burnet 1901= Burnet, J. Platonis opera. Vol. 2, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1901 (repr. 1967): St III.227a-279c.

Chantraine 1999 = Chantraine, Pierre. Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots. Paris: Klincksieck, 1999.

Cousin 1864 = Cousin, V. Procli philosophi Platonici opera inedita. pt. 3, Paris, Durand, 1864 (repr. Hildesheim: Olms, 1961), pp. 617-1244.

Couvreur 1901 = Couvreur, P. Hermeias von Alexandrien. In Platonis Phaedrum scholia. Paris. Bouillon, 1901 (repr. Hildesheim: Olms, 1971), pp.1-266.

Criscuolo 1990 = Criscuolo, U. Michele Psello, Epistola a Michele Cerulario. [Hellenica et byzantina neapolitana 15], 1973 (repr. 1990), pp. 21-31.

Dodds 1951 = Dodds, Eric R. The Greeks and the irrational. Sather Classical Lectures; XXV. Berkeley, University of California Pr., 1951.

Hobein 1910 = Hobein, H. Maximi Tyrii philosophumena. Leipzig, Teubner, 1910, pp. 1-484.

Lewy 1956 = Lewy, Y. Chaldean oracles and theurgy: Mysticism, τελεστική ➚ and Platonism in the later Roman Empire. Le Caire, 1956.

Trapp 1997 = Maximus of Tyre; Trapp, Michael B. (trad.). The Philosophical Orations. Oxford, 1997.

Migne 1857 = Migne, J.-P. Patrologiae cursus completus. (series Graeca) (MPG) 110, Paris, Migne, 1857-1866.

Montanari 2015 = Montanari, Franco, Goh, Madeleine, Schroeder, Chad, Nagy, Gregory and Muellner, Leonard. The Brill dictionary of ancient Greek. Leiden - Boston, Brill, 2015.

Fowler 1925 = Plato; Fowler, Harold N. (trad.). Plato in Twelve Volumes. Vol. 9, Cambridge; London, 1925.

Morrow - Dillon 2018 = Proclus; Morrow, G. R., Dillon, J. M. (trad.). Proclus' Commentary on Plato's Parmenides. Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2018. ➚

Sheppard 1982 = Sheppard, Anne. Proclus’ attitude to theurgy. In "Classical Quarterly", 32, 1982.

Van Liefferinge 1999 = Van Liefferinge, Carine. La Théurgie: Des Oracles chaldaïques à Proclus. Liège, 1999. ➚

Waanders 1983 = Waanders, Frits M.J. History of ΤΕΛΟΣ and ΤΕΛΕΩ in Ancient Greek. John Benjamins Publishing Company, 1983. ➚