The Alexandrian School or Alexandrian Age was the school or period of Greek literature and learning that existed at Alexandria in Egypt during the three hundred years that the rule of the Ptolemies lasted, from 323 until 30 BC, and continued under the Roman supremacy. Ptolemy Soter founded the famous Alexandrian Library, and his son, Philadelphus, established a kind of academy of sciences and arts. Many scholars and men of genius were thus attracted to Alexandria, and a period of literary activity set in, which made Alexandria for long the focus and centre of Greek culture and intellectual effort. It must be admitted, however, that originality was not a characteristic of the Alexandrian age, which was stronger in criticism, grammar, and science than in pure literature.
Among the grammarians and critics were Zenodotus, Eratosthenes, Aristophanes, Aristarchus, and Zoilus, proverbial as a captious critic. Their merit is to have collected, edited, and preserved the existing monuments of Greek literature. To the poets belong Apollonius, Lycophron, Aratus, Nicander, Euphorion, Callimachus, Theocritus, Philetas, etc. Among those who pursued mathematics, physics, and astronomy, was Euclid, the father of scientific geometry; Archimedes, great in physics and mechanics; Apollonius of Perga, whose work on conic sections still exists; Nicomachus, the first scientific arithmetician; and under the Romans, the astronomer and geographer Ptolemy. Alexandria also was distinguished in philosophical speculation, and it was here that the New Platonic school was established at the close of the second century by Ammonius of Alexandria about 193 AD, whose disciples were Plotinus and Origen. Being for the most part orientals, formed by the study of Greek learning, the writings of the New Platonists are strikingly characterized - for example, those of Ammonius Saccas, Plotinus, Lamblicus, Porphyrius - by a mixture of Asiatic and European elements. The principal Gnostic systems also had their origin in Alexandria. Research Alexandrian School
Creed is a summary of belief with which the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds begin. These two creeds, together with the Athanasian Creed, are the most ancient authoritative Christian creeds, though numerous ancient formularies of faith are preserved in the writings of the early fathers, Irenaeus, Origen, Tertullian, etc., which agree in substance, though with some diversity of expression.
The Nicene Creed was so called from being adopted as the creed of the church at the Council of Nicaea or Nice, 325 AD, though its terms were subsequently somewhat altered.
The Apostles' Creed probably dates from the end of the 4th century; but there is no evidence of its being accepted in its present form until the middle of the 8th.
The Athanasian Creed was certainly not drawn up by St Athanasius, but probably belongs to the 5th century, if not as late as the end of the 8th or beginning of the 9th century. In addition to these three creeds, the Roman Catholic Church has the creed of Pius IV, put forth in 1564, and consisting of the Nicene Creed with additional articles adopted by the Council of Trent, to which is now added a profession of belief in the definitions of the Vatican Council.
The English Church adopts as 'thoroughly to be received and believed' the three ancient creeds, which as part of her liturgy may be read in the Book of Common Prayer, but does not consider any of them to be inspired. Besides these creeds, there are numerous Confessions of Faith, which have been adopted by different churches and sects. The Thirty-nine Articles of the Book of Common Prayer form a confession of faith for the Anglican Church. The creed of the Church of Scotland and other Presbyterian churches is contained in the Confession of Faith, drawn up by the Westminster Assembly of Divines, and completed in 1646. Research Creed
Dogmatics is a systematic arrangement of the articles of Christian faith (dogmas), or the branch of theology that deals with them. The first attempt to furnish a complete and coherent system of Christian dogmas was made by Origen in the 3rd century. Research Dogmatics
A hexapla is a collection of the Holy Scriptures in six languages. The term is applied particularly to the combination of six versions published by Origen, containing the Hebrew text with a transcript of it in Greek characters, the Septuagint, and three other versions, those, namely, of Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion. It is only extant in fragments. Research Hexapla
A homily is a discourse or sermon read or pronounced to an audience on some subject of religion; a discourse pronounced in the church by the minister to the congregation.
The ancient homily was sometimes simply a conversation, the prelate talking to the people and interrogating them, and they in turn talking to and interrogating him. In modern use a homily differs but little from an ordinary sermon, the idea of simplicity, however, being always attached to it.
The earliest existing examples of the homily are those of Origen in the 3rd century. In the schools of Alexandria and Antioch this form of discourse was sedulously cultivated, and Clement of Alexandria, St Dionysius, and Gregory Thaumaturgus are among the names most eminent in this department. It was in later centuries, however, and in the hands of Atlianasius, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of Nazianzus, Basil, Cyril of Jerusalem, and Cyril of Alexandria, and especially of Chrysostom that the homily reached its highest excellence. Augustine and Gregory the Great were among the western composers of homilies.
In the Church of England, after the Reformation, two official books of homilies were issued. These were called The First and Second Books of Homilies, and the former, ascribed to Thomas Cranmer, appeared in 1547; the latter, said to be by Jewell, in 1563. They were originally meant to be read by those of the inferior clergy who were not qualified to compose discourses themselves. Research Homily
Ammonius Saccas was a Greek philosopher who lived about 175-250. Originally a porter in Alexandria, he derived his epithet from the carrying of sacks of corn. The son of Christian parents, he abandoned their faith for the polytheistic philosophy of Greece. His teaching was historically a transition stage between Platonism and Neo-Platonism. Among his disciples were Plotinus, Longinus, Origen, etc. Research Ammonius Saccas
Celsus was an Epicurean philosopher of the 2nd century AD, who is usually said to have been the author of an attack on Christianity entitled Logos Alethes (True Word), which is now lost, but is mostly preserved in the extracts contained in the more celebrated work Contra Celsum, in which it was answered by Origen. Research Celsus
Clement of Alexandria (real name TitusFlavius Clemens), was a Christian missionary in the 2nd and at the beginning of the 3rd century. He was converted from paganism to Christianity, and after travelling in Greece, Italy, and the East, became presbyter of the church of Alexandria, and teacher of the celebrated school in that city, in which place he succeeded Pantaenus, his teacher, and was succeeded by Origen, his pupil. His chief remaining works are the Protreptikos, Paidagogos, and Stromateis or Stromata (Patchwork) ; the first an exhortation to the Greeks to turn to the one true God, the second a work on Christ, the last a collection of brief discussions in chronology, philosophy, poetry, etc. Few of the early Christians had so wide a knowledge of Greek philosophy and literature, and it is as a higher philosophic scheme that he mainly discusses Christianity. He was regarded as a saint until Benedict XIV struck him off the calendar. Research Clement of Alexandria
Garcilaso de la Vega (properly Garcias Laso de la Vega) was a Spanish poet, He was born in 1600 0r 1503 at Toledo and died in 1536. He went in his youth to the Spanish court, and in 1529 distinguished himself in the Spanish corps serving against the Turks in Austria. An intrigue with a lady of the court led to his imprisonment on an island in the Danube, where several of his poems were composed. In 1529 he was engaged in the expedition against Soliman, and in 1535 in that against Tunis. He was made commander of thirty companies of infantry in 1536, and accompanied the imperial army against Marseilles, but was mortally wounded in attempting to scale a tower near Frejus. He died at Nice in that year, and was buried at Toledo. His name is associated with that of his contemporary Boscan in the impetus given to Spanish literature by the imitation of the Italian poetic style as exemplified in Petrarch, Ariosto, and Sannazaro. His works, which consist of eclogues, epistles, odes, songs, sonnets, etc, are graceful and musical.
Garcilaso de la Vega; or Garcias Laso de la Vega was a Peruvian historian. The son of Garcilaso de la Vega, one of the conquerors of Peru, and a princess of the race of the Incas, he was born in 1530 or 1540 at Cuzco, Peru and died in 1616 or 1620. Having fallen under the groundless suspicion of the Spanish government he was sent home in 1560. His great work on the history of Peru is in two parts: the first entitled Los Comentarios Reales que tratan delOrigen de los Incas, etc (published in Lisbon in 1609); the second, the Historia general delPeru (published in Cordova in 1616). He wrote also Historia de la Florida (published in Lisbon in 1609). Research Garcilaso de la Vega
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Abbreviations
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