Works of Dionysius

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Since Geminius once destined me to interpret the Platonists, and I have dedicated almost all Platonic works to great physicians, it seems that while the rest may have belonged to your ancestors, you rightly claim for yourself those among these which pertain primarily to theology and are therefore considered sacred. And so, I sent the Platonic priest Iamblichus to you some time ago, as he treats the sacred mysteries of the Egyptians. After this, I turned to translating Dionysius the Areopagite, the Platonic and Christian theologian, intending to dedicate this eminent bishop of the Athenians to the supreme bishop of the Florentines. Therefore, read this now that it is completed, and live happily.

Preface of Marsilio Ficino on Dionysius the Areopagite

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Ancient theologians and Platonists believe the divine inspiration of Dionysius to be the ecstasy and transcendence of separate minds, when—partly by native love, partly by God’s instigation—they have surpassed the limits of natural intelligence and are miraculously transformed into the beloved God. There, with a new draught of nectar and ineffable joy, they revel as if intoxicated, if I may say so. Dionysius, our own, exults, intoxicated by this Dionysian wine. He pours out riddles; he sings dithyrambs. Thus, as it is difficult to penetrate his profound meanings with the intellect, so too is it difficult to imitate his marvelous composition of words and, especially, to express them in Latin. Therefore, to achieve this easily, a divine frenzy is absolutely necessary for us. We must entreat the Trinity with the same prayer, so that He who once infused the light into Dionysius, who piously sought to penetrate the mysteries of the prophets and apostles, may similarly infuse us, as we supplicate Him, to achieve and express his meaning and eloquence.

Marsilius’s Argument on the Prayer of Dionysius concerning the Trinity

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Dionysius the Areopagite, seeking the pinnacle of Platonic discipline and the column of Christian theology, does not search for divine light so much with the intellect as he seeks it with an ardent affection of the will and with prayer. Indeed, having learned from Paul, the sun of the world—with Plato also confirming—that the principle of the universe itself is superior to any intellect, no matter how excellent, he does not attempt to compare it by some effort of the intellect. Rather, he seeks to be inflamed by God in a mind wholly devoted to Him by love, and there to shine in that heat. It suffices to have said this much as the reason for beginning with prayer. We omit for the present what the power of prayer is and who prays most effectively. We have said enough in the letter to Bindacius Recasolanus, who is joined with us in singular affection. Let us now proceed to the exposition.

Continuation of the exposition on the Trinity, and that the Good is above essence and is unknown because of the exuberance of light.

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Everyone, the more they flourish in goodness, the more they communicate themselves through a certain outpouring of their own nature. Wherefore, an infinite propagation pertains to the infinite Good. But since two infinities cannot exist, infinite goodness and the immense propagation of that goodness are by nature one, namely, propagating itself within itself. Then, since every love is necessarily carried toward the good, it follows that within the infinite Good and its infinite outpouring, there exists also an infinite love and an amatory spirit directed inward toward Himself. While we count here three quasi-natural, personal properties, meanwhile, because that which is infinite leaves nothing of itself outside and does not admit any other