The Shelves · Natural science
On the Sacred Art (commentary on Zosimos' On Action)
Known · Probablein Alexandria?Conjectured · Our reconstructionour placement
◇ Doubted: the attribution is disputed; the attribution is uncertain. Ascribed to Olympiodorus; whether this is the Alexandrian Neoplatonist is debated.
I · The entry, in his form
In the table of Natural science
Conjectured · Our reconstructionour placementOlympiodorus (identity with the Alexandrian philosopher disputed)
On the Sacred Art
Opening words not preserved.
Length: not counted
◇ Doubted: the attribution is disputed; the attribution is uncertain. Ascribed to Olympiodorus; whether this is the Alexandrian Neoplatonist is debated.
Above, his entry form, filled from what we know. Below, ours.
II · Does it survive? Where to read it
Survives whole
Was it in Alexandria?
Known · ProbableWritten in Alexandria.
On the table: written in Alexandria; no evidence it was in the Library.
Read it today
- Berthelot and Ruelle, Collection des anciens alchimistes grecs (1887-1888) · original and translation · link checked 31 Oct 2026
III · In the show
- Egyptian mysteries, Mithraism, and Zosimos, episode 4, at 37 minutes 34 secondsTranscriptKnown: probable
- What the Egyptian mysteries may have taught, episode 4, at 44 minutes 31 secondsTranscriptWhat the Egyptian mysteries may have taught: metallurgy, statuary, the opening of the mouth.Known: probable
Correction
- What was said
- Porphyry says Pythagoras spent 22 years in Egyptian temples.
- What the sources say
- The twenty-two years come from Iamblichus, not from Porphyry's Life of Pythagoras.
Reference
- Iamblichus, On the Pythagorean Life 4.19
- Fixing the Volatile & The Great Work, episode 33, at 45 minutes 38 secondsTranscript“we found this pattern in metals and we found it in plants”Zosimos's extension of the work from metals to the soul, as read in the conversation with Daniel Wiseman.Known: probable
+ 5 more
- Alchemy · Chronology: Greco-Egyptian foundationsKnown: probable
- Alchemy · Three principles, seven metalsKnown: probable
- Planetary CorrespondencesDays, metals and the Chaldean order as 'the common inheritance'; the metal–planet pairings took centuries to settle, as the alchemy page shows.Known: probable
IV · Sources and the living entry
Ancient references
- Marcianus graecus 299 (edited in Berthelot and Ruelle, vol. 2)
Modern scholarship (2)
- C. Viano, 'Olympiodore l'alchimiste et les Presocratiques', in D. Kahn and S. Matton (eds), Alchimie: art, histoire et mythes (Paris/Milan: SEHA/Arche, 1995), 95-150.
- L. M. Principe, The Secrets of Alchemy (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013)
Entry checked 31 Oct 2026 · no corrections · Suggest a correction ›
ON THE SACRED ART