Cyril of Alexandria

Cyril of Alexandria (c. 376–444 AD) was the powerful and controversial Patriarch of Alexandria. In Hermetic studies, his significance lies in his massive polemical work, Contra Julianum (Against Julian), written to refute the anti-Christian treatises of the Emperor Julian.

Hermetic Testimonies in Hermetica II

As Litwa details in Hermetica II, Cyril uses Hermes Trismegistus as a rhetorical weapon against Julian. Since Julian respected the ancient Hellenic and Egyptian sages, Cyril quotes extensively from lost Hermetic texts (many of which only survive in Cyril's quotes) to prove that Hermes actually taught the Trinity and the Incarnation. Cyril cites the Hermetica to show that the Egyptian sage acknowledged a "Word" (Logos) of God that organized the cosmos.

Scholarly Perspectives

Fowden and Bull highlight Cyril's testimonies as a window into the late antique "battle for Hermes." Both pagans (like Iamblichus and Julian) and Christians (like Cyril) claimed ownership of the Hermetic revelation. Cyril's fragments are particularly valuable because they show traces of authentic Egyptian theology (such as the theology of Memphis regarding Ptah/Logos) that had been absorbed into the Hermetic discourse, supporting Bull's thesis of the indigenous Egyptian roots of the tradition.