The Influence of Marsilio Ficino (1433-1494) on Elizabethan Literature: Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare

These two volumes are the first extensive study of the influence of Marsilio Ficino on major English poets. Ficino lived in Florence, Italy from 1433 to 1499. He introduced Plato to the Renaissance by his translations of the philosopher's complete works with detailed commentary. He wrote important works on astrology, a multi-volume work on Platonic Theology, and hundreds of brilliant public letters on a variety of subjects. THE INFLUENCE OF MARSILIO FICINO (1433-1494) ON ELIZABETHAN LITERATURE: Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare - Volume I 3 Copyright Page 4 Dedication 567 Table of Contents - Volume I & II 7 Acknowledgments 15 Prologue 17 Introduction 19 Volume I 21 Chapter One - Ancient Egypt Meets Renaissance Florence 23 Chapter Two - The Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus 37 Chapter Three - The Hermetica 39 Chapter Four - Ficino and Plato's Symposium 111 Chapter Five - Ficino and Plato's Phaedrus 137 Chapter Six - Fieirto's Major Astrology 141 Chapter Seven - Ficino's Minor Astrology 163 Chapter Eight - Book of the Sun 173 Chapter Nine - Ficino: Five Questions on the Mind 181 Chapter Ten - Ficino's Greatest Work: His Collected Letters 187 Chapter Eleven - Aratus, Astrologer From the Ancient World 243 Chapter Twelve - Lucretius, Ancient Poet of the Atom 251 Chapter Thirteen - Manilius, The Most Devoted of Ancient Astrologers 261 Chapter Fourteen - Pythagoras, First Magus of the Ancient World 269 Chapter Fifteen - Macrobius, the Ultimate Commentator 287 Chapter Sixteen - Plotinus, the Greatest Platonist Since Plato 299 Chapter Seventeen - Proclus, the Philosopher of the Endless Sentences 307 Chapter Eighteen - Iamblichus, Master of Theurgy 319 Chapter Nineteen - The Angelic Hierarchies of Pseudo-Dionysius 325 Chapter Twenty - Boethius, The Philosopher of Lasting Values 333 Untitled 347 Chapter Twenty-One - Julianus, the Unsung Mystic 347 Chapter Twenty-two 0 The Egyptian Hieroglyphics of Horapollo 357 Chapter Twenty-three - The Meaning of Words in Nicolas of Cusa 365 Chapter Twenty-four - The Wondrous Achievement of Pico della Mirandola 389 Chapter Twenty-five - The Many Sides of Cornelius Agrippa 399 Chapter Twenty-six - The Pathbreaking Life of Paracelsus 413 Chapter Twenty-seven - William Adlington, Translator of Elizabethan Times 437 Chapter Twenty-eight - Thomas Norton, Poet Laureate of Alchemy 445 Chapter Twenty-nine - Jacob Boehme, the Shoemaker Turned Mystic 455 Chapter Thirty - John Dee, the Magus of Queen Elizabeth 467 Chapter Thirty-one - Giordano Bruno, Two Almost Forgotten Works 479 Chapter Thirty-two - The Extraordinary Life of Tomasso Campanella 489 Chapter Thirty-three - Arthur Dee, Jacobean Magus and Son of John Dee 505 Chapter Thirty-four - Johann Reuchlin, the Far-reaching Influence of His Kabbalah 513 Chapter Thirty-five - Basil Valentin, Master Alchemist 523 Chapter Thirty-six - Jean of Spain, Master Alchemist 529 Chapter Thirty-seven - Six Alchemical Treatises on the Philosopher's Stone 539 Chapter Thirty-eight - Robert Fludd, the Magus Who Opposed Kepler 551 THE INFLUENCE OF MARSILIO FICINO (1433-1494): Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare - Volume II 565 Volume II 579 Chapter Thirty-nine: Marlowe and Shakespeare's Narrative Poems 581 Chapter Forty: Marlovve's Minor Plays 591 Chapter Forty-one: Marlowe's Tamburlaine, Parts One and Two 629 Chapter Forty-two: Shakespeare's Earliest History—King John 657 Chapter Forty-three: Shakespeare's Early Gothic Melodramas— Titus Andronicus and Timon of Athens 677 Chapter Forty-four: W. H. Auden Connects Ficino and Shakespeare 691 Chapter Forty-five: The Magic of Ancient Egypt—Antony and Cleopatra 701 Chapter Forty-six: The Doomed Talkers—Richard II, Faustus and Hamlet 721 Chapter Forty-seven: The Villain of Villains—Richard III 759 Chapter Forty-eight: The World's Greatest Love Story—Romeo and Juliet 775 Chapter Forty-nine: Magical Structures in Three Comedies 797 Chapter Fifty: The Alchemy in Portia's Venice 809 Chapter Fifty-one: Eloquent Monsters at Large— Othello and Measure for Measure 823 Chapter Fifty-two: The Making of the King—The Three Plays of the Henriad 843 Chapter Fifty-Three: Structure of the Cosmos—Troilus and Cressida 863 Chapter Fifty-four: King Lear 879 Chapter Fifty-five: Two Roman History Plays - Julius Caesar and Coriolanus 907 Chapter Fifty-six: Magic in Comedy, Romance and Tragedy 923 Chapter Fifty-seven: Three Final Romances 945 Chapter Fifty-eight: Ben Jonson's Comic Masterpiece - The Alchemist 959 Chapter Fifty-nine: Isaac Newton and the Emerald Tablet—Looking Forward 987 Bibliography 989 Section One - The Ancient World 989 Section Two - Ficino and His Age 999 Section Three - Primary Texts of Renaissance Magic 1002 Section Four - Alchemy 1009 Section Five - Kabbalah 1017 Section Six - Medieval and Renaissance Magic 1021 Section Seven - Medieval and Renaissance History of Science 1031 Section Eight - Shakespeare and His Age 1049 Index 1065