L’identificazione del «Vivente-in-sé» con il dio Phanes della teogonia orfica. La struttura dell’ordinamento intelligibile in Proclo

In book II of his commentary on Plato’s Timaeus Proclus gives a particular interpretation of the Orphic theogony. Through this interpretation he intends to show the complete correspondence between Plato’s metaphysico-theological conception of the intelligible order and the Orphic tradition. Particularly interesting is the way in which he identifies the Intelligible Living-Thing, or the Living-Thing-itself, with the Orphic god Phanes. This identification appears quite relevant in order to correctly understand the hierarchy and the relations among the intelligible triads in Proclus. Moreover, it allows us to better understand the way in which Proclus conceives the gradual passage from the One-Being (or «Monad of Being») to the determination and differentiation inherent in the Living-Thing-itself.