The Derveni Papyrus and Early Stoicism

Recent works by Fabienne Jourdan, Luc Brisson and Francesc Casadesus emphasize the importance of the similarities between the Derveni papyrus and early Stoicism. The paper examines these parallelisms -- focusing on the method of allegorical interpretation, the cosmological roles of air, fire and pneuma and cosmic teleology -- and argues that the similarities, although non-negligible, are not such that would require us to reinterpret the Derveni papyrus against the background of Stoicism. Moreover, the relevant features of the papyrus may be explained from the internal dynamics of the Derveni author's system, and there is thus no need to modify the date of the papyrus to allow Stoic influence. %~ PHIL