Longing for Perfection in Late Antiquity

How on Earth can Humans be perfect? The striving for perfection has always occupied a central place in ancient Greek culture. This dynamics urged the Greeks on to surpass themselves in different fields, from sculpture and architecture over athletics to philosophy. In this volume, an international group of scholars examines how the ideal of perfection was conceived and pursued in Late Antiquity, both within philosophical circles and Christianity. Their studies yield a fascinating panorama of various attempts to bridge the unbridgeable and assimilate our frail, imperfect human nature as far as possible to divine perfection.

Johan Leemans, Ph. D (2001), KU Leuven, is Professor of Christianity in Late Antiquity at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies at the same university. He has published widely on late antique sermons, martyrdom, the Cappadocian Fathers and patristic exegesis. Geert Roskam, Ph.D. (2001), KU Leuven, is Professor of Greek Literature at that university. He has published several monographs and numerous articles on Hellenistic philosophy (esp. Epicureanism) and later Platonism (esp. Plutarch).Peter Van Deun, Ph.D. (1989), KU Leuven, is full professor of Byzantine Studies at that university. He has published widely on Patristic and Byzantine literature, esp. on Maximus the Confessor, Metrophanes of Smyrna and the genre of spiritual anthologies.