Demiurgy in Heavens. An Ancient Account in Plato’s Statesman

The aim of this paper is to discuss the approach to the Statesman familiar to the Neoplatonists. As Iamblichus, Proclus and the anonymous author of the Prolegomena to Platonic Philosophy point out, their attention is focused on the thematic unity of the dialogue, which reflects the metaphysical unity of the Neoplatonic cosmos. The Neoplatonists show that the question of this thematic unity is strictly linked to the myth where Plato sets out the real target (skopos) of the Statesman. By analysing the literary form rather than the content of the myth and by stressing the close relationship between philosophy and literature that makes it possible to speak about science in a non-scientific way, they emphasize that the Statesman is a physical dialogue where Plato, with a suitable account, reveals an aspect of the divinity of the universe which concerns the phenomena in the sky and the harmony between sensibles and intellegibles that governs the movement of the heavenly bodies.