The soul putting on bodies, the soul weaving bodies

The article discusses two traditions of representation of embodiment in antiquity and the Middle Ages: the soul's putting on the body as a vestment and the soul's weaving its body. With regard to the first tradition the texts of Seneca, Plutarch, Plotinus, Macrobius, Aristides Quintilianus are considered. It is shown that the topic of changing the bodies like garments had been discussed along with the theories of metempsychosis and (among the middle Platonists) the teaching on the soul's descent from heaven to earth through the planetary spheres. It is pointed out that after Philo had liked the idea of the body as the soul's robe with the biblical narrative of “leather garments” (Gen 3:21), this theory became widespread and can be found in Irenaeus, Clement, Tertullian, Origen and his followers, including John Scottus Eriugena. With regard to the problems of embodiment, we examine less common views according to which the soul itself makes its own body, weaving it like a tunic. The corresponding arguments by Plato, Porphyry, Origen, Macarius of Egypt / Symeon of Mesopotamia, Proclus of Constantinople are considered. As additional evidence, we discuss the relevant theories of Plotinus, Iamblichus, and John Scott.