Chapter XLVII

The triple genera that are the perpetual attendants of the Gods, and which have been unfolded in the preceding chapters, are indicated by the following division of time, in the first hypothesis of the Parmenides; from which division _the one_ is shown to be exempt: “Do not the terms _it was_, _it has been_, _it did become_, seem to signify the participation of the time past? Certainly. And do not the terms _it will be_, _it may become_, and _it will be generated_, signify that which is about to be hereafter? Certainly. But are not the terms _it is_, and _it is becoming to be_, marks of the present time? Entirely so. If then _the one_ participates in no respect of any time, it neither ever _was_, nor _has been_, nor _did become_. Nor is it _now generated_, nor is _becoming to be_, nor _is_, nor _may become_ hereafter, nor _will be generated_, nor _will be_. It is most true.”

The commentary of Proclus on this passage is as follows: “This division of time accords with the multitude of the divine genera, which are suspended from divine souls, viz. with angels, dæmons, and heroes. And in the first place, this division proceeds to them supernally, according to a triadic distribution into the _present_, _past_, and _future_; and in the next place, according to a distribution into nine, each of these three being again subdivided into three. For the monad of souls is united to the one whole of time, but this is participated secondarily by the multitude of souls. And of this multitude, those participate of this whole _totally_, that subsist according to _the past_, or _the present_, or _the future_; but those participate of it _partially_, that are essentialized according to the differences of these. For to each of the wholes a multitude is co-ordinated, divided into things first, middle, and last. For a certain multitude subsists in conjunction with that which is established conformably to _the past_, the _summit_ of which is according to _the was_, but the _middle_ according to _it has been_, and the _end_ according to _it did become_. With that also which is established according to _the present_, there is another multitude, the _principal_ part of which is characterized by _the is_, the _middle_ by _it is generated_, and the _end_ by _it is becoming to be_. And there is another triad with that which subsists according to _the future_, the _most elevated_ part of which is characterized by _the will be_, that which ranks in the _middle_ by _it may become_, and the _end_ by _it will be generated_. And thus there will be three triads proximately suspended from these three totalities, but all these are suspended from their monad.

All these orders, likewise, which are distributed according to the parts of time, energize according to the whole of time; this whole containing in itself triple powers, one of which is _perfective_ of all motion, the second _connects_ and _guards_ things which are governed by it, and the third _unfolds_ divine natures into light. For, as all such things as are not eternal, are led round in a circle, the wholeness or the monad of time, perfects and connects their essence, and discloses to them the united infinity of eternity, evolving the contracted multitude which subsists in eternal natures; whence also this apparent time, as Timæus says, unfolds to us the measures of divine periods, perfects sensibles, and guards things which are generated in their proper numbers. Time, therefore, possesses triple powers prior to souls, viz. _the perfective_, _the connective_, and _the unfolding_, according to a similitude to eternity. For eternity, possessing a middle order in intelligibles, _perfects_ the order posterior to itself, supplying it with union, but _unfolds into light_ that which is prior to itself, producing into multitude its ineffable union, and _connects_ the middle bond of intelligibles, and guards all things intransitively through its power. Time, therefore, receiving supernally the triple powers of eternity, imparts them to souls. Eternity, however, possesses this triad unitedly; but time both unitedly and distributively; and souls distributively alone. Hence, of souls, some are characterized according to one, and others according to another power of time; some imitating its _unfolding_, others its _perfective_, and others its _connective_ power. Thus also with respect to the Fates, some of these being adapted to give completion and perfection to things, are said to sing the past, always indeed energizing, and always singing, their songs being intellections, and fabricative energies about the world: for _the past_ is the source of _completion_. Others again of these are adapted to _connect_ things _present_; for they guard the essence and the generation of these. And others are adapted to _unfold the future_; for they lead into essence and to an end that which as yet is not.

We may also say, since there is an order of souls more excellent than ours divided into such as are first, such as are middle, and such as are last, the most total of these are adapted to _the past_. For as this comprehends in itself the present and the future, so these souls comprehend in themselves the rest. But souls of a middle rank are adapted to _the present_; for this was once _future_, but is not yet _the past_. As, therefore, _the present_ contains in itself _the future_, so these middle souls comprehend those posterior, but are comprehended in those prior to themselves. And souls of the third order correspond to _the future_. For this does not proceed through _the present_, nor has become _the past_, but is _the future_ alone; just as these third souls are of themselves alone, but through falling into a more partial subsistence, are by no means comprehensive of others. For they convolve the boundary according to a triadic division of the genera posterior to the Gods.

The whole of the first triad, therefore, has _the once_, for this is the peculiarity of _the past_, and of completion; but it is divided into _the was_, _it was generated_, and _it did become_. Again, therefore, of these three, _the was_ signifies the summit of the triad, bounded according to hyparxis itself; but _it was generated_, signifies an at-once-collected perfection; and _it did become_, an extension in being perfected; these things being imitations of intelligibles. For _the was_ is an imitation of _being_, _it was generated_, of _eternity_, and _it did become_, of that which is _primarily eternal_. For _being_ is derived to all things from the first of these; a subsistence at once as _all_, and a _whole_ from the second; and an _extension into multitude_ from the third.