Abstract

The remnants of Hierocles’ On Providence are naturally a main source for his thoughts on providence, fate, and free will. In addition, chapter XI of the Commentary on the Golden Verses of the Pythagoreans deals with these topics, while chapter XXIV touches on free will. These provide a fairly coherent account of how Hierocles understood the operations of providence in the universe. The threefold arrangement of rational beings is part of the providential order established by the demiurge. In On Providence, Hierocles, solidifying Plato’s ‘probable account’ of creation and providence, unambiguously identifies providence with God, the father and creator. Given that the demiurge represents the second hypostasis of intellect, Hierocles, like Plotinus, interprets providence as the order bestowed upon the universe by intellect.