Porphyry's Fourth Sententia gives more depth to Strindberg's obsessions

 

When I watch August Strindberg's plays, I recognize and identify his obsessions and demons in the same way Porphyry describes the presence of the Intelligibles in his Sententiae. Here is the Fourth Sententia, which drops and enlarges the vision about the way these obsessions and demons stick to the mind:

ὰ καθ᾽ αὑτὰ ἀσώματα, οὐ τοπικῶς παρόντα τοῖς σώμασι, πάρεστιν αὐτοῖς ὅταν βούληται, πρὸς αὐτὰ ῥέψαντα ἡ πέφυκε ῥέπειν: καὶ τοπικῶς αὐτοῖς οὐ παρόντα, τῇ σχέσει πάρεστιν αὐτοῖς.

Incorporea per se, quae non adsunt corporibus praesentia locali, adsunt eis quandocunque volunt; vergendo ad illa, quatenus scilicet naturae instinctu vergunt: sed cum locali praesentia eis non adsunt, adsunt tamen habitudine seu affectu (translated by Marsilio Ficino)

Things essentially incorporeal, are not present with bodies, by hypostasis and essence; for they are not mingled with bodies. But they impart a certain power which is proximate to bodies, through verging towards them. For tendency constitutes a certain secondary power proximate to bodies (translated by Thomas Taylor)