Abstract
This paper, which is concerned with the Poimandres (Corpus Hermeticum 1=CH I) , one of the ancient Hermetic writings, aims at examining H. Jonas' research on the treatise. The question arises from his opinion that the central doctrine of Gnosis lies in the Anthropos myth (anthropogony) of the Poimandres, while its cosmogony is of secondary importance to the understanding of the Gnosticism. No doubt Jonas' ideas are derived from his general concept of Gnosticism, or in other words, he does not analyse the Poimandres in the light of the individual, historical background. It is for this reason that we should first establish the preparatory stage of this Gnostic writing. And then, we will be able to discern its truly Gnostic properties from the non-Gnostic ones. Within the scope of the Hermetic literature, the non-Gnostic treatise, "Key" (CH X)has the most in common with the Poimandres. We can regard it at least as one good parallel to the Poimandres. Now the comparison of these two reveals the following fact. The Gnostic characteristics, in the Poimandres, are not found in the anthropogony but rather in the cosmogony. Therefore Jonas' view is not acceptable according to our analysis.
