Physiologers

First Appearance and Context

Within the Hylaean Way exhibits, the term “Physiologers” is introduced as the early name for those who followed Hylaea after the split from the Deät‑aligned path. Visitors are shown that Deät’s followers became known as Deolaters, while the Hylaean path continued through galleries devoted to theorics and abstractions.

Roles/Actions and Affiliations

• Affiliation: followers of Hylaea in the early period following Cnoüs’s vision as presented in the Rotunda.
• Emphasis: study of pure theorical objects (such as ideal geometrical figures) and the distinction between representations and the abstract forms they stand for.
• In the exhibit sequence beyond Hylaea’s door, later scenes show institutions such as Orithena pursuing work in the Hylaean theoric world; these are presented as part of the same Hylaean Way rather than as formal uses of the name “Physiologers.”

Relationships

• Contrasted with Deolaters, the community aligned with Deät’s account of Cnoüs’s vision.
• Not to be confused with the iconographic type Physiologer, which denotes a carved, general figure in mathic ornament rather than this historical community label.

Descriptions/Characteristics

• Presented as a plural proper name referring to a community or school rather than to individuals.
• Associated with keeping symbols distinct from the things symbolized and with attention to abstract, ideal forms in theorics.

Current Status/Location

The name appears in explanatory and historical displays; it is described as an early term rather than a current order name. No headquarters, hierarchy, or ongoing institutional structure is given in the text.