Olympiodorus: Commentary on Plato's Gorgias

philosophy itself.See for instance 47.2. Other early philosophers—especially Pythagoras but also the Eleatics, and Presocratics such as Empedocles—had achieved a greater or lesser appreciation of the Platonic vision.Cf. Mueller (1992), drawing on the introduction to Proclus’ Theology, p. xiv: ‘According to this account, the philosophy of Plato—that is the truth—was understood in an imperfect way by unnamed early philosophers, and expressed in a perfect way by Plato.’ See also Mansfeld (1992).

Similarly, Olympiodorus regards Aristotle as committed to the same philosophical principles as Plato. This is an odd idea to modern readers of Aristotle, but is one with a long history, going back to the close of the Hellenistic period, and particularly to Antiochus of Ascalon.See for instance Dillon (1977), 52-106. Indeed, in late Platonism, it looks as though Aristotle is regarded as the best introduction to Plato, for his works are read first as preliminary, technical introductions to the inspired writings of Plato.Compare Proclus’ studies (Marinus, V.Proc.) and the order of teaching at Alexandria (below, p. 11). Ammonius seems to have made Aristotelian works the focus at Alexandria, in contrast to the Athenians’ concentration on Plato—which makes Olympiodorus’ Plato commentaries the more valuable. But there are also frequent Stoic elements in Olympiodorus: Epictetus is one of Olympiodorus’ favorite moral authorities, and a view ascribed to Chrysippus in one lecture appears in another as that of ‘the philosopher’.Contrast 2.2 with 12.1. Only Epicureans and skeptics seem to be outside the fold of philosophy.There is no reference to either in this commentary, but one finds a hostile attitude to those called ‘Democriteans’ at In Alc. 92, and efforts are made to counter suggestions of a link between Plato and skepticism, In Grg. 36.7 and note. Like his contemporaries’, Olympiodorus’ conception of philosophy reflects a synthesis of Greek learning. It even includes Homer and the Greek poets, whose insight into the secrets of philosophy may be extracted from their writings by means of allegory. It is a reasonable inference from the frequency of Olympiodorus’ remarks that various non-philosophical studies, such as mathematics, medicine, and apparently rhetoric too, formed part of the activities of the school.For the evidence for non-philosophical studies, see Westerink (1973), pp. 26-27. That for rhetoric is merely circumstantial, and based largely on what can be inferred from In Grg. The role of a figure like Olympiodorus, it seems, is to preserve, explain, and pass on the wisdom of his tradition.