Olympiodorus the Younger

Olympiodorus the Younger (Greek: Ὀλυμπιόδωρος ὁ Νεώτερος; c. 495 – 570) was a Neoplatonist philosopher, astrologer and
teacher who lived in the early years of the Byzantine Empire, after Justinian's Decree of 529 AD which closed Plato's Academy in
Athens and other pagan schools. Olympiodorus was the last pagan to maintain the Platonist tradition in Alexandria (see Alexandrian
School); after his death the School passed into the hands of Christian Aristotelians, and was eventually moved to Constantinople. He
[1]
is not to be confused withOlympiodorus the Deacon, a contemporary Alexandrian writer of Bible commentaries.

Contents
Life
Writings
Spurious works
Notes
References
External links

Life
Olympiodorus was the disciple of Ammonius Hermiae at the philosophy school in Alexandria, and succeeded him as its leader when
Ammonius died c. 520. He was still teaching and writing in 565, because in his commentary on Aristotle's Meteorology, he mentions
a comet that appeared that year. Olympiodorus himself was able to survive the persecution experienced by many of his peers (see, for
example, Hierocles of Alexandria), possibly because the Alexandrian School was less involved in politics (for example, the attempts
by the Emperor Julian to re-establish Mithraic cults) and also possibly because it was more scholastic and less religious than the
Athenian Academy.

He is called Olympiodorus the Younger or The Younger Olympiodorus in contemporary references because there was an earlier (5th
century) Peripatetic philosopher also called Olympiodorus O
( lympiodorus the Elder) who also taught in Alexandria.

Writings
Among the extant writings of Olympiodorus the Younger are a biography of Plato, commentaries on several dialogues of Plato and
on Aristotle, and an introduction to Aristotelian philosophy. Olympiodorus also provides information on the work of the earlier
Neoplatonist Iamblichus which is not found elsewhere. The surviving works are:

Commentary on Plato'sAlcibiades (Σχόλια εἰς τὸν Πλάτωνος Ἀλκιβιάδην)

Commentary on Plato'sGorgias (Σχόλια σὺν θεῷ εἰς τὸν Γοργίαν)
Commentary on Plato'sPhaedo (Σχόλια εἰς τὸν Πλάτωνος Φαίδωνα)
Life of Plato (Βίος Πλάτωνος)
Introduction (Prolegomena) to Aristotle's logic (Εἰς τὰ προλεγόμενα τῆς Λογικῆς)
Commentary on Aristotle'sMeteorology (Εἰς τὸ πρῶτον τῶν Μετεωρολογικῶν Ἀριστοτέλους σχόλια)
Commentary on Aristotle'sCategories (Σχόλια εἰς τὰς Ἀριστοτέλους Κατηγορίας)
Commentary on Aristotle'sOn Interpretation (Σχόλια εἰς τὸ Ἀριστοτέλους Περὶ Ἑρμηνείας)
a polemical work against Strato[2]
In addition, a Commentary by Olympiodorus is extant on Paulus Alexandrinus' Introduction to astrology (which was written in 378
AD). Although the manuscript of the Commentary is credited in two later versions to a Heliodorus, L. G. Westerink argues that it is
actually the outline of a series of lectures given by Olympiodorus in Alexandria between May and July 564 AD. The Commentary is
an informative expatiation of Paulus' tersely written text, elaborating on practices and sources. The Commentary also illuminates the
developments in astrological theory in the 200 years after Paulus.

Spurious works
In addition there are three works ascribed to Olympiodorus, but which are now believed to be by other authors:

An alchemical treatise concerning Zosimus' On the Action, called On the Book Kat’energeian (On the action or
According to the action) by Zosimus and on the Sayings of Hermes and the Philosophers (Εἰς τὸ κατ' ἐνέργειαν
Ζωσίμου, ὅσα ἀπὸ Ἑρμοῦ καὶ τῶν φιλοσόφων ἦσαν εἰρημένα)
On the Divine and Sacred Art of the Philosophical Stone(Περί τῆς ἱερᾶς τέχνης τῆς φιλοσοφικῆς λίθου; Latin: De
arte sacra lapidis philosophorum)
A commentary on Plato'sPhilebus — now thought to be the work ofDamascius

Notes
1. Grillmeier, Aloys; Hainthaler, Theresia (1996). Christ in Christian Tradition: The Church in Alexandria, with Nubia and
Ethiopia after 451 AD, Volume 2 (https://books.google.hr/books/about/Christ_in_Christian_T radition.html?id=a6FJGH
acPKcC&redir_esc=y). London: A & C Black. p. 105. ISBN 0264660188.
2. CP Mason - a fellow of University College, London.A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology
,
Volume 3 (https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Gx0QAAAA YAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=William+Smith+-++A+Dic
tionary+of+Greek+and+Roman+Biography+and+Mythology ,+Volume+3&hl=en&sa=X&ei=z-8mVYzZM4rpaJ39grgI&
ved=0CCEQ6wEwAA#v=onepage&q=William%20Smith%20-%20%20A%20Dictionary%20of%20Greek%20and%20
Roman%20Biography%20and%20Mythology%2C%20V olume%203&f=false). J. Murray, 1873. Retrieved
2015-04-11.

References
Late Classical Astrology:Paulus Alexandrinus and Olympiodorus (with the Scholia of later Latin Commentators).
[Translated by Dorian Gieseler Greenbaum.]ARHAT [1], 2001.
"Olympiodorus The Younger." Encyclopædia Britannica from Encyclopædia Britannica Pre mium Service.
<https://www.britannica.com/biography/Olympiodorus-the-Younger> [Accessed September 24, 2017].
L.G. Westerink, "Ein astrologisches Kolleg aus dem Jahre 564," in Byzantinische Zeitschrift, 64, 1971, pp. 6–21.
Bruce M. Metzger, “Ancient Astrological Geography and Acts 2:9-11," W. Ward Gasque & Ralph P. Martin, eds.,
Apostolic History and the Gospel. Biblical and Historical Essays Presented to.F.
F Bruce. Exeter: The Paternoster
Press, 1970. Hbk. ISBN 0-85364-098-X. pp. 123–133.
Harold Tarrant, "Olympiodorus and history," in Idem, From the Old Academy to Later Neo-Platonism: Studies in the
History of Platonic Thought(Aldershot, Ashgate, 2010) (Variorum Collected Studies Series: CS964).
Harold Tarrant, "Politike Eudaimonia: Olympiodorus on Plato's Republic," in Idem,From the Old Academy to Later
Neo-Platonism: Studies in the History of Platonic Thought(Aldershot, Ashgate, 2010) (Variorum Collected Studies
Series: CS964).
Harold Tarrant, "Restoring Olympiodorus' syllogistic," in Idem, From the Old Academy to Later Neo-Platonism:
Studies in the History of Platonic Thought(Aldershot, Ashgate, 2010) (Variorum Collected Studies Series: CS964).
Robert Schmidt, Project Hindsight[2]
Sebastian R. P. Gertz, Death and Immortality in Late Neoplatonism: Studies on the Ancient Commentaries on Plato's
Phaedo, Brill: Leiden, 2011.}

External links
Wildberg, Christian. "Olympiodorus". In Zalta, Edward N. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
The Neoplatonist Family Tree
Olympiodorus of Alexandria - Encyclopedia.com
 Apocrypha public domain audiobook atLibriVox. Collection includes Olympiodorus' Life of Plato.George Burges,
translator (1855).

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Olympiodorus_the_Y

ounger&oldid=875564585"

This page was last edited on 27 December 2018, at 13:30(UTC).

Text is available under theCreative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this
site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of theWikimedia
Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.