Cambridge Ancient Hi.. - Index of

philosophy in athens 837
but also on Aristotle, and tried to harmonize the two, explaining away
contradictions wherever that was possible. The desire to synthesize previous
thought extended beyond the philosophical authorities. Just as they
integrated the pagan gods into their metaphysical system, so they brought
together Homer, the Orphic poems and the Chaldaean Oracles and found in
them the same fundamental ideas as they found in Plato and Aristotle.
ii. philosophy in athens
Proclus, the central figure in fifth-century Neoplatonism, was born in 410
or 412. A native of Xanthos in Lycia, he studied rhetoric, Latin and law in
Alexandria but then turned to philosophy. It was in pursuit of philosophy
that he arrived in Athens in 430/1. He found there a Platonic school
directed by Plutarch of Athens and Syrianus. Plutarch, already an old man,
died about two years later and Proclus continued his studies with Syrianus.
Syrianus died in 437 and Proclus in turn became head of the school.
Proclus continued to teach until his death in 485, although Marinus records
that his vigour diminished in the last few years of his life. His voluminous
output included commentaries on Plato, monographs on providence and
evil, systematic works of philosophy such as the Elements of Theology and the
Platonic Theology, works on mathematics and astronomy, works on theurgy
and a number of hymns. Much of our knowledge of later Neoplatonism
comes from these works of Proclus. He was also a very influential teacher:
pupils of his taught philosophy at Alexandria and Aphrodisias, as well as
carrying on the tradition in Athens; others moved on from philosophy to
political careers. 5
The Athenian Neoplatonists saw themselves as the spiritual heirs of
Plato’s Academy. However, the original institution of the Academy no
longer existed; the late antique school seems to have been a private foundation,
conducted in the house which Proclus inherited from Plutarch and
Syrianus. A large house of the period, excavated on the south side of the
Acropolis, has plausibly been identified as that of Proclus. 6 Marinus backs
up his praise of Proclus’ capacity for hard work with an impressive account
of how he spent his time. In one day Proclus would give five lectures, or
sometimes more, write about seven hundred lines, talk philosophy with his
colleagues and give further, oral instruction in the evening. This intense
scholarly activity was accompanied by religious devotion: as well as worshipping
at night, he prostrated himself before the sun three times a day, at
sunrise, midday and sunset. 7 Marinus may be exaggerating the details, but
Proclus’ own works confirm the general picture of a man who combined
energetic teaching, scholarly productivity and deep religious feeling.
5 Saffrey and Westerink (1968) i.ix–lx.
6 Glucker (1978) 153–8, 248–55, 306–15, 322–9. Frantz (1988) 42–4. 7 Marinus ch. 22.
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