Olympiodorus the Elder

Olympiodorus the Elder (Greek: Ὀλυμπιόδωρος) was a 5th-century neoplatonist who taught in Alexandria, then part of the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire. He is most famous for being the teacher of the important Neoplatonist Proclus (412–485), whom Olympiodorus wanted his own daughter to marry.

He lectured on Aristotle with considerable success.^[1] Owing to the rapidity of his utterance and the difficulty of the subjects on which he treated, he was understood by very few. When his lectures were concluded, Proclus used to repeat the topics treated of in them for the benefit of those pupils who were slower in catching the meaning of their master. Olympiodorus had the reputation for being an eloquent man and a profound thinker. Nothing of his has come down to us in a written form.

He is called Olympiodorus the Elder in contemporary references because there was a later (6th century) Neoplatonist philosopher also called Olympiodorus (Olympiodorus the Younger) who also taught in Alexandria.

Notes

↑ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Olympiodorus". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

References

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Olympiodorus 4.". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.

Peripatetic philosophers

Greek era	Aristotle Eudemus Theophrastus Aristoxenus Chamaeleon Phaenias Praxiphanes Dicaearchus Nicomachus Demetrius of Phalerum Strato of Lampsacus Clearchus Hieronymus of Rhodes Lyco of Troas Aristo of Ceos Satyrus Critolaus Diodorus of Tyre

Roman era	Cratippus Andronicus of Rhodes Boethus of Sidon Aristocles of Messene Aspasius Adrastus Alexander of Aphrodisias Themistius Olympiodorus the Elder

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