These two texts are fundamental for the understanding not only of Neoplatonism but also of the conventions of biography in late antiquity. Neither has received such extensive annotation before in English, and this new commentary makes full use of recent scholarship. The long introduction is intended both as a beginner’s guide to Neoplatonism and as a survey of ancient biographical writing.

The 166th codex of the Bibliotheke of Photios comprises a summary of a peculiar work written by one Antonius Diogenes, entitled τ πρ Θούλην πιστα. This told the story of an Arkadian named Deinias, who travelled the world κατ ζήτησιν στορίας , coming eventually to Thule, where he met Mantinias and Derkyllis, a brother and sister from Tyre, and struck up an erotic relationship with Derkyllis . A narrative of Derkyllis, told to Deinias, seems to be inset at this point (...) , relating her own travels and including much Pythagorean material associated with her wonder-working companion, Astraios, which was authentic-seeming enough for Porphyrios to make use of it in his biography of Pythagoras. The Apista was a long work, running to 24 books, and it seems likely that a sizeable proportion of its length was devoted to paradoxographical material related to the places and peoples visited by the various narrators, but largely omitted from Photios' summary; the plot itself, though both complex and episodic, does not seem capable of sustaining such length. At the end of his summary Photios has a short discussion of the place of the Apista in literary history . Detailed analysis of this passage will form an important part of this paper, but for the moment it will suffice to say that Photios saw the work as germinal for Greek fiction, and in particular expresses the view that it was the ‘source and root’ of Lucian's True Histories. (shrink)

En 529, Justiniano, temeroso de ver amenazada la unidad del Imperio cristiano, ordena el cierre de la escuela neoplatónica recientemente restaurada por Damascio, y mitigar así el último foco de enseñanza pagana. El último diádoco y sus discípulos se exilian a Persia, donde el régimen político del rey Cosroes les garantizaba la libertad de conciencia. Sin embargo, pronto decepcionados por una realidad política muy diferente, los filósofos regresaron a su patria de origen o se dispersaron en el Imperio Bizantino.In 529, (...) Justinian, seeing the unity of the Christian Empire threatened, orders the closing of Athens'Neopiatonic School, which had recently been restored by Damascius. The last diadochus and their followers go then to exile in Persia, where the polítical regime of King Chosroes guarantees them liberty of conscience. However, soon disappointed by a political reality very different from the one they had expected to find, some of them go back to their homeland, while some others scatter all over the Byzantine Empire. (shrink)

v. 1. Psychology (with ethics and religion) -- v. 2. Physics -- v. 3. Logic and metaphysics.