Olympiodorus ─ Commentary on Platos Gorgias

This book provides a translation of the only surviving ancient commentary on Plato's Gorgias, written by the Alexandrian Platonist Olympiodorus in the sixth century AD. There are substantial notes on the commentary, which assist the reader to understand the context of Olympiodorus' Platonism, the choices available to him as an interpreter, and the special characteristics of his interpretation. A substantial introduction tackles the issues of greatest interest that arise from the work, including the author's mission as a Hellenist resisting Christian attacks on his discipline. Indices are provided. The authors show that there is much more of value in this commentary than has often been supposed, and that the differences between Olympiodorus' approach and those of modern commentators are often illuminating.

Robin Jackson, Ph.D. (1981), Princeton University, taught Classics at the University of Melbourne, and has published on Plato and Olympiodorus. He is now Assistant Director, Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education in the UK.Kimon Lycos, BPhil, Oxford University, taught Philosophy at several universities, most recently at the University of Melbourne. He died in Melbourne in 1995, leaving many philosophical publications including Plato and Justice and Power (Macmillan, 1987).Harold Tarrant, Ph.D. in Classics, Durham University, is Professor of Classics at the University of Newcastle, NSW. His many publications on ancient Platonists include Scepticism or Platonism? (Cambridge University Press, 1985) and Thrasyllan Platonism (Cornell University Press, 1993).