Syrianus

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Syrianus
Born
Diedc. 437 A.D.
SchoolNeoplatonism

Syrianus (

De Interpretatione of Aristotle and on Plato's Timaeus
.

Life

He was a native of Alexandria, Egypt and the son of Philoxenus. We know little of his personal history, but that he came to Athens, and studied with great zeal under Plutarch of Athens, the head of the Neoplatonist school, who regarded him with great admiration and affection, and appointed him as his successor. He is important as the teacher of Proclus and Hermias. Proclus regarded him with the greatest veneration, and gave directions that at his death he should be buried in the same tomb with Themistius.

Writings

Only a little remains of the writings of Syrianus, the surviving works are:

Among the lost works, Syrianus wrote commentaries on

De Interpretatione. We learn from the commentary of Proclus on the Timaeus of Plato that Syrianus also wrote a commentary on the same book. Syrianus also wrote works on The Theology of Orpheus, and On the Harmony of Orpheus, Pythagoras and Plato with the Oracles. Theodorus Meliteniota, in his Prooemium in Astronomiam, mentions commentaries on the Magna Syntaxis of Ptolemy by the philosopher Syrianus. The Suda attributes several works to Syrianus, but which are in fact the works of Proclus.[1]

Philosophy

Syrianus' philosophical significance lies in the field of metaphysics and the exegesis of Plato. He is important in expanding the details of the Neoplatonist metaphysical system begun by Iamblichus and most completely delineated by Proclus.[2]

The most valuable remains that we possess are the commentaries on the Metaphysics of

Platonic forms of things which are evil or base. The dyad is indirectly responsible for evil. Syrianus attributes the existence of evil to otherness and plurality, which he believes the dyad is directly responsible for creating.[2]

One of his fundamental principles is that it is a proposition of general applicability that the same cannot be both affirmed and denied at the same time of the same thing; but that in any sense involving the truth of either the affirmation or the denial of a proposition, it applies only to existing things, but not to that which transcends speech and knowledge, for this admits neither of affirmation nor of denial, since every assertion respecting it must be false.[3] On the whole, the doctrines laid down in this work are those of the Neoplatonist school.

Editions

  • J. Dillon, D. O'Meara, (2006), Syrianus: On Aristotle Metaphysics 13-14. Duckworth.
  • D. O'Meara, J. Dillon, (2008), Syrianus: On Aristotle Metaphysics 3-4. Duckworth.

Notes

  1. ^ Suda, Proklos.
  2. ^ a b Monad And Dyad As Cosmic Principles In Syrianus, Soul And The Structure Of Being In Late Neoplatonism, H.J. Blumenthal and A.C. Lloyd, Liverpool University Press, 1982, pp. 1–10.
  3. ^ Syrianus, In Met. ii. fol. 13, b.

Sources

  • Angela Longo (ed.), Syrianus et la métaphysique de l'antiquité tardive: actes du colloque international, Université de Gèneve, 29 septembre-1er octobre 2006. (Napoli, Bibliopolis, 2009) (Elenchos, 51).
  • Sarah Klitenic Wear, The Teachings of Syrianus on Plato's Timaeus and Parmenides. Ancient Mediterranean and Medieval Texts and Contexts (Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2011) (Studies in Platonism, Neoplatonism and the Platonic tradition, 10).
  •  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainSmith, William, ed. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

External links