Editing Damascius

{{Short description|6th-century Greek Neoplatonist philosopher}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Damascius
| birth_date    = 462<ref name=lgw>{{cite book |last1=Westerink |first1=L. G. |title=The Greek Commentaries on Plato's Phaedo, Volume II: Damascius |date=2009 |publisher=The Prometheus Trust |location=Wiltshire, UK |isbn=978 1 898910 47 3 |page=7 |edition=Revised Second }}</ref>
| birth_place   = [[Damascus]] 
| death_date    = 538
| death_place   = [[Alexandria]]
| nationality   = [[Byzantine Empire]] <br /> [[Sasanian Empire]]
| years_active  = 458-533
}}
'''Damascius''' ({{IPAc-en|d|ə|ˈ|m|æ|ʃ|ə|s}}; {{langx|grc|Δαμάσκιος}}; {{circa}} 462<ref name=lgw/> &ndash; after 538), known as "the last of the Athenian Neoplatonists", was the last [[scholarch]] of the neoplatonic [[Platonic Academy|Athenian school]]. He was one of the [[Neoplatonism|neoplatonic]] philosophers who left Athens after laws confirmed by emperor [[Justinian I]] forced the closure of the Athenian school in c. 529 AD. After he left Athens, he may have sought refuge in the court of the [[Sassanid Empire|Persian]] King [[Khosrow I|Chrosroes]], before being allowed back into the [[Byzantine Empire]]. His surviving works consist of three commentaries on the works of [[Plato]], and a [[Metaphysics|metaphysical]] text entitled ''Difficulties and Solutions of First Principles''.

==Life==
Much of what is known about Damascius' life comes from his semi-autobiographical work called ''The Philosophical History'', or ''Life of Isidore'', and from a work called ''Vita Severi'' written by the 6th-century bishop and historian [[Zacharias Rhetor|Zacharias Scholasticus]].{{Sfn|Ahbel-Rappe|2010|p=3, 423 (note 4)|loc=}} Damascius, as his name suggests, was born in [[Damascus]] in c. 462 AD, and travelled to [[Alexandria]] in the 480s AD to study rhetoric at the coeducational school of the late 5th-century Alexandrian professor{{Sfn|Remes|Slaveva-Griffin|p=35|loc=The Alexandrian classrooms excavated and sixth-century philosophy teaching by Sorabji|2014}} [[Horapollo]], where students of different religions and philosophies studied together.{{Sfn|Ahbel-Rappe|2010|p=3, 423|loc=}} Zacharias reports that there was a close relationship between the neoplatonic communities of [[Athens]] and Alexandria, as [[Agapius of Athens]] and [[Severianus of Damascus]], students of [[Proclus]]' neoplatonic school in Athens, also studied in neoplatonic schools in Alexandria.{{Sfn|Ahbel-Rappe|2010|p=3, 423 (note 6)|loc=}} Damascius may have travelled to Athens shortly before Proclus died in 485 AD, to teach rhetoric, and travelled back to Alexandria before 488 AD.{{Sfn|Remes|Slaveva-Griffin|2014|p=36|loc=The Alexandrian classrooms excavated and sixth-century philosophy teaching by Sorabji}}
[[File:Mosaic of Justinianus I - Basilica San Vitale (Ravenna).jpg|thumb|6th-century [[mosaic]] of [[Justinian I]] in the [[Basilica of San Vitale|Basilique San Vitale]] in [[Ravenna]], [[Italy]]. Damascius was head of the last neoplatonic school in [[Athens]] when the laws of Justinian I forced its closure.{{Sfn|Ahbel-Rappe|2010|p=4|loc=Introduction to the Life and Philosophy of Damascius}}|310x310px]]
Late 5th-century Alexandria was a tumultuous place; there were conflicting factions of pro-[[Chalcedonian Christianity|Chalcedonian]] and [[Monophysitism|Monophysite]] Christians, and a growing hostile sentiment towards neoplatonists and people of other non-Christian religions and philosophies that sometimes led to rioting and arrests of leaders of non-Christian schools, resulting in students having to flee and go into hiding.{{Sfn|Ahbel-Rappe|2010|p=4|loc=Introduction to the Life and Philosophy of Damascius}} Damascius' accounts of these times paints a picture of a circle of intellectuals that was under siege, arrested, interrogated and who were sometimes courageous, but at other times capitulated.{{Sfn|Ahbel-Rappe|2010|p=4|loc=Introduction to the Life and Philosophy of Damascius}} Horapollo, the head of the school at which Damascius had studied and taught rhetoric for nine years,{{Sfn|Remes|Slaveva-Griffin|2014|p=36|loc=The Alexandrian classrooms excavated and sixth-century philosophy teaching by Sorabji}} was arrested in 489 AD, causing Damascius and the neoplatonic philosopher [[Isidore of Alexandria]] to flee Alexandria and start on a journey to Athens with the aim of studying in the neoplatonic school in Athens.{{Sfn|Ahbel-Rappe|2010|p=4|loc=Introduction to the Life and Philosophy of Damascius}}

That journey took eight months, and during that time Damascius writes that he lost interest in pursuing a profession as a rhetorician.{{Sfn|Ahbel-Rappe|2010|p=4|loc=Introduction to the Life and Philosophy of Damascius}} When they finally arrived in Athens, Damascius and Isidore became students of the 5th-century neoplatonist [[Marinus of Neapolis]], Proclus' successor, at the neoplatonic school of Athens.{{Sfn|Ahbel-Rappe|2010|p=4|loc=Introduction to the Life and Philosophy of Damascius}} By 515 AD, Damascius had become head of the neoplatonic school in Athens, succeeding Marinus of Neapolis successor Isidore,{{Sfn|Remes|2008|p=29|loc=Introduction}} and continued Isidore's path of steering the school back to the philosophical studies of Aristotle, Plato, Orphic theogony and the Chaldean Oracles, and away from theurgy and rituals, which were previously being favoured, most likely due to the increasing external pressure on the school's philosophical teachings.{{Sfn|Ahbel-Rappe|2010|p=4-5|loc=Introduction to the Life and Philosophy of Damascius}} Damascius was still the head of the school in 529 AD after the [[Byzantine emperor]] [[Justinian I]] confirmed his ''[[Code of Justinian|Novum Justinianeum Codicem]]'', or ''[[Code of Justinian|Codex Justinianus]]'',{{Sfn|Ahbel-Rappe|2010|p=424 (note 17)|loc=Notes to Pages 4-7}} on the 7th of April 529 AD;{{Sfn|Smith|1870|p=667|loc=Justinianus}} and administrators{{Sfn|Lang|Macro|McGinnis|2001|p=4 (note 9)|loc=Introduction}} enforcing the new laws, after they had legal force on the 16th of April 529 AD,{{Sfn|Smith|1870|p=667|loc=Justinianus}} closed the last neoplatonic school in Athens.{{Sfn|Ahbel-Rappe|2010|p=4|loc=Introduction to the Life and Philosophy of Damascius}}

According to the 6th-century historian [[Agathias]], soon after the school closed in 529 AD, Damascius, Isidore and the 6th-century neoplatonic philosophers [[Simplicius of Cilicia]], [[Eulamius|Eulamius of Phrygia]], [[Priscian of Lydia|Priscianus of Lydia]], [[Hermias (philosopher)|Hermias]] and [[Diogenes of Phoenicia]] left Athens and travelled to Persia, where they had heard that the intellectual climate might be more suited to them,{{Sfn|Ahbel-Rappe|2010|p=424 (note 18)|loc=Notes to Pages 4-7}}{{Sfn|Ahbel-Rappe|2010|loc=Introduction to the Life and Philosophy of Damascius|pp=5-6}} under the refuge of the Persian King [[Khosrow I|Chosroes]].{{Sfn|Remes|2008|p=30|loc=Introduction}} It is not known if Damascius and his retinue of philosophers arrived in Persia, although late 20th- and early 21st-century scholarship by the French historian and philosopher [[Pierre Hadot]], French scholar [[Michel Tardieu]] and German historian and philosopher [[Ilsetraut Hadot]] advanced the establishment of a neoplatonic school in Charrae (present-day [[Harran]],{{Sfn|Ahbel-Rappe|2010|p=423 (note 3)|loc=Notes to Pages 3-4}} [[Turkey]]) in the Persian Empire,{{Sfn|Ahbel-Rappe|2010|p=6|loc=Introduction to the Life and Philosophy of Damascius}} a view that is disputed by other 21st-century scholarship.{{Sfn|Ahbel-Rappe|2010|p=8, 425}} The last known trace of Damascius is an epigram carved in [[stele]] in [[Homs|Emesa]] that confirms Damascius returned to Syria in 538 AD, and that is also the year scholars say he died.{{Sfn|Ahbel-Rappe|2010|p=3, 8|loc=Introduction to the Life and Philosophy of Damascius}} Damascius composed a number of works, and a significant number of his works in fragments or derived from his writings survived, the more complete works being: the literary work ''Life of Isidore'', or ''Philosophical History'', preserved by [[Photios I of Constantinople|Photius]];{{Sfn|Remes|2008|p=30|loc=Introduction}} and the philosophical works: ''Problems and Solutions Concerning First Principles''; ''Commentary on the [[Parmenides (dialogue)|Parmenides]]''; ''Commentary on the [[Phaedo]]''; and ''Lectures on the [[Philebus]]''.{{Sfn|Ahbel-Rappe|2010|p=3-4, 10-12|loc=Introduction to the Life and Philosophy of Damascius}}

==Writings==
{{Neoplatonism}}
His chief treatise is entitled ''Difficulties and Solutions of First Principles'' ({{lang|grc|ἀπορίαι καὶ λύσεις περὶ τῶν πρώτων ἀρχῶν}}). It examines the nature and attributes of [[God]] and the human [[Soul (spirit)|soul]]. This examination is, in two respects, in striking contrast to that of certain other Neoplatonist writers. It is conspicuously free from Oriental [[mysticism]], and it contains no polemic against [[Christianity]], to the doctrines of which, in fact, there is no allusion. Hence the charge of impiety which [[Photios I of Constantinople|Photius]] brings against him. In this treatise Damascius inquires into the first principle of all things, which he finds to be an unfathomable and unspeakable divine depth, being all in one, but undivided. His main result is that God is infinite, and as such, incomprehensible; that his attributes of goodness, knowledge and power are credited to him only by inference from their effects; that this inference is logically valid and sufficient for human thought. He insists throughout on the unity and the indivisibility of God.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=1 |wstitle=Damascius |volume=7 |pages=783-784 }}</ref> This work is, moreover, of great importance for the history of philosophy, because of the great number of accounts which it contains concerning former philosophers.{{Citation needed|date=September 2022}}

The rest of Damascius's writings are for the most part commentaries on works of [[Aristotle]] and [[Plato]]. Surviving commentaries include: 
*Commentary on Plato's ''Parmenides''.
*Commentary on Plato's ''Phaedo''. This work has been erroneously ascribed to [[Olympiodorus the Younger|Olympiodorus of Alexandria]].<ref name="reale1">Giovanni Reale, John R. Catan, 1989, ''A History of Ancient Philosophy: The Schools of the Imperial Age'', page 546. SUNY Press.</ref>
*Commentary on Plato's ''Philebus''. Also erroneously ascribed to Olympiodorus.<ref name="reale1"/>

Lost or fragmentary works include:
*Commentaries on Plato's ''Timaeus'', ''First Alcibiades'', and other dialogues.
*Commentaries on Aristotle's ''De Caelo'', and other works. The writings of Damascius on Time, Space, and Number, cited by [[Simplicius of Cilicia|Simplicius]] in his commentary on Aristotle's ''Physica'',<ref>Simplicius, fol. 189, b., 153, a., 183, b.</ref> are perhaps parts of his commentaries on Aristotle's writings.
*''Life of Isidore.'' Damascius's biography of his teacher [[Isidore of Alexandria|Isidore]] (perhaps a part of the ''Philosophos Historia'' attributed to Damascius by the [[Suda]]), of which [[Photios I of Constantinople|Photius]]<ref>Photius, Cod. 242, comp. 181; in volume 6 of the edition by Rene Henry.</ref> preserved a considerable fragment. It is considered the source containing most details about the life of [[Ammonius Hermiae]],<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ammonius|title=Ammonius|encyclopedia=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|year=2017}}</ref> and is also a primary source for the life of [[Hypatia]]. Incorporating material from both the Suda and Photius, a reconstructed text was translated into English by [[Polymnia Athanassiadi]] and published in 1999 as ''Damascius. The Philosophical History.''<ref>Polymnia Athanassiadi (ed.), Damascius. The Philosophical History.   Athens:  Apamea Cultural Association, 1999.  Pp. 403.  {{ISBN|960-85325-2-3}}.[http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2000/2000-01-23.html BMCR review]</ref> 
*''Logoi Paradoxoi'', in 4 books, of which [[Photios I of Constantinople|Photius]]<ref>Photius, Cod. 130</ref> gives an account and specifies the respective titles of the books.

=== Damascius and the ''Corpus Dionysiacum'' ===
Starting from an article published in 2006, Byzantine philologist Carlo Maria Mazzucchi has argued that Damascius was the author of the [[Pseudo-Dionysius|Pseudo-Dionysian corpus]], the "last counter-offensive of Paganism" (''l'ultima controffensiva del paganesimo'').<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mazzucchi|first=Carlo Maria|date=2006|title=Damascio, autore del ''Corpus Dionysiacum'', e il dialogo ΠΕΡΙ ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΗΣ ΕΠΙΣΤΗΜΗ|trans-title=Damascius, author of the ''Corpus Dionysiacum'', and the dialogue ΠΕΡΙ ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΗΣ ΕΠΙΣΤΗΜΗ|journal=Aevum|language=Italian|volume=80|issue=2|pages=299–334|jstor=20861842|issn=0001-9593|eissn=1827-787X}}</ref> Mazzucchi's theory, which faced some criticism,{{Sfn|Mazzucchi|2013|p=249–250}}<ref>''E.g.'' Fiori, Emiliano Bronislaw (2008). In ''Adamantius'' (in Italian). '''14''': 670–673; Napoli, Valerio (2008). ''Ἐπέκεινα τοῦ ἑνὸς. Il principio totalmente ineffabile tra dialettica ed esegesi in Damascio''. Catania – Napoli: CUECM – Officina di Studi Medievali: 124, n. 217; and Curiello, Gioacchino (2013). "Pseudo-Dionysius and Damascius, an impossible identification". In ''Dionysius''. N.s. '''XXXI''': 101–116.</ref> was later improved with more arguments.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mazzucchi|first=Carlo Maria|date=2013|title=Iterum de Damascio Areopagita|trans-title=Again on Damascius the Areopagite|journal=Aevum|language=Latin|volume=87|issue=1|pages=249–266|jstor=26453874|issn=0001-9593|eissn=1827-787X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mazzucchi|first=Carlo Maria|date=2014|title=John of Scythopolis' marginal commentary on the Corpus Dionysiacum|url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/tc-2014-0009/html|journal=Trends in Classics|language=English|volume=6|issue=1|pages=170–175|doi=10.1515/tc-2014-0009|s2cid=170313964|via=De Gruyter Online Journals}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mazzucchi|first=Carlo Maria|date=2017|title=Impudens societas, sive Iohannes Scythopolitanus conscius Areopagiticae fraudi|trans-title=An insolent coven, or: John of Scythopolis being aware of the Areopagite fraud|journal=Aevum|language=Latin|volume=91|issue=2|pages=289–294|jstor=26497004|issn=0001-9593|eissn=1827-787X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mazzucchi|first=Carlo Maria|date=2020|title=Areopagitica nova|trans-title=News on the Areopagite|journal=Aevum|language=Latin|volume=94|issue=1|pages=209–214|doi=10.26350/000193_000069|issn=0001-9593|eissn=1827-787X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mazzucchi |first=Carlo Maria |date=2023 |title=Areopagiticum novissimum |trans-title=Further news on the Areopagite |url=http://digital.casalini.it/10.26350/000193_000159 |journal=Aevum |language=Latin |volume=97 |issue=1 |pages=175–178 |doi=10.26350/000193_000159 |issn=0001-9593 |eissn=1827-787X |via=Torrossa}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Ammonius Saccas]]
*[[Azone]]
*[[Decline of Greco-Roman polytheism]]
*[[Iamblichus]]
*[[Olympiodorus the Younger]]
*[[Plotinus]]
*[[Theodora of Emesa]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{Cite book |title=Damascius' Problems and Solutions Concerning First Principles |publisher=Oxford University Press, Inc. |year=2010 |isbn=9780195150292 |location=New York |language=en,grc |translator-last=Ahbel-Rappe |translator-first=Sara|ref={{sfnref|Ahbel-Rappe|2010}}}}
*Sara Ahbel-Rappe, ''Scepticism in the sixth century? Damascius' 'Doubts and Solutions Concerning First Principles,' '' ''Journal of the History of Philosophy'' 36 (1998), pp.&nbsp;337–363.
*Polymnia Athanassiadi, ''Persecution and Response in late Paganism. The evidence of Damascius''. In: ''Journal of Hellenic Studies'' 113 (1993), pp.&nbsp;1–29.
*Polymnia Athanassiadi (editor and translator), ''Damascius. The Philosophical History.''  Athens: Apamea Cultural Association, 1999.
*Cosmin Andron, ''Damascius on Knowledge and its Object''. In: ''Rhizai'' 1 (2004) pp.&nbsp;107–124
*Sebastian R. P. Gertz, [https://brill.com/view/title/20281 ''Death and Immortality in Late Neoplatonism: Studies on the Ancient Commentaries on Plato's Phaedo''], Leiden: Brill, 2011.
* Sebastian R. P. Gertz, [https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004289543/B9789004289543_012.xml "From 'Immortal' to 'Imperishable': Damascius on the Final Argument in Plato's Phaedo"]. In: ''Ancient Readings of Plato's Phaedo'' (Leiden: 2015), 240–55.
*{{cite book |last1=Golitsis |first1=Pantelis |title=Damascius' philosophy of time |date=2023 |publisher=De Gruyter |location=Berlin Boston |isbn=9783111053189}}
*Raban von Haehling, ''Damascius und die heidnische Opposition im 5. Jahrhundert nach Christus''. In: ''Jahrbuch für Antike und Christentum'' 23 (1980), pp.&nbsp;82–85.
*Udo Hartmann, ''Geist im Exil. Römische Philosophen am Hof der Sasaniden''. In: Udo Hartmann/Andreas Luther/Monika Schuol (eds.), ''Grenzüberschreitungen. Formen des Kontakts zwischen Orient und Okzident im Altertum''. Stuttgart 2002, pp.&nbsp;123–160.
* {{cite book|last=Hartmann|first=Udo|title=Der spätantike Philosoph. Die Lebenswelten der paganen Gelehrten und ihre hagiographische Ausgestaltung in den Philosophenviten von Porphyrios bis Damaskios|publisher=Habelt|location=Bonn|year=2018| ISBN=978-3-7749-4172-4| language=German| pages=246–354}}
*Androniki Kalogiratou, ''The Portrayal of Socrates by Damascius''. In: ''Phronimon: Journal of the South African Society for Greek Philosophy and the Humanities'' 7 (1) 2006, pp.&nbsp;45–54.
*Androniki Kalogiratou, ''Theology in Philosophy: The Case of the Late Antique Neoplatonist Damascius''. In ''Skepsis: A Journal for Philosophy and Interdisciplinary Research'' XVIII, i-ii, 2007, pp.&nbsp;58–79. 
*Robert Lamberton, [https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2000/2000.01.23 "''Damascius. The Philosophical History''"] (book review), ''Bryn Mawr Classical Review'', January 1, 2000.
* {{Cite book |title=The Routledge Handbook of Neoplatonism |publisher=Routledge |year=2014 |editor-last=Remes |editor-first=Pauliina |location=Oxford; New York |language=en,grc |isbn=9781315744186|others=H. Tarrant, R. Sorabji, G. Reydams-Schils, F. Ferrari, J. D. Turner, V. Adluri, H. Baltussen, A. Smith, L. Brisson, M. Martijn, S. Ahbel-Rappe, J. Halfwassen, C. O’Brien, T. Arnold, T. Ratzsch, S. Slaveva-Griffin, R. Chiaradonna, J-M. Narbonne, R. M. Berg, L. P. Gerson, J. F. Finamore, F. M. Schroeder, G. Aubry, P. Lautner, A. Linguiti, J. Wilberding, K. Corrigan, S. Stern-Gillet, B. Collette-Dučić, P. Adamson, P. Remes, D. J. O’Meara, P. Vassilopoulou, D. Moran, D. Y. Dimitrov, S. Pessin|editor-last2=Slaveva-Griffin|editor-first2=Svetla}}
* {{Cite book |title=On the Eternity of the World, De Aeternitate Mundi, Proclus |publisher=University of California Press |year=2001 |isbn=0520225546 |location=Berkeley; Los Angeles; London |language=en,grc |translator-last=Lang |translator-first=Helen S. |translator-last2=Macro |translator-first2=A. D. |translator-last3=McGinnis |translator-first3=Jon |ref={{sfnref|Lang|Macro|McGinnis|2001}}}}
* {{Cite book |title=Neoplatonism |publisher=Acumen Publishing Limited |year=2008 |location=Stocksfield, United Kingdom |language=en |isbn=9781844651252|last=Remes|first=Pauliina}}
*John R. Martindale, John Morris, ''[[The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire]] II''. Cambridge 1980, pp.&nbsp;342f.
*Carlo Maria Mazzucchi, ''Damascio, Autore del Corpus Dionysiacum, e il dialogo Περι Πολιτικης Επιστημης''. In: ''Aevum: Rassegna di scienze storiche linguistiche e filologiche'' 80, Nº 2 (2006), pp.&nbsp;299–334.
*Carlo Maria Mazzucchi, ''Iterum de Damascio Areopagita''. In: ''Aevum: Rassegna di scienze storiche linguistiche e filologiche'' 87, Nº 1 (2013), pp.&nbsp;249–265.
* {{Cite book |title=Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology |publisher=Little, Brown, and Company |year=1870 |editor-last=Smith |editor-first=William |volume=2 |location=Boston |pages=667 |id=ark:/13960/t9f47mp93}}
*Marilena Vlad, ''[http://vrin.fr/book.php?title_url=Damascius_et_l_ineffable_Recit_de_l_impossible_discours_9782711628735&search_back=&editor_back=%&page=3 Damascius et l'ineffable. Récit de l'impossible discours] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200429015106/http://vrin.fr/book.php?title_url=Damascius_et_l_ineffable_Recit_de_l_impossible_discours_9782711628735&search_back=&editor_back=%&page=3 |date=2020-04-29 }}'' (Paris, Vrin, 2019)
*Tiziano F. Ottobrini (a cura di), ''Damascio'' ''Intorno ai principi primi - Aporie e soluzioni,'' Editrice Morcelliana, (2022), pp. 835

{{Platonists}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:5th-century births]]
[[Category:6th-century deaths]]
[[Category:5th-century Byzantine people]]
[[Category:6th-century Greek philosophers]]
[[Category:Greek-language commentators on Aristotle]]
[[Category:Greek-language commentators on Plato]]
[[Category:People from Damascus]]
[[Category:People from the Sasanian Empire]]
[[Category:Late-Roman-era pagans]]
[[Category:Syrian philosophers]]
[[Category:Neoplatonists in Athens]]
[[Category:6th-century Byzantine writers]]