ZAJCEVA I.V. Olympiodor of Alexandria – Scholarch of the Alexandrian School of Neoplatonism
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu4.2021.4.1
Irina V. Zajceva
Doctor of Sciences (History), Deputy Head of the Department of Humanitarian and Social-Economic Disciplines,
Belgorod Law Institute of Ministry of the Internal of the Russian Federation named after I.D. Putilin,
Gorkogo St, 71, 308000 Belgorod, Russian Federation
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5374-0510
Abstract. Introduction. The domestic and foreign research literature pays great attention to Alexandrian Neo-Platonists of the 4th–6th centuries such as Hypatia, Ammonius son of Hermias, John Philoponus, but at the same time Olympiodorus, David the Invincible, Elias, Horapollon are given insufficient attention. This is largely due to lack of any reliable information in modern science, which reveals the life and professional path of these eminent intellectuals, as well as the fact that the majority of the few preserved works of these authors have not yet been translated into Russian and English. The author of the article aims to study the “intellectual portrait” of Olympiodorus without reconstruction or refinement of his curriculum vitae based on source analysis.
Methods and materials. The Intellectual History and the micro-historical approach were chosen as the main methodological basis of this article. The work is based on the system-wide analysis and historical-biographical approach. The source base of the article consists of the extant Olympiodorus works in the book series “Commentaria in Aristotelem Graeca”. The historiography of the topic, for the most part, is represented by the works of Western European scientists: L. Westerink, S. Viano, N. Tarrant, etc., in particular. Russian Science almost did not study the personality of Olympiodorus: the only exceptions are small articles or just incorporation of information about him in the biographies of other well-known personalities.
Analysis. The author argues for the thesis that Olympiodorus, contrary to the prevailing opinion in Russian science, was a smart executive and a good scientist who managed to preserve the traditions of the Neo-Platonic School of Alexandria by continuing to interpret classical works of Plato and Aristotle.
Conclusion. Based on the analysis of Olympiodorus works, the author concludes that Olympiodorus of Alexandria has assumed the post of head of the Alexandrian Philosophical School of Neo-Platonism in the competition with John Philoponus, also he has been able to continue the activities in line with the tradition of Ammonius, son of Hermias while supporting political parity with the Church authorities and has furthermore become one of the first of Alexandrian intellectuals who used a classical scientific approach to interpret works of Plato and Aristotle without striving for their absolutization.
Key words: Olympiodorus of Alexandria, Alexandria, the Alexandrian Philosophical School of Neo-Platonism, Ammonius, son of Hermeas, Christianity, Paganism.
Citation. Zajceva I.V. Olympiodor of Alexandria – Scholarch of the Alexandrian School of Neoplatonism. Vestnik Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya 4. Istoriya. Regionovedenie. Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya [Science Journal of Volgograd State University. History. Area Studies. International Relations], 2021, vol. 26, no. 4, pp. 6-15. (in Russian). DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu4.2021.4.1.
Olympiodor of Alexandria – Scholarch of the Alexandrian School of Neoplatonism by Zajceva I.V. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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