The Commentary and the Making of Philosophy

In this paper I investigate the reception of Plato’s Phaedrus, and especially the famous myth of the soul ( Phaedrus 246-249)from the 1^st to 6^th centuries CE. I analyze the phenomenon of this text’s migration into exegetical or speculative traditions or even languages far removed from the original site of Plato’s dialogue in terms of the theory of textual networking.

Subject Matter

In the fourth century CE, the extremely learned Didymus of Alexandria, also known as Didymus the Blind, the director of the Didaskaleion of Alexandria, wrote the first commentary – unfortunately lost – on Origen’s masterpiece of Christian Platonism, On First Principles (Περὶ ἀρχῶν), thereby conferring to Origen’s treatise the same status enjoyed by Plato’s dialogues.

Often used as a supporting text for understanding Neoplatonic hermeneutical
practices, the Anonymous Prolegomena to Platonic Philosophy has received little
attention in its own right. In this short text the anonym offers an enriching portrait of the
life of Plato and Platonic philosophy, arguing for Plato’s mastery over all other schools of
thought while further defending Plato’s artful choice of presenting philosophy in dialogue
form. In doing so, this anonymous author answers many important questions that saddle

As head of the Platonic school in Alexandria in the middle of the 6th Century AD, Olympiodorus is often viewed as a conserver of ancient learning in an environment which had become less and less congenial to it. Such conservation efforts, however, called for considerable creativity, since the tradition in which Olympiodorus saw himself was not monolithic. The genre of the commentary allows Olympiodorus to strengthen the Platonic tradition by weaving together different voices of his predecessors.

Porphyry portrays Plotinus as an unusually interactive and dialectical teacher. His meetings
in Rome (sunousiai, VP 1,14; 9,1) avoided set lectures and adopted a conversational tone (homilia,
5,5; 7,2), emphasizing question and answer (18,5-6). Debates were executed through the exchange
of student essays (15,1-17), which also served as a venue for the teaching and exposition of
central doctrines (18,8-24). When a guest visited Plotinus’ circle in search of ‘general
arguments… suitable for writing down in a treatise’ (katholou logoi… eis biblia), he was surprised