OLYMPIODORUS  , the name of several

Greek authors, of whom the following are the most important . (I) An historical writer (5th century A.D.), born at Thebes in Egypt, who was sent on a mission to Attila by the emperor Honorius in 412, and later lived at the court of Theodosius . He was the author of a history (`Iuropu of AbyoL) in 22 books of the Western Empire from 407 to 425 . The original is lost, but an abstract is given by Photius, according to whom he was an alchemist (aoo7ri'is) . A MS. treatise on alchemy, reputed to be by him, is preserved in the National Library in Paris, and was printed with a translation by P . E . M . Berthelot in his Collection des alchimistes grecs (1887=1888) . (2) A Peripatetic philosopher (5th century A.D.), an elder contemporary of Proclus . He lived at Alexandria and lectured on Aristotle with considerable success . His best-known pupil was Proclus, to whom he wished to betroth his daughter . (3) A Neoplatonist philosopher, also of Alexandria, who flourished in the 6th century of our era, during the reign of Justinian .

He was, therefore, a younger contemporary of

Damascius, and seems to have carried on the Platonic tradition after the closing of the Athenian School in 529, at a time when the old pagan philosophy was at its last ebb . His philosophy is in close conformity with that of Damascius, and, apart from great lucidity of expression, shows no striking features . He is, however, important as a critic and a commentator, and preserved much that was valuable in the writings of Iamblichus, Damascius and Syrianus . He made a close and intelligent study of the dialogues of Plato, and his notes, formulated and collected by his pupils (afro c/Iwvi")s 'OXv nrnobeopou rou ,ueyiXov 4XXovb4,ov), are extremely valuable . In one of his commentaries he makes the interesting statement that the Platonic succession had not been interrupted by the numerous confiscations it had suffered . Zeller points out that this refers to the Alexandrian, not to the Athenian, succession; but internal evidence makes it clear that he does not draw a hard line of demarcation between the two schools . The works which have been preserved are a life of Plato, an attack on Strato and Scholia on the Phaedo, Alcibiades I., Philebus and Go; gigs . (4) An Aristotelian who wrote a commentary on the Meteorologica of Aristotle . He also lived at Alexandria in the 6th century, and from a reference in his work to a comet must have lived after A.D . 564 . But Zeller (iii . 2, p .

582, n . I) maintains that he is identical with the commentator on Plato (2, above) in spite of the

late date of his death . His work, like that of Simplicius, endeavours to reconcile Plato and Aristotle, and refers to Proclus with reverence . The commentary was printed by the Aldine Press at Venice about 1550 .