Asclepiodotus () of

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

was a

Neoplatonic Neoplatonism is a version of Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and religion. The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a series of thinkers. Among the common id ...

philosopher who lived in the second half of the 5th century. He studied under

Proclus Proclus Lycius (; 8 February 412 – 17 April 485), called Proclus the Successor (, ''Próklos ho Diádokhos''), was a Greek Neoplatonist philosopher, one of the last major classical philosophers of late antiquity. He set forth one of th ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, but eventually moved to

Aphrodisias Aphrodisias (; ) was a Hellenistic Greek city in the historic Caria cultural region of western Asia Minor, today's Anatolia in Turkey. It is located near the modern village of Geyre, about east/inland from the coast of the Aegean Sea, and s ...

, where he maintained a philosophy school jointly with another man also called Asclepiodotus, whose daughter, Damiane, he married. Asclepiodotus also taught

Damascius Damascius (; ; 462 – after 538), known as "the last of the Athenian Neoplatonists", was the last scholarch of the neoplatonic Athenian school. He was one of the neoplatonic philosophers who left Athens after laws confirmed by emperor Jus ...

, who describes him in disparaging terms, in part because of his disregard for

oracular An oracle is a person or thing considered to provide insight, wise counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. If done through occultic means, it is a form of divination. Descript ...

lore:

Asclepiodotus' mind was not perfect, as most people thought. He was extremely sharp at raising questions, but not so acute in his understanding. His was an uneven intelligence, especially when it came to divine matters - the invisible and intelligible concept of Plato's lofty thought. Even more wanting was he in the field of higher wisdom - the
Orphic Orphism is the name given to a set of religious beliefs and practices originating in the ancient Greek and Hellenistic world, associated with literature ascribed to the mythical poet Orpheus, who descended into the Greek underworld and returned ...
and Chaldean lore which transcends common sense.Damascius, PH fr. 85 A, from Athanassiadi, P., Frede M., (1999), ''Pagan Monotheism in Late Antiquity'' Oxford University Press.

He and his wife visited the

shrine A shrine ( "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred space">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...: ''escri ...

Isis Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

Menouthis Menouthis was a sacred city in ancient Egypt, devoted to the Egyptian goddess Isis and god Serapis. The city was probably submerged under the sea as a result of catastrophic natural causes, including earthquakes or a flooding of the Nile. Land i ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, in order to cure her

childlessness Childlessness is the state of not having children. Childlessness may have personal, social or political significance. Childlessness, which may be by choice or circumstance, is distinguished from voluntary childlessness, also called being "childfr ...

. A baby was produced, but the local

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

claimed it had been bought from a priestess, and used the affair as a pretext to destroy the shrine. He also wrote a commentary on

Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

's ''Timaeus'', which does not survive.

Notes

References

* * * Bury, et al., (1925), ''The Cambridge Ancient History'', pages 852–853. Cambridge University Press. * Andron, Cosmin (2008), "Asklepiodotos of Alexandria
''The Routledge Encyclopedia of Ancient Natural Scientists''
eds. Georgia Irby-Massie and Paul Keyser, Routledge. 5th-century Greek philosophers Roman-era Alexandrians Greek-language commentators on Plato Neoplatonists in Athens Roman-era students in Athens Year of birth unknown Place of birth unknown Year of death unknown Place of death unknown 5th-century Byzantine writers Philosophers in ancient Alexandria {{AncientGreece-philosopher-stub