Damascius

Damascius, born around 462 AD in Damascus, was the last scholarch of the Neoplatonic Athenian school. He is known as "the last of the Athenian Neoplatonists." In approximately 529 AD, Emperor Justinian I enforced laws that led to the closure of the Athenian school, compelling Damascius and other philosophers to leave. It is suggested that Damascius may have sought refuge in the court of Khosrow I, the Persian King, before eventually returning to the Byzantine Empire. He died in Alexandria sometime after 538 AD. The final evidence of his presence is an epigram found on a stele in Emesa, dating to 538 AD, which aligns with the year scholars believe he passed away. Damascius's surviving works include commentaries on several of Plato's dialogues, such as the *Parmenides*, *Phaedo*, and *Philebus*, as well as his significant metaphysical treatise, *Difficulties and Solutions of First Principles* (*Aporiai kai lyseis peri ton proton archon*). This treatise explores the nature of God and the human soul, notably distinct from other Neoplatonic works for its lack of Oriental mysticism and polemic against Christianity. Damascius posited God as an unfathomable and indivisible divine depth, whose attributes are inferred from his effects.