Overview
Damascius was the last scholarch of the Athenian Neoplatonic school before Justinian’s closure of the Academy. His Life of Isidore survives mainly through the Suda and Photius; it preserves late antique portraits of teachers, including Hypatia of Alexandria.
Main ideas
As a systematic Neoplatonist he developed an austere negative theology of the ineffable; the archive quotations under his name here are biographical testimonia about Hypatia rather than excerpts from his metaphysical treatises.
Major works
- Life of Isidore (fragmentary)
- Problems and Solutions Concerning First Principles
Legacy
He is a primary late source for Alexandrian and Athenian school history, and for cautious reconstruction of Hypatia’s public teaching.