Commentary on Plato’s "Gorgias"

359 Pages·1998·6.21 MB·English

by  Jackson

OLYMPIODORUS
COMMENTARY ON
PLATO'S GORGIAS
PHILOSOPHIA ANTIQUA
A SERIES OF STUDIES
ON ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY
FOUNDED BY J.H. WASZINK AND W.J. VERDENIUS
EDITED BY
J. MANSFEW, D.T. RUNIA
J.C.M. VAN WINDEN
VOLUME LXXVIII
ROBIN JACKSON, KIMON LYCOS
AND HAROLD TARRANT (TRS., EDS.)
OLYMPIQDORUS
COMMENTARY ON
PLATO'S GORGIAS
OLY MPIODORUS
COMMENTARY ON
PLATO'S GORGIAS
TRANSLATED WITH FULL NOTES
BY
ROBIN JACKSON, KIMON LYCOS
AND
HAROLD TARRANT
INTRODUCTION BY
HAROLD TARRANT
BRILL
LEIDEN · BOSTON · KOLN
1998
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Olympiodorus, the Younger, of Alexandria, 6th cent.
Commentary on Plato's Gorgias I Olympiodorus ; translated with
full notes by Robin Jackson, Kimon Lycos, and Harold Tarrant ;
introduction by Harold Tarrant.
p. em.-(Philosophia antiqua, ISSN 0079-1687 ; v. 78)
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
ISBN 9004109722 (hardcover : alk. paper)
I. Plato. Gorgias. 2. Ethics, Ancient. 3. Political science-
-Philosophy. 4. Alexandrian school. I. Jackson, Robin.
IT. Lycos. Kimon. Ill. Tarrant, Harold. N. Tide. V. Series.
B37l.048 1998
l7Q--dc2l 98-16149
CIP
Die Deutsche Bibliothek - CIP-Einheitsaufna.lune
Commentary on Plato's gorgias I Olympiodorus. Trans!. with full
notes by Robin Jackson ... lntrod. by Harrold Tarrant.-Leiden;
Boston ; Koln : Brill, 1998
(Philosophia antiqua ; Vol. 78)
ISBN 9(H)4-10972-2
ISSN 0079-1687
ISBN 90 04 10972 2
<0 Copyright 1998 by Koninldijlre Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
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PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS
TO THE MEMORY OF KIM
KIMON LYCOS: 1933-1995
Kimon Lycos was born in Alexandria, E!fYpt. His family migrated to
Australia in 1951, and he studied philosophy at the University of Sydney
and at St. Catherine's College, Oxford. He taught at the University College of
Wales, Aberystwyth, and the University of New South Wales, Sydney,
before appointment in 1965 as Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the
Australian National University, Canberra. He resigned from the ANU in
1988 to move to Melbourne, where he taught at the University of Melbourne
until his death. He has held many short-term appointments at other
universities in Australia, the UK, France, and the USA. Besides his
numerous articles in philosophical journals, he was author of Plato on
Justice and Power, and editor (with Janet Anderson and Graham Cullum)
of Art and Reality: John Anderson on Literature and Aesthetics.

CONTENTS
Preface............................................................................................... xx
General Introduction...................................................................... 1
1. The Alexandrian School.................................................... 1
2. The Significance of Olympiodorus.................................. 4
3. Olympiodorus' Exegetical Approach............................... 6
4. Keeping ancient Greece alive within a Christian
World.................................................................................... 8
5. The Curriculum................................................................... 11
6. Olympiodorus and his World........................................... 15
7. Rhetoric................................................................................. 17
8. Pre-Neoplatonic Interpretation of the Gorgias................... 20
9. The Demiurgic Interpretation........................................... 23
10. Olympiodorus' Reading.................................................... 28
11. What was Olympiodorus' core Doctrine?....................... 31
12. Overview of the Content of the Commentary................ 33
AbPut the Translation, Notes, and Abbreviations................. 51
Commentary with the Grace of God On Plato's Gorgias,
taken from the Spoken Words of the Great Philosopher
Olympiodorus............................................................................. 53
Bibliography.................................................................................... 325
Indices............................................................................................... 331
Index Locorum.......................................................................... 331
Index to On the Gorgias ............................................................... 341
Index of Names......................................................................... 344
Index of Subjects........................................................................ 347

PREFACE
Work was begun on this translation in 1990 with the assistance
from the Australian Research Council Small Grants Scheme
administered by the University of Sydney and then subsequently
by the University of Melbourne. The wider project aimed to look at
the ancient interpretation of the less dogmatic dialogues of Plato
which were once labelled 'zetetic', a task which was bound to
involve Olympiodorus as the author of extant commentaries on two
of these works. The initial task was to involve the Gorgias and
concentrate on achieving a thorough appreciation of Olympio-
dorus' lectures on it: an appreciation which the production of an
annotated translation was sure to enhance. It was an early
conviction that this commentary would yield up much more of
interest than might have been suggested by the dismissive
comments of some modern scholars, particularly when tackled by
a team whose primary interests centred neither on Byzantium nor
on Neoplatonism, but rather on the Platonic texts and what they
can mean for different generations.
Equal responsibility was taken by the three translators in the
initial stages, and all have contributed something to the notes.
More importantly we benefited greatly from each other's different
insights and approaches when we were able to come together for
joint discussions. Considerable effort was also put into the back-
ground tasks by Michael Curran as part-time research assistant,
who deserves special thanks. The project was set back somewhat
by unforeseen factors: delicate problems at Ormond College,
University of Melbourne, which took up much of Jackson's time,
health problems which hindered Lycos, and distractions involved
in Tarrant's move to the University of Newcastle, NSW, in 1993.
Thereafter Jackson left for the UK and took up another career,
while Lycos passed away late in 1995: not before he had published
a significant article related to the project. This has left Tarrant with
much of the responsibility for completing the notes, fine-tuning
the translation, and contributing the introduction. However, early
meetings, in which all three wrestled with particular difficulties
raised by portions of text, have been a crucial factor in coming to
understand this commentary, and have determined the overall
X PREFACE
form that our work would take. For those interested in Lycos'
contribution, many of the longer notes in the earlier lectures
concerned with Callicles preserve what is essentially his material.
The Australian Research Council, the University of Sydney,
and the University of Melbourne are thanked here for their
financial support of the project. We are grateful that, by permission
of Oxford' University Press, we have used extracts from T. Irwin
(trans. and ed.), Plato: Gorgias, Oxford Clarendon Plato Series, 1979.
Thanks are also due to the Faculty of Classics at the University of
Cambridge, for it was thanks to their their hospitality that the final
manuscript could be prepared in an atmosphere conducive to
study. The number of persons whose interest and assistance
deserves recognition is sufficiently large to preclude the naming
of individuals, but we should like to offer a general 'thank you' to
colleagues in both Philosophy and Classics, usually in Australia
and New Zealand, who have commented on oral papers connected
with this project, and to some who have commented upon our
written work as anonymous referees. Thanks is also due to the
Editors of Philosophia Antiqua for some helpful and perceptive
comments on parts of the translation and on the introduction at an
earlier stage.
H.A.S.T and K.RJ.
University of Newcastle, N.S.W.