Origen: Exegesis and philosophy in early christian Alexandria

Abstract

The past two decades have seen an explosion of interest in the late antique philosophical commentary tradition. This chapter explores the idea of translating the scholastic social experience by briefly considering the projects undertaken by four very different commentators active in the 520s and 530s. It looks at Olympiodorus' commentary on Plato's Gorgias, one of the earliest and least polished works written by the productive and long-lived scholar. The chapter considers how some facets of the project undertaken by Boethius suggest that he anticipates that his ideas will not be interpreted in a traditional classroom setting. It examines the puzzling decision of Sergius of Reshaina to write a Syriac commentary of an Aristotelian work for which no Syriac translation existed. Elias' description suggests something that is both self-evident and seldom recognized in modern discussions of the philosophical commentaries composed during late antiquity.