The Heirs of Plato is the first book exclusively devoted to an in-depth study of the various directions in philosophy taken by Plato's followers in the first seventy years or so following his death in 347 BC--the period generally known as 'The Old Academy'. Speusippus, Xenocrates, and Polemon, the three successive heads of the Academy in this period, though personally devoted to the memory of Plato, were independent philosophers in their own right, and felt free to develop his heritage in individual directions. Dillon's clear and accessible book fills a significant gap in our understanding of...

This is the first English translation of Proclus' commentary on Plato's
Parmenides. Glenn Morrow's death occurred while he was less than halfway through the translation, which was completed by John Dillon. A major work of the great Neoplatonist philosopher, the commentary is an intellectual tour de force that greatly influenced later medieval and Renaissance thought. As the notes and introductory summaries explain, it comprises a full account of Proclus' own metaphysical system, disguised, as is so much Neoplatonic philosophy,
in the form of a commentary.

It takes a whole team, and several years, to translate work by the Syrian native Iamblichus (250-330), because his writing is neither eloquent nor graceful. They use the Bud text of douard Des Place as a basis for facing pages of Greek and English. The work attempts to combine the teachings of revelation literature with those of Neoplatonism, and t

John Dillon's exploration of Athenian society vividly brings to life how the ancient Greeks behaved towards each other. How did husbands treat their wives and parents their children? What were the rights enjoyed, and the perils faced, by a courtesan? What were the obligations of love and friendship between men and men, men and women, and men and boys? He shows how slaves were to be treated and what it was like to be a slave or a slave's child; and asks how, when and why duties to the Gods were fulfilled. The problems of inheritance and the position of widows, daughters and sons are also...

Iamblichus of Chalcis (c. 240-c. 325 C.E.), successor to Plotinus and Porphyry, gave new life to Neoplatonism with his many philosophical and religious refinements. Once regarded as a religiomagical quack, Iamblichus is now seen as a philosophical innovator who harmonized not only Platonic philosophy with religious ritual but also Platonism with the ancient philosophical and religious tradition. Building on recent scholarship on Iamblichean philosophy, the ten papers in this volume explore various aspects of Iamblichus' oeuvre. These papers help show that Iamblichus reinvented Neoplatonism...

John J. Cleary (1949-2009) was an internationally recognised authority in many aspects of ancient philosophy. As well as penetrating and original studies of Plato, Aristotle, and Proclus, he was particularly interested in the philosophy of mathematics, and ancient theories of education. The essays included in this collection display Cleary's range of expertise and originality of approach. Cleary was especially attentive to the problems involved in the interpretation of a philosophical text: in his reading of Plato he recognised the special status of dialogue as a privileged mode of...

Platonic Theories of Prayer is a collection of ten essays on the topic of prayer in the later Platonic tradition. The volume originates from a panel on the topic held at the 2013 ISNS meeting in Cardiff, but is supplemented by a number of invited papers. Together they offer a comprehensive view of the various roles and levels of prayer characteristic of this period. The concept of prayer is shown to include not just formal petitionary or encomiastic prayer, but also theurgical practices and various states of meditation and ecstasy practised by such major figures as Plotinus, Porphyry,...

With detailed annotation and references, this is the first complete English translation of Plotinus in one volume for several decades.