Hermias

This commentary records through notes taken by Hermias Syrianus' seminar on Plato's <i>Phaedrus</i> one of the world's most influential celebrations of erotic beauty and love. It is the only Neoplatonic commentary on Plato's <i>Phaedrus</i>to have survived in its entirety. Further interest comes from the recorded interventions by Syrianus' pupils - including those by Proclus his eventual successor as head of the Athenian school who went on to teach Hermias' father Ammonius. <br/> <br/> The first of two volumes of Hermias' commentary the chapters translated here discuss the argument that the soul can be proved immortal as being the self-moving source of eternal motion. Aristotle explicitly disagreed with Plato on this treatment of the soul and Syrianus having previously (in a commentary on the<i> Metaphysics</i>) criticised Aristotle severely when he disagreed with Plato feels obliged here too to address the apparent disagreement. This new translation is thus vital for understanding Syrianus' attitude to Aristotle.