Proclus: Commentary on Plato's Timaeus

Proclus' commentary on the dialogue Timaeus by Plato (d.347 BC), written in the fifth century AD, is arguably the most important commentary on a text of Plato, offering unparalleled insights into eight centuries of Platonic interpretation. It has had an enormous influence on subsequent Plato scholarship. This edition nevertheless offers the first new translation of the work for nearly two centuries, building on significant recent advances in scholarship by Neoplatonic commentators. It will provide an invaluable record of early interpretations of Plato's dialogue, while also presenting Proclus' own views on the meaning and significance of Platonic philosophy. The book presents Proclus' unrepentant account of a multitude of divinities involved with the creation of mortal life, the supreme creator's delegation to them of the creation of human life, and the manner in which they took the immortal life principle from him and wove it together with our mortal parts to produce human beings.

• Scholarship on Neoplatonic commentators like Proclus has flourished in recent times, yet this is the first translation into English for nearly two centuries
• Excellent introductory material and full notes with a glossary and Greek word index are included to ensure that this dense text is accessible to non-specialists with no knowledge of Greek
• Late antiquity is the new growth area in ancient philosophy
• This volume, the sixth and last in the series, offers Proclus' interpretation of Plato's account of the creation of humans