Damascĭus
(
Δαμάσκιος). A philosopher, a native of Damascus. He
commenced his studies under Ammonius at Alexandria, and completed them at Athens under
Marinus, Isidorus, and Zenodotus. According to some, he was the successor of Isidorus. It is
certain, however, that he was the last professor of Neo-Platonism at Athens. He appears to
have been a man of excellent judgment, and to have had a strong attachment for the sciences,
particularly mathematics. He wrote a work entitled
Ἀπορίαι καὶ
Λύσεις περὶ τῶν Πρώτων Ἀρχῶν, “Doubts and Solutions concerning
the Origin of Things.” Of this only two fragments remain—one preserved by
Photius, which forms a biographical sketch of Isidorus of Gaza; the other treating
Περὶ Γεννητοῦ, “Of what has been procreated.”
The remains of this work were edited, with a valuable preface, by Kopp J.
(Frankfort,
1828). A Venetian MS. contains an unedited work of his, entitled
Ἀπορίαι καὶ Λύσεις εἰς τὸν Πλάτωνος Παρμενίδην, “Doubts and
Solutions relative to the Parmenides of Plato.”