Pedantry and Pedestrianism? Some Reflections on the Middle Platonic Commentary Tradition

Proclus, at the beginning of his Platonic Theology, ¹ looking back, from a lofty perspective, over the whole sweep of the Platonic tradition, sees the divinely-inspired wisdom of Plato, after its original shining forth and later coming to completion (έκφaίνουσαν καi πάλiν ϋστερον τελειωθήναι), ² then entering upon a period of eclipse (ώσπερ εΙς έαοτήν άναχωρήσασαν), at which point it became unavailable to the great majority of those who professed philosophy, before it emerged once again into the light (αvθiς eἰϛ; φώς προελθεϊν). He does not make clear what he has in mind as regards a chronological sequence for these various stages, but it seems reasonable to suppose that the ‘emergence once again into the light’ is a reference to the appearance on the scene of Plotinus, and the deepening of insight into metaphysical realities consequent on that. The previous eclipse, therefore, would be most plausibly viewed as covering not only the period of Academic scepticism, but also the following couple of hundred years conventionally termed by modern scholars ‘Middle Platonism’. ³