David the Invincible statue (1985), Yerevan, Armenia

David the Invincible (or David the Philosopher) was a

neoplatonist Neoplatonism is a strand of Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and religion. The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a chain of thinkers. But there are some ide ...

philosopher of the 6th century. David was a pupil of Olympiodorus in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

. His works, originally written in

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, survive in medieval

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

translation, and he was given the byname of "invincible" ( Classical hy, Անյաղթ;

reformed Reform is beneficial change Reform may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine *''Reforme'' ("Reforms"), initial name of the ...

: , ) in the Armenian tradition, which considers David himself an Armenian. Due to confusion with other authors called David and due to an abundant body of medieval legend, almost nothing is known with certainty about the historical David. Armenian tradition makes him a native of Taron, but this is not substantiated in contemporary sources and may be due to conflation with another person. He was active in

Byzantine Egypt , conventional_long_name = Roman Egypt , common_name = Egypt , subdivision = Province , nation = the Roman Empire , era = Late antiquity , capital = Alexandria , title_leader = Praefectus Augustalis , image_map = Roman E ...

, known as an expert in Aristotle's ''

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

''. He supposedly received the byname "invincible" for his exceptional oratory and argumentative skills. David is said to have returned to his native Armenia later in life, where he was active as a teacher, but he was persecuted by the church and ultimately died in exile in

Haghbat Haghpat ( hy, Հաղպատ) is a village in the Lori Province of Armenia, located near the city of Alaverdi and the state border with Georgia. It is notable for Haghpat Monastery, a religious complex founded in the 10th century and included in ...

. Of the number of works attributed to him, many are pseudepigraphic or doubtful. The works which can be attributed to him with certainty or at least with some plausibility are not scholarly treatises but propedeutic (introductory) handbooks for use in teaching beginners. They were composed in Greek but survive only in Armenian translation. Philologically, these translations are important representatives of the "Hellenizing" tradition in Armenian literature (''Yownaban Dproc‘'') of the 6th to 8th centuries. The David Anhaght Medal, the highest-ranking medal granted by the

Armenian Academy of Philosophy Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

, is named after him. ''David the Invincible'' (''Դավիթ Անհաղթ - David Anhaght'',

Armenfilm Armenfilm (russian: Арменфильм; hy, Արմենֆիլմ), also known as Hayfilm ( hy, Հայֆիլմ), is an Armenian film studio located in Yerevan. The studio was founded on 16 April 1923 as a production unit of the Soviet State Cinem ...

) is a 1978 film by

Levon Mkrtchyan Levon Mkrtchyan ( hy, Լևոն Մկրտչյան; russian: Левон Гайкович Мкртчян; born February 25, 1953 in Leninakan (now Gyumri) is an Armenian director, known for his documentaries, "Davit Anhaght", "Charentz: Known and Un ...

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{Platonists 6th-century philosophers Commentators on Aristotle Armenian philosophers