John Myles Dillon (; born 15 September 1939) is an
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
classicist
Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
and
philosopher
A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
who was
Regius Professor of Greek in
Trinity College, Dublin
, name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin
, motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin)
, motto_lang = la
, motto_English = It will last i ...
between 1980 and 2006. Prior to that he taught at the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
. He was elected a corresponding member of the
Academy of Athens on 15 June 2010. Dillon's area of research lies in the history of
Platonism
Platonism is the philosophy of Plato and philosophical systems closely derived from it, though contemporary platonists do not necessarily accept all of the doctrines of Plato. Platonism had a profound effect on Western thought. Platonism at le ...
from the
Old Academy
The Academy (Ancient Greek: Ἀκαδημία) was founded by Plato in c. 387 BC in Athens. Aristotle studied there for twenty years (367–347 BC) before founding his own school, the Lyceum. The Academy persisted throughout the Hellenistic p ...
to the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
, and also
Early Christianity
Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewish ...
.
Contributions
Among Dillon's most famous works are his translations of
Iamblichus' ''
On the Mysteries of the Egyptians'', a definitive book on
Middle Platonists
Middle Platonism is the modern name given to a stage in the development of Platonic philosophy, lasting from about 90 BC – when Antiochus of Ascalon rejected the scepticism of the new Academy – until the development of neoplatonism u ...
and
Neoplatonism
Neoplatonism is a strand of Platonism, Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and Hellenistic religion, religion. The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a chain of ...
, and his editorial work on Stephen McKenna's translation of
Plotinus
Plotinus (; grc-gre, Πλωτῖνος, ''Plōtînos''; – 270 CE) was a philosopher in the Hellenistic philosophy, Hellenistic tradition, born and raised in Roman Egypt. Plotinus is regarded by modern scholarship as the founder of Neop ...
' ''
Enneads
The ''Enneads'' ( grc-gre, Ἐννεάδες), fully ''The Six Enneads'', is the collection of writings of the philosopher Plotinus, edited and compiled by his student Porphyry (270). Plotinus was a student of Ammonius Saccas, and together the ...
. ''With the latter, he continued the same research as his predecessor
A. H. Armstrong
Arthur Hilary Armstrong, (13 August 1909 – 16 October 1997) was an English educator and author. Armstrong is recognized as one of the foremost authorities on the philosophical teachings of Plotinus (ca. 205–270 CE). His multi-volume tran ...
in the field of Neoplatonic philosophy.
Dillon is also a member of the
International Society for Neoplatonic Studies
The International Society for Neoplatonic Studies (ISNS) is a learned society established in 1973 to support teaching and research relating to Neoplatonism. ''The International Journal of the Platonic Tradition'' is published under its auspices by ...
, and is in addition a member of the Editorial Advisory Council of
Dionysius
The name Dionysius (; el, Διονύσιος ''Dionysios'', "of Dionysus"; la, Dionysius) was common in classical and post-classical times. Etymologically it is a nominalized adjective formed with a -ios suffix from the stem Dionys- of the name ...
. His first novel, ''The Scent of Eucalyptus'', was published in 2007 by the University Press of the South. and in 2020, a fully revised second edition of the novel was published by 451 Editions, Dublin.
link related to second edition of the novel
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Bibliography
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See also
*Numenius of Apamea
Numenius of Apamea ( grc-gre, Νουμήνιος ὁ ἐξ Ἀπαμείας, ''Noumēnios ho ex Apameias''; la, Numenius Apamensis) was a Greek philosopher, who lived in Apamea in Syria and Rome, and flourished during the latter half of the 2nd ...
*Proclus
Proclus Lycius (; 8 February 412 – 17 April 485), called Proclus the Successor ( grc-gre, Πρόκλος ὁ Διάδοχος, ''Próklos ho Diádokhos''), was a Greek Neoplatonist philosopher, one of the last major classical philosophers ...
* Porphyry
References
External links
Review of John M. Dillon's ''The Heirs of Plato: A Study of the Old Academy''Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dillon, John M.
Living people
Philosophy academics
Irish classical scholars
Scholars of ancient Greek philosophy
1939 births
Classical scholars of Trinity College Dublin
Classical scholars of the University of California, Berkeley