Elias (; grc-gre, Ἠλίας; fl. 6th century) was a Greek scholar and a commentator on

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

and Porphyry. He 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 ...

in the late-6th century.Jonathan Barnes, 2006, ''Porphyry Introduction'', page xxi. Oxford University Press His name suggests that he was a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

. A commentary on Porphyry's ''

Isagoge The ''Isagoge'' ( el, Εἰσαγωγή, ''Eisagōgḗ''; ) or "Introduction" to Aristotle's "Categories", written by Porphyry in Greek and translated into Latin by Boethius, was the standard textbook on logic for at least a millennium after his ...

'' 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 ...

has survived. Some fragments survive of a commentary he wrote on the ''

Prior Analytics The ''Prior Analytics'' ( grc-gre, Ἀναλυτικὰ Πρότερα; la, Analytica Priora) is a work by Aristotle on reasoning, known as his syllogistic, composed around 350 BCE. Being one of the six extant Aristotelian writings on logic ...

'' of

, and he is known to have written on the ''

De Interpretatione ''De Interpretatione'' or ''On Interpretation'' (Greek: Περὶ Ἑρμηνείας, ''Peri Hermeneias'') is the second text from Aristotle's ''Organon'' and is among the earliest surviving philosophical works in the Western tradition to deal ...

'' of Aristotle. It is also possible that the extant Commentary on

's ''Categories'' which is attributed to

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

was actually written by Elias. In addition, a second extant commentary on Porphyry's ''Isagoge'' was falsely ascribed to Elias.Pamela M. Huby, R. W. Sharples,

Dimitri Gutas Dimitri Gutas ( el, Δημήτρης Γούτας; born 1945, in Cairo) is an American Arabist and Hellenist specialized in medieval Islamic philosophy, who serves as professor emeritus of Arabic and Islamic Studies in the Department of Near East ...

, 1995, ''Theophrastus of Eresus, Sources for His Life, Writings, Thought and Influence'', page 17. BRILL. The commentary was also falsely ascribed to David, and it has been conjectured that it may have been written by Stephen of Alexandria. Historians from the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' pointed out :Moreover, Elias repeatedly emphasizes the Platonic-Neoplatonic conviction that the purpose of philosophy is the transformation or assimilation of a human being to the godhead, a genuinely Platonic ideal explicitly stated in the Theaetetus, (176A-B).

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* {{Authority control 6th-century Byzantine people 6th-century philosophers Byzantine philosophers Commentators on Aristotle 6th-century Byzantine writers

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