Marinus (; born c. 440 AD) was a

Neoplatonist Neoplatonism is a version 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 series of thinkers. Among the common id ...

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

, mathematician and rhetorician born in Flavia Neapolis (modern Nablus), Palaestina Secunda. He was a student of

Proclus Proclus Lycius (; 8 February 412 – 17 April 485), called Proclus the Successor (, ''Próklos ho Diádokhos''), was a Greek Neoplatonist philosopher, one of the last major classical philosophers of late antiquity. He set forth one of th ...

in Athens. His surviving works are an introduction to

Euclid Euclid (; ; BC) was an ancient Greek mathematician active as a geometer and logician. Considered the "father of geometry", he is chiefly known for the '' Elements'' treatise, which established the foundations of geometry that largely domina ...

's ''

Data Data ( , ) are a collection of discrete or continuous values that convey information, describing the quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpreted for ...

''; a ''Life of Proclus'', and two astronomical texts. Most of what we know of his life comes from an epitome of a work by Damascius conserved in the Byzantine

Suda The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; ; ) is a large 10th-century Byzantine Empire, Byzantine encyclopedia of the History of the Mediterranean region, ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas () or Souidas (). It is an ...

encyclopaedia.

Life

He was, according to his pupil Damascius, born a Samaritan. Whether this information is correct is disputed, but it is quite possible. Damascius also adds that he had converted from

Samaritanism Samaritanism (; ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic ethnic religion. It comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Samaritan people, who originate from the Hebrews and Israelites and began to emerge as a relative ...

. He came to

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

at a time when, with the exception of

, there was a great dearth of eminent men in the Neoplatonist school. He was appointed as successor ('' diadochos'') to Proclus, sometime before the latter's death, during the period of the teacher's infirmity. Proclus dedicated to Marinus his commentary to the

Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

's Myth of Er. Proclus himself, it is reported, worried that Marinus himself was of delicate constitution. During this period, the professors of the old Greek religion suffered persecution at the hands of the Christians and Marinus was compelled to seek refuge at

Epidaurus Epidaurus () was a small city (''polis'') in ancient Greece, on the Argolid Peninsula at the Saronic Gulf. Two modern towns bear the name Epidavros: ''Palaia Epidavros'' and ''Nea Epidavros''. Since 2010 they belong to the new municipality of Epi ...

, where he died, at a date unknown.

Works

Only a remnant of his output survives. His chief surviving work was a biography of Proclus since it is the main source of information on Proclus' life. This was written in a combination of prose and epic

hexameter Hexameter is a metrical line of verses consisting of six feet (a "foot" here is the pulse, or major accent, of words in an English line of poetry; in Greek as well as in Latin a "foot" is not an accent, but describes various combinations of s ...

s, of which only the former survives. The publication of the biography is fixed by internal evidence to the year of Proclus's death; for he mentions an

eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event which occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ...

which will happen when the first year after that event is completed. It was first published with the works of

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ( ; ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoicism, Stoic philosopher. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, the last of the rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors ...

in 1559; it was republished separately by Fabricius at Hamburg in 1700, and re-edited in 1814 by Boissonade with emendations and notes. He is also the author of a commentary (or introduction) on the ''

'' of

, and a commentary on Theon's ''Little Commentary''. There is also a surviving astronomical text which discusses the

Milky Way The Milky Way or Milky Way Galaxy is the galaxy that includes the Solar System, with the name describing the #Appearance, galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars in other arms of the galax ...

. His lost works included commentaries on Aristotle, on Theon of Alexandria and on some of the dialogues of

. He is said to have destroyed his commentary on Plato's '' Philebus'' on the advice of a pupil he was tutoring, Isidorus. According to a version of the story written by Damascius, when Marinus showed his student, to whom he taught

Aristotelianism Aristotelianism ( ) is a philosophical tradition inspired by the work of Aristotle, usually characterized by Prior Analytics, deductive logic and an Posterior Analytics, analytic inductive method in the study of natural philosophy and metaphysics ...

, this commentary, which he had just completed, Isidorus prevailed on him to destroy it, arguing that since the 'divine' Proclus had himself written a definitive commentary which was the final word on the topic. Current scholarship suspects that this advice arose from fears that Marinus' commentary would, despite his best efforts, betray traces of material that might undermine the reigning Neoplatonic

paradigm In science and philosophy, a paradigm ( ) is a distinct set of concepts or thought patterns, including theories, research methods, postulates, and standards for what constitute legitimate contributions to a field. The word ''paradigm'' is Ancient ...

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* * * * * * * * * {{Authority control 440s births 5th-century astronomers 5th-century Byzantine scientists 5th-century Byzantine writers 5th-century mathematicians 5th-century Greek philosophers Ancient Greek biographers Ancient Greek mathematicians Byzantine astronomers Late-Roman-era pagans Hellenistic Jewish writers Neoplatonists in Athens Year of death unknown 5th-century Greek poets Epigrammatists of the Greek Anthology