Elias (Greek scholar)
Elias was a 6th‑century Greek scholar who wrote commentaries on Aristotle and Porphyry. Very little is known about his life; most conclusions come from his writings themselves. It’s not proven, but it’s thought he may have been a Christian in name.
His ideas were shaped by Neoplatonism, the main philosophy of late antiquity. Many passages in his works resemble those of Olympiodorus the Younger, a Neoplatonist teacher in Alexandria in the late 6th century, so Elias is often linked to Alexandria and Olympiodorus. Whether he actually succeeded Olympiodorus as the head of the school is just speculation.
Elias may have held the title apo epárchōn (apoeparch), but this doesn’t prove he was a real officeholder; in the Eastern Roman Empire the title could be honorary.
Most of Elias’s writings were probably not meant for publication and may be student copies of his lectures. Some works attributed to him are thought genuine, while others are uncertain.
His religious views are unclear. Parts of his work—and especially the Prolegomena to Philosophy—may include Christian additions or interpolations, making his true beliefs hard to determine. It’s possible he was pagan or only superficially Christian, and he seems to defend a pagan Neoplatonist view such as the eternity of the world, rather than the Christian idea of creation in time.
In one work, the Isagoge Commentary, he suggests that the idea of a corporeal God is not impossible, though that doesn’t mean he believed God was a body. Overall, Elias’s exact identity and beliefs remain debated, with some scholars even doubting whether a philosopher named Elias existed.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 11:45 (CET).