From Alexandria to Baghdad via Damascus: Missing Links in the Transmission of Greek Philosophy in Late Antiquity
The established narrative of the transmission of Greek philosophy and science in late antiquity leaves a significant gap between the end of the Alexandrian school in the 6th century and its “rediscovery” in 9th-century Baghdad. This so-called ‘Dark Age’ can be illumined by looking at the Graeco-Syriac translation movement that preceded the Arabic one. The influence of the former on the latter usually goes unrecognised in histories of Western philosophy. In addition, we have the example of John of Damascus, whose philosophical work has not been sufficiently studied in its original 8th-century context, this lecture will take a closer look at both the Syriac Christian contribution to the transmission as well as the Greek contribution made by the Damascene. Speaker: Dr Ken Parry is Emeritus Senior Research Fellow, History and Archaeology, Macquarie University, and Visiting Research Fellow, Centre for Classical Studies, ANU. He researches in the fields of Late Antiquity, Byzantine Stu...