PROCLUS, philosopher of the Neo-Platonic school: b. Constantinople, 412; d. Athens, 485. He is usually called Diadocleus and sometimes the Lycian, because his parents came from Xanthus in Lycia. He received his first educa tion at Alexandria from the famous Peripatetic Olympiodorus the elder, and completed it at Athens under Syrianus, who ultimately ap pointed him his successor, and under Asclepi genia, who had learned from her father Plutar chus the doctrines of the Orphic and Chaldaic mysteries and the united theurgic sciences. As a teacher at Athens he was very successful and not only endeavored to unite into a single whole all the philosophical schemes handed down from former ages, but made it his aim to embrace all religions by becoming filled with their spirit. Following out this maxim he coin posed hymns in honor of the pagan deities, de fended and interpreted popular myths, and even conformed to the rites connected with their worship, and considered himself as under their protection. It was probably in consequence of this adherence to the ancient religion of Greece, in opposition to the decrees of the Christian emperors, that Proclus was compelled to with draw from Athens. He traveled for a year in Asia to study the various religions of its inhabitants. All of them he held in reverence. On his return to Athens, where he remained till his death, he re-opened his school, but now performed his religious services in secret. By his pure morals and religious views he gave his scholars the idea that he had intimate inter course with gods and demons, and could work miracles. He claims to reseirible Plato in sup porting his doctrines by an unbroken chain of reasoning, a method that had been altogether neglected by the previous Neo-Platonists. But these pretensions are not borne out by his works. A life of Proclus was written by Marinus, one of his scholars, and his successor in the school at Athens. His extant works in clude a
Many of his works have been collected and edited by V. Cousin in