Hermias of Alexandria

Hermias studied at Athens under Syrianus alongside Proclus, then returned to teach at Alexandria, helping to bind the two great Neoplatonic centers into a single tradition. He married Aedesia, a kinswoman of Syrianus.

His surviving Commentary on Plato's Phaedrus is in essence a record of the lectures of Syrianus, and so preserves the Athenian master's reading of that dialogue on the soul, love, and the ascent to beauty. It is a precious witness to teaching that would otherwise be lost.

He was the father of Ammonius and of Heliodorus, and through his elder son the Alexandrian school would reach its widest influence. Hermias is thus a quiet but essential link, joining the lineage of Syrianus and Proclus to the generation that followed.