All disciplines can count on a noble founder, and the representation of this founder as an authority is key in order to construe a discipline's identity. This book sheds light on how Plato and other authorities were represented in one of the most long-lasting traditions of all time. It leads the reader through exegesis and polemics, recovery of the past and construction of a philosophical identity. From Xenocrates to Proclus, from the sceptical shift to the re-establishment of dogmatism, from the Mosaic of the Philosophers to the Neoplatonist Commentaries, the construction of authority emerges as a way of access to the core of the Platonist tradition.

The volumepresents the papers delivered to an international conference on Hellenistic biography.Besides literary portraits of individual authors, often presented for the first time, the volume includes studies on earlier forms of the genre, mutual influence on and of other contemporary forms of literature, as well as studies on literary techniques and the use of motifs . The papers constitute a significant contribution to research on Hellenistic biography, and demonstrate its importance in the literary environment of the time, as well as for the extant biographies of the Roman Imperial Period

Die Beitrage zur Altertumskunde enthalten Monographien, Sammelbande, Editionen, UEbersetzungen und Kommentare zu Themen aus den Bereichen Klassische, Mittel- und Neulateinische Philologie, Alte Geschichte, Archaologie, Antike Philosophie sowie Nachwirken der Antike bis in die Neuzeit. Dadurch leistet die Reihe einen umfassenden Beitrag zur Erschliessung klassischer Literatur und zur Forschung im gesamten Gebiet der Altertumswissenschaften.

All disciplines can count on a noble founder, and the representation of this founder as an authority is key in order to construe a discipline's identity. This book sheds light on how Plato and other authorities were represented in one of the most long-lasting traditions of all time. It leads the reader through exegesis and polemics, recovery of the past and construction of a philosophical identity. From Xenocrates to Proclus, from the sceptical shift to the re-establishment of dogmatism, from the Mosaic of the Philosophers to the Neoplatonist Commentaries, the construction of authority emerges as a way of access to the core of the Platonist tradition.