The Notion of Ousí­a in the Didaskalikós of Alcinous

Abstract

The Didaskalikós is an instructive exposition of Plato’s main doctrines and was written by Alcinous in the second century AD. The explanation of the Athenian philosopher’s thought offered in the ‘handbook’, however, contains a combination of Aristotelian and even Stoic elements with others of Platonic provenance. In our paper, hence, we analyze the notion of ousí­a expounded in the treatise and the transformation of the Platonic and Aristotelian ideas Alcinous produces achieving a fairly systematic and innovative exegesis of Plato