Eudorus of Alexandria


Eudorus of Alexandria was an ancient Greek philosopher, and a representative of Middle Platonism. He attempted to reconstruct Plato's philosophy in terms of Pythagoreanism.
He formulated a teleological principle for Platonism, derived from the Theaetetus: "as much as we can, become like God." In this he believed that he had found an apt definition of the common goal of Pythagoras, Socrates, and Plato. His metaphysics and cosmology combined Platonist, Pythagorean and Stoic ideas.
He is mentioned by Alexander of Aphrodisias in his commentary on Aristotle's Metaphysics,. This mention has been often taken as a reference to a former commentary by Eudorus on Aristotle's Metaphysics, although Alexander's text does not really say this . The way Aristotle's texts were available to Eudorus is now an open field for research.
Simplicius refers to him as a Peripatetic philosopher, and relates that he had written on the Aristotelian Categories. He was a native of Alexandria, and had, like Aristo of Alexandria, written a work on the Nile.