Beschreibung:
Simplicius cites Porphyry’s lost greater commentary on the Categories by the name of its addressee: Πρὸς Γεδάλειον. It has been assumed that we know nothing about Gedalius, and even suggested that he may have been a fictional construct. But his name is Jewish, and Porphyry had no reason to make up a Jewish addressee. It was extremely rare for Greek pagan texts to be dedicated to a Jewish addressee. But Porphyry had an unusual degree of involvement with Judaism. I collect the evidence, and make a tentative proposal about the context for Porphyry’s dedicating this work to Gedalius.