Book excerpt: Proclus was the most important figure in Neo-Platonism when it was established as the dominant philosophy of Late Antiquity. Neo-Platonism is not only the final flowering of Greek thought but also the mode in which it was transmitted to the Byzantine, Western European and Islamic civilisations. Stripping away the complexities surrounding this traditionally difficult philosopher, Lucas Siorvanes takes the reader through Proclus' metaphysics and theory of knowledge with original research examining all aspects of Proclus' work. This is the first book which places Proclus in his complete intellectual context and sheds new light on aspects of Proclus' thought, to which previous scholars have rarely done justice. - Presents a general survey of Proclus and his Neo-Platonism- Introduces results of original research, mainly on his metaphysics, theory of knowledge and science. All areas of Proclus' philosophical interest are covered including religion, physics, astronomy, mathematics and poetry. His philosophy is found in all these because concern with being and truth is central to all. Also introduced is the neglected area of his natural philosophy with its remarkable freshness of thought punctuated by the rejection of Aristotelian science and Ptolemy's cosmology. In this book, Proclus is shown as much more than just a metaphysician.