This important collection of original essays is the first to concentrate on how the ancients responded to the challenge of reading and interpreting Plato, primarily between 100 BC and AD 600. It incorporates the fruits of recent research into late antique philosophy, in particular its approach to hermeneutic problems. While a number of prominent figures, including Apuleius, Galen, Plotinus, Porphyry and Iamblichus, receive detailed attention, several essays concentrate on the important figure of Proclus who provides the theme for the jacket of this book, with his characterisation of the true interpreters of Plato's philosophy as a chorus of Bacchants.The essays appear in the chronological order of their focal interpreters, giving a sense of the development of Platonist exegesis in this period. Reflecting their devotion to a common theme, the essays have been selected and are presented with a composite bibliography and indices.Contributors: Hayden Ausland, University of Montana, USA; Dirk Baltzly, Monash University, Australia; Luc Brisson, CNRS Paris, France; Tim Buckley, University of Sydney, Australia; John Cleary, NUI Maynooth, Ireland; John Dillon, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland; John Finamore, University of Iowa, USA; Lloyd Gerson, University of Toronto, Canada; Marije Martijn, University of Leiden, the Netherlands; Ken Parry, Macquarie University, Australia; John Phillips, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, USA; Julius Rocca, University of Birmingham, UK; Richard Sorabji, Wolfson College, Oxford, UK; Atsushi Sumi, Hanazono University, Kyoto, Japan; Harold Tarrant, University of Newcastle, Australia.