 In the tradition of Neoplatonic philosophical training, Porphyry’s Isagoge and Aristotle’s Categories were part of the standard curriculum for beginners, a practice that was well established by the 5th and 6th centuries. Like Ammonius Hermeiou before him, Elias prefaces the lectures on the Isagoge with a very general ‘Introduction’ to philosophy, a text that belongs to the genre of protreptic or exhortational philosophical literature. Elias’exhortation to philosophy consists of 12 lectures designed to serve a triple purpose: 1. to outline and define the scope of philosophy, 2. to justify the various topics of the lectures the students are about to hear, and 3. to motivate them in a general way to pursue a course in philosophy.