 Despite the claims of some nineteenth-century commentators, it is now clear that Eriugena did not have direct knowledge of the writings of Plotinus, Porphyry, or Proclus. He had almost no contact with pagan Neoplatonism in general (apart possibly from Priscianus Lydus and Calcidius’ translation of the Timaeus). His familiarity with Aristotle was also indirect—through the anonymous but widely circulated compilation, Categoriae decem, the Pseudo-Augustinian paraphrase of Aristotle’s Categories. He knew Boethius’ trinitarian tracts (Opuscula sacra) and possibly the Consolation of Philosophy, since a set of glosses on this work may be in Eriugena’s hand (although this is disputed). His chief authorities in the Latin Christian Tradition were the works of the Fathers, chiefly Augustine (especially his De Genesi ad litteram), Ambrose, Hilary of Poitiers, and Jerome. His originality is largely due to the manner in which he assimilated (often translating) the Neoplatonic thought of Eastern Christian writers such as the Cappadocians, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory Nazianzus, as well as Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite and Maximus Confessor. He also was familiar with Rufinus’ Latin translation of Origen’s On First Principles and was often linked with Origen in medieval times. Though he took the view that the authorities of East and West were not in conflict, nevertheless he usually expressed a preference for the Eastern Church Fathers. An especially important authority was Maximus Confessor, whose account of the return of all things Eriugena copiously borrowed.