Damascius' presentation of Isidore in the historical work called variously the Philosophical History or the Life of Isidore has been the subject of a great deal of misunderstanding over the centuries. Although Damascius had great respect for and close personal ties to his philosophical father, many readers have seen his text as a highly critical one that has little positive to say about its subjects. Photius, for example, states: “[Damascius] sets himself up as judge, not leaving a single one of those on whom he has lavished praise without some deficiency … thus pulling down and throwing to the ground each one of those whom he has extolled and glorified, he imperceptibly establishes his own authority in every way above everybody else. This is why he continually matches praise of Isidore with criticism”. Photius obviously read more of Damascius' text than we can, but even the fragments that survive reveal that Damascius' presentation of the intellectuals of his day has much more nuance to it than Photius allows. The text does contain a great deal of criticism, but readers make a mistake if, like Photius, they let this criticism overshadow the positive aspects of Damascius' portraits. This mistake is particularly acute if they do not appreciate what Damascius is trying to convey about Isidore.