Elias was a Neoplatonic philosopher active in the 6th century CE in Alexandria, during the late antique period. He was a student of the philosopher Olympiodorus and belonged to the final generation of the Alexandrian Neoplatonic school. His career is a notable example of the intellectual climate of his time, as he was a Christian who taught and wrote within the traditionally pagan Neoplatonic tradition.

His surviving works are commentaries written for teaching purposes. These include a complete commentary on Porphyry’s Isagoge, which was a standard introduction to logic, and a commentary on Aristotle’s Categories. The survival of a commentary on Aristotle’s Prior Analytics is less certain; some sources suggest it existed but may be fragmentary or lost, and its full attribution is unclear.

Elias is significant for understanding how classical philosophy was transmitted at the end of antiquity. His clear, didactic commentaries preserve the standard interpretations and curriculum of the Neoplatonic school. As a Christian Neoplatonist, his work illustrates how pagan philosophical traditions were maintained and adapted within a Christian society, particularly in the Eastern Roman Empire. According to scholars, his writings were influential in the subsequent Byzantine philosophical tradition.