TEXT: Diogenes Laërtius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, Book 5: The Peripatetics (tr C.D. Yonge)

Diogenes Laërtius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, 

Book 5: The Peripatetics (tr C.D. Yonge, 1895)

LIFE OF ARISTOTLE.

I. Aristotle was the son of Nicomachus and Phæstias, a citizen of
Stagira; and Nicomachus was descended from Nicomachus, the son of
Machaon, the son of Æsculapius, as Hermippus tells us in his treatise on
Aristotle; and he lived with Amyntas, the king of the Macedonians, as
both a physician and a friend.

II. He was the most eminent of all the pupils of Plato; he had a lisping
voice, as is asserted by Timotheus the Athenian, in his work on Lives.
He had also very thin legs, they say, and small eyes; but he used to
indulge in very conspicuous dress, and rings, and used to dress his hair
carefully.

III. He had also a son named Nicomachus, by Herpyllis his concubine, as
we are told by Timotheus.

IV. He seceded from Plato while he was still alive; so that they tell
a story that he said, “Aristotle has kicked us off just as chickens do
their mother after they have been hatched.” But Hermippus says in his
Lives, that while he was absent on an embassy to Philip, on behalf of the
Athenians, Xenocrates became the president of the school in the Academy;
and that when he returned and saw the school under the presidency of some
one else, he selected a promenade in the Lyceum, in which he used to walk
up and down with his disciples, discussing subjects of philosophy till
the time for anointing themselves came; on which account he was called
a Peripatetic.[44] But others say that he got this name because once
when Alexander was walking about after recovering from a sickness, he
accompanied him and kept conversing with him. But when his pupils became
numerous, he then gave them seats, saying:—

    It would be shame for me to hold my peace,
    And for Isocrates to keep on talking.

And he used to accustom his disciples to discuss any question which might
be proposed, training them just as an orator might.

V. After that he went to Hermias the Eunuch, the tyrant of Atarneus, who,
as it is said, allowed him all kinds of liberties; and some say that he
formed a matrimonial connection with him, giving him either his daughter
or his niece in marriage, as is recorded by Demetrius of Magnesia, in his
essay on Poets and Prose-writers of the same name. And the same authority
says that Hermias had been the slave of Eubulus, and a Bithynian by
descent, and that he slew his master. But Aristippus, in the first book
of his treatise on Ancient Luxury, says that Aristotle was enamoured
of the concubine of Hermias, and that, as Hermias gave his consent, he
married her; and was so overjoyed that he sacrificed to her, as the
Athenians do to the Eleusinian Ceres. And he wrote a hymn to Hermias,
which is given at length below.

VI. After that he lived in Macedonia, at the court of Philip, and was
entrusted by him with his son Alexander as a pupil; and he entreated him
to restore his native city which had been destroyed by Philip, and had
his request granted; and he also made laws for the citizens. And also he
used to make laws in his schools, doing this in imitation of Xenocrates,
so that he appointed a president every ten days. And when he thought that
he had spent time enough with Alexander, he departed for Athens, having
recommended to him his relation Callisthenes, a native of Olynthus;
but as he spoke too freely to the king, and would not take Aristotle’s
advice, he reproached him and said:—

    Alas! my child, in life’s primeval bloom,
    Such hasty words will bring thee to thy doom.[45]

And his prophecy was fulfilled, for as he was believed by Hermolaus to
have been privy to the plot against Alexander, he was shut up in an iron
cage, covered with lice, and untended; and at last he was given to a
lion, and so died.

VII. Aristotle then having come to Athens, and having presided over
his school there for thirteen years, retired secretly to Chalcis,
as Eurymedon, the hierophant had impeached him on an indictment for
impiety, though Phavorinus, in his Universal History, says that his
prosecutor was Demophilus, on the ground of having written the hymn to
the beforementioned Hermias, and also the following epigram which was
engraven on his statue at Delphi:—

    The tyrant of the Persian archer race,
    Broke through the laws of God to slay this man
    Not by the manly spear in open fight,
    But by the treachery of a faithless friend.

And after that he died of taking a draught of aconite, as Eumelus says
in the fifth book of his Histories, at the age of seventy years. And
the same author says that he was thirty years old when he first became
acquainted with Plato. But this is a mistake of his, for he did only live
in reality sixty-three years, and he was seventeen years old when he
first attached himself to Plato. And the hymn in honour of Hermias is as
follows:—

    O Virtue, won by earnest strife,
      And holding out the noblest prize
    That ever gilded earthly life,
      Or drew it on to seek the skies;
    For thee what son of Greece would
    Deem it an enviable lot,
    To live the life, to die the death,
    That fears no weary hour, shrinks from no fiery breath?

    Such fruit hast thou of heavenly bloom,
      A lure more rich than golden heap,
    More tempting than the joys of home,
      More bland than spell of soft-eyed sleep.
    For thee Alcides, son of Jove,
    And the twin boys of Leda strove,
    With patient toil and sinewy might,
    Thy glorious prize to grasp, to reach thy lofty height.

    Achilles, Ajax, for thy love
      Descended to the realms of night;
    Atarneus’ King thy vision drove,
      To quit for aye the glad sun-light,
    Therefore, to memory’s daughters dear,
    His deathless name, his pure career,
    Live shrined in song, and link’d with awe,
    The awe of Xenian Jove, and faithful friendship’s law.[46]

There is also an epigram of ours upon him, which runs thus:—

    Eurymedon, the faithful minister
    Of the mysterious Eleusinian Queen,
    Was once about t’ impeach the Stagirite
    Of impious guilt. But he escaped his hands
    By mighty draught of friendly aconite,
    And thus defeated all his wicked arts.

Phavorinus, in his Universal History, says that Aristotle was the first
person who ever composed a speech to be delivered in his own defence in a
court of justice, and that he did so on the occasion of this prosecution,
and said that at Athens:—

    Pears upon pear-trees grow; on fig-trees, figs.

Apollodorus, in his Chronicles, says that he was born in the first year
of the ninety-ninth olympiad, and that he attached himself to Plato, and
remained with him for twenty years, having been seventeen years of age
when he originally joined him. And he went to Mitylene in the archonship
of Eubulus, in the fourth year of the hundred and eighth olympiad. But as
Plato had died in the first year of this same olympiad, in the archonship
of Theophilus, he departed for the court of Hermias, and remained there
three years. And in the archonship of Pythodotus he went to the court
of Philip, in the second year of the hundred and ninth olympiad, when
Alexander was fifteen years old; and he came to Athens in the second year
of the hundred and eleventh olympiad, and presided over his school in
the Lyceum for thirteen years; after that he departed to Chalcis, in the
third year of the hundred and fourteenth olympiad, and died, at about the
age of sixty-three years, of disease, the same year that Demosthenes died
in Calauria, in the archonship of Philocles.

VIII. It is said also that he was offended with the king, because of the
result of the conspiracy of Callisthenes against Alexander; and that the
king, for the sake of annoying him, promoted Anaximenes to honour, and
sent presents to Xenocrates. And Theocritus, of Chios, wrote an epigram
upon him to ridicule him, in the following terms, as it is quoted by
Ambryon in his account of Theocritus:—

    The empty-headed Aristotle rais’d
    This empty tomb to Hermias the Eunuch,
    The ancient slave of the ill-us’d Eubulus.
    [Who, for his monstrous appetite, preferred
    The Bosphorus to Academia’s groves.]

And Timon attacked him too, saying of him:—

    Nor the sad chattering of the empty Aristotle.

Such was the life of the philosopher.

IX. We have also met with his will, which is couched in the following
terms:—“May things turn out well; but if any thing happens to him, in
that case Aristotle has made the following disposition of his affairs.
That Antipater shall be the general and universal executor. And
until Nicanor marries my daughter, I appoint Aristomedes, Timarchus,
Hipparchus, Dioteles, and Theophrastus, if he will consent and accept
the charge, to be the guardians of my children and of Herpyllis, and
the trustees of all the property I leave behind me; and I desire them,
when my daughter is old enough, to give her in marriage to Nicanor; but
if any thing should happen to the girl, which may God forbid, either
before or after she is married, but before she has any children, then
I will that Nicanor shall have the absolute disposal of my son, and of
all other things, in the full confidence that he will arrange them in a
manner worthy of me and of himself. Let him also be the guardian of my
daughter and son Nicomachus, to act as he pleases with respect to them,
as if he were their father or brother. But if anything should happen to
Nicanor, which may God forbid, either before he receives my daughter in
marriage, or after he is married to her, or before he has any children
by her, then any arrangements which he may make by will shall stand.
But, if Theophrastus, in this case, should choose to take my daughter in
marriage, then he is to stand exactly in the same position as Nicanor.
And if not, then I will, that my trustees, consulting with Antipater
concerning both the boy and girl, shall arrange everything respecting
them as they shall think fit; and that my trustees and Nicanor,
remembering both me and Herpyllis, and how well she has behaved to me,
shall take care, if she be inclined to take a husband, that one be found
for her who shall not be unworthy of us; and shall give her, in addition
to all that has been already given her, a talent of silver, and three
maidservants if she please to accept them, and the handmaid whom she has
now, and the boy Pyrrhæus. And if she likes to dwell at Chalcis, she
shall have the house which joins the garden; but if she likes to dwell in
Stagira, then she shall have my father’s house. And whichever of these
houses she elects to take, I will that my executors do furnish it with
all necessary furniture, in such manner as shall seem to them and to
Herpyllis to be sufficient. And let Nicanor be the guardian of the child
Myrmex, so that he shall be conducted to his friends in a manner worthy
of us, with all his property which I received. I also will that Ambracis
shall have her liberty, and that there shall be given to her when her
daughter is married, five hundred drachmas, and the handmaid whom she now
has. And I will that there be given to Thales, besides the handmaiden
whom she now has, who was bought for her, a thousand drachmas and another
handmaid. And to Timon, in addition to the money that has been given to
him before for another boy, an additional slave, or a sum of money which
shall be equivalent. I also will that Tychon shall have his liberty when
his daughter is married, and Philon, and Olympius, and his son. Moreover,
of those boys who wait upon me, I will that none shall be sold, but
my executors may use them, and when they are grown up then they shall
emancipate them if they deserve it. I desire too, that my executors will
take under their care the statues which it has been entrusted to Gryllion
to make, that when they are made they may be erected in their proper
places; and so too shall the statues of Nicanor, and of Proxenus, which I
was intending to give him a commission for, and also that of the mother
of Nicanor. I wish them also to erect in its proper place the statue
of Arimnestus which is already made, that it may be a memorial of her,
since she has died childless. I wish them also to dedicate a statue of my
mother to Ceres at Nemea, or wherever else they think fit. And wherever
they bury me, there I desire that they shall also place the bones of
Pythias, having taken them up from the place where they now lie, as she
herself enjoined. And I desire that Nicanor, as he has been preserved,
will perform the vow which I made on his behalf, and dedicate some
figures of animals in stone, four cubits high, to Jupiter the saviour,
and Minerva the saviour, in Stagira.”

These are the provisions of his will.

X. And it is said that a great many dishes were found in his house;
and that Lycon stated that he used to bathe in a bath of warm oil, and
afterwards to sell the oil. But some say that he used to place a leather
bag of warm oil on his stomach. And whenever he went to bed, he used to
take a brazen ball in his hand, having arranged a brazen dish below it;
so that, when the ball fell into the dish, he might be awakened by the
noise.

XI. The following admirable apophthegms are attributed to him.

He was once asked, what those who tell lies gain by it; “They gain this,”
said he, “that when they speak truth they are not believed.”

On one occasion he was blamed for giving alms to a worthless man, and he
replied, “I did not pity the man, but his condition.”

He was accustomed continually to say to his friends and pupils wherever
he happened to be, “That sight receives the light from the air which
surrounds it, and in like manner the soul receives the light from the
science.”

Very often, when he was inveighing against the Athenians, he would say
that they had invented both wheat and laws, but that they used only the
wheat and neglected the laws.

It was a saying of his that the roots of education were bitter, but the
fruit sweet.

Once he was asked what grew old most speedily, and he replied,
“Gratitude.”

On another occasion the question was put to him, what hope is? and his
answer was, “The dream of a waking man.”

Diogenes once offered him a dry fig, and as he conjectured that if he did
not take it the cynic had a witticism ready prepared, he accepted it, and
then said that Diogenes had lost his joke and his fig too; and another
time when he took one from him as he offered it, he held it up as a child
does, and said, “O great Diogenes;” and then he gave it to him back again.

He used to say that there were three things necessary to education;
natural qualifications, instruction, and practice.

Having heard that he was abused by some one, he said, “He may beat me
too, if he likes, in my absence.”

He used to say that beauty is the best of all recommendations, but others
say that it was Diogenes who gave this description of it; and that
Aristotle called beauty, “The gift of a fair appearance,” that Socrates
called it “A short-lived tyranny;” Plato, “The privilege of nature;”
Theophrastus, “A silent deceit;” Theocritus, “An ivory mischief;”
Carneades, “A sovereignty which stood in need of no guards.”

On one occasion he was asked how much educated men were superior to those
uneducated; “As much,” said he, “as the living are to the dead.”

It was a saying of his that education was an ornament in prosperity, and
a refuge in adversity. And that those parents who gave their children a
good education deserved more honour than those who merely beget them: for
that the latter only enabled their children to live, but the former gave
them the power of living well.

When a man boasted in his presence that he was a native of an illustrious
city, he said, “That is not what one ought to look at, but whether one is
worthy of a great city.”

He was once asked what a friend is; and his answer was, “One soul abiding
in two bodies.”

It was a saying of his that some men were as stingy as if they expected
to live for ever, and some as extravagant as if they expected to die
immediately.

When he was asked why people like to spend a great deal of their time
with handsome people, “That,” said he, “is a question fit for a blind man
to ask.”

The question was once put to him, what he had gained by philosophy; and
the answer he made was this, “That I do without being commanded, what
others do from fear of the laws.”

He was once asked what his disciples ought to do to get on; and he
replied, “Press on upon those who are in front of them, and not wait for
those who are behind to catch them.”

A chattering fellow, who had been abusing him, said to him, “Have not I
been jeering you properly?” “Not that I know of,” said he, “for I have
not been listening to you.”

A man on one occasion reproached him for having given a contribution to
one who was not a good man (for the story which I have mentioned before
is also quoted in this way), and his answer was, “I gave not to the man,
but to humanity.”

The question was once put to him, how we ought to behave to our friends;
and the answer he gave was, “As we should wish our friends to behave to
us.”

He used to define justice as “A virtue of the soul distributive of what
each person deserved.”

Another of his sayings was, that education was the best viaticum for old
age.

Phavorinus, in the second book of his Commentaries, says that he was
constantly repeating, “The man who has friends has no friend.” And this
sentiment is to be found also in the seventh book of the Ethics.

These apophthegms then are attributed to him.

XII. He also wrote a great number of works; and I have thought it worth
while to give a list of them, on account of the eminence of their author
in every branch of philosophy. Four books on Justice; three books on
Poets; three books on Philosophy; two books of The Statesman; one on
Rhetoric, called also the Gryllus; the Nerinthus, one; the Sophist, one;
the Menexenus, one; the Erotic, one; the Banquet, one; on Riches, one;
the Exhortation, one; on the Soul, one; on Prayer, one; on Nobility of
Birth, one; on Pleasure, one; the Alexander, or an Essay on Colonists,
one; on Sovereignty, one; on Education, one; on the Good, three; three
books on things in the Laws of Plato; two on Political Constitutions;
on Economy, one; on Friendship, one; on Suffering, or having Suffered,
one; on Sciences, one; on Discussions, two; Solutions of Disputed
Points, two; Sophistical Divisions, four; on Contraries, one; on Species
and Genera, one; on Property, one; Epicheirematic, or Argumentative
Commentaries, three; Propositions relating to Virtue, three; Objections,
one; one book on things which are spoken of in various ways, or a
Preliminary Essay; one on the Passion of Anger; five on Ethics; three
on Elements; one on Science; one on Beginning; seventeen on Divisions;
on Divisible Things, one; two books of Questions and Answers; two on
Motion; one book of Propositions; four of Contentious Propositions; one
of Syllogisms; eight of the First Analytics; two of the second greater
Analytics; one on Problems; eight on Method; one on the Better; one on
the Idea; Definitions serving as a preamble to the Topics, seven; two
books more of Syllogisms; one of Syllogisms and Definitions; one on
what is Eligible, and on what is Suitable; the Preface to the Topics,
one; Topics relating to the Definitions, two; one on the Passions; one
on Divisions; one on Mathematics; thirteen books of Definitions; two
of Epicheiremata, or Arguments; one on Pleasure; one of Propositions;
on the Voluntary, one; on the Honourable, one; of Epicheirematic or
Argumentative Propositions, twenty-five books; of Amatory Propositions,
four; of Propositions relating to Friendship, two; of Propositions
relating to the Soul, one; on Politics, two; Political Lectures, such as
that of Theophrastus, eight; on Just Actions, two; two books entitled, A
Collection of Arts; two on the Art of Rhetoric; one on Art; two on other
Art; one on Method; one, the Introduction to the Art of Theodectes; two
books, being a treatise on the Art of Poetry; one book of Rhetorical
Enthymemes on Magnitude; one of Divisions of Enthymemes; on Style,
two; on Advice, one; on Collection, two; on Nature, three; on Natural
Philosophy, one; on the Philosophy of Archytas, three; on the Philosophy
of Speusippus and Xenocrates, one; on things taken from the doctrines of
Timæus and the school of Archytas, one; on Doctrines of Melissus, one;
on Doctrines of Alcmæon, one; on the Pythagoreans, one; on the Precepts
of Gorgias, one; on the Precepts of Xenophanes, one; on the Precepts of
Zeno, one; on the Pythagoreans, one; on Animals, nine; on Anatomy, eight;
one book, a Selection of Anatomical Questions; one on Compound Animals;
one on Mythological Animals; one on Impotence; one on Plants; one on
Physiognomy; two on Medicine; one on the Unit; one on Signs of Storms;
one on Astronomy; one on Optics; one on Motion; one on Music; one on
Memory; six on Doubts connected with Homer; one on Poetry; thirty-eight
of Natural Philosophy in reference to the First Elements; two of Problems
Resolved; two of Encyclica, or General Knowledge; one on Mechanics; two
consisting of Problems derived from the writings of Democritus; one on
Stone; one book of Comparisons; twelve books of Miscellanies; fourteen
books of things explained according to their Genus; one on Rights; one
book, the Conquerors at the Olympic Games; one, the Conquerors at the
Pythian Games in the Art of Music; one, the Pythian; one, a List of the
Victors in the Pythian Games; one, the Victories gained at the Olympic
Games; one on Tragedies; one, a List of Plays; one book of Proverbs; one
on the Laws of Recommendations; four books of Laws; one of Categories;
one on Interpretation; a book containing an account of the Constitutions
of a hundred and fifty-eight cities, and also some individual democratic,
oligarchic, aristocratic, and tyrannical Constitutions; Letters to
Philip; Letters of the Selymbrians; four Letters to Alexander; nine
to Antipater; one to Mentor; one to Ariston; one to Olympias; one to
Hephæstion; one to Themistagoras; one to Philoxenus; one to Democritus;
one book of Poems beginning:—

    Hail! holy, sacred, distant-shooting God.

A book of Elegies which begins:—

    Daughter of all-accomplish’d mother.

The whole consisting of four hundred and forty-five thousand two hundred
and seventy lines.

XIII. These then are the books which were written by him. And in them
he expresses the following opinions:—that there is in philosophy a
two-fold division; one practical, and the other theoretical. Again, the
practical is divided into ethical and political, under which last head
are comprised considerations affecting not only the state, but also the
management, of a single house. The theoretical part, too, is subdivided
into physics and logic; the latter forming not a single division,
turning on one special point, but being rather an instrument for every
art brought to a high degree of accuracy. And he has laid down two
separate objects as what it is conversant about, the persuasive and the
true. And he has used two means with reference to each end; dialectics
and rhetoric, with reference to persuasion; analytical examination and
philosophy, with reference to truth; omitting nothing which can bear
upon discovery, or judgment, or use. Accordingly, with reference to
discovery, he has furnished us with topics and works on method, which
form a complete armoury of propositions, from which it is easy to provide
one’s self with an abundance of probable arguments for every kind of
question. And with reference to judgment, he has given us the former and
posterior analytics; and by means of the former analytics, we may arrive
at a critical examination of principles; by means of the posterior, we
may examine the conclusions which are deduced from them. With reference
to the use or application of his rules, he has given us works on
discussion, on question, on disputation, on sophistical refutation, on
syllogism, and on things of that sort.

He has also furnished us with a double criterion of truth. One, on the
perception of those effects, which are according to imagination; the
other, the intelligence of those things which are ethical, and which
concern politics, and economy, and laws. The chief good he has defined
to be the exercise of virtue in a perfect life. He used also to say,
that happiness was a thing made up of three kinds of goods. First of
all, the goods of the soul, which he also calls the principal goods in
respect of their power; secondly, the goods of the body, such as health,
strength, beauty, and things of that sort; thirdly, external goods, such
as wealth, nobility of birth, glory, and things like those. And he taught
that virtue was not sufficient of itself to confer happiness; for that
it had need besides of the goods of the body, and of the external goods,
for that a wise man would be miserable if he were surrounded by distress,
and poverty, and circumstances of that kind. But, on the other hand, he
said, that vice was sufficient of itself to cause unhappiness, even if
the goods of the body and the external goods were present in the greatest
possible degree. He also asserted that the virtues did not reciprocally
follow one another, for that it was possible for a prudent, and just,
and impartial man, to be incontinent and intemperate; and he said, that
the wise man was not destitute of passions, but endowed with moderate
passions.

He also used to define friendship as an equality of mutual benevolence.
And he divided it into the friendship of kindred, and of love, and of
those connected by ties of hospitality. And he said, that love was
divided into sensual and philosophical love. And that the wise man would
feel the influence of love, and would occupy himself in affairs of state,
and would marry a wife, and would live with a king. And as there were
three kinds of life, the speculative, the practical, and the voluptuous,
he preferred the speculative. He also considered the acquisition of
general knowledge serviceable to the acquisition of virtue. As a natural
philosopher, he was the most ingenious man that ever lived in tracing
effects back to their causes, so that he could explain the principles of
the most trifling circumstances; on which account he wrote a great many
books of commentaries on physical questions.

He used to teach that God was incorporeal, as Plato also asserted, and
that his providence extends over all the heavenly bodies; also, that he
is incapable of motion. And that he governs all things upon earth with
reference to their sympathy with the heavenly bodies. Another of his
doctrines was, that besides the four elements there is one other, making
the fifth, of which all the heavenly bodies are composed; and that this
one possesses a motion peculiar to itself, for it is a circular one.
That the soul is incorporeal, being the first ἐντελέχεια; for it is
the ἐντελέχεια of a physical and organic body, having an existence in
consequence of a capacity for existence. And this is, according to him,
of a twofold nature. By the word ἐντελέχεια, he means something which
has an incorporeal species, either in capacity, as a figure of Mercury
in wax, which has a capacity for assuming any shape; or a statue in
brass; and so the perfection of the Mercury or of the statue is called
ἐντελέχεια, with reference to its habit. But when he speaks of the
ἐντελέχεια[47] of a natural body, he does so because, of bodies some are
wrought by the hands, as for instance, those which are made by artists,
for instance, a tower, or a ship; and some exist by nature, as the bodies
of plants and animals. He has also used the term with reference to an
organic body, that is to say, with reference to something that is made,
as the faculty of sight for seeing, or the faculty of hearing for the
purpose of hearing. The capacity of having life must exist in the thing
itself. But the capacity is twofold, either in habit or in operation. In
operation, as a man, when awake, is said to have a soul; in habit, as the
same is said of a man when asleep. That, therefore, he may come under his
definition, he has added the word capacity.

He has also given other definitions on a great many subjects, which it
would be tedious to enumerate here. For he was in every thing a man of
the greatest industry and ingenuity, as is plain from all his works which
I have lately given a list of; which are in number nearly four hundred,
the genuineness of which is undoubted. There are, also, a great many
other works attributed to him, and a number of apophthegms which he never
committed to paper.

XIV. There were eight persons of the name of Aristotle. First of all, the
philosopher of whom we have been speaking; the second was an Athenian
statesman, some of whose forensic orations, of great elegance, are
still extant; the third was a man who wrote a treatise on the Iliad;
the fourth, a Siciliot orator, who wrote a reply to the Panegyric of
Isocrates; the fifth was the man who was surnamed Myth, a friend of
Æschines, the pupil of Socrates; the sixth was a Cyrenean, who wrote a
treatise on Poetry; the seventh was a schoolmaster, who is mentioned by
Aristoxenus in his Life of Plato; the eighth, was an obscure grammarian,
to whom a treatise on Pleonasm is attributed.

XV. And the Stagirite had many friends, the most eminent of whom was
Theophrastus, whom we must proceed to speak of.


LIFE OF THEOPHRASTUS.

I. Theophrastus was a native of Eresus, the son of Melantas, a fuller,
as we are told by Athenodorus in the eighth book of his Philosophical
Conversations.

II. He was originally a pupil of Leucippus, his fellow citizen, in his
own country; and subsequently, after having attended the lectures of
Plato, he went over to Aristotle. And when he withdrew to Chalcis, he
succeeded him as president of his school, in the hundred and fourteenth
olympiad.

III. It is also said that a slave of his, by name Pomphylus, was a
philosopher, as we are told by Myronianus of Amastra, in the first book
of Similar Historical Chapters.

IV. Theophrastus was a man of great acuteness and industry, and, as
Pamphila asserts in the thirty-second book of her Commentaries, he was
the tutor of Menander, the comic poet. He was also a most benevolent man,
and very affable.

V. Accordingly Cassander received him as a friend; and Ptolemy sent to
invite him to his court. And he was thought so very highly of at Athens,
that when Agonides ventured to impeach him on a charge of impiety, he
was very nearly fined for his hardihood. And there thronged to his school
a crowd of disciples to the number of two thousand. In his letter to
Phanias, the Peripatetic, among other subjects he speaks of the court
of justice in the following terms: “It is not only out of the question
to find an assembly (πανήγυρις), but it is not easy to find even a
company (συνέδριον) such as one would like; but yet recitations produce
corrections of the judgment. And my age does not allow me to put off
everything and to feel indifference on such a subject.” In this letter he
speaks of himself as one who devotes his whole leisure to learning.

And though he was of this disposition, he nevertheless went away for a
short time, both he and all the rest of the philosophers, in consequence
of Sophocles, the son of Amphiclides, having brought forward and carried
a law that no one of the philosophers should preside over a school unless
the council and the people had passed a resolution to sanction their
doing so; if they did, death was to be the penalty. But they returned
again the next year, when Philion had impeached Sophocles for illegal
conduct; when the Athenians abrogated his law, and fined Sophocles five
talents, and voted that the philosophers should have leave to return,
that Theophrastus might return and preside over his school as before.

VI. His name had originally been Tyrtamus, but Aristotle changed it to
Theophrastus, from the divine character of his eloquence.[48]

VII. He is said also to have been very much attached to Aristotle’s son,
Nicomachus, although he was his master; at least, this is stated by
Aristippus in the fourth book of his treatise on the Ancient Luxury.

VIII. It is also related that Aristotle used the same expression about
him and Callisthenes, which Plato, as I have previously mentioned,
employed about Xenocrates and Aristotle himself. For he is reported to
have said, since Theophrastus was a man of extraordinary acuteness,
who could both comprehend and explain everything, and as the other was
somewhat slow in his natural character, that Theophrastus required a
bridle, and Callisthenes a spur.

IX. It is said, too, that he had a garden of his own after the death of
Aristotle, by the assistance of Demetrius Phalereus, who was an intimate
friend of his.

X. The following very practical apophthegms of his are quoted. He used
to say that it was better to trust to a horse without a bridle than to a
discourse without arrangement. And once, when a man preserved a strict
silence during the whole of a banquet, he said to him, “If you are an
ignorant man, you are acting wisely; but if you have had any education,
you are behaving like a fool.” And a very favourite expression of his
was, that time was the most valuable thing that a man could spend.

XI. He died when he was of a great age, having lived eighty-five years,
when he had only rested from his labours a short time. And we have
composed the following epigram on him:—

    The proverb then is not completely false,
    That wisdom’s bow unbent is quickly broken;
    While Theophrastus laboured, he kept sound,
    When he relaxed, he lost his strength and died.

They say that on one occasion, when dying, he was asked by his disciples
whether he had any charge to give them; and he replied, that he had none
but that they should “remember that life holds out many pleasing deceits
to us by the vanity of glory; for that when we are beginning to live,
then we are dying. There is, therefore, nothing more profitless than
ambition. But may you all be fortunate, and either abandon philosophy
(for it is a great labour), or else cling to it diligently, for then the
credit of it is great; but the vanities of life exceed the advantage of
it. However, it is not requisite for me now to advise you what you should
do; but do you yourselves consider what line of conduct to adopt.” And
when he had said this, as report goes, he expired. And the Athenians
accompanied him to the grave, on foot, with the whole population of the
city, as it is related, honouring the man greatly.

XII. But Phavorinus says, that when he was very old he used to go about
in a litter; and that Hermippus states this, quoting Arcesilaus, the
Pitanæan, and the account which he sent to Lacydes of Cyrene.

XIII. He also left behind him a very great number of works, of which I
have thought it proper to give a list on account of their being full of
every sort of excellence. They are as follows:—

Three books of the First Analytics; seven of the Second Analytics; one
book of the Analysis of Syllogisms; one book, an Epitome of Analytics;
two books, Topics for referring things to First Principles; one book,
an Examination of Speculative Questions about Discussions; one on
Sensations; one addressed to Anaxagoras; one on the Doctrines of
Anaxagoras; one on the Doctrines of Anaximenes; one on the Doctrines of
Archelaus; one on Salt, Nitre, and Alum; two on Petrifactions; one on
Indivisible Lines; two on Hearing; one on Words; one on the Differences
between Virtues; one on Kingly Power; one on the Education of a King;
three on Lives; one on Old Age; one on the Astronomical System of
Democritus; one on Meteorology; one on Images or Phantoms; one on
Juices, Complexions, and Flesh; one on the Description of the World; one
on Men; one, a Collection of the Sayings of Diogenes; three books of
Definitions; one treatise on Love; another treatise on Love; one book
on Happiness; two books on Species; on Epilepsy, one; on Enthusiasm,
one; on Empedocles, one; eighteen books of Epicheiremes; three books of
Objections; one book on the Voluntary; two books, being an Abridgment of
Plato’s Polity; one on the Difference of the Voices of Similar Animals;
one on Sudden Appearances; one on Animals which Bite or Sting; one on
such Animals as are said to be Jealous; one on those which live on Dry
Land; one on those which Change their Colour; one on those which live
in Holes; seven on Animals in General; one on Pleasure according to
the Definition of Aristotle; seventy-four books of Propositions; one
treatise on Hot and Cold; one essay on Giddiness and Vertigo and Sudden
Dimness of Sight; one on Perspiration; one on Affirmation and Denial; the
Callisthenes, or an essay on Mourning, one; on Labours, one; on Motion,
three; on Stones, one; on Pestilences, one; on Fainting Fits, one; the
Megaric Philosopher, one; on Melancholy, one; on Mines, two; on Honey,
one; a collection of the Doctrines of Metrodorus, one; two books on
those Philosophers who have treated of Meteorology; on Drunkenness, one;
twenty-four books of Laws, in alphabetical order; ten books, being an
Abridgment of Laws; one on Definitions; one on Smells; one on Wine and
Oil; eighteen books of Primary Propositions; three books on Lawgivers;
six books of Political Disquisitions; a treatise on Politicals, with
reference to occasions as they arise, four books; four books of Political
Customs; on the best Constitution, one; five books of a Collection of
Problems; on Proverbs, one; on Concretion and Liquefaction, one; on
Fire, two; on Spirits, one; on Paralysis, one; on Suffocation, one;
on Aberration of Intellect, one; on the Passions, one; on Signs, one;
two books of Sophisms; one on the Solution of Syllogisms; two books of
Topics; two on Punishment; one on Hair; one on Tyranny; three on Water;
one on Sleep and Dreams; three on Friendship; two on Liberality; three
on Nature; eighteen on Questions of Natural Philosophy; two books,
being an Abridgment of Natural Philosophy; eight more books on Natural
Philosophy; one treatise addressed to Natural Philosophers; two books
on the History of Plants; eight books on the Causes of Plants; five on
Juices; one on Mistaken Pleasures; one, Investigation of a proposition
concerning the Soul; one on Unskilfully Adduced Proofs; one on Simple
Doubts; one on Harmonics; one on Virtue; one entitled Occasions or
Contradictions; one on Denial; one on Opinion; one on the Ridiculous;
two called Soirees; two books of Divisions; one on Differences; one on
Acts of Injustice; one on Calumny; one on Praise; one on Skill; three
books of Epistles; one on Self-produced Animals; one on Selection; one
entitled the Praises of the Gods; one on Festivals; one on Good Fortune;
one on Enthymemes; one on Inventions; one on Moral Schools; one book of
Moral Characters; one treatise on Tumult; one on History; one on the
Judgment Concerning Syllogisms; one on Flattery; one on the Sea; one
essay, addressed to Cassander, Concerning Kingly Power; one on Comedy;
one on Meteors; one on Style; one book called a Collection of Sayings;
one book of Solutions; three books on Music; one on Metres; the Megades,
one; on Laws, one; on Violations of Law, one; a collection of the Sayings
and Doctrines of Xenocrates, one; one book of Conversations; on an Oath,
one; one of Oratorical Precepts; one on Riches; one on Poetry; one being
a collection of Political, Ethical, Physical, and amatory Problems; one
book of Proverbs; one book, being a Collection of General Problems; one
on Problems in Natural Philosophy; one on Example; one on Proposition
and Exposition; a second treatise on Poetry; one on the Wise Men; one
on Counsel; one on Solecisms; one on Rhetorical Art, a collection of
sixty-one figures of Oratorical Art; one book on Hypocrisy; six books of
a Commentary of Aristotle or Theophrastus; sixteen books of Opinions on
Natural Philosophy; one book, being an Abridgment of Opinions on Natural
Philosophy; one on Gratitude; one called Moral Characters; one on Truth
and Falsehood; six on the History of Divine Things; three on the Gods;
four on the History of Geometry; six books, being an Abridgment of the
work of Aristotle on Animals; two books of Epicheiremes; three books of
Propositions; two on Kingly Power; one on Causes; one on Democritus;
one on Calumny; one on Generation; one on the Intellect and Moral
Character of Animals; two on Motion; four on Sight; two on Definitions;
one on being given in Marriage; one on the Greater and the Less; one on
Music; one on Divine Happiness; one addressed to the Philosophers of
the Academy; one Exhortatory Treatise; one discussing how a City may be
best Governed; one called Commentaries; one on the Crater of Mount Etna
in Sicily; one on Admitted Facts; one on Problems in Natural History;
one, What are the Different Manners of Acquiring Knowledge; three on
Telling Lies; one book, which is a preface to the Topics; one addressed
to Æschylus; six books of a History of Astronomy; one book of the History
of Arithmetic relating to Increasing Numbers; one called the Acicharus;
one on Judicial Discourses; one on Calumny; one volume of Letters to
Astycreon, Phanias, and Nicanor; one book on Piety; one called the Evias;
one on Circumstances; one volume entitled Familiar Conversations; one on
the Education of Children; another on the same subject, discussed in a
different manner; one on Education, called also, a treatise on Virtue, or
on Temperance; one book of Exhortations; one on Numbers; one consisting
of Definitions referring to the Enunciation of Syllogisms; one on Heaven;
two on Politics; two on Nature, on Fruits, and on Animals. And these
works contain in all two hundred and thirty-two thousand nine hundred and
eight lines.

These, then, are the books which Theophrastus composed.

XIV. I have also found his will, which is drawn up in the following
terms:—

May things turn out well, but if anything should happen to me, I make the
following disposition of my property. I give everything that I have in my
house to Melantes and Pancreon, the sons of Leon. And those things which
have been given to me by Hipparchus, I wish to be disposed of in the
following manner:—First of all, I wish everything about the Museum[49]
and the statue of the goddesses to be made perfect, and to be adorned in
a still more beautiful manner than at present, wherein there is room for
improvement. Then I desire the statue of Aristotle to be placed in the
temple, and all the other offerings which were in the temple before. Then
I desire the colonnade which used to be near the Museum to be rebuilt in
a manner not inferior to the previous one. I also enjoin my executors
to put up the tablets on which the maps of the earth are drawn, in the
lower colonnade, and to take care that an altar is finished in such a
manner that nothing may be wanting to its perfectness or its beauty. I
also direct a statue of Nicomachus, of equal size, to be erected at the
same time; and the price for making the statue has been already paid to
Praxiteles; and he is to contribute what is wanting for the expense.
And I desire that it shall be placed wherever it shall seem best to
those who have the charge of providing for the execution of the other
injunctions contained in this will. And these are my orders respecting
the temple and the offerings. The estate which I have at Stagira, I
give to Callinus, and all my books I bequeath to Neleus. My garden, and
my promenade, and my houses which join the garden, I give all of them
to any of the friends whose names I set down below, who choose to hold
a school in them and to devote themselves to the study of philosophy,
since it is not possible for any one to be always travelling, but I give
them on condition that they are not to alienate them, and that no one is
to claim them as his own private property; but they are to use them in
common as if they were sacred ground, sharing them with one another in
a kindred and friendly spirit, as is reasonable and just. And those who
are to have this joint property in them are Hipparchus, Neleus, Strato,
Callinus, Demotimus, Demaratus, Callisthenes, Melantes, Pancreon, and
Nicippus. And Aristotle, the son of Metrodorus and Pythias, shall also be
entitled to a share in this property, if he like to join these men in the
study of philosophy. And I beg the older men to pay great attention to
his education that he may be led on to philosophy as much as possible. I
also desire my executors to bury me in whatever part of the garden shall
appear most suitable, incurring no superfluous expense about my funeral
or monument. And, as has been said before, after the proper honours have
been paid to me, and after provision has been made for the execution
of my will as far as relates to the temple, and the monument, and the
garden, and the promenade, then I enjoin that Pamphylus, who dwells in
the garden, shall keep it and everything else in the condition as it has
been in hitherto. And those who are in possession of these things are to
take care of his interests. I further bequeath to Pamphylus and Threptes,
who have been some time emancipated, and who have been of great service
to me, besides all that they have previously received from me, and all
that they may have earned for themselves, and all that I have provided
for being given them by Hipparchus, two thousand drachmas, and I enjoin
that they should have them in firm and secure possession, as I have
often said to them, and to Melantes and Pancreon, and they have agreed
to provide for this my will taking effect. I also give them the little
handmaid Somatale; and of my slaves, I ratify the emancipation of Molon,
and Cimon, and Parmenon which I have already given them. And I hereby
give their liberty to Manes and Callias, who have remained four years in
the garden, and have worked in it, and have conducted themselves in an
unimpeachable manner. And I direct that my executors shall give Pamphylus
as much of my household furniture as may seem to them to be proper, and
shall sell the rest. And I give Carion to Demotimus, and Donax to Neleus.
I order Eubius to be sold, and I request Hipparchus to give Callinus
three thousand drachmas. And if I had not seen the great service that
Hipparchus has been to me in former times, and the embarrassed state of
his affairs at present, I should have associated Melantes and Pancreon
with him in these gifts. But as I see that it would not be easy for them
to arrange to manage the property together, I have thought it likely to
be more advantageous for them to receive a fixed sum from Hipparchus.
Therefore, let Hipparchus pay to Melantes and to Pancreon a talent
a-piece; and let him also pay to my executors the money necessary for
the expenses which I have here set down in my will, as it shall require
to be expended. And when he has done this, then I will that he shall be
discharged of all debts due from him to me or to my estate. And if any
profit shall accrue to him in Chalcis, from property belonging to me,
it shall be all his own. My executors, for all the duties provided for
in this will, shall be Hipparchus, Neleus, Strato, Callinus, Demotimus,
Callisthenes, and Ctesarchus. And this my will is copied out, and all
the copies are sealed with the seal-ring of me, Theophrastus; one copy
is in the hands of Hegesias the son of Hipparchus; the witnesses thereto
are Callippus of Pallene, Philomelus of Euonymus, Lysander of Hybas, and
Philion of Alopece. Another copy is deposited with Olympiodorus, and the
witnesses are the same. A third copy is under the care of Adimantus, and
it was conveyed to him by Androsthenes, his son. The witnesses to that
copy are Arimnestus the son of Cleobulus, Lysistratus of Thasos, the
son of Phidon; Strato of Lampsacus, the son of Arcesilaus; Thesippus of
Cerami, the son of Thesippus; Dioscorides of the banks of the Cephisus,
the son of Dionysius.—This was his will.

XV. Some writers have stated that Erasistratus, the physician, was a
pupil of his; and it is very likely.


LIFE OF STRATO.

I. Theophrastus was succeeded in the presidency of his school by Strato
of Lampsacus, the son of Arcesilaus, of whom he had made mention in his
will.

II. He was a man of great eminence, surnamed the Natural Philosopher,
from his surpassing all men in the diligence with which he applied
himself to the investigation of matters of that nature.

III. He was also the preceptor of Ptolemy Philadelphus, and received from
him, as it is said, eighty talents; and he began to preside over the
school, as Apollodorus tells us in his Chronicles, in the hundred and
twenty-third olympiad, and continued in that post for eighteen years.

IV. There are extant three books of his on Kingly Power; three on
Justice; three on the Gods; three on Beginnings; and one on each of the
subjects of Happiness, Philosophy, Manly Courage, the Vacuum, Heaven,
Spirit, Human Nature, the Generation of Animals, Mixtures, Sleep, Dreams,
Sight, Perception, Pleasure, Colours, Diseases, Judgments, Powers,
Metallic Works, Hunger, and Dimness of Sight, Lightness and Heaviness,
Enthusiasm, Pain, Nourishment and Growth, Animals whose Existence is
Doubted, Fabulous Animals, Causes, a Solution of Doubts, a preface to
Topics; there are, also, treatises on Contingencies, on the Definition,
on the More and Less, on Injustice, on Former and Later, on the Prior
Genus, on Property, on the Future. There are, also, two books called the
Examination of Inventions; the Genuineness of the Commentaries attributed
to him, is doubted. There is a volume of Epistles, which begins thus:
“Strato wishes Arsinoe prosperity.”

V. They say that he became so thin and weak, that he died without
its being perceived. And there is an epigram of ours upon him in the
following terms:—

    The man was thin, believe me, from the use
    Of frequent unguents; Strato was his name,
    A citizen of Lampsacus; he struggled long
    With fell disease, and died at last unnoticed.

VI. There were eight people of the name of Strato. The first was a pupil
of Isocrates; the second was the man of whom we have been speaking; the
third was a physician, a pupil of Erasistratus, or, as some assert, a
foster-child of his; the fourth was an historian, who wrote a history of
the Achievements of Philip and Perses in their wars against the Romans.…
The sixth was an epigrammatic poet; the seventh was an ancient physician,
as Aristotle tells us; the eighth was a Peripatetic philosopher, who
lived in Alexandria.

VII. But the will, too, of this natural philosopher is extant, and it
is couched in the following language:—“If anything happens to me, I
make this disposition of my property. I leave all my property in my
house to Lampyrion and Arcesilaus; and with the money which I have at
Athens, in the first place, let my executors provide for my funeral and
for all other customary expenses; without doing anything extravagant,
or, on the other hand, anything mean. And the following shall be my
executors, according to this my will: Olympichus, Aristides, Mnesigenes,
Hippocrates, Epicrates, Gorgylus, Diocles, Lycon, and Athanes. And my
school I leave to Lycon, since of the others some are too old, and others
too busy. And the rest will do well, if they ratify this arrangement
of mine. I also bequeath to him all my books, except such as we have
written ourselves; and all my furniture in the dining-room, and the
couches, and the drinking cups. And let my executors give Epicrates five
hundred drachmas, and one of my slaves, according to the choice made by
Arcesilaus. And first of all, let Lampyrion and Arcesilaus cancel the
engagements which Daippus has entered into for Iræus. And let him be
acquitted of all obligation to Lampyrion or the heirs of Lampyrion; and
let him also be discharged from any bond or note of hand he may have
given. And let my executors give him five hundred drachmas of silver,
and one of my slaves, whichever Arcesilaus may approve, in order that,
as he has done me great service, and co-operated with me in many things,
he may have a competency, and be enabled to live decently. And I give
their freedom to Diophantus, and Diocles, and Abus. Simias I give to
Arcesilaus. I also give his freedom to Dromo. And when Arcesilaus
arrives, let Iræus calculate with Olympichus and Epicrates, and the rest
of my executors, the amount that has been expended on my funeral and on
other customary expenses. And let the money that remains, be paid over
to Arcesilaus by Olympichus, who shall give him no trouble, as to the
time or manner of payment. And Arcesilaus shall discharge the engagements
which Strato has entered into with Olympichus and Aminias, which are
preserved in writing in the care of Philocrates, the son of Tisamenus.
And with respect to my monument, let them do whatever seems good to
Arcesilaus, and Olympichus, and Lycon.”

This is his will, which is still extant, as Aristo, the Chian, has
collected and published it.

VIII. And this Strato was a man, as has been shown above, of deservedly
great popularity; having devoted himself to the study of every kind
of philosophy, and especially of that branch of it called natural
philosophy, which is one of the most ancient and important branches of
the whole.


LIFE OF LYCON.

I. He was succeeded by Lycon, a native of the Troas, the son of Astyanax,
a man of great eloquence, and of especial ability in the education of
youth. For he used to say that it was fit for boys to be harnessed with
modesty and rivalry, as much as for horses to be equipped with a spur
and a bridle. And his eloquence and energy in speaking is apparent, from
this instance. For he speaks of a virgin who was poor in the following
manner:—“A damsel, who, for want of a dowry, goes beyond the seasonable
age, is a heavy burden to her father;” on which account they say that
Antigonus said with reference to him, that the sweetness and beauty of an
apple could not be transferred to anything else, but that one might see,
in the case of this man, all these excellencies, in as great perfection
as on a tree; and he said this, because he was a surpassingly sweet
speaker. On which account, some people prefixed a Γ to his name.[50]
But as a writer, he was very unequal to his reputation. And he used to
jest in a careless way, upon those who repented that they had not learnt
when they had the opportunity, and who now wished that they had done so,
saying, said that they were accusing themselves, showing by a prayer
which could not possibly be accomplished, their misplaced repentance for
their idleness. He used also to say, that those who deliberated without
coming to a right conclusion, erred in their calculations, like men who
investigate a correct nature by an incorrect standard, or who look at a
face in disturbed water, or a distorted mirror. Another of his sayings
was, that many men go in pursuit of the crown to be won in the forum, but
few or none seek to attain the one to be gained at the Olympic games.

II. And as he in many instances gave much advice to the Athenians, he was
of exceedingly great service to them.

III. He was also a person of great neatness in his dress, wearing
garments of an unsurpassable delicacy, as we are told by Hermippus.
He was at the same time exceedingly devoted to the exercises of the
Gymnasium, and a man who was always in excellent condition as to his
body, displaying every quality of an athlete (though Antigonus of
Carystus, pretends that he was bruised about the ears and dirty); and in
his own country he is said to have wrestled and played at ball at the
Iliæan games.

IV. And he was exceedingly beloved by Eumenes and Attalus, who made him
great presents; and Antigonus also tried to seduce him to his court,
but was disappointed. And he was so great an enemy to Hieronymus the
Peripatetic, that he was the only person who would not go to see him on
the anniversary festival which he used to celebrate, and which we have
mentioned in our life of Arcesilaus.

V. And he presided over his school forty-four years, as Strato had left
it to him in his will, in the hundred and twenty-seventh olympiad.

VI. He was also a pupil of Panthoides, the dialectician.

VII. He died when he was seventy-four years of age, having been a great
sufferer with the gout, and there is an epigram of ours upon him:—

    Nor shall wise Lycon be forgotten, who
    Died of the gout, and much I wonder at it.
    For he who ne’er before could walk alone,
    Went the long road to hell in a single night.

VIII. There were several people of the name of Lycon. The first was a
Pythagorean; the second was this man of whom we are speaking; the third
was an epic poet; the fourth was an epigrammatic poet.

IX. I have fallen in with the following will of this philosopher. “I make
the following disposition of my property; if I am unable to withstand
this disease:—All the property in my house I leave to my brothers
Astyanax and Lycon; and I think that they ought to pay all that I owe
at Athens, and that I may have borrowed from any one, and also all the
expenses that may be incurred for my funeral, and for other customary
solemnities. And all that I have in the city, or in Ægina, I give to
Lycon because he bears the same name that I do, and because he has spent
the greater part of his life with me, showing me the greatest affection,
as it was fitting that he should do, since he was in the place of a son
to me. And I leave my garden walk to those of my friends who like to
use it; to Bulon, and Callinus, and Ariston, and Amphion, and Lycon,
and Python, and Aristomachus, and Heracleus, and Lycomedes, and Lycon
my nephew. And I desire that they will elect as president him whom they
think most likely to remain attached to the pursuit of philosophy, and
most capable of holding the school together. And I entreat the rest of
my friends to acquiesce in their election, for my sake and that of the
place. And I desire that Bulon, and Callinus, and the rest of my friends
will manage my funeral and the burning of my body, so that my obsequies
may not be either mean or extravagant. And the property which I have in
Ægina shall be divided by Lycon after my decease among the young men
there, for the purpose of anointing themselves, in order that the memory
of me and of him who honoured me, and who showed his affection by useful
presents, may be long preserved. And let him erect a statue of me; and as
for the place for it, I desire that Diophantus and Heraclides the son of
Demetrius, shall select that, and take care that it be suitable for the
proposed erection. With the property that I have in the city let Lycon
pay all the people of whom I have borrowed anything since his departure;
and let Bulon and Callinus join him in this, and also in discharging
all the expenses incurred for my funeral, and for all other customary
solemnities, and let him deduct the amount from the funds which I have
left in my house, and bequeathed to them both in common. Let him also
pay the physicians, Pasithemis and Medias, men who, for their attention
to me and for their skill, are very deserving of still greater honour.
And I give to the son of Callinus my pair of Thericlean cups; and to his
wife I give my pair of Rhodian cups, and my smooth carpet, and my double
carpet, and my curtains, and the two best pillows of all that I leave
behind me; so that as far as the compliment goes, I may be seen not to
have forgotten them. And with respect to those who have been my servants,
I make the following disposition:—To Demetrius who has long been freed,
I remit the price of his freedom, and I further give five minæ, and a
cloak, and a tunic, that as he has a great deal of trouble about me, he
may pass the rest of his life comfortably. To Criton, the Chalcedonian,
I also remit the price of his freedom, and I further give him four minæ.
Micrus I hereby present with his freedom; and I desire Lycon to maintain
him, and instruct him for six years from the present time. I also give
his freedom to Chares, and desire Lycon to maintain him. And I further
give him two minæ, and all my books that are published; but those which
are not published, I give to Callinus, that he may publish them with
due care. I also give to Syrus, whom I have already emancipated, four
minæ, and Menodora; and if he owes me anything I acquit him of the debt.
And I give to Hilaras four minæ, and a double carpet, and two pillows,
and a curtain, and any couch which he chooses to select. I also hereby
emancipate the mother of Micrus, and Noemon, and Dion, and Theon, and
Euphranor, and Hermeas; and I desire that Agathon shall have his freedom
when he has served two years longer; and that Ophelion, and Poseideon, my
litter-bearers, shall have theirs when they have waited four years more.
I also give to Demetrius, and Criton, and Syrus, a couch a piece, and
coverlets from those which I leave behind me, according to the selection
which Lycon is hereby authorised to make. And these are to be their
rewards for having performed the duties to which they were appointed
well. Concerning my burial, let Lycon do as he pleases, and bury me
here or at home, just as he likes; for I am sure that he has the same
regard for propriety that I myself have. And I give all the things herein
mentioned, in the confidence that he will arrange everything properly.
The witnesses to this my will are Callinus of Hermione, Ariston of Ceos,
and Euphronius of Pæania.”

As he then was thoroughly wise in everything relating to education,
and every branch of philosophy, he was no less prudent and careful in
the framing of his will. So that in this respect too he deserves to be
admired and imitated.


LIFE OF DEMETRIUS.

I. Demetrius was a native of Phalerus, and the son of Phanostratus. He
was a pupil of Theophrastus.

II. And as a leader of the people at Athens he governed the city for ten
years, and was honoured with three hundred and sixty brazen statues, the
greater part of which were equestrian; and some were placed in carriages
or in pair-horse chariots, and the entire number were finished within
three hundred days, so great was the zeal with which they were worked at.
And Demetrius, the Magnesian, in his treatise on People of the same Name,
says that he began to be the leader of the commonwealth, when Harpalus
arrived in Athens, having fled from Alexander. And he governed his
country for a long time in a most admirable manner. For he aggrandised
the city by increased revenues and by new buildings, although he was a
person of no distinction by birth.

III. Though Phavorinus, in the first book of his Commentaries, asserts
that he was of the family of Conon.

IV. He lived with a citizen of noble birth, named Lamia, as his mistress,
as the same author tells us in his first book.

V. Again, in his second book he tells us that Demetrius was the slave of
the debaucheries of Cleon.

VI. Didymus, in his Banquets, says that he was called χαριτοβλέφαρος, or
Beautiful Eyed, and Lampeto, by some courtesan.

VII. It is said that he lost his eye-sight in Alexandria, and recovered
it again by the favour of Serapis; on which account he composed the pæans
which are sung and spoken of as his composition to this day.

VIII. He was held in the greatest honour among the Athenians, but
nevertheless, he found his fame darkened by envy, which attacks every
thing; for he was impeached by some one on a capital charge, and as
he did not appear, he was condemned. His accusers, however, did not
become masters of his person, but expended their venom on the brass,
tearing down his statues and selling some and throwing others into the
sea, and some they cut up into chamber-pots. For even this is stated.
And one statue alone of him is preserved which is in the Acropolis.
But Phavorinus in his Universal History, says that the Athenians
treated Demetrius in this manner at the command of the king; and they
also impeached him as guilty of illegality in his administration, as
Phavorinus says. But Hermippus says, that after the death of Cassander,
he feared the enmity of Antigonus, and on that account fled to Ptolemy
Soter; and that he remained at his court for a long time, and, among
other pieces of advice, counselled the king to make over the kingdom to
his sons by Eurydice. And as he would not agree to this measure, but gave
the crown to his son by Berenice, this latter, after the death of his
father, commanded Demetrius to be kept in prison until he should come to
some determination about him. And there he remained in great despondency;
and while asleep on one occasion, he was bitten by an asp in the hand,
and so he died. And he is buried in the district of Busiris, near
Diospolis, and we have written the following epigram on him:—

    An asp, whose tooth of venom dire was full,
      Did kill the wise Demetrius.
    The serpent beamed not light from out his eyes,
      But dark and lurid hell.

But Heraclides, in his Epitome of the Successions of Sotion, says
that Ptolemy wished to transmit the kingdom to Philadelphus, and that
Demetrius dissuaded him from doing so by the argument, “If you give
it to another, you will not have it yourself.” And when Menander, the
comic poet, had an information laid against him at Athens (for this is
a statement which I have heard), he was very nearly convicted, for no
other reason but that he was a friend of Demetrius. He was, however,
successfully defended by Telesphorus, the son-in-law of Demetrius.

IX. In the multitude of his writings and the number of lines which they
amount to, he exceeded nearly all the Peripatetics of his day, being a
man of great learning and experience on every subject. And some of his
writings are historical, some political, some on poets, some rhetorical,
some also are speeches delivered in public assemblies or on embassies;
there are also collections of Æsop’s Fables, and many other books. There
are five volumes on the Legislation of Athens; two on Citizens of Athens;
two on the Management of the People; two on Political Science; one on
Laws; two on Rhetoric; two on Military Affairs; two on the Iliad; four on
the Odyssey; one called the Ptolemy; one on Love; the Phædondas, one; the
Mædon, one; the Cleon, one; the Socrates, one; the Artaxerxes, one; the
Homeric, one; the Aristides, one; the Aristomachus, one; the Exhortatory,
one; one on the Constitution; one on his Ten Years’ Government; one on
the Ionians; one on Ambassadors; one on Good Faith; one on Gratitude; one
on Futurity; one on Greatness of Soul; one on Marriage; one on Opinion;
one on Peace; one on Laws; one on Studies; one on Opportunity; the
Dionysius, one; the Chalcidean, one; the Maxims of the Athenians, one;
on Antiphanes, one; a Historic Preface, one; one Volume of Letters; one
called an Assembly on Oath; one on Old Age; one on Justice; one volume of
Æsop’s Fables; one of Apophthegms. His style is philosophical, combined
with the energy and impressiveness of an orator.

X. When he was told that the Athenians had thrown down his statues, he
said, “But they have not thrown down my virtues, on account of which they
erected them.” He used to say that the eyebrows were not an insignificant
part of a man, for that they were able to overshadow the whole life.
Another of his sayings was that it was not Plutus alone who was blind,
but Fortune also, who acted as his guide. Another, that reason had as
much influence on government, as steel had in war. On one occasion, when
he saw a debauched young man, he said, “There is a square Mercury with a
long robe, a belly, and a beard.” It was a favourite saying of his, that
in the case of men elated with pride one ought to cut something off their
height, and leave them their spirit. Another of his apophthegms was, that
at home young men ought to show respect to their parents, and in the
streets to every one whom they met, and in solitary places to themselves.
Another, that friends ought to come to others in good fortune only when
invited, but to those in distress of their own accord.

These are the chief sayings attributed to him.

XI. There were twenty persons of the name of Demetrius, of sufficient
consideration to be entitled to mention. First, a Chalcedonian, an
orator, older than Thrasymachus; the second, this person of whom we are
speaking; the third was a Byzantine, a Peripatetic philosopher; the
fourth was a man surnamed Graphicus, a very eloquent lecturer, and also
a painter; the fifth was a native of Aspendus, a disciple of Apollonius,
of Soli; the sixth was a native of Calatia, who wrote twenty books about
Asia and Europe; the seventh was a Byzantine, who wrote an account of
the crossing of the Gauls from Europe into Asia, in thirteen books, and
the History of Antiochus and Ptolemy, and their Administration of the
Affairs of Africa, in eight more; the eighth was a Sophist who lived
in Alexandria, and who wrote a treatise on Rhetorical Art; the ninth
was a native of Adramyttium, a grammarian, who was nick-named Ixion,
in allusion to some crime he had committed against Juno; the tenth
was a Cyrenean, a grammarian, who was surnamed Stamnus,[51] a very
distinguished man; the eleventh was a Scepsian, a rich man of noble
birth, and of great eminence for learning. He it was who advanced the
fortunes of Metrodorus his fellow citizen; the twelfth was a grammarian
of Erythræ, who was made a citizen of Lemnos; the thirteenth was a
Bithynian, a son of Diphilus the Stoic, and a disciple of Panætius of
Rhodes; the fourteenth was an orator of Smyrna. All of these were prose
writers.

The following were poets:—The first a poet of the Old Comedy. The second
an Epic poet, who has left nothing behind him that has come down to us,
except these lines which he wrote against some envious people:—

    They disregard a man while still alive,
    Whom, when he’s dead, they honour; cities proud,
    And powerful nations, have with contest fierce,
    Fought o’er a tomb and unsubstantial shade

The third was a native of Tarsus; a writer of Satires. The fourth was
a composer of Iambics, a bitter man. The fifth was a statuary, who
is mentioned by Polemo. The sixth was a native of Erythræ, a man who
wrote on various subjects, and who composed volumes of histories and
relations.[52]


LIFE OF HERACLIDES.

I. Heraclides was the son of Euthyphron, and was born at Heraclea, in
Pontus; he was also a wealthy man.

II. After he came to Athens, he was at first a disciple of Speusippus,
but he also attended the schools of the Pythagorean philosophers, and
he adopted the principles of Plato; last of all he became a pupil of
Aristotle, as we are told by Sotion in his book entitled the Successions.

III. He used to wear delicate garments, and was a man of great size, so
that he was nicknamed by the Athenians Pompicus[53] instead of Ponticus.
But he was of quiet manners and noble aspect.

IV. There are several books extant by him, which are exceedingly good
and admirable. They are in the form of dialogue; some being Ethical
dialogues; three on the subject of Justice; one on Temperance; five on
Piety; one on Manly Courage; one, and a second which is distinct from it,
on Virtue; one on Happiness; one on Supremacy; one on Laws and questions
connected with them; one on Names; one called Covenants; one called The
Unwilling Lover; and the Clinias.

Of the physical dialogues, one is on the Mind; one on the Soul; one on
the Soul, and Nature and Appearances; one addressed to Democritus; one
on the Heavenly Bodies; one on the State of Things in the Shades below;
two on Lives; one on the Causes of Diseases; one on the Good; one on the
doctrines of Zeno; one on the Doctrines of Metron.

Of his grammatical dialogues, there are two on the Age of Homer and
Hesiod; two on Archilochus and Homer.

There are some on Music too; three on Euripides and Sophocles, and two
on Music. There are also two volumes, Solutions of Questions concerning
Homer; one on Speculations; one, the Three Tragedians; one volume of
Characters; one dialogue on Poetry and the Poets; one on Conjecture; one
on Foresight; four, being Explanations of Heraclitus; one, Explanations
with reference to Democritus; two books of Solutions of Disputed
Points; one, the Axiom; one on Species; one book of Solutions; one of
Suppositions; one addressed to Dionysius.

Of rhetorical works, there is the dialogue on the being an Orator, or the
Protagoras.

Of historical dialogues, there are some on the Pythagoreans, and on
Inventions. Of these, some he has drawn up after the manner of Comic
writers; as, for instance, the one about Pleasure, and that about
Temperance. And some in the style of the Tragedians, as, for instance,
the dialogues on the State of Things in the Shades below; and one on
Piety, and that on Supremacy. And his style is a conversational and
moderate one, suited to the characters of philosophers and men occupied
in the military or political affairs conversing together. Some of his
works also are on Geometry, and on Dialectics; and in all of them he
displays a very varied and elevated style; and he has great powers of
persuasion.

V. He appears to have delivered his country when it was under the yoke of
tyrants, by slaying the monarch, as Demetrius of Magnesia tells us, in
his treatise on People of the Same Name.

VI. And he gives the following account of him. That he brought up a
young serpent, and kept it till it grew large; and that when he was at
the point of death, he desired one of his faithful friends to hide his
body, and to place the serpent in his bed, that he might appear to have
migrated to the Gods. And all this was done; and while the citizens
were all attending his funeral and extolling his character, the serpent
hearing the noise, crept out of his clothes and threw the multitude into
confusion. And afterwards everything was revealed, and Heraclides was
seen, not as he hoped to have been, but as he really was. And we have
written an epigram on him which runs thus:—

    You wish’d, O Heraclides, when you died,
    To leave a strange belief among mankind,
    That you, when dead, a serpent had become.
    But all your calculations were deceived,
    For this your serpent was indeed a beast,
    And you were thus discovered and pronounced another.

And Hippobotus gives the same account.

But Hermippus says that once, when a famine oppressed the land, the
people of Heraclea consulted the Pythian oracle for the way to get rid
of it; and that Heraclides corrupted the ambassadors who were sent to
consult the oracle, and also the priestess, with bribes; and that she
answered that they would obtain a deliverance from their distresses,
if Heraclides, the son of Euthyphron, was presented by them with a
golden crown, and if when he was dead they paid him honours as a hero.
Accordingly, this answer was brought back from the oracle to Heraclea,
but they who brought it got no advantage from it; for as soon as
Heraclides had been crowned in the theatre, he was seized with apoplexy,
and the ambassadors who had been sent to consult the oracle were stoned,
and so put to death; and at the very same moment the Pythian priestess
was going down to the inner shrine, and while standing there was bitten
by a serpent, and died immediately. This then is the account given of his
death.

VII. And Aristoxenus the musician says, that he composed tragedies,
and inscribed them with the name of Thespis. And Chamæleon says, that
he stole essays from him on the subject of Homer and Hesiod, and
published them as his own. And Autodorus the Epicurean reproaches him,
and contradicts all the arguments which he advanced in his treatise
on Justice. Moreover, Dionysius, called the Deserter, or as some say
Spintharus, wrote a tragedy called Parthenopæus, and forged the name
of Sophocles to it. And Heraclides was so much deceived that he took
some passages out of one of his works, and cited them as the words of
Sophocles; and Dionysius, when he perceived it, gave him notice of the
real truth; and as he would not believe it, and denied it, he sent him
word to examine the first letters of the first verses of the book, and
they formed the name of Pancalus, who was a friend of Dionysius. And as
Heraclides still refused to believe it, and said that it was possible
that such a thing might happen by chance, Dionysius sent him back word
once more, “You will find this passage too:—

    “An aged monkey is not easily caught;
    He’s caught indeed, but only after a time.”

And he added, “Heraclides knows nothing of letters, and has no shame.”

VIII. And there were fourteen persons of the name of Heraclides. First,
this man of whom we are speaking; the second was a fellow citizen of his,
who composed songs for Pyrrhic dances, and other trifles; the third was
a native of Cumæ, who wrote a history of the Persian war in five books;
the fourth was also a citizen of Cumæ, who was an orator, and wrote a
treatise on his art; the fifth was a native of Calatia or Alexandria,
who wrote a Succession in six books, and a treatise on Ships, from which
he was called Lembos; the sixth was an Alexandrian, who wrote an account
of the peculiar habits of the Persians; the seventh was a dialectician
of Bargyleia, who wrote against Epicurus; the eighth was a physician, a
pupil of Hicesius; the ninth was a physician of Tarentum, a man of great
skill; the tenth was a poet, who wrote Precepts; the eleventh was a
sculptor of Phocæa; the twelfth was an Epigrammatic poet of considerable
beauty; the thirteenth was a Magnesian, who wrote a history of the reign
of Mithridates; the fourteenth was an astronomer, who wrote a treatise on
Astronomy.

[44] From περιπατέω, “to walk about.”

[45] Il. 18, 95.

[46] This very spirited version I owe to the kindness of my brother, the
Rev. J. E. Yonge, of Eton College.

[47] “ἐντελέχεια, the actuality of a thing, as opposed to simple
capability or potentiality (δύναμις); a philosophic word invented by
Aristotle.— … quite distinct from ἐνδελέχεια, though Cicero (Tusc. i.
10,) confounded them.”—_L. & S. in voc._

[48] From θεῖος divine, and φράσις diction.

[49] This was a temple of the Muses which he had built for a school.

[50] So as to make it appear connected with γλυκὺς, sweet.

[51] στάμνος, means an earthenware jar for wine.

[52] The foregoing account hardly does justice to Demetrius, who was a
man of real ability, and of a very different class to the generality
of those whom the ancients dignified with the title of philosophers.
He was called Phalereus, to distinguish him from his contemporary
Demetrius Poliorcetes. His administration of the affairs of Athens was
so successful, that Cicero gives him the praise of having re-established
the sinking and almost prostrate power of the republic. (Cic. de Rep. ii.
1.) As an orator, he is spoken of by the same great authority with the
highest admiration. Cicero calls him “a subtle disputer, not vehement,
but very sweet, as a pupil of Theophrastus might be expected to be.”
(de Off. i. 3.) In another place he praises him as possessed of great
learning, and as one who “rather delighted than inflamed the Athenians.”
(de Clav. Orat. § 37.) And says, “that he was the first person who
endeavoured to soften eloquence, and who made it tender and gentle;
preferring to appear sweet, as indeed he was, rather than vehement.”
(Ibid. § 38.) In another place he says, “Demetrius Phalereus the most
polished of all those orators” (he has been mentioning Demosthenes,
Hyperides, Lycurgus, Æschines, and Dinarchus) “in my opinion.” (de
Orat. ii. 23.) And he praises him for not confining his learning to the
schools, but for bringing it into daily use, and employing it as one
of his ordinary weapons. (de Leg. iii. 14.) And asks who can be found
besides him who excelled in both ways, so as to be pre-eminent at the
same time as a scholar, and a governor of a state. (Ibid.) He mentions
his death in the oration for Rabirius Postumus, § 9. He appears to have
died about B.C. 282.

[53] From πομπὴ, a procession.