BOOK V.

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.