him for impiety, the prosecutor himself narrowly escaped punishment. About 2000 pupils used to attend his lectures. In a letter to Phanias the Peripatetic, among other topics, he speaks of a tribunal as follows In the extract from the letter Theophrastus seems to be considering the best means of preparing for publication what he has to say, possibly in lecture, before the large class which, as we have just been informed, sometimes numbered 2000. It is difficult to see how this topic can have been worked into a letter on the law courts as such, and there is much to be said for Mr. Wyse's emendation didaskali/ou.
If this be accepted, the whole letter would be about means or subjects of instruction in lecture.: "To get a public or even a select circle such as one desires is not easy. If an author reads his work, he must re-write it. Always to shirk revision and ignore criticism is a course which the present generation of pupils will no longer tolerate." And in this letter he has called some one "pedant."
Although his reputation stood so high, nevertheless for a short time he had to leave the country with all the other philosophers, when Sophocles the son of Amphiclides proposed a law that no philosopher should preside over a school except by permission of the Senate and the people, under penalty of death.
The next year, however, the philosophers returned, as Philo had prosecuted Sophocles for making an illegal proposal. Whereupon the Athenians repealed the law, fined Sophocles five talents, and voted the recall of the philosophers, in order that Theophrastus also might return and live there as before. He bore the name of Tyrtamus, and it was Aristotle who re-named him Theophrastus on account of his graceful style.
And Aristippus, in his fourth book On the Luxury of the Ancients, asserts that he was enamoured of Aristotle's son Nicomachus, although he was his teacher. It is said that Aristotle applied to him and Callisthenes what Plato had said of Xenocrates and himself (as already related), namely, that the one needed a bridle and the other a goad; for Theophrastus interpreted all his meaning with an excess of cleverness, whereas the other was naturally backward. He is said to have become the owner of a garden of his own after Aristotle's death, through the intervention of his friend Demetrius of Phalerum. There are pithy sayings of his in circulation as follows: "An unbridled horse," he said, "ought to be trusted sooner than a badly-arranged discourse."
To some one who never opened his lips at a banquet he remarked: "Yours is a wise course for an ignoramus, but in an educated man it is sheer folly." He used constantly to say that in our expenditure the item that costs most is time.
He died at the age of eighty-five, not long after he had relinquished his labours. My verses upon him are these Anth. Pal vii.
110.: Not in vain was the word spoken to one of human kind, "Slacken the bow of wisdom and it breaks." Of a truth, so long as Theophrastus laboured he was sound of limb, but when released from toil his limbs failed him and he died.
It is said that his disciples asked him if he had any last message for them, to which he replied: "Nothing else but this, that many of the pleasures which life boasts are but in the seeming.
For when we are just beginning to live, lo! we die. Nothing then is so unprofitable as the love of glory. Farewell, and may you be happy. Either drop my doctrine, which involves a world of labour, or stand forth its worthy champions, for you will win great glory.
Life holds more disappointment than advantage.
But, as I can no longer discuss what we ought to do, do you go on with the inquiry into right conduct."
With these words, they say, he breathed his last.
And according to the story all the Athenians, out of respect for the man, escorted his bier on foot. And Favorinus tells that he had in his old age to be carried about in a litter Cf. a similar statement about Bion, also attributed to Favorinus.; and this he says on the authority of Hermippus, whose account is taken from a remark of Arcesilaus of Pitane to Lacydes of Cyrene.
He too has left a very large number of writings.
I think it right to catalogue them also because they abound in excellence of every kind. They are as follows: Three books of Prior Analytics.
Seven books of Posterior Analytics.
On the Analysis of Syllogisms, one book.
Epitome of Analytics, one book.
Two books of Classified Topics.
Polemical discussion on the Theory of Eristic Argument.
Of the Senses, one book.
A Reply to Anaxagoras, one book.
On the Writings of Anaxagoras, one book.
On the Writings of Anaximenes, one book.
On the Writings of Archelaus, one book.
Of Salt, Nitre and Alum, one book.
Of Petrifactions, two books.
On Indivisible Lines, one book.
Two books of Lectures.
Of the Winds, one book.
Characteristics of Virtues, one book.
Of Kingship, one book.
Of the Education of Kings, one book.
Of Various Schemes of Life, three books.
Of Old Age, one book.
On the Astronomy of Democritus, one book.
On Meteorology, one book.
On Visual Images or Emanations, one book.
On Flavours, Colours and Flesh, one book.
Of the Order of the World, one book.
Of Mankind, one book.
Compendium of the Writings of Diogenes, one book.
Three books of Definitions.
Concerning Love, one book.
Another Treatise on Love, one book.
Of Happiness, one book.
On Species or Forms, two books.
On Epilepsy, one book.
On Frenzy, one book.
Concerning Empedocles, one book.
Eighteen books of Refutative Arguments.
Three books of Polemical Objections.
Of the Voluntary, one book.
Epitome of Plato's Republic, two books.
On the Diversity of Sounds uttered by Animals of the same Species, one book.
Of Sudden Appearances, one book.
Of Animals which bite or gore, one book.
Of Animals reputed to be spiteful, one book.
Of the Animals which are confined to Dry Land, one book.
Of those which change their Colours, one book.
Of Animals that burrow, one book.
Of Animals, seven books.
Of Pleasure according to Aristotle, one book.
Another treatise on Pleasure, one book.
Theses, twenty-four books.
On Hot and Cold, one book.
On Vertigo and Dizziness, one book.
On Sweating Sickness, one book.
On Affirmation and Negation, one book.
Callisthenes, or On Bereavement, one book.
On Fatigues, one book.
On Motion, three books.
On Precious Stones, one book.
On Pestilences, one book.
On Fainting, one book.
Megarian Treatise, one book.
Of Melancholy, one book.
On Mines, two books.
On Honey, one book.
Compendium on the Doctrines of Metrodorus, one book.
Two books of Meteorology.
On Intoxication, one book.
Twenty-four books of Laws distinguished by the letters of the alphabet.
Ten books of an Epitome of Laws.
Remarks upon Definitions, one book.
On Smells, one book.
On Wine and Oil.
Introduction to Propositions, eighteen books.
Of Legislators, three books.
Of Politics, six books.
A Political Treatise dealing with important Crises, four books.
Of Social Customs, four books.
Of the Best Constitution, one book.
A Collection of Problems, five books.
On Proverbs, one book.
On Coagulation and Liquefaction, one book.
On Fire, two books.
On Winds, one book.
Of Paralysis, one book.
Of Suffocation, one book.
Of Mental Derangement, one book.
On the Passions, one book.
On Symptoms, one book.
Two books of Sophisms.
On the solution of Syllogisms, one book.
Two books of Topics.
Of Punishment, two books.
On Hair, one book.
Of Tyranny, one book.
On Water, three books.
On Sleep and Dreams, one book.
Of Friendship, three books.
Of Ambition, two books.
On Nature, three books.
On Physics, eighteen books.
An Epitome of Physics, two books.
Eight books of Physics.
A Reply to the Physical Philosophers, one book Of Botanical Researches, ten books.
Of Botanical Causes, eight books.
On Juices, five books.
Of False Pleasure, one book.
One Dissertation on the Soul.
On Unscientific Proofs, one book.
On Simple Problems, one book.
Harmonics, one book.
Of Virtue, one book.
Materials for Argument, or Contrarieties, one book.
On Negation, one book.
On Judgement, one book.
Of the Ludicrous, one book.
Afternoon Essays, two books.
Divisions, two books.
On Differences, one book.
On Crimes, one book.
On Calumny, one book.
Of Praise, one book.
Of Experience, one book.
Three books of Letters.
On Animals produced spontaneously, one book.
Of Secretion, one book.
Panegyrics on the Gods, one book.
On Festivals, one book.
Of Good Fortune, one book.
On Enthymemes, one book.
Of Discoveries, two books.
Lectures on Ethics, one book.
Character Sketches, one book.
On Tumult or Riot, one book.
On Research, one book.
On Judging of Syllogisms, one book.
Of Flattery, one book.
Of the Sea, one book.
To Casander on Kingship, one book.
Of Comedy, one book.
[Of Metres, one book.]
Of Diction, one book.
A Compendium of Arguments, one book.
Solutions, one book.
On Music, three books.
On Measures, one book.
Megacles, one book.
On Laws, one book.
On Illegalities, one book.
A Compendium of the Writings of Xenocrates, one book.
Concerning Conversation, one book.
On Taking an Oath, one book.
Rhetorical Precepts, one book.
Of Wealth, one book.
On the Art of Poetry, one book.
Problems in Politics, Ethics, Physics, and in the Art of Love, one book.
Preludes, one book.
A Collection of Problems, one book.
On Physical Problems, one book.
On Example, one book.
On Introduction and Narrative, one book.
Another tract on the Art of Poetry, one book.
Of the Wise, one book.
On Consultation, one book.
On Solecisms, one book.
On the Art of Rhetoric, one book.
The Special Commonplaces of the Treatises on Rhetoric, seventeen books.
On Acting, one book.
Lecture Notes of Aristotle or Theophrastus, six books.
Sixteen books of Physical Opinions.
Epitome of Physical Opinions, one book.
On Gratitude, one book.
[Character Sketches, one book.]
On Truth and Falsehood, one book.
The History of Theological Inquiry, six books.
Of the Gods, three books.
Geometrical Researches, four books.
Epitomes of Aristotle's work on Animals, six books.
Two books of Refutative Arguments.
Theses, three books.
Of Kingship, two books.
Of Causes, one book.
On Democritus, one book.
[Of Calumny, one book.]
Of Becoming, one book.
Of the Intelligence and Character of Animals, one book.
On Motion, two books.
On Vision, four books.
Relating to Definitions, two books.
On Data, one book.
On Greater and Less, one book.
On the Musicians, one book.
Of the Happiness of the Gods, one book.
A Reply to the Academics, one book.
Exhortation to Philosophy, one book.
How States can best be governed, one book.
Lecture-Notes, one book.
On the Eruption in Sicily, one book.
On Things generally admitted, one book.
[On Problems in Physics, one book.]
What are the methods of attaining Knowledge, one book.
On the Fallacy known as the Liar, three books.
Prolegomena to Topics, one book.
Relating to Aeschylus, one book.
Astronomical Research, six books.
Arithmetical Researches on Growth, one book.
Acicharus, one book.
On Forensic Speeches, one book.
[Of Calumny, one book.]
Correspondence with Astycreon, Phanias and Nicanor.
Of Piety, one book.
Evias, one book.
On Times of Crisis, two books.
On Relevant Arguments, one book.
On the Education of Children, one book.
Another treatise with the same title, one book.
Of Education or of the Virtues or of Temperance, one book.
[An Exhortation to Philosophy, one book.]
On Numbers, one book.
Definitions concerning the Diction of Syllogisms, one book.
Of the Heavens, one book.
Concerning Politics, two books.
On Nature.
On Fruits.
On Animals.
In all 232,808 lines. So much for his writings.
I have also come across his will, couched in the following terms: "All will be well; but in case anything should happen, I make these dispositions. I give and bequeath all my property at home i.e. at Eresus. to Melantes and Pancreon, the sons of Leon. It is my wish that out of the trust funds at the disposal of Hipparchus Mentioned below, §§ 53, 54, 55, 66. We infer that he had been acting as trustee not only for Theophrastus but for the School, which in the eye of the law was a religious foundation.
the following appropriations should be made. First, they should be applied to finish the rebuilding of the Museum with the statues of the goddesses, and to add any improvements which seem practicable to beautify them. Evidently the Museum had suffered in some recent political troubles, perhaps the second siege of Athens by Demetrius Poliorcetes, 296-294 b.c. Plut.
Demetr.
33, 34; Paus. i. 25. 8. There was, however, a serious disturbance when Athens revolted from Macedon, 289-287, for which see Plut.
This latter event is nearer to the death of Theophrastus in Ol. 123.
Secondly, to replace in the temple the bust of Aristotle with the rest of the dedicated offerings which formerly were in the temple. Next, to rebuild the small cloister adjoining the Museum at least as handsomely as before, and to replace in the lower cloister the tablets containing maps of the countries traversed by explorers.
Further, to repair the altar so that it may be perfect and elegant. It is also my wish that the statue of Nicomachus should be completed of life size. The price agreed upon for the making of the statue itself has been paid to Praxiteles, but the rest of the cost should be defrayed from the source above mentioned. The statue should be set up in whatever place seems desirable to the executors entrusted with carrying out my other testamentary dispositions. Let all that concerns the temple and the offerings set up be arranged in this manner. The estate at Stagira belonging to me I give and bequeath to Callinus. The whole of my library I give to Neleus. The garden and the walk and the houses adjoining the garden, all and sundry, I give and bequeath to such of my friends hereinafter named as may wish to study literature and philosophy there in common, Cf. iv. § 70.
since it is not possible for all men to be always in residence, on condition that no one alienates the property or devotes it to his private use, but so that they hold it like a temple in joint possession and live, as is right and proper, on terms of familiarity and friendship. Let the community consist of Hipparchus, Neleus, Strato, Callinus, Demotimus, Demaratus, Callisthenes, Melantes, Pancreon, Nicippus. Aristotle, the son of Metrodorus and Pythias, shall also have the right to study and associate with them if he so desire.
And the oldest of them shall pay every attention to him, in order to ensure for him the utmost proficiency in philosophy. Let me be buried in any spot in the garden which seems most suitable, without unnecessary outlay upon my funeral or upon my monument.
And according to previous agreement let the charge of attending, after my decease, to the temple and the monument and the garden and the walk be shared by Pompylus in person, living close by as he does, and exercising the same supervision over all other matters as before; and those who hold the property shall watch over his interests. Pompylus and Threpta have long been emancipated and have done me much service; and I think that 2000 drachmas certainly ought to belong to them from previous payments made to them by me, from their own earnings, and my present bequest to them to be paid by Hipparchus, as I stated many times in conversation with Melantes and Pancreon themselves, who agreed with me. I give and bequeath to them the maidservant Somatale.
And of my slaves I at once emancipate Molon and Timon and Parmeno; to Manes and Callias I give their freedom on condition that they stay four years in the garden and work there together and that their conduct is free from blame. Of my household furniture let so much as the executors think right be given to Pompylus and let the rest be sold. I also devise Carion to Demotimus, and Donax to Neleus. But Euboeus must be sold. Let Hipparchus pay to Callinus 3000 drachmas. And if I had not seen that Hipparchus had done great service to Melantes and Pancreon and formerly to me, and that now in his private affairs he has made shipwreck, I would have appointed him jointly with Melantes and Pancreon to carry out my wishes.
But, since I saw that it was not easy for them to share the management with him, and I thought it more advantageous for them to receive a fixed sum from Hipparchus, let Hipparchus pay Melantes and Pancreon one talent each and let Hipparchus provide funds for the executors to defray the expenses set down in the will, as each disbursement falls due. And when Hipparchus shall have carried out all these injunctions, he shall be released in full from his liabilities to me. And any advance that he has made in Chalcis in my name belongs to him alone. Let Hipparchus, Neleus, Strato, Callinus, Demotimus, Callisthenes and Ctesarchus be executors to carry out the terms of the will.
One copy of the will, sealed with the signet-ring of Theophrastus, is deposited with Hegesias, the son of Hipparchus, the witnesses being Callippus of Pallene, Philomelus of Euonymaea, Lysander of Hyba, and Philo of Alopece. Olympiodorus has another copy, the witnesses being the same. The third copy was received by Adeimantus, the bearer being Androsthenes junior; and the witnesses are Arimnestus the son of Cleobulus, Lysistratus the son of Pheidon of Thasos, Strato the son of Arcesilaus of Lampsacus, Thesippus the son of Thesippus of Cerameis, and Dioscurides the son of Dionysius of Epicephisia."
Such is the tenor of his will.
There are some who say that Erasistratus the physician was also a pupil of his, and it is not improbable.
Chapter 3. STRATO (Head of the School 286-268 B.C.)
His successor in the school was Strato, the son of Arcesilaus, a native of Lampsacus, whom he mentioned in his will; a distinguished man who is generally known as "the physicist," because more than anyone else he devoted himself to the most careful study of nature. Moreover, he taught Ptolemy Philadelphus and received, it is said, 80 talents from him. According to Apollodorus in his Chronology he became head of the school in the 123rd Olympiad, 288-284 b.c. and continued to preside over it for eighteen years.
There are extant of his works: Of Kingship, three books.
Of Justice, three books.
Of the Good, three books.
Of the Gods, three books.
On First Principles, three books.
On Various Modes of Life.
Of Happiness.
On the Philosopher-King.
Of Courage.
On the Void.
On the Heaven.
On the Wind.
Of Human Nature.
On the Breeding of Animals.
Of Mixture.
Of Sleep.
Of Dreams.
Of Vision.
Of Sensation.
Of Pleasure.
On Colours.
Of Diseases.
Of the Crises in Diseases.
On Faculties.
On Mining Machinery.
Of Starvation and Dizziness.
On the Attributes Light and Heavy.
Of Enthusiasm or Ecstasy.
On Time.
On Growth and Nutrition.
On Animals the existence of which is questioned.
On Animals in Folk-lore or Fable.
Of Causes.
Solutions of Difficulties.
Introduction to Topics.
Of Accident.
Of Definition.
On difference of Degree.
Of Injustice.
Of the logically Prior and Posterior.
Of the Genus of the Prior.
Of the Property or Essential Attribute.
Of the Future.
Examinations of Discoveries, in two books.
Lecture-notes, the genuineness of which is doubted.
Letters beginning "Strato to Arsinoë greeting."
Strato is said to have grown so thin that he felt nothing when his end came. And I have written some lines upon him as follows Anth.
Pal. vii. 111.: A thin, spare man in body, take my word for it, owing to his use of unguents, Or "if you attend to me, I am content," according to the alternative reading. was this Strato, I at least affirm, to whom Lampsacus gave birth. For ever wrestling with diseases, he died unawares or ever he felt the hand of death.
There have been eight men who bore the name of Strato: (1) a pupil of Isocrates; (2) our subject; (3) a physician, a disciple, or, as some say, a fosterchild, of Erasistratus; (4) a historian, who treated of the struggle of Philip and Perseus against the Romans; (5) * *; (6) a poet who wrote epigrams; (7) a physician who lived in ancient times, mentioned by Aristotle; (8) a Peripatetic philosopher who lived in Alexandria.
But to return to Strato the physicist. His will is also extant and it runs as follows: "In case anything should happen to me I make these dispositions. All the goods in my house I give and bequeath to Lampyrio and Arcesilaus.
From the money belonging to me in Athens, in the first place my executors shall provide for my funeral and for all that custom requires to be done after the funeral, without extravagance on the one hand or meanness on the other.
The executors of this my will shall be Olympichus, Aristides, Mnesigenes, Hippocrates, Epicrates, Gorgylus, Diocles, Lyco, Athanes. I leave the school to Lyco, since of the rest some are too old and others too busy. But it would be well if the others would co-operate with him.
I also give and bequeath to him all my books, except those of which I am the author, and all the furniture in the dining-hall, the cushions and the drinking-cups.
The trustees shall give Epicrates 500 drachmas and one of the servants whom Arcesilaus shall approve.
And in the first place Lampyrio and Arcesilaus shall cancel the agreement which Daïppus made on behalf of Iraeus. And he shall not owe anything either to Lampyrio or to Lampyrio's heirs, but shall have a full discharge from the whole transaction. Next, the executors shall give him 500 drachmas in money and one of the servants whom Arcesilaus shall approve, so that, in return for all the toil he has shared with me and all the services he has rendered me, he may have the means to maintain himself respectably. Further, I emancipate Diophantus, Diocles and Abus; and Simias I make over to Arcesilaus. I also emancipate Dromo.
As soon as Arcesilaus has arrived, Iraeus shall, with Olympichus, Epicrates, and the other executors, prepare an account of the money expended upon the funeral and the other customary charges. Whatever money remains over, Arcesilaus shall take over from Olympichus, without however pressing him as to times and seasons. Arcesilaus shall also cancel the agreement made by Strato with Olympichus and Ameinias and deposited with Philocrates the son of Tisamenus. With regard to my monument they shall make it as Arcesilaus, Olympichus and Lyco shall approve."
Such are the terms of his extant will, according to the Collection of Ariston of Ceos. Strato himself, however, was, as stated above, a man entitled to a)/cios. This phrase might be taken as Diogenes Laertius's defence for his inclusion of the Life of Strato. According to the scheme of i. 14, 15, the Peripatetics ended with Theophrastus, whose successors were often held to be vastly inferior, and unworthy to rank beside him; see Cicero, De Fin. v. §§ 12, 13; Strabo xiii. 609. The latter alleges as the reason for this decline the well-known story that the school was deprived of Aristotle's library, which had been carried away to Scepsis. since he excelled in every branch of learning, and most of all in that which is styled "physics," a branch of philosophy more ancient and important than the others.
Strato's successor was Lyco, the son of Astyanax of Troas, a master of expression and of the foremost rank in the education of boys. For he used to say that modesty and love of honour were as necessary an equipment for boys as spur and bridle for horses.
His eloquence and sonorousness of diction appear from the following fact; he speaks of a penniless maiden as follows: "A grievous burden to a father is a girl, when for lack of a dowry she runs past the flower of her age." Hence the remark which Antigonus is said to have made about him, that it was not possible to transfer elsewhere the fragrance and charm of the apple, but each separate expression must be contemplated in the speaker himself as every single apple is on the tree.
This was because Lyco's voice was exceedingly sweet, so that some persons altered his name to Glyco, by prefixing a G. But in writing he fell off sadly. For instance, those who regretted their neglect to learn when they had the opportunity and wished they had done so he would hit off neatly as follows, remarking that "they were their own accusers, betraying, by vain regret, repentance for an incorrigible laziness."
Those who deliberated wrongly he used to say were out in their calculations, as if they had used a crooked rule to test something straight, or looked at the reflection of a face in troubled water or a distorting mirror. Again, "Many go in search of the garland of the market-place; few or none seek the crown at Olympia." He often gave the Athenians advice on various subjects and thus conferred on them the greatest benefits.
In his dress he was most immaculate, so that the clothes he wore were unsurpassed for the softness of the material, according to Hermippus. Furthermore, he was well practised in gymnastics and kept himself in condition, displaying all an athlete's habit of body, with battered ears and skin begrimed with oil, so we are told by Antigonus of Carystus. Hence it is said that he not only wrestled but played the game of ball common in his birthplace of Ilium. He was esteemed beyond all other philosophers by Eumenes and Attalus, who also did him very great service. Antiochus too tried to get hold of him, but without success.
He was so hostile to Hieronymus the Peripatetic that he alone declined to meet him on the anniversary which we have mentioned in the Life of Arcesilaus. iv. 41.
He presided over the school forty-four years after Strato had bequeathed it to him by his will in the 127th Olympiad. 274-270 b.c. Not but what he also attended the lectures of the logician Panthoides. He died at the age of seventy-four after severe sufferings from gout. This is my epitaph upon him Anth.
Pal. vii. 112.: Nor, I swear! will I pass over Lyco either, for all that he died of the gout. But this it is which amazes me the most, if he who formerly could walk only with the feet of others, did in a single night traverse the long, long road to Hades.
Other men have borne the name of Lyco: (1) a Pythagorean, (2) our present subject, (3) an epic poet, (4) a poet who wrote epigrams.
I have also come across this philosopher's will.
It is this: "These are my dispositions concerning my property, in case I should be unable to sustain my present ailment. All the goods in my house I give to my brothers Astyanax and Lyco, and from this source should, I think, be paid all the money I have laid out at Athens, whether by borrowing or by purchase, as well as all the cost of my funeral and the other customary charges.
But my property in town and at Aegina I give to Lyco because he bears the same name with me, and has resided for a long time with me to my entire satisfaction, as became one whom I treated as my son. I leave the Peripatus to such of my friends as choose to make use of it, to Bulo, Callinus, Ariston, Amphion, Lyco, Pytho, Aristomachus, Heracleus, Lycomedes, and my nephew Lyco. They shall put over it any such person as in their opinion will persevere in the work of the school and will be most capable of extending it.
And all my other friends should co-operate for love of me and of the spot. Bulo and Callinus, together with their colleagues, shall provide for my funeral and cremation, so as to avoid meanness on the one hand and extravagance on the other.
After my decease Lyco shall make over, for the use of the young men, the oil from the olive-trees belonging to me in Aegina for the due commemoration--so long as they use it--of myself and the benefactor who did me honour. He shall also set up my statue, and shall choose a convenient site where it shall be erected, with the assistance of Diophantus and Heraclides the son of Demetrius. From my property in town Lyco shall repay all from whom I have borrowed anything after his departure. Bulo and Callinus shall provide the sums expended upon my funeral and other customary charges. These sums they shall recover from the moneys in the house bequeathed by me to them both in common.
They shall also remunerate the physicians Pasithemis and Medias who for their attention to me and their skill deserve far higher reward. I bequeath to the child of Callinus a pair of Thericlean cups, and to his wife a pair of Rhodian vessels, a smooth carpet, a rug with nap on both sides, a sofa cover and two cushions the best that are left, that, so far as I have the means of recompensing them, I may prove not ungrateful.
With regard to the servants who have waited upon me, my wishes are as follows. To Demetrius I remit the purchase-money for the freedom which he has long enjoyed, and bequeath to him five minas and a suit of clothes to ensure him a decent maintenance, in return for all the toil he has borne with me.
To Crito of Chalcedon I also remit the purchasemoney for his freedom and bequeath to him four minas. And Micrus I emancipate; and Lyco shall keep him and educate him for the next six years.
And Chares I emancipate, and Lyco shall maintain him, and I bequeath him two minas and my published writings, while those which have not been given to the world I entrust to Callinus, that he may carefully edit them. To Syrus who has been set free I give four minas and Menodora, and I remit to him any debt he owes me. And to Hilara I give five minas and a double-napped rug, two cushions, a sofa-cover and a bed, whichever she prefers. I also set free the mother of Micrus as well as Noëmon, Dion, Theon, Euphranor and Hermias. Agathon should be set free after two years, and the litter-bearers Ophelio and Posidonius after four years' further service.
To Demetrius, to Crito and to Syrus I give a bed apiece and such bed-furniture out of my estate as Lyco shall think proper. These shall be given them for properly performing their appointed tasks. As regards my burial, let Lyco bury me here if he chooses, or if he prefers to bury me at home let him do so, for I am persuaded that his regard for propriety is not less than my own. When he has managed all these things, he can dispose of the property there, and such disposition shall be binding. Witnesses are Callinus of Hermione, Ariston of Ceos, Euphronius of Paeania."
Thus while his shrewdness is seen in all his actions, in his teaching and in all his studies, in some ways his will is no less remarkable for carefulness and wise management, so that in this respect also he is to be admired Chapter 5. DEMETRIUS (perhaps 350-280 B.C.; supreme in Athens 318-307 B.C.)
Demetrius, the son of Phanostratus, was a native of Phalerum. He was a pupil of Theophrastus, but by his speeches in the Athenian assembly he held the chief power in the State for ten years and was decreed 360 bronze statues, most of them representing him either on horseback or else driving a chariot or a pair of horses. And these statues were completed in less than 300 days, so much was he esteemed. He entered politics, says Demetrius of Magnesia in his work on Men of the Same Name, when Harpalus, fleeing from Alexander, 324 b.c.
came to Athens. As a statesman he rendered his country many splendid services. For he enriched the city with revenues and buildings, though he was not of noble birth. For he was one of Conon's household servants, The first sentence is paralleled by Aelian, Var. Hist.
xii. 43 gene/sqai le/gousin reference to the family of Conon has had the effect of separating two clauses which ought to be closely joined: kai/per ou)k eu)genh\s w)/n (the last words of § 75) and Suidas emphasizes the beauty of Demetrius.
In a modern book the statement that, according to Favorinus, Demetrius was in Conon's family would find a more suitable place in a footnote. according to Favorinus in the first book of his Memorabilia; yet Lamia, with whom he lived, was a citizen of noble family, as Favorinus also states in his first book. Further, in his second book Favorinus alleges that he suffered violence from Cleon, while Didymus in his Table-talk relates how a certain courtesan nicknamed him Charito-Blepharos ("having the eyelids of the Graces"), and Lampito ("of shining eyes"). He is said to have lost his sight when in Alexandria and to have recovered it by the gift of Sarapis; whereupon he composed the paeans which are sung to this day.
For all his popularity with the Athenians he nevertheless suffered eclipse through all-devouring envy.
Having been indicted by some persons on a capital charge, he let judgement go by default; and, when his accusers could not get hold of his person, they disgorged their venom on the bronze of his statues. These they tore down from their pedestals; some were sold, some cast into the sea, and others were even, it is said, broken up to make bedroom-utensils.
Only one is preserved in the Acropolis. In his Miscellaneous History Favorinus tells us that the Athenians did this at the bidding of King Demetrius.
And in the official list the year in which he was archon was styled "the year of lawlessness," according to this same Favorinus.
Hermippus tells us that upon the death of Casander, being in fear of Antigonus, he fled to Ptolemy Soter.
There he spent a considerable time and advised Ptolemy, among other things, to invest with sovereign power his children by Eurydice. To this Ptolemy would not agree, but bestowed the diadem on his son by Berenice, who, after Ptolemy's death, thought fit to detain Demetrius as a prisoner in the country until some decision should be taken concerning him. There he lived in great dejection, and somehow, in his sleep, received an asp-bite on the hand which proved fatal. He is buried in the district of Busiris near Diospolis.
Here are my lines upon him Anth.
Pal. vii. 113.: A venomous asp was the death of the wise Demetrius, an asp withal of sticky venom, darting, not light from its eyes, but black death.
Heraclides in his epitome of Sotion's Successions of Philosophers says that Ptolemy himself wished to transmit the kingdom to Philadelphus, but that Demetrius tried to dissuade him, saying, "If you give it to another, you will not have it yourself." At the time when he was being continually attacked in Athens, Menander, the Comic poet, as I have also learnt, was very nearly brought to trial for no other cause than that he was a friend of Demetrius. However, Telesphorus, the nephew of Demetrius, begged him off.
In the number of his works and their total length in lines he has surpassed almost all contemporary Peripatetics. For in learning and versatility he has no equal. Some of these works are historical and others political; there are some dealing with poets, others with rhetoric. Then there are public speeches and reports of embassies, besides collections of Aesop's fables and much else. He wrote: Of Legislation at Athens, five books.
Of the Constitutions of Athens, two books.
Of Statesmanship, two books.
On Politics, two books.
Of Laws, one book.
On Rhetoric, two books.
On Military Matters, two books.
On the Iliad, two books.
On the Odyssey, four books.
And the following works, each in one book: Ptolemy.
Concerning Love.
Phaedondas.
Maedon.
Cleon.
Socrates.
Artaxerxes.
Concerning Homer.
Aristides.