Let Hipparchus, Neleus, Strato, Callinus, Demotimus, Callisthenes, and Ctesarchus be executors of the instructions set down in this will. One copy of the will, sealed with the signet ring of Theophrastus, has been deposited with Hegesias, son of Hipparchus, the witnesses being Callipus of Pallene, Philomelus of Euonymaea, Lysander of Hyba, and Philo of Alopece. Olympiodorus has another copy, the witnesses being the same. Adeimantus received another copy, and his son Androsthenes was the bearer; the witnesses are Arimnestus, son of Cleobulus, Lysistratus of Thasos, son of Pheido, Strato of Lampsacus, son of Arcesilaus, Thesippus of Cerameis, son of Thesippus, and Dioscurides of Epicephisia, son of Dionysius.
This was his will.
It is said that Erasistratus102 the doctor was also a student of his; and this is likely.
Strato
58 Theophrastus was succeeded as head of the school by Strato, son of Arcesilaus, a native of Lampsacus, whom he mentioned in his will. A highly distinguished man, Strato was generally known as “the natural philosopher” because he devoted himself more than anyone else to the study of nature. He also taught Ptolemy Philadelphus,103 and is said to have received eighty talents from him. He became head of the school, as Apollodorus says in his Chronology, in the 123rd Olympiad,104 and presided over it for eighteen years.
59,60 His extant books include:
On Monarchy, three books
On Justice, three books
On the Good, three books
On the Gods, three books
On First Principles, three books
On Ways of Life
On Happiness
On the Philosopher-King
On Courage
On the Void
On the Heavens
On the Wind
On Human Nature
On the Breeding of Animals
On Mixture
On Sleep
On Dreams
On Vision
On Sensation
On Pleasure
On Colors
On Diseases
On Crises105
On Faculties
On Mechanics
On Starvation and Dizziness
On the Light and the Heavy
On Frenzy
On Time
On Nurture and Growth
On the Animals Whose Existence Is Doubtful
On the Mythological Animals
On Causes
Solutions of Difficulties
Introduction to Topics
On Accident
On Definition
On the Greater and Less
On Injustice
On the Prior and Posterior
On the First Genus
On the Characteristic Property
On the Future
Examinations of Discoveries, two books
Lecture notes, the genuineness of which is in doubt
Letters, beginning: “Strato to Arsinoe,106 greetings.”
Limestone votive ear, fourth or third century BC, Cypriot.
332,420
They say he had grown so thin that he was unconscious when he died. My own verses about him run as follows:
A man spare in body <…>,
I assure you, was this Strato,
To whom Lampsacus gave birth; forever wrestling with diseases,
He died without anyone knowing it, even himself.
61 There have been eight men named Strato: the first was a student of Isocrates; the second our present subject; the third a doctor, a student of Erasistratus107 and, as some say, his foster child; the fourth a historian who wrote about the struggles of Philip and Perseus against the Romans;108 <…>; the sixth a writer of epigrams; the seventh a doctor in ancient times, as Aristotle says; and the eighth a Peripatetic who lived in Alexandria.
The will of the natural philosopher runs as follows:
62 I make the following dispositions, if anything should happen. All the goods in my house I leave to Lampyrion and Arcesilaus.109 From my funds in Athens, first let my executors provide for my funeral and for all that custom requires after the funeral, avoiding anything extravagant or miserly. Let the executors of my will be Olympichus, Aristides, Mnesigenes, Hippocrates, Epicrates, Gorgylus, Diocles, Lyco, and Athanes. I leave the school to Lyco,110 since of the rest some are too old, others too busy. But the others would do well to assist him. I leave him all my books, except those I wrote myself, and all the furniture in the dining hall, as well as the cushions and the drinking-cups.
63 Let the executors give Epicrates five hundred drachmas and a slave, whichever one Arcesilaus thinks best. First, let Lampyrion and Arcesilaus cancel the agreement that Daippus made on behalf of Heraeus. Let him owe nothing either to Lampyrion or to any of Lampyrion’s heirs, but let him be released from the entire agreement. Let the executors also give him five hundred drachmas and a slave, whichever one Arcesilaus thinks best, so that after toiling diligently with me and giving good service he may have the means to support an adequate and respectable way of life.
64 I grant Diophantus, Diocles, and Abus their freedom; I give Simias to Arcesilaus. I also free Dromo. And whenever Arcesilaus arrives, let Heraeus, with Olympichus, Epicrates, and the other executors, provide him with an accounting of the expenses associated with the funeral and the other customary charges. Let Arcesilaus take over from Olympichus any remaining money, without worrying him as to times and occasions. Let Arcesilaus cancel the agreement that Strato made with Olympichus and Ameinias, which was deposited with Philocrates, son of Tisamenes. As for my monument, let them fashion it as Arcesilaus, Olympichus, and Lyco think best.
Such are the terms of the will that is found in the collection of Ariston of Ceos.111 Strato himself, as the above account makes clear, was a man worthy of great esteem, having distinguished himself in every branch of knowledge, and especially in that which is referred to as physics,112 which is the most ancient branch and the one that demands the greatest diligence.
Lyco
65,66,67 Strato’s successor was Lyco, son of Astyanax of Troas, an eloquent man who attained high rank in the education of boys. He used to say that one must impose upon boys the yoke of shame and love of glory, as upon horses the spur and bridle. His exceptional powers of expression and interpretation are evident in what follows. He has this to say about a poor young girl: “A heavy burden for a father is a girl who, for lack of a dowry, outruns the bloom of her age.” This is why Antigonus113 is reported to have said about him that it was not possible to transfer elsewhere, like the fragrance and beauty of the apple, each separate expression of which he was the author, but that it was in the speaker himself, like the apple on the tree, that it had to be contemplated; he added that Lyco’s conversation was extraordinarily sweet—which is why some persons prefixed a gamma to his name114—but that in writing he did not resemble himself. For example, those who regretted that they had not learned when they had the opportunity and wished they had done so he neatly characterized as follows, saying that “they were their own accusers, revealing, by vain regret, repentance of their incorrigible laziness.” Those who did
68 In his attire he was perfectly immaculate, so that the softness of his garments was beyond compare, according to Hermippus. But he was also highly adept at gymnastics and kept in good condition, displaying all an athlete’s physical characteristics, with a boxer’s cauliflower ears and skin smeared with dirt, as Antigonus of Carystus reports. Hence it is said that he wrestled, and that he even played ball at the Trojan Games in his native land. He was prized beyond anyone by Eumenes and Attalus,116 who furnished him with assistance. Antiochus117 too tried to get hold o
f him, but did not succeed. And he was so hostile to Hieronymus the Peripatetic that he alone declined to meet him at the birthday celebration we spoke of in the life of Arcesilaus.118
He led the school for forty-four years after Strato bequeathed it to him in his will in the 127th Olympiad.119 Yet he also attended the lectures of Panthoides120 the dialectician. He died at the age of seventy-four, afflicted by gout. My own verses about him run as follows:
Nay, I will not even neglect Lyco, who died of gout.
But this I find most amazing: that though
Formerly he could walk only with the feet of others,
He traversed the long road to Hades in a single night.
Two views of the statue of an athlete, third or second century BC, Greek.
69 There have been others named Lyco: the first was a Pythagorean, the second our present subject; the third an epic poet; and the fourth a writer of epigrams.
I also came across the philosopher’s will, which runs as follows:
70 I make the following dispositions about my property, in case I am unable to bear my present ailment. All the goods in my house I give to my brothers Astyanax and Lyco,121 and I think that from this source they should satisfy whatever obligations I have incurred in Athens, whether by borrowing {or purchasing}, and defray the cost of my funeral and the other customary charges. But my property in town and in Aegina I give to Lyco because he bears my name and has lived with me for a long period to my complete satisfaction, as befitted one whom I treated as my son.
71,72 I leave the Peripatos122 to those of my friends who wish to use it: to Bulo, Callinus, Ariston, Amphion, Lyco, Pytho, Aristomachus, Heracleus, Lycomedes, and my nephew Lyco. Let them appoint as its head whoever they believe will be most able to remain in charge of the enterprise and ensure its unity. Let the rest of my friends assist him for my sake and for the sake of the place.
73 Let Bulo and Callinus, with their colleagues, provide for my funeral and cremation, avoiding parsimony or extravagance. From my olive trees in Aegina, let Lyco, after my death, supply the young men with the oil—a suitable memorial, for as long as they use it, of myself and the man who did me honor. And let him set up my statue, selecting a convenient site for it with the cooperation of Diophantus and Heraclides, son of Demetrius. From my property in town let Lyco repay everyone from whom I borrowed anything after his departure. Let Bulo and Callinus provide the sums spent on my funeral and other customary charges. Let them obtain these sums from the funds in the house left by me to both of them in common. Let them also compensate the doctors, Pasithemis and Medias, who for their skill and the care they took of me deserve an even greater reward. I give to Callinus’ child a pair of Thericlean cups,123 and to his wife a pair of Rho
74 With regard to the servants, I part with them as follows. To Demetrius, who has long been free, I remit the purchase money for his freedom and leave him five minas and a tunic and cloak, in return for all the toil he has undertaken with me, so that he may enjoy a respectable maintenance. To Crito of Chalcedon I also remit the purchase money and leave him four minas. I grant Micrus his freedom; let Lyco support and educate him for the next six years. I also free Chares; let Lyco support him as well, and give him two minas and my published writings. My unpublished writings I give to Callinus, that he may edit them carefully. To Syrus, who has been freed, I give four minas and Menodora, and I cancel any debt he owes me. To Hilara I give five minas, a rug with pile on both sides, two cushions, a counterpane, and a couch, whichever one she prefers. I also free Micrus’ mother, and Noemon, Dion, Theon, Euphranor, and Hermias. Let Agathon be set free after two years, and the litter bearers Ophelio and Posidonius after four years. To Demetrius and to Crito and to Syrus I give a couch apiece and any bedclothes of those that I leave behind that Lyco thinks they should have. Let these things be given to them for having properly performed their appointed tasks. As for my funeral, let Lyco bury me here, if he wishes, or let him do so at home. For I am persuaded that his regard for propriety does not fall short of my own. When he has managed all these things, let his disposal of my property there be binding. Witnesses are Callinus of Hermione, Ariston of Ceos, and Euphronius of Paeania.
Thus while his sagacity is evident in all his actions, in his teaching, and in all his discourses, his will is in some sense no less marked by his thoroughness and shrewd management, so that on this score too he is to be emulated.
Demetrius
75,76 Demetrius, son of Phanostratus, was a native of Phalerum.124 He became a student of Theophrastus. By the speeches he addressed to the Athenians he led the city for ten years,125 and was judged worthy of bronze statues, 360 in number, most of which represented him on horseback or driving a chariot or a pair of horses. These were completed in fewer than three hundred days, so highly was he esteemed. According to Demetrius of Magnesia in Men of the Same Name, he embarked on his public career when Harpalus, fleeing Alexander, arrived in Athens.126 As a statesman he rendered his country many honorable services, enriching the city with revenues and buildings, though he was not well-born. For he belonged to Conon’s household,127 as Favorinus says in the first books of his Reminiscences, but lived with Lamia, his beloved, who was a well-born citizen,128 as the same author says in his first book. But in his second he reports that Demetrius was also Cleon’s129 beloved. And Didymus, in Table Talk, says that a certain courtesan nicknamed him Charitoblepharos (“With Eyes like the Graces”) and Lampeto (“Bright-Eyes”). It is said that after losing his sight in Alexandria he recovered it by the gift of Sarapis,130 after which he composed the paeans that are sung to this day.
77 Despite his high renown among the Athenians, all-devouring jealousy cast a shadow over him. Plotted against by certain persons and prosecuted, he was condemned to death in absentia. And when his accusers could not get hold of his person, they disgorged their venom on the bronze, tearing down his statues, some of which were sold, some cast into the sea, and others, reportedly, cut up to make chamber pots. Only one is preserved on the Acropolis. Favorinus, in his Miscellaneous History, says that the Athenians did this at the command of King Demetrius.131 And they styled the year he served as archon132 as “the year of lawlessness,” according to Favorinus.
Gold statuette of Zeus Serapis, Roman, second century AD.
78 Hermippus says that after the death of Cassander, in fear of Antigonus, Demetrius fled to Ptolemy Soter.133 Spending a considerable time there he advised Ptolemy, among other things, to confer sovereign power on his children by Eurydice.134 Ptolemy was not persuaded; instead he bestowed the diadem on his son by Berenice, who, after Ptolemy’s death, thought fit to keep Demetrius under guard in the country until some decision could be made about him. He lived there in great despondency, and died in a sort of sleep after being bitten on the hand by an asp. He is buried in Busiris near Diospolis.135
79 My own verses about him run as follows:
An unclean asp, full of gummy venom,
Killed wise Demetrius,
Darting, from its eyes,
Not light, but black Hades.
Heraclides, in his epitome of Sotion’s Successions, says that Ptolemy intended to step down and transfer the kingship to Philadelphus,136 but Demetrius dissuaded him, saying “If you give it to another, you will not have it yourself.” At the time when Demetrius was being accused in Athens, Menander the comic poet,137 as I have also learned, barely escaped indictment for no other reason than that he was a friend of Demetrius. But Telephus, the cousin of Demetrius, interceded for him.
80,81 In the quantity of his books and the total number of lines written, he surpassed nearly all his contemporary Peripatetics. For his learning and experience are unequaled. Some of his works are historical, some political; some deal with poetry, some with rhetoric. There are also speeches given
in the assembly and on embassies, as well as collections of Aesop’s fables and many other works. His books include:
On Legislation at Athens, five books
On the Constitutions of Athens, two books
On Leadership of the People, two books
On Politics, two books
On Laws, one book
On Rhetoric, two books
Treatise on Strategy, two books
On the “Iliad,” two books
On the “Odyssey,” four books
Ptolemy, one book
On Love, one book
Phaedondas, one book
Maedon, one book
Cleon, one book
Socrates, one book
Artoxerxes, one book
On Homer, one book
Aristides, one book
Aristomachus, one book
Hortatory, one book
In Defense of the Constitution, one book
On My Decade, one book
On the Ionians, one book
On Diplomacy, one book
On Belief, one book
On Gratitude, one book
On Fortune, one book
On Magnanimity, one book
On Marriage, one book
On Opinion, one book
On Peace, one book
Lives of the Eminent Philosophers Page 30
