Author: THEOPHRASTUS
Biography:
THEOPHRASTUS (c. 371-287 BCE: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Theophrastus, known at his birth as Tyrtamus, was born on the island of Lesbos in about 371 BCE. He became a colleague of Aristotle who renamed him Theophrastus. After Aristotle's death in 323 BCE he succeeded him as head of his school at the Lyceum in Athens and died in about 287 BCE. The main source for his life is an account by Diogenes Laertius who attributes numerous philosophical and educational works to Theophrastus. Only a handful of these survive, including two important treatises on botany; treatises on other specialised subjects such as wind, fire, and weather; and his Characters, sketches of types of Athenian individuals. The unknown author of Imitations of the Characters of Theophrastus includes in his book a learned account of his life and an explanation of the challenges of adapting the prose essays on characters for a modern audience. (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy online 20 June 2025; OCD 20 June 2025) SR