Theophrastus: Biography Of This Philosopher Of The Peripatetic School
To talk about Ancient Greece is to talk about the cradle of philosophy. There are many names of master thinkers who have survived to this day.
That of Theophrastus is one of them. For this reason, we will dedicate this article to knowing better what the life of this intellectual was like and what were the main questions that he worked on in the different fields of knowledge that he cultivated, which were several, since he was not limited to philosophy. So, let’s start with this biography of Theophrastus
The philosopher Tyrtamus, better known as Theophrastus, was born in 371 BC in Eresos, a city on the island of Lesbos In this place he had his first approach to philosophy, with Alcippus being his teacher in this discipline. After that first training, he decided to move to Athens, the cradle of the great thinkers.
It was there where he met Aristotle, with whom he formed a great friendship. In fact, it is believed that both shared the exile that occurred after the death of Plato, who was the teacher of Aristotle and perhaps also of Theophrastus himself. It is also thought that he was the one who convinced him to move to Mytilene, since he was in his native land.
In fact, to get an idea of the great friendship that united these two thinkers, it must be said that The name, or rather, pseudonym, of Theophrastus was given by Aristotle himself This expression meant, in classical Greek, to phrase and God, or what is the same, to speak in a divine way. A recognition of the conversational skills that he usually demonstrated during talks.
On the island of Lesbos, the two philosophers deepened their knowledge in different natural sciences. Theophrastus focused on plants, while Aristotle preferred to study everything related to animals. Their friendship would lead them to share the trip to Macedonia as well , in which Aristotle would become Alexander the Great’s tutor. Once this task was completed, both returned to the Greek capital.
Return to Athens and death of Aristotle
Back in Athens, Aristotle resumed the direction of the Lyceum, the school of philosophy that he himself had created several years before. But the political conflicts between Greece and Macedonia that arose after Alexander’s death meant that a figure like Aristotle had to leave the city again. It was then that Theophrastus took charge of the Peripatetic school.
Aristotle died a few years later, around 322 BC. Theophrastus would still continue to direct this school for a long time. Furthermore, at the express wish of his friend, he took the position of guardian of Aristotle’s children, among whom was the famous Nicomachus. Not only that, Theophrastus also inherited Aristotle’s magnificent library including the original manuscripts of his own works.
Such was the trust that Aristotle had in Theophrastus, that he also stated that he wanted him to be the new director of the Lyceum, which made him the highest authority in this temple of knowledge. This fact generated certain friction, since this position was highly coveted and other philosophers, such as Eudemus of Rhodes and Aristoxemus, also aspired to achieve it one day, but this decision cut short their plans.
Address of the Lyceum and recent years
Theophrastus, therefore, was then the new director of the Lyceum and also of the Peripatetic school, an organization that experienced great growth under his command. It is said that there were two thousand disciples. He was at the head of the institution for thirty-five years, before passing the baton to Strato de Lampsacus.
The brilliant Theophrastus He died in Athens, when he was 85 years old According to the stories preserved from the time, it seems that one of his last words were: “We died just when we began to live.” Most of the biographical data on this author’s life come from the documents of Diogenes Laertius, who immortalized the life of this author and other thinkers through the volume, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers.
The death of Theophrastus was a cause of mourning for the entire Athenian city. A large part of the population participated in the funeral procession to accompany his mortal remains to the grave. In his will he indicated that his desire was for his own home and garden to become a seat for knowledge, that is, another center where philosophy and other disciplines would be studied.
So, Even after his death, Theophrastus ensured that new students had the opportunity to continue learning and cultivating themselves , expanding knowledge for the benefit of all humanity. As for his library, he bequeathed it to Neleus, one of his disciples. Among all those books, there were still Aristotle’s originals, so the collection was of incalculable value.
The preserved work of Theophrastus
Theophrastus’ own work is believed to be made up of more than two hundred volumes. However, only a few of them have survived to this day, those that were most important at certain times and therefore were copied in greater quantities, thus increasing the possibilities that said contents would be preserved over time.
Of all of them, perhaps the most important are two collections on botany. Let us remember that during his time on the island of Lesbos together with Aristotle, Theophrastus dedicated most of his time to this study, so it is not surprising that all this work was reflected in works of great magnitude. Between both collections, there are fifteen books about plant species and their functions.
His work on Characters is also known. It is a peculiar satire about the different types of people that someone could encounter in Athenian society during that time, generally focusing on the negative details of these individuals. The work is made up of thirty examples of these characters, in sketch form.
Of course, He also expressed his knowledge of philosophy Some of the works that are preserved in this regard deal with metaphysics, trying to get closer to the principles that govern our world, while others are a compendium of the different theories that other authors issued about sensations. Specifically, in that work, Theophrastus tells us about the treatises of thinkers such as Parmenides, Democritus and even Plato himself.
But also other writings on the most diverse topics are preserved It seems that Theophrastus liked to think and write about all those elements that he could perceive. That is why today we can find works related to concepts as diverse as fire, wind or different types of rocks. This author tried to find explanations for the origin and properties of each of these elements.
Even he dared to write a treatise on meteorology , trying to bring together all the known methods to predict, based on the signs of nature, the changes that were going to occur in the weather during the coming days or in the different seasons. This type of information was useful for the general population, but especially for those who worked in the fields or were sailors.
Of course, the human body itself was another of the themes that Theophrastus used for some books. He was interested in sweat, and he tried to find out why this liquid was generated in our body and what its characteristics were. Likewise, the feeling of fatigue itself was also an object of study for him. In one of his books, he takes care of listing the reasons that can cause it and also what the consequences are.
It is not the only sensation that caught Theophrastus’ attention. Dizziness was another condition that was not well understood at that time, so this author tried to study it further in order to find the causes behind this peculiar phenomenon, in order to better understand why this mechanism occurred in the body. human on certain occasions.
During his studies, Theophrastus also He had time to get closer to the world of zoology Within that area, it seems that the animals that caught his attention the most were fish. Specifically, he was interested in those species that did not behave like the rest of their species and instead of staying in the water all the time, they performed strange behaviors such as coming out to dry land, jumping out of the water and even hiding under the ground.
Without a doubt, there were an enormous number of themes that Theophrastus cultivated throughout a lifetime of study. It must be taken into account that these are only a small part of his works, since the vast majority of the volumes are not preserved and his themes can only be intuited through references from other authors.
Some of the topics of these books were logic, psychology, physics, politics, ethics, rhetoric, music and poetry.
