Theophrastus: biography of this philosopher of the peripatetic school

To speak of Ancient Greece is to speak of the cradle of philosophy. There are many names of master thinkers that have survived to this day.

Theophrastus is one of them. For this reason, we will dedicate this article to learning a little better about the life of this intellectual and what were the main questions that he worked in the different fields of knowledge that he cultivated, which were several, since he did not limit himself to philosophy. So, let's start with this biography of Theophrastus.

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Brief biography of Theophrastus

The philosopher Tyrtamus, better known as Theophrastus, was born in 371 BC. C. in Eresos, a town on the island of Lesbos. In this place he had his first approach to philosophy, Alcippus being his teacher in this discipline. After that first training, he decided to move to Athens, the cradle of great thinkers.

It was there that he met Aristotle, with whom he struck up 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 homeland.

In fact, to get an idea of ​​the great friendship that united these two thinkers, it must be said that the very 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 regularly demonstrated during the 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 equally., in which Aristotle would become Alexander the Great's tutor. Completed this task, both returned to the Greek capital.

Return to Athens and death of Aristotle

Back in Athens, Aristotle took over the leadership of the Lyceum, the school of philosophy that he himself had created several years ago. But the political conflicts between Greece and Macedonia that arose after Alexander's death caused a figure like Aristotle to have to leave the city again. It was then that Theophrastus took charge of the peripatetic school.

Aristotle died some years later, around 322 BC. C. Theophrastus would still be running this school for a long time. Furthermore, at the express wish of his friend, he took the position of guardian of the sons of Aristotle, 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 confidence that Aristotle had in Theophrastus, that he also made it clear that he wanted this was the new director of the Lyceum, which made him the highest authority in this temple of the to know. This fact generated some friction, since this position was highly coveted and other philosophers, such as Eudemo de Rodas and Aristoxemo also aspired to one day reach it, but this decision cut short their plans.

Directorate of the Lyceum and last 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 in charge of the institution for thirty-five years, before passing the baton to Strato de Lampsacus.

The great Theophrastus he passed away in Athens, when he was 85 years old. According to the stories that are preserved of the time, it seems that one of the last words of him were: "We died just when we began to live." Most of the biographical data of the life of this author come from the documents of Diógenes Laercio, that immortalized the life of this and other thinkers through the volume, Lives and opinions of philosophers eminent.

The death of Theophrastus was a cause of mourning for the entire Athenian city. Much 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 headquarters for learning, that is, another center where philosophy and other disciplines were studied.

A) Yes, Even after his death, Theophrastus saw to it that new students had the opportunity to continue learning and cultivating, expanding knowledge for the benefit of all humanity. As for his library, he bequeathed it to Neleo, one of his disciples. Among all those books, there were still the original Aristotle, so the collection was invaluable.

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The work of Theophrastus that is preserved

Theophrastus' own work is believed to have comprised more than two hundred volumes. However, only a few of them have reached our days, the ones that were of greater importance at certain times and therefore, they were copied in greater quantity, thus increasing the possibilities that said contents were preserved in the weather.

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 the time to this study, so it is not surprising that all this work was reflected in works of a great magnitude. Between both collections, there are fifteen books about plant species and their functions.

His work of Characters is also known. It is a peculiar satire about the different types of person someone might meet in the Athenian society during that time, generally focusing on the negative details of these individuals. The work consists of about thirty examples of these characters, in sketch form.

Of course, also reflected 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 the sensations. Specifically, in this 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 disparate 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 dared with a treatise on meteorology, trying to gather all the known methods to predict, based on the signals of the nature, the changes that were going to take place in the weather during the days to come 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 navigators.

Of course, the human body itself was another theme that Theophrastus used for some books. He was struck by the sweat, and he tried to find out why this fluid was generated in our body and what its characteristics were. Likewise, the very feeling of fatigue was also an object of study for him. In one of his books, he takes care to list 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 he did not understand well at that time, so this author tried to study it further in order to find the causes. that were hidden behind this peculiar phenomenon, in order to better understand why this mechanism occurred in the human body in certain occasions.

During his studies, Theophrastus also he had time to get closer to the world of zoology. Within this area, it seems that the animals that most attracted his attention were the fish. He specifically was interested in those species that did not behave like the rest of the congeners and instead of staying in the water all the time, they performed strange behaviors such as going ashore, jumping out of the water, and even hiding under the land.

Undoubtedly, there were an enormous number of themes that Theophrastus cultivated throughout a lifetime of study. It must be borne in mind that these are only a small part of his works, since the vast majority do not volumes are preserved and the themes of it can only be intuited through the references of others authors.

Some of the themes of these books were logic, psychology, physics, politics, ethics, rhetoric, music and poetry.

Bibliographic references:

• Cuvier, G. (1830). Lecture Ninth - Theophrastus. Baron Cuvier's Lectures on the History of the Natural Sciences. Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal.
• Dorandi, T. (2013). Diogenes Laertius: Lives of eminent philosophers. Cambridge University Press.
• Long, G. (1842). Theophrastus. Penny cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.
• Walton, S.A. (2001). Theophrastus on Lyngurium: medieval and early modern lore from the classical lapidary tradition. Annals of Science.