Praxiphanes

Praxiphanes

Praxiphanes

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Praxiphanes (Greek: Πραξιφάνης) a Peripatetic philosopher, was a native of Mytilene, who lived a long time in Rhodes.[1] He lived in the time of Demetrius Poliorcetes and Ptolemy I Soter, and was a pupil of Theophrastus, about 322 BC.[2] He subsequently opened a school himself, in which Epicurus is said to have been one of his pupils.[3] Praxiphanes paid special attention to grammatical studies, and is hence named along with Aristotle as the founder and creator of the science of grammar.[4][5]

Writings

Of the writings of Praxiphanes, which appear to have been numerous, two are especially mentioned, a Dialogue ποιητῶν (Poiitón, 'Poetry')[6] in which Plato and Isocrates were the speakers, and an historical work cited by Marcellinus in his Life of Thucydides[7] under the title of Περὶ ἱστορίας (Perí istorías, 'About History').[5]

Praxiphanes also wrote a works titled On Friendship,[8] On Rare Words,[9] On the Universe,[10] On Poems, and commentaries on Homer's Odyssey, Hesiod's Works and Days, Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus, and Plato's Timaeus.[11][12]

Notes

  1. [1]
    Algra, K., The Cambridge History of Hellenistic Philosophy. Page 36. Cambridge University Press. (1999). Cf. Clement of Alexandria, i.; Strabo, xiv.
  2. [2]
    Proclus, i. in Timaeum; John Tzetzes, ad Hesiod. Op. et Dies, 1.
  3. [3]
    Diogenes Laërtius, x. 13
  4. [4]
    Clement of Alexandria, i.
  5. [5]
    Smith 1870.
  6. [6]
    Diogenes Laërtius, iii. 8
  7. [7]
    Marcellinus, Thucydides, §29
  8. [8]
    Carneiscus, Philistas fr. 95
  9. [9]
    Demetrius, De elocutione 55-58
  10. [10]
    Epiphanius, De fide 9.35-39
  11. [11]
    Proclus, In Timaeum, 5c
  12. [12]
    Matelli 2018, p. 76-78.

References

  • Public Domain Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Praxiphanes". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
  •  Laërtius, Diogenes (1925). "Plato" . Lives of the Eminent Philosophers. Vol. 1:3. Translated by Hicks, Robert Drew (Two volume ed.). Loeb Classical Library.
  • Matelli, Elisabetta (12 January 2018). "Praxiphanes of Mytilene (called "of Rhodes"): The Sources, Text, and Translation". Praxiphanes of Mytilene and Chamaeleon of Heraclea: Text, Translation, and Discussion. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-49713-8. Retrieved 3 August 2023.

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