Theophrastus: biography of this philosopher of the peripatetic school.

A summary of the life of Theophrastus, and of his researches as a Greek philosopher.

To speak of Ancient Greece is to speak of the cradle of philosophy. There are many names of master thinkers that have reached our days.

Theophrastus is one of them. That is why we will dedicate this article to know a little better how was the life of this intellectual and what were the main issues he worked on in the different fields of knowledge he cultivated, which were several, because he was not limited to philosophy. So, let us begin with this biography of Theophrastus.

Brief 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, being Alcippus his teacher in this discipline. After that first formation, he decided to move to Athens, cradle of the great thinkers.

It was there that he met Aristotle, with whom he became a great friend. In fact, it is believed that both shared the exile that followed the death of Plato, who was Aristotle's teacher and perhaps also that of Theophrastus himself. It is also thought that it was he who convinced him to move to Mytilene, as he was in his homeland.

In fact, to get an idea of the great friendship that united these two thinkers, it is necessary to say that the very name, or rather, pseudonym, of Theophrastus, was given to him 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 he habitually 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 also lead them to share a trip to Macedonia, where Aristotle and Theophrastus would study the natural sciences.in which Aristotle became Alexander the Great's tutor. After this task, both returned to the Greek capital.

Return to Athens and Aristotle's death

Back in Athens, Aristotle resumed the direction of the Lyceum, the school of philosophy that he himself had created several years earlier. 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 the lead of the peripatetic school.

Aristotle died a few years later, around 322 B.C. Theophrastus would still continue to lead this school for a long time. Moreover, at the express wish of his friend, he took the position of guardian of Aristotle's sons, among whom was the famous Nicomachus. Not only that, Theophrastus also inherited Aristotle's magnificent library, including the original manuscripts of his works.including the original manuscripts of his own works.

Such was the confidence that Aristotle had in Theophrastus, that he also left on record 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 frictions, since this position was highly coveted and other philosophers, such as Eudemus of Rhodes and Aristoxemus also aspired to reach it someday, but this decision cut short their plans.

Direction 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 a great growth under his command. It is said that there came to be two thousand disciples. He was at the head of the institution for thirty-five years before passing the baton to Strato of Lampsacus.

The great Theophrastus died in Athens when he was 85 years old.. According to surviving accounts of the time, it seems that one of his last words was: "We die just as we begin to live". Most of the biographical data on the life of this author come from the documents of Diogenes Laertius, who immortalized the life of this 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 tomb. In his will he indicated that his wish was that his own home and garden should become a seat of learning, that is, another center for the study of philosophy and other disciplines.

Thus, even after his death, Theophrastus saw to it that new pupils had the opportunity to continue to learn and cultivate themselves, expanding knowledge for the benefit of the students.and cultivation, broadening knowledge for the benefit of all mankind. As for his library, he bequeathed it to Neleus, one of his disciples. Among all those books, there were still the originals of Aristotle, so the collection was of incalculable value.

The work of Theophrastus that has been preserved.

Theophrastus' own work is believed to consist of more than two hundred volumes. However, only some of them have reached our days, those that were more important at certain times and therefore were copied in greater quantity, thus increasing the chances that the contents were 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 devoted most of his time to this study, so it is not surprising that all this work resulted in works of great magnitude. Between the two collections, he wrote fifteen books on plant species and their functions.

His work of Characters is also well known. It is a peculiar satire about the different types of people that someone could find in the society of Athens 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, he also he also reflected his knowledge of philosophy.. Some of the surviving works deal with metaphysics, trying to approach the principles that govern our world, while others are a compendium of the different theories that other authors expressed about sensations. Specifically, in that work, Theophrastus tells us about the treatises of thinkers such as Parmenides, Democritus and even Plato himself.

But there are also other writings other writings on a wide variety of subjects are also 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 on concepts as diverse as fire, wind or the different types of rocks. This author tried to find explanations for the origin and properties of each of these elements.

Even even dared with a treatise on meteorology, trying to gather all the known methods to predict, based on the signs of nature, the changestrying to gather 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 population in general, but especially for those who worked in the fields or were navigators.

Of course, the human body itself was another subject that Theophrastus used for some books. His attention was drawn to sweat, and he tried to find out why this liquid was generated in our body and what its characteristics were. Likewise, the sensation of fatigue itself was also an object of study for him. In one of his books, he enumerates the reasons that can cause it and also what are the consequences.

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 behind this peculiar phenomenon, in order to better understand why this mechanism happened in the human body on certain occasions.

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

Undoubtedly, there was an enormous amount of topics 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 great majority of them are not preserved volumes and their themes can only be intuited through the references of other authors.

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

Bibliographical 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.