Aristo of Ceos
Encyclopedia
Aristo of Ceos was a Peripatetic philosopher
and a native of the island of Ceos, where his birthplace was the town of Ioulis
. He is not to be confused with Aristo of Chios, a Stoic philosopher
of the mid 3rd century BC.
He was a pupil of Lyco
, who had succeeded Strato
as the head
of the Peripatetic school from about 269 BC. After the death of Lyco, (around 225 BC), Aristo probably succeeded him as the head of the school. Aristo, who was, according to Cicero
, a man of taste and elegance, was yet deficient in gravity and energy, which prevented his writings acquiring that popularity which they otherwise deserved, and may have been one of the causes of their neglect and loss to us. In his philosophical views, if we may judge from the scanty fragments still extant, he seems to have followed his master pretty closely. Diogenes Laërtius
, after enumerating the works of Aristo of Chios, says, that Panaetius
and Sosicrates
attributed all these works, except the letters, to Aristo of Ceos. How far this opinion is correct, we cannot, of course, say; at any rate, however, one of those works, Conversations on Love, is repeatedly ascribed to Aristo of Ceos by Athenaeus
. One work of Aristo not mentioned by Diogenes Laërtius, was entitled Lyco, in gratitude to his master. There are also two epigrams in the Greek Anthology
, which are commonly attributed to Aristo of Ceos, though there is no evidence for it.
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and a native of the island of Ceos, where his birthplace was the town of Ioulis
Ioulis
Ioulis or Ioulida , locally called Khora like the main towns of most Greek islands and sometimes known by the island name of Kea or Keos , is the capital of the island of Kea in the Cyclades.-Modern town:...
. He is not to be confused with Aristo of Chios, a Stoic philosopher
Stoicism
Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded in Athens by Zeno of Citium in the early . The Stoics taught that destructive emotions resulted from errors in judgment, and that a sage, or person of "moral and intellectual perfection," would not suffer such emotions.Stoics were concerned...
of the mid 3rd century BC.
He was a pupil of Lyco
Lyco of Troas
Lyco of Troas, son of Astyanax, was a Peripatetic philosopher and the disciple of Strato, whom he succeeded as the head of the Peripatetic school, c. 269 BC; and he held that post for more than forty-four years.-Life:...
, who had succeeded Strato
Strato of Lampsacus
Strato of Lampsacus was a Peripatetic philosopher, and the third director of the Lyceum after the death of Theophrastus...
as the head
Scholarch
A scholarch is the head of a school. The term was especially used for the heads of schools of philosophy in ancient Athens, such as the Platonic Academy, whose first scholarch was Plato himself...
of the Peripatetic school from about 269 BC. After the death of Lyco, (around 225 BC), Aristo probably succeeded him as the head of the school. Aristo, who was, according to Cicero
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
, a man of taste and elegance, was yet deficient in gravity and energy, which prevented his writings acquiring that popularity which they otherwise deserved, and may have been one of the causes of their neglect and loss to us. In his philosophical views, if we may judge from the scanty fragments still extant, he seems to have followed his master pretty closely. Diogenes Laërtius
Diogenes Laertius
Diogenes Laertius was a biographer of the Greek philosophers. Nothing is known about his life, but his surviving Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers is one of the principal surviving sources for the history of Greek philosophy.-Life:Nothing is definitively known about his life...
, after enumerating the works of Aristo of Chios, says, that Panaetius
Panaetius
Panaetius of Rhodes was a Stoic philosopher. He was a pupil of Diogenes of Babylon and Antipater of Tarsus in Athens, before moving to Rome where he did much to introduce Stoic doctrines to the city. After the death of Scipio in 129, he returned to the Stoic school in Athens, and was its last...
and Sosicrates
Sosicrates
Sosicrates of Rhodes was a Greek historical writer. Sosicrates was born on the island Rhodes and is noted, chiefly, for his frequent mention by Diogenes Laërtius in his Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers — referencing Sosicrates as the sole authority behind such facts as Aristippus having...
attributed all these works, except the letters, to Aristo of Ceos. How far this opinion is correct, we cannot, of course, say; at any rate, however, one of those works, Conversations on Love, is repeatedly ascribed to Aristo of Ceos by Athenaeus
Athenaeus
Athenaeus , of Naucratis in Egypt, Greek rhetorician and grammarian, flourished about the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 3rd century AD...
. One work of Aristo not mentioned by Diogenes Laërtius, was entitled Lyco, in gratitude to his master. There are also two epigrams in the Greek Anthology
Greek Anthology
The Greek Anthology is a collection of poems, mostly epigrams, that span the classical and Byzantine periods of Greek literature...
, which are commonly attributed to Aristo of Ceos, though there is no evidence for it.
Further reading
- Fortenbaugh, W., White, S., Aristo of Ceos: Text, Translation, and Discussion. Transaction Publishers. (2006). ISBN 0-7658-0283-X