Lyco of

Troas Troas may refer to: Places * The Troad, historical name for a region in the northwestern part of Anatolia * Alexandria Troas, a Hellenistic and Roman city in Anatolia * Troaș, a village in Săvârșin Commune, Arad County, Romania * Troaș, a r ...

(; grc-gre, Λύκων, Lýkōn, ''gen''.: ; c. 299 – c. 225 BC), son of Astyanax, was a Peripatetic philosopher and the disciple of Strato, whom he succeeded as the head of the

Peripatetic school The Peripatetic school was a school of philosophy in Ancient Greece. Its teachings derived from its founder, Aristotle (384–322 BC), and ''peripatetic'' is an adjective ascribed to his followers. The school dates from around 335 BC when Aristo ...

, c. 269 BC; he held that post for more than forty-four years.

Life

He resided at

Pergamon Pergamon or Pergamum ( or ; grc-gre, Πέργαμον), also referred to by its modern Greek form Pergamos (), was a rich and powerful ancient Greece, ancient Greek city in Mysia. It is located from the modern coastline of the Aegean Sea on a ...

, under the patronage of

Eumenes I Eumenes I ( grc-gre, Εὐμένης) was dynast (ruler) of the city of Pergamon in Asia Minor from 263 BC until his death in 241 BC. He was the son of Eumenes, the brother of Philetaerus, the founder of the Attalid dynasty, and Satyra, daughte ...

and

Attalus I Attalus I ( grc, Ἄτταλος Α΄), surnamed ''Soter'' ( el, , "Savior"; 269–197 BC) ruled Pergamon, an Ionian Greek polis (what is now Bergama, Turkey), first as dynast, later as king, from 241 BC to 197 BC. He was the first ...

, from whom

Antiochus Antiochus is a Greek male first name, which was a dynastic name for rulers of the Seleucid Empire and the Kingdom of Commagene. In Jewish historical memory, connected with the Maccabean Revolt and the holiday of Hanukkah, "Antiochus" refers spec ...

in vain sought to entice him. On several occasions his counsel was of great service to the Athenians. He was celebrated for his eloquence, and for his skill in educating boys. He paid great attention to the body as well as to the mind, and, constantly practising athletic exercises, was exceedingly healthy and robust. Nevertheless, he died of

gout Gout ( ) is a form of inflammatory arthritis characterized by recurrent attacks of a red, tender, hot and swollen joint, caused by deposition of monosodium urate monohydrate crystals. Pain typically comes on rapidly, reaching maximal intensit ...

at the age of 74. He was a bitter rival of the Peripatetic philosopher

Hieronymus of Rhodes Hieronymus of Rhodes ( grc, Ἱερώνυμος ὁ Ῥόδιος, Hierṓnymos ho Rhódios, la, Hieronymus Rhodius; – ) was a Peripatetic philosopher, and an opponent of Arcesilaus and Lyco of Troas. Only a few fragments of his works survive, ...

. Lyco's most notable student in the

was

Aristo of Ceos Aristo of Ceos (; grc-gre, Ἀρίστων ὁ Κεῖος; ) was a Peripatetic philosopher and a native of the island of Ceos. His birthplace was the town of Ioulis. He is not to be confused with Aristo of Chios, a Stoic philosopher of the mid 3r ...

who may have succeeded him as head of the school.

Writings

Among the writings of Lyco was probably a work ''On Characters'' (similar to the work of

Theophrastus Theophrastus (; grc-gre, Θεόφραστος ; c. 371c. 287 BC), a Greek philosopher and the successor to Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. He was a native of Eresos in Lesbos.Gavin Hardy and Laurence Totelin, ''Ancient Botany'', Routledge ...

), a fragment of which is preserved by

Rutilius Lupus The gens Rutilia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens appear in history beginning in the second century BC. The first to obtain the consulship was Publius Rutilius Rufus in 105 BC.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biograph ...

, though the title of the book is not mentioned by any ancient writer. It appears from

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...

and

Clement of Alexandria Titus Flavius Clemens, also known as Clement of Alexandria ( grc , Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς; – ), was a Christian theologian and philosopher who taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria. Among his pupils were Origen and ...

, that he wrote on the boundaries of good and evil ( la, De Finibus).

Apuleius Apuleius (; also called Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis; c. 124 – after 170) was a Numidian Latin-language prose writer, Platonist philosopher and rhetorician. He lived in the Roman province of Numidia, in the Berber city of Madauros, modern-day ...

suggests that he wrote a work on the nature of animals.Apuleius, ''Apologia'', 36

References

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Life

Writings

References

Sources

Attribution

Further reading