Praxiphanes ( el, Πραξιφάνης) a

Peripatetic Peripatetic may refer to: *Peripatetic school, a school of philosophy in Ancient Greece *Peripatetic axiom * Peripatetic minority, a mobile population moving among settled populations offering a craft or trade. *Peripatetic Jats There are several ...

philosopher, was a native of Mytilene, who lived a long time in

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...

. He lived in the time of Demetrius Poliorcetes and

Ptolemy I Soter Ptolemy I Soter (; gr, Πτολεμαῖος Σωτήρ, ''Ptolemaîos Sōtḗr'' "Ptolemy the Savior"; c. 367 BC – January 282 BC) was a Macedonian Greek general, historian and companion of Alexander the Great from the Kingdom of Macedon ...

, and was a pupil 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 ...

, about 322 BC. He subsequently opened a school himself, in which

Epicurus Epicurus (; grc-gre, Ἐπίκουρος ; 341–270 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher and sage who founded Epicureanism, a highly influential school of philosophy. He was born on the Greek island of Samos to Athenian parents. Influenced ...

is said to have been one of his pupils. Praxiphanes paid special attention to

grammatical In linguistics, grammaticality is determined by the conformity to language usage as derived by the grammar of a particular variety (linguistics), speech variety. The notion of grammaticality rose alongside the theory of generative grammar, the go ...

studies, and is hence named along with

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

as the founder and creator of the science of grammar.

Writings

Of the writings of Praxiphanes, which appear to have been numerous, two are especially mentioned, a

Dialogue Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literary and theatrical form that depicts such an exchange. As a philosophical or didactic device, it is c ...

''ποιητῶν'' (''Poiitón'', 'Poetry') in which

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

and

Isocrates Isocrates (; grc, Ἰσοκράτης ; 436–338 BC) was an ancient Greek rhetorician, one of the ten Attic orators. Among the most influential Greek rhetoricians of his time, Isocrates made many contributions to rhetoric and education throu ...

were the speakers, and an historical work cited by

Marcellinus Marcellinus may refer to: Ancient * Marcellinus (consul 275), Roman imperial official * Marcellinus (magister officiorum) (died 351), officer of Emperor Constans and of usurper Magnentius * Marcellinus (magister militum) (died 468), a Roman general ...

in his Life of

Thucydides Thucydides (; grc, , }; BC) was an Athenian historian and general. His ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of "scientifi ...

Marcellinus, ''Thucydides'', §29 under the title of ''Περὶ ἱστορίας'' (''Perí istorías'', 'About History').

Notes

References

* Martano, A., Matelli, E., Mirhady, D. (eds.), ''Praxiphanes of Mytilene and Chamaeleon of Eraclea'', New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 2012 (RUSCH XVIII). * {{authority control Ancient Greek grammarians Classical Greek philosophers Ancient Mytileneans Peripatetic philosophers 4th-century BC Greek people 4th-century BC philosophers Ancient Rhodes Hellenistic-era philosophers