Timaeus the Sophist ( grc-gre, Τίμαιος ὁ Σοφιστής) was a

Greek philosopher Ancient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BC, marking the end of the Greek Dark Ages. Greek philosophy continued throughout the Hellenistic period and the period in which Greece and most Greek-inhabited lands were part of the Roman Empire ...

who lived sometime between the 1st and 4th centuries. Nothing is known about his life. He is the supposed author of a ''Lexicon'' of

Platonic Plato's influence on Western culture was so profound that several different concepts are linked by being called Platonic or Platonist, for accepting some assumptions of Platonism, but which do not imply acceptance of that philosophy as a whole. It ...

words which is still extant. The ''Lexicon'' made use of earlier

commentaries on Plato Commentaries on Plato refers to the great mass of literature produced, especially in the ancient and medieval world, to explain and clarify the works of Plato. Many Platonist philosophers in the centuries following Plato sought to clarify and sum ...

which are now lost. It underwent significant additions and subtractions of text during later periods leading to the inclusion of many words which have nothing to do with

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 ...

or his philosophy. The purpose of the ''Lexicon'' was to explain the usage of words and phrases which occur in Plato's works. The first detailed study of the manuscript and edition of the Lexicon was produced in the late 18th century by

David Ruhnken David Ruhnken (2 January 172314 May 1798) was a Dutch classical scholar of German origin. Origins Ruhnken was born in Bedlin (today Bydlino) near Stolp, Pomerania Province, (today Słupsk, Poland). After he had attended Latin school at König ...

(1754; 2nd ed. 1789) who also provided a detailed commentary. There was a revised version of Ruhnken's second edition by

Georg Aenotheus Koch Georg Aenotheus Koch (15 November 1802, Drebach – 9 July 1879, Leipzig) was a German classical philologist and lexicographer. He studied theology and classical philology at the University of Leipzig as a student of Gottfried Hermann and C ...

in 1828.

References

Eleanor Dickey Eleanor Dickey, FBA (born 9 April 1967) is an American classicist, linguist, and academic, who specialises in the history of the Latin and Greek languages. Since 2013, she has been Professor of Classics at the University of Reading in England. ...

, (2007), ''Ancient Greek Scholarship'', page 47. Oxford University Press *Michael C. Carhart, (2007), ''The Science of Culture in Enlightenment Germany'', pages 121-4. Harvard University Press {{Authority control Middle Platonists Roman-era Sophists