Ambryon (Ancient Greek : Ἀμβρύων) was an ancient Greek writer who wrote a work on the poet Theocritus, from which Diogenes Laërtius quotes an epigram of Theocritus against Aristotle. [1] [2] His date can only be fixed between the 3rd century BC and the 3rd century AD, and his work itself, On Theocritus, is no longer extant. [3]
Thales of Miletus was an Ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosopher from Miletus in Ionia, Asia Minor. Thales was one of the Seven Sages, founding figures of Ancient Greece.
Diogenes Laërtius was a biographer of the Greek philosophers. Little is definitively known about his life, but his surviving Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers is a principal source for the history of ancient Greek philosophy. His reputation is controversial among scholars because he often repeats information from his sources without critically evaluating it. He also frequently focuses on trivial or insignificant details of his subjects' lives while ignoring important details of their philosophical teachings and he sometimes fails to distinguish between earlier and later teachings of specific philosophical schools. However, unlike many other ancient secondary sources, Diogenes Laërtius generally reports philosophical teachings without attempting to reinterpret or expand on them, which means his accounts are often closer to the primary sources. Due to the loss of so many of the primary sources on which Diogenes relied, his work has become the foremost surviving source on the history of Greek philosophy.
Pythias, also known as Pythias the Elder, she was the adoptive daughter of Hermias of Atarneus, as well as Aristotle's first wife.
Epicharmus of Kos or Epicharmus Comicus or Epicharmus Comicus Syracusanus, thought to have lived between c. 550 and c. 460 BC, was a Greek dramatist and philosopher who is often credited with being one of the first comic writers, having originated the Doric or Sicilian comedic form.
Hecataeus of Abdera or of Teos, was a Greek historian who flourished in the 4th century BC. Though none of his works survive, his writings are attested by later authors in various fragments, in particular his Aegyptica, a work on the society and culture of the Egyptians, and his On the Hyperboreans. He is one of the authors whose fragments were collected in Felix Jacoby's Fragmente der griechischen Historiker.
Alexander of Myndus in Caria was an ancient Greek writer who some believe lived during the 1st century AD but this date is uncertain. He wrote on diverse topics, including zoology and divination. His works, which are now lost, must have been considered very valuable by the ancients, since they refer to them very frequently; fragments of his work are preserved in various later authors.
Phaenias of Eresus was a Greek philosopher from Lesbos, important as an immediate follower of and commentator on Aristotle. He came to Athens about 332 BCE, and joined his compatriot, Theophrastus, in the Peripatetic school. His writings on logic and science appear to have been commentaries or supplements to the works of Aristotle and Theophrastus. He also wrote extensively on history. His works have only survived in fragments quoted by other authors.
Hermotimus of Clazomenae, was a possibly historic or legendary Presocratic philosopher about whom many legendary feats were ascribed in antiquity, including the ability for his soul to leave his body and travel around. Some ancient sources also considered him a previous reincarnation of Pythagoras. Aristotle also credited him with some of the metaphysical doctrines on Nous that were more commonly attributed to Anaxagoras.
Metrodorus of Lampsacus was a Pre-Socratic philosopher from the Greek town of Lampsacus on the eastern shore of the Hellespont. According to Diogenes Laertius, he was a contemporary and friend of Anaxagoras. He died in 464 BC.
Aristo of Ceos 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 3rd century BC.
Archedemus of Tarsus was a Stoic philosopher who flourished around 140 BC. Two of his works: On the Voice and On Elements, are mentioned by Diogenes Laërtius.
Aeschines of Neapolis was an Academic Skeptic who shared the leadership of the Academy at Athens together with Charmadas and Clitomachus about 110 BC, when Clitomachus was an old man. Diogenes Laërtius says that he was a pupil and favourite of Melanthius of Rhodes.
Nicomachus was the son of Aristotle. The Suda states that Nicomachus was from Stageira, was a philosopher, a pupil of Theophrastus, and, according to Aristippus, his lover. He may have written a commentary on his father's lectures in physics. Nicomachus was born to the slave Herpyllis, and his father's will commended his care as a boy to several tutors, then to his adopted son, Nicanor. Historians think the Nicomachean Ethics, a compilation of Aristotle's lecture notes, was probably named after or dedicated to Aristotle's son. However, Nicomachus is also believed to be the name of Aristotle's father. Several ancient authorities may have conflated Aristotle's ethical works with the commentaries that Nicomachus wrote on them. Ancient sources indicate that Nicomachus died in battle while still a "lad".
Diocles of Magnesia was an ancient Greek writer from Magnesia ad Sipylum, who probably lived in the 2nd or 1st century BC. The claim that he is the Diocles to whom Meleager of Gadara dedicated his anthology is questionable. He authored works entitled Ἐπιδρομὴ τῶν φιλοσόφων and Περὶ βίων φιλοσόφων, both important sources for Diogenes Laërtius's work about the lives and opinions of eminent Greek philosophers, especially the Cynics and Stoics. For example, Diocles is cited by Diogenes Laertius as a source in his biography of Xenophon that would otherwise be unknown. Nothing more is known about the life and works of Diocles.
Alexander surnamed Lychnus (Λύχνος), was an ancient Greek rhetorician and poet. He was a native of Ephesus, from which he is sometimes called Alexander Ephesius, and must have lived shortly before the time of Strabo, who mentions him among the more recent Ephesian authors, and also states that he took a part in the political affairs of his native city. Strabo ascribes to him a history, and poems of a didactic kind, viz. one on astronomy and another on geography, in which he describes the great continents of the world, treating of each in a separate work or book, which, as we learn from other sources, bore the name of the continent of which it contained an account. What kind of history it was that Strabo alludes to, is uncertain. The so-called Aurelius Victor quotes the first book of a history of the Marsic War by Alexander the Ephesian; but this authority is considered doubtful.
Bolus of Mendes was a philosopher, a neopythagorean writer of works of esoterica and medicine, in Ptolemaic Egypt. Both the Suda, and a later work mistakenly attributed to Eudokia Makrembolitissa—Ἰωνιά; Bed of Violets, probably a 16th-century forgery by Constantine Paleocappa—write of a Pythagorean philosopher of Mendes in Egypt. He is described as one who wrote on marvels, potent remedies, and astronomical phenomena. The Suda, however, also describes a separate Bolus who was a philosopher of the school of Democritus, who wrote Inquiry, and Medical Art, containing "natural medical remedies from some resources of nature." However, from a passage of Columella, it appears that Bolos of Mendes and this other Bolus, follower of Democritus, were one and the same person. He seems to have lived following the time of Theophrastus, whose work Historia Plantarum, Bolus appears to have known.
Simmias of Syracuse, Magna Graecia, is mentioned by Diogenes Laërtius as a pupil, first of Aristotle of Cyrene, and afterwards of Stilpo, the Megarian philosopher. He was married to Stilpo's daughter. Nothing further is known of him.
Archytas of Mytilene was a celebrated musician of ancient Greece. In his "Life of Archytas", Diogenes Laërtius says that there were four, perhaps five men of this name; Archytas of Tarentum, a polymath and disciple of Pythagoras, was the main subject of the biography, but Diogenes mentions Archytas of Mytilene second, and relates an anecdote about the musician: that once when criticized for speaking too softly, he replied, "my instrument speaks for me".
Aristotle was a rhetorician of ancient Greece who wrote a work against the Panegyricus of Isocrates. His time is very uncertain; we know only that he lived somewhere between the 4th century BCE and the 3rd century CE, though it seems likely he lived closer to Isocrates in the 4th century BCE.
Athenaeus was an epigrammatic poet whose work was mentioned by the historian Diogenes Laërtius. He was the author of two epigrams in the Greek Anthology. Of his date, we know only that he lived in or before the 3rd century CE.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Ambrosius Alexandrinus". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology .