- Lyco of Troas
Lyco (or Lycon) ( _el. Λύκων) of
Troas , son of Astyanax, (lived c. 299-c. 225 BC), was aPeripatetic 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
He resided at
Pergamus , under the patronage ofEumenes I andAttalus I , from whomAntigonus II Gonatas ofMacedon in vain sought to entice him. On several occasions his counsel was of great service to the Athenians. He was celebrated for his eloquence, [comp. Cicero, "de Finibus", v. 5] 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 ofgout at the age of 74. He was a bitter rival of thePeripatetic philosopherHieronymus of Rhodes . Lyco's most notable student in thePeripatetic school wasAristo of Ceos 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 ), a fragment of which is preserved by Rutilius Lupus, [Rutilius Lupus, "de Figuris", ii. 7] though the title of the book is not mentioned by any ancient writer. It appears fromCicero [Cicero, "Tusculanae Quaestiones", iii. 32] andClement of Alexandria , [Clement of Alexandria, "Stromata", ii.] that he wrote on the boundaries of good and evil ( _la. De Finibus). A work of his on the nature of animals is quoted byApuleius . [Apuleius, "Apologia".] In his will, as preserved byDiogenes Laërtius , there is a reference to his writings, but no mention of their titles.Further reading
*Fortenbaugh, W., White, S., "Lyco of Troas and Hieronymus of Rhodes: Text, Translation and Discussion". Transaction Publishers. (2004). ISBN 0-7658-0253-8
References
ources
*SmithDGRBM
External links
*Diogenes Laërtius, [http://classicpersuasion.org/pw/diogenes/dllycon.htm "Life of Lyco"]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.