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26-523: The term peripatetic is a transliteration of the ancient Greek word περιπατητικός ( peripatētikós ), which means "of walking" or "given to walking about". The Peripatetic school, founded by Aristotle, was actually known simply as the Peripatos . Aristotle's school came to be so named because of the peripatoi ("walkways", some covered or with colonnades) of the Lyceum where the members met. The legend that

52-557: A banquet held at the house of Larensius (Λαρήνσιος; in Latin: Larensis ), a wealthy book-collector and patron of the arts. It is thus a dialogue within a dialogue, after the manner of Plato , but the conversation extends to enormous length. The topics for discussion generally arise from the course of the dinner itself, but extend to literary and historical matters of every description, including abstruse points of grammar. The guests supposedly quote from memory. The actual sources of

78-688: Is an ancient pathway that girds the Acropolis in Athens and intersects with the Panathenaic way on the north slope. It connects the shrines that are interspersed around the Acropolis hill. A reading of Thucydides 2.17, which records that the shrines were erected within an area which it was forbidden to build or quarry called the Pelasgian ground, suggests that the peripatos follows the line of

104-417: Is considerable uncertainty over the issue, and Andronicus' pupil Boethus of Sidon is also described as the eleventh scholarch. It is quite possible that Andronicus set up a new school where he taught Boethus. Whereas the earlier Peripatetics had sought to extend and develop Aristotle's works, from the time of Andronicus the school concentrated on preserving and defending his work. The most important figure in

130-629: Is known only from a passing reference by Athenaeus . Other important Peripatetic philosophers who lived during these centuries include Eudemus of Rhodes , Aristoxenus , Dicaearchus , and Clearchus of Soli . In 86 BC, Athens was sacked by the Roman general Lucius Cornelius Sulla ; all the schools of philosophy in Athens were badly disrupted, and the Lyceum ceased to exist as a functioning institution. Ironically, this event seems to have brought new life to

156-608: The Roman era is Alexander of Aphrodisias (c. 200 AD) who wrote commentaries on Aristotle's writings . With the rise of Neoplatonism (and Christianity ) in the 3rd century, Peripateticism as an independent philosophy came to an end, but the Neoplatonists sought to incorporate Aristotle's philosophy within their own system, and produced many commentaries on Aristotle's works. The last philosophers in classical antiquity to comment on Aristotle were Simplicius and Boethius in

182-472: The thratta , a type of fish mentioned by Archippus and other comic poets, and of a history of the Syrian kings. Both works are lost. Of his works, only the fifteen-volume Deipnosophistae mostly survives. The Deipnosophistae , which means 'dinner-table philosophers', survives in fifteen books. The first two books, and parts of the third, eleventh and fifteenth, are extant only in epitome , but otherwise

208-481: The 12th century ), and Scholastic philosophy gradually developed under such names as Thomas Aquinas , taking its tone and complexion from the writings of Aristotle, the commentaries of Averroes, and The Book of Healing of Avicenna. Peripatos (Akropolis) 37°58′18″N 23°43′43″E  /  37.97166667°N 23.72861111°E  / 37.97166667; 23.72861111 The Peripatos ( Ancient Greek : περίπατος , lit.   'walkway')

234-524: The 6th century AD. After this, although his works were mostly lost to the west, they were maintained in the east where they were incorporated into early Islamic philosophy . Some of the greatest Peripatetic philosophers in the Islamic philosophical tradition were Al-Kindi (Alkindus), Al-Farabi (Alpharabius), Avicenna (Ibn Sina) and Averroes (Ibn Rushd). By the 12th century, Aristotle's works began being translated into Latin (see Latin translations of

260-426: The Lyceum in this way about 335 BC, after which Aristotle left Plato's Academy and Athens, and then returned to Athens from his travels about a dozen years later. Because of the school's association with the gymnasium , the school also came to be referred to simply as the Lyceum . Some modern scholars argue that the school did not become formally institutionalized until Theophrastus took it over, at which time there

286-549: The Peripatetic philosophers in this period seem to have contributed anything original to philosophy. The reasons for the decline of the Peripatetic school are unclear. Stoicism and Epicureanism provided many answers for those people looking for dogmatic and comprehensive philosophical systems, and the scepticism of the Middle Academy may have seemed preferable to anyone who rejected dogmatism. Later tradition linked

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312-536: The Peripatetic school. Sulla brought the writings of Aristotle and Theophrastus back to Rome , where they became the basis of a new collection of Aristotle's writings compiled by Andronicus of Rhodes which forms the basis of the Corpus Aristotelicum which exists today. Later Neoplatonist writers describe Andronicus, who lived around 50 BC, as the eleventh scholarch of the Peripatetic school, which would imply that he had two unnamed predecessors. There

338-417: The ancient world would be missing, and many ancient Greek authors such as Archestratus would be almost entirely unknown. Book XIII, for example, is an important source for the study of sexuality in classical and Hellenistic Greece , and a rare fragment of Theognetus ' work survives in 3.63. The Deipnosophistae professes to be an account given by an individual named Athenaeus to his friend Timocrates of

364-446: The approximate dates they headed the school is as follows (all dates BC): There are some uncertainties in this list. It is not certain whether Aristo of Ceos was the head of the school, but since he was a close pupil of Lyco and the most important Peripatetic philosopher in the time when he lived, it is generally assumed that he was. It is not known if Critolaus directly succeeded Aristo, or if there were any leaders between them. Erymneus

390-538: The archaic and now vanished Pelasgic wall . An inscription on a boulder of acropolis limestone from the north slope of the hill is the only epigraphic evidence of the pathway. It reads "Length of the Peripatos: five stades and eighteen feet." This inscription is dated to the fourth century BCE, though it is possible that the path had been cleared and in use at least since the Periklean building programme by when

416-558: The cave sanctuaries had been established. Pausanias in the second century CE makes mention of using the road to examine the klepsydra and the Apollo cave. Work was undertaken to restore the Peripatos beginning in 1977. Athenaeus Athenaeus of Naucratis ( / ˌ æ θ ə ˈ n iː ə s / , Ancient Greek : Ἀθήναιος ὁ Nαυκρατίτης or Nαυκράτιος, Athēnaios Naukratitēs or Naukratios ; Latin : Athenaeus Naucratita )

442-541: The jurist was murdered by the Praetorian Guard , whereas Ulpian in Athenaeus dies a natural death. The complete version of the text, with the gaps noted above, is preserved in only one manuscript , conventionally referred to as A. The epitomized version of the text is preserved in two manuscripts, conventionally known as C and E. The standard edition of the text is Kaibel 's Teubner . The standard numbering

468-505: The material preserved in the Deipnosophistae remain obscure, but much of it probably comes at second hand from early scholars. The twenty-four named guests include individuals called Galen and Ulpian, but they are all probably fictitious personages, and the majority take no part in the conversation. If the character Ulpian is identical with the famous jurist , the Deipnosophistae may have been written after his death in 223; but

494-437: The name came from Aristotle's alleged habit of walking while lecturing may have started with Hermippus of Smyrna . Unlike Plato (428/7–348/7 BC), Aristotle (384–322 BC) was not a citizen of Athens and so could not own property; he and his colleagues therefore used the grounds of the Lyceum as a gathering place, just as it had been used by earlier philosophers such as Socrates . Aristotle and his colleagues first began to use

520-426: The school's decline to Neleus of Scepsis and his descendants hiding the works of Aristotle and Theophrastus in a cellar until their rediscovery in the 1st century BC, and even though this story may be doubted, it is possible that Aristotle's works were not widely read. The names of the first seven or eight scholarchs (leaders) of the Peripatetic school are known with varying levels of certainty. A list of names with

546-502: The school. It seems likely that many of the writings that have come down to us in Aristotle's name were based on lectures he gave at the school. Among the members of the school in Aristotle's time were Theophrastus , Phanias of Eresus , Eudemus of Rhodes , Aristoxenus , and Dicaearchus . Much like Plato's Academy, there were in Aristotle's school junior and senior members, the junior members generally serving as pupils or assistants to

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572-436: The school. The most prominent member of the school after Theophrastus was Strato of Lampsacus , who increased the naturalistic elements of Aristotle's philosophy and embraced a form of atheism . After the time of Strato, the Peripatetic school fell into a decline. Lyco was famous more for his oratory than his philosophical skills, and Aristo for his biographical studies. Although Critolaus was more philosophically active, none of

598-640: The senior members who directed research and lectured. The aim of the school, at least in Aristotle's time, was not to further a specific doctrine, but rather to explore philosophical and scientific theories; those who ran the school worked as equal partners. Some time shortly after the death of Alexander the Great in June 323 BC, Aristotle left Athens to avoid persecution by anti-Macedonian factions in Athens, due to his ties to Macedonia . After Aristotle's death in 322 BC, his colleague Theophrastus succeeded him as head of

624-521: The work seems to be complete. It is an immense store-house of information, chiefly on matters connected with famous cooks, dining, but also containing remarks on music, songs, dances, philosophy, games, courtesans , and luxury. Nearly 800 writers and 2,500 separate works are referred to by Athenaeus; one of his characters (not necessarily to be identified with the historical author himself) boasts of having read 800 plays of Athenian Middle Comedy alone. Were it not for Athenaeus, much valuable information about

650-408: Was an ancient Greek rhetorician and grammarian, flourishing about the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 3rd century AD. The Suda says only that he lived in the times of Marcus Aurelius , but the contempt with which he speaks of Commodus , who died in 192, implies that he survived that emperor. He was a contemporary of Adrantus . Athenaeus himself states that he was the author of a treatise on

676-400: Was private property associated with the school. Originally at least, the Peripatetic gatherings were probably conducted less formally than the term "school" suggests: there was likely no set curriculum or requirements for students or even fees for membership. Aristotle did teach and lecture there, but there was also philosophical and scientific research done in partnership with other members of

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