Crantor of Soli (, ''gen''.: Κράντορος; died 276/5 BC) was an

Ancient Greek philosopher Ancient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BC. Philosophy was used to make sense of the world using reason. It dealt with a wide variety of subjects, including astronomy, epistemology, mathematics, political philosophy, ethics, metaphysics ...

and member of the

Old Academy The Academy (), variously known as Plato's Academy, or the Platonic Academy, was founded in Athens by Plato '' circa'' 387 BC. The academy is regarded as the first institution of higher education in the west, where subjects as diverse as biolo ...

who was the first philosopher to write commentaries on the works of Plato.

Life

Crantor was probably born around the middle of the 4th century BC, at Soli in

Cilicia Cilicia () is a geographical region in southern Anatolia, extending inland from the northeastern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. Cilicia has a population ranging over six million, concentrated mostly at the Cilician plain (). The region inclu ...

(modern-day

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

). He moved from

to Athens in order to study philosophy, where he became a pupil of

Xenocrates Xenocrates (; ; c. 396/5314/3 BC) of Chalcedon was a Greek philosopher, mathematician, and leader ( scholarch) of the Platonic Academy from 339/8 to 314/3 BC. His teachings followed those of Plato, which he attempted to define more closely, of ...

and a friend of Polemon, and one of the most distinguished supporters of the philosophy of the older Academy. As Xenocrates died 314/3 BC, Crantor must have come to Athens prior to that year, although the date of his birth is not known. He died before both Polemon and Crates, who succeeded Polemon as scholarch. Dropsy was the cause of his death. He left his fortune, which amounted to twelve talents, to

Arcesilaus Arcesilaus (; ; 316/5–241/0 BC) was a Greece, Greek Hellenistic philosophy, Hellenistic philosopher. He was the founder of Academic Skepticism and what is variously called the Second or Middle or New Academy – the phase of the Platonic Acade ...

, who had been his pupil and who later succeeded Crates as scholarch of the Academy.

Writings

His works were very numerous; but of these, only fragments have been preserved. They appear to have related principally to moral subjects, and, accordingly,

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). Th ...

classes him with

Chrysippus Chrysippus of Soli (; , ; ) was a Ancient Greece, Greek Stoicism, Stoic Philosophy, philosopher. He was a native of Soli, Cilicia, but moved to Athens as a young man, where he became a pupil of the Stoic philosopher Cleanthes. When Cleanthes ...

as a moral philosopher, and speaks of him in a manner which proves that the writings of Crantor were much read and generally known in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

at that time. He also made some attempts at poetry; and

Diogenes Laërtius Diogenes Laërtius ( ; , ; ) was a biographer of the Greek philosophers. Little is definitively known about his life, but his surviving book ''Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers'' is a principal source for the history of ancient Greek ph ...

relates, that, after sealing up a collection of his poems, he deposited them in the temple of

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...

in his native city, Soli. He is accordingly called by the poet Theaetetus, in an epitaph which he composed upon him, the friend of the

Muses In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

; and that his chief favorites among the poets were

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

and

Euripides Euripides () was a Greek tragedy, tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to ...

''On Grief''

The most popular of Crantor's works in Rome seems to have been that "On Grief" (, ), which was addressed to his friend Hippocles on the death of his son, and from which

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

seems to have heavily relied upon in his '' Tusculan Disputations''. According to Cicero, the Stoic philosopher

Panaetius Panaetius (; ; – ) of Rhodes was an ancient Greek Stoic philosopher. He was a pupil of Diogenes of Babylon and Antipater of Tarsus in Athens, before moving to Rome where he did much to introduce Stoic doctrines to the city, thanks to the patro ...

called it a "golden" work, which deserved to be learnt by heart word for word. Cicero also made great use of it while writing his celebrated '' Consolatio'' on the death of his daughter, Tullia. Several extracts from it are preserved in

Pseudo-Plutarch Pseudo-Plutarch is the conventional name given to the actual, but unknown, authors of a number of pseudepigrapha (falsely attributed works) attributed to Plutarch but now known not to have been written by him. Some of these works were included in s ...

's treatise on Consolation addressed to Apollonius, which has come down to us. Crantor paid special attention to

ethics Ethics is the philosophy, philosophical study of Morality, moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates Normativity, normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches inclu ...

, and arranged "good" things in the following order - virtue, health, pleasure, riches.

''Commentaries on Plato''

says that Crantor left behind 30,000 lines of Commentaries (ύπομνήματα), but of these only fragments have been preserved. Crantor seems to have been the first member of the

Platonic academy The Academy (), variously known as Plato's Academy, or the Platonic Academy, was founded in Classical Athens, Athens by Plato ''wikt:circa, circa'' 387 BC. The academy is regarded as the first institution of higher education in the west, where ...

to write commentaries on the works of Plato;

Proclus Proclus Lycius (; 8 February 412 – 17 April 485), called Proclus the Successor (, ''Próklos ho Diádokhos''), was a Greek Neoplatonist philosopher, one of the last major classical philosophers of late antiquity. He set forth one of th ...

credits Crantor with the first commentary on the Timaeus, and Eudorus of Alexandria makes use of Crantor's work in his own commentary, which is in turn preserved by

Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...

.Plutarch, Proc. An. 1020B

Notes

References

Ancient testimony

* *

, '' Academica'' * *

, Consolation to Apollonius

Modern scholarship

* * * * {{Authority control 4th-century BC Greek philosophers Academic philosophers Ancient Greek ethicists Greek-language commentators on Plato Deaths from edema Year of birth unknown 270s BC deaths