This volume is a commentary on the rhetorical and poetic texts collected in the second volume of Theophrastus of Eresus: Sources for His Life, Writings, Thought, and Influence. The commentary begins with a discussion of the ancient and medieval sources from which the texts are drawn. Next comes discussion of the titles of Theophrastus' works on rhetoric and poetics. After that each text is discussed individually. In sum, Theophrastus is shown to be an important, though sometimes seriously misunderstood, contributor to the development of Greek rhetorical and poetic theory. The commentary concludes with a bibliography of the modern scholary literature followed by several indices: important Greek and Latin words, titles of works (non-Theophrastean as well as Theophrastean), persons and places, and subjects discussed in earlier sections of the commentary.

Commenting on recently collected sources for Theophrastus' ethical views, this work relates Theophrastean doctrine to that of Aristotle and the rival Stoics. The focus is on topics like virtue and happiness, manners and moral virtues, innate character and the relation of animals to humans.

This is the first to appear of the projected volumes of commentary to accompany the texts and translations on Theophrastus of Eresus: Sources for his Life, Writings, Thought and Influence, edited by W.W. Fortenbaugh and others ("FHSG" (Philosophia Antiqua 54); Leiden, Brill, 1992). It covers the ancient secondary evidence for Theophrastus' views on physiology, zoology and botany; the transmission, reliability and doctrinal content of the reports in the text-and-translation volume are all discussed in detail, and general overviews are provided. The commentary is an indispensable accompaniment to the text-and-translation volume, and the two together will be an important resource for students of the history of the biological sciences in antiquity.

This volume concerns Theophrastus, Aristotle's pupil and successor as head of the Peripatetic School. The focus is twofold. First, it deals with discoveries and inventions, both useful and pleasurable, and more generally changes that transformed the way people live. Theophrastus wrote a work entitled On Discoveries, which may be regarded as cultural history. Second, the volume focuses on proverbs: familiar sayings containing useful truths that have been observed by earlier generations and passed on in a form that is concise and attractive. Theophrastus wrote a work entitled On Proverbs and made use of proverbs in his writings on ethics, rhetoric and humor. He recognized their importance in educating the young and maintaining the traditions of an earlier age.

On Weather Signs, traditionally ascribed to Theophrastus, contains the most complete list of such signs in antiquity and it was, in this or some very similar form, consulted by Aratus, Vergil (in Georgics I), and Pliny the Elder, as well as by many other authors throughout the Byzantine period. This edition is the first to take account of all the manuscripts and the commentary, the first in over a century, is on a far grander scale than earlier ones by Schneider (1818-21) and Wood (1894), listing almost all parallel texts for each sign. The introduction places the work in the context of its genre and for the first time lays out the details of its manuscript tradition.

In the present volume, the focus is on natural philosophy, apart from the study of living things. Topics covered include the principles of scientific enquiry, place, time, motion, the heavens, the sublunary world, meteorology and the study of materials.

Among the many subjects on which Theophrastus wrote, music is one of the most fascinating, as is testified by the sources discussed in this volume. Although scanty, the material we have—sixteen texts altogether, most of which are indirect testimonies—gives an idea of the originality and modernity of Theophrastus’ thought on music, and makes us regret that we do not know more. Our philosopher conceives of music as something that originates from a movement in the soul caused by passions and comes into existence through the body. Accordingly, he is interested in performance—i.e. the way in which musical expression is brought to the listener—and its effects on the soul and the body—e.g. musical therapy.