Brill's Companion to Crantor of Soli

Book excerpt: This book represents the first monograph (miscellany) entirely devoted to Crantor of Soli (app. 335–275 BCE), an outstanding figure of the Old Academy. He was in particular famous for his On Grief, an exemplary work of consolation literature, and for his being the first commentator of Plato’s Timaeus. Unlike his darling Arcesilaus of Pitane, who initiated the Sceptical turn, Crantor seems to have stuck firm to the Academic teachings of Polemon and Plato. The contributions collected in this book aim to convey a complete picture of Crantor by discussing various aspects of his philosophy and biography.