(), of Soli in Cilicia, left his native country,
and repaired to Athens, in order to study philosophy, where he became a pupil of Xenocrates
and a friend of Polemo, and one of the most distinguished supporters of the philosophy of the
older Academy. As Xenocrates died B. C. 315, Crantor must have come
to Athens previous to that year, but we do not know the date of his birth or his death. He
died before Polemo and Crates, and the dropsy was the cause of his death. He left his fortune,
which amounted to twelve talents, to Arcesilaüs; and this may be the reason why many of
Crantor's writings were ascribed by the ancients to Arcesilaüs.
Works
Crantor's works were very numerous. Diogenes Laertius says, that he left behind
Commentaries (ύρομνήματα), which consisted of 30,000
lines; but of these only fragments have been preserved. They appear to have related
principally to moral subjects, and, accordingly, Horace (Hor. Ep.
1.2. 4) classes him with Chrysippus 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
at that time.
On Grief
The most popular of Crantor's works at Rome seems to have been that
On
Grief (De Luctu, Περὶ
Πένθους), which was addressed to his friend Hippocles on the death of his son,
and from which Cicero seems to have taken almost the whole of the third book of his Tusculan
Disputations. The philosopher Panaetius called it a " golden" work, which deserved to be
learnt by heart word for word. (Cic. Ac. 2.44.) Cicero also
made great use of it while writing his celebrated " Consolatio" on the death of his
daughter, Tullia; and several extracts from it are preserved in Plutarch's treatise on
Consolation addressed to Apollonius, which has come down to us.
Commentaries on Plato
Crantor was the first of Plato's followers who wrote commentaries on the works of his
master. He also made some attempts in poetry; and Diogenes Laertius relates, that, after
sealing up a collection of his poems, he deposited them in the temple of Athena 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; and we are told, that his chief favourites among
the poets were Homer and Euripides.
Further Information
D. L. 4.24_27; Orelli, Onom. Tull. ii. p. 201; Schneider in Zimmermann's Zeitschrift für Alterthumswissenschaft, 1836, Nos. 104, 105; Kayser, De Crantore Academico, Heidelb. 1841.