A Brief Account of the Traditional Vitae Aristotelis

The Vita Aristotelis of Diogenes Laertius to a large extent relies on Hermippus whose original account might be reconstructed with the help of Diogenes Laertius. Hermippus' is a strange though in the main encomiastic melange of fact and fiction, praise and slander. With the exception of the Vila Hesychii (Vita Menagii), all the other Vitae — the Vita Marciana, the Vita Vulgata (Vita Pseudo-Ammoniana ) , the Vila Latina, the two Syriac Vitae and the four Arabic Vitae — ultimately go back to, or are derivates of a Vita (or an epitome of a Vita) of Ptolemy (el-Garib), a member of Porphyry's or Jamblichus' school of Neo-Platonists. The Vita of Ptolemy, the essential contents of which can fairly well be reconstructed with the help of its several derivates, is strongly encomiastic. It is based on what seems to be an adequate mastery of the biographical materials available around 300-400 A. D., but its uncritical admiration for Aristotle greatly reduces its historical value.Chroust Anton-Hermann. A Brief Account of the Traditional Vitae Aristotelis. In: Revue des Études Grecques, tome 77, fascicule 364-365, Janvier-juin 1964. pp. 50-69