Bible Encyclopedias
Aspasius

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

Search for…

Enter query below:

or

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Prev Entry
Aspasia

Next Entry
Aspen

Resource Toolbox

Print Article

a Greek peripatetic philosopher, and a prolific commentator on Aristotle. He flourished probably towards the close of the 1st century A.D., or perhaps during the reign of Antoninus Pius. His commentaries on the Categories, De Interpretatione, De Sensu, and other works of Aristotle are frequently referred to by later writers, but have not come down to us. Commentaries on Plato, mentioned by Porphyry in his life of Plotinus, have also been lost. Commentaries on books 1 -4, 7 (in part), and 8 of the Nicomachean Ethics are preserved; that on book 8 was printed with those of Eustratius and others by Aldus Manutius at Venice in 1536. They were partly (2-4) translated into Latin by Felicianus in 1541, and have frequently been republished, but their authenticity has been disputed. The most recent edition is by G. Heylbut in Commentaria in Aristotelem Graeca, xix. 1 (Berlin, 1889).

Another Aspasius, in the 3rd century A.D., was a Roman sophist and rhetorician, son or pupil of the rhetorician Demetrianus. He taught rhetoric in Rome, and filled the chair of rhetoric founded by Vespasian. He was secretary to the emperor Maximin. His orations, which are praised for their style, are lost.