Tom's Learning Notes

The Characters (Ἠθικοὶ χαρακτῆρες), attributed to Theophrastus, is a collection of character sketches each illustrating some vice, often a vice of excess or deficiency, in line with Aristotle's doctrine of the mean, which suggests that virtue is a middle way between extremes. The work provides a valuable insight into the manners of late classical Athens. It has been suggested that the Characters was an influence on Theophrastus' pupil, the comic playwright Menander.

The Characters at Amazon: United States | Canada | United Kingdom | France | Germany | Spain | Italy

Free online texts

An Eudaemonist: The Characters of Theophrastus, translated by R.C Jebb (1870). HTML format.

Loebulus. L225N - Theophrastus -- Characters of Theophrastus. PDF of public domain Loeb edition in Greek and English.

Μικρός Απόπλους: ΧΑΡΑΚΤΗΡΕΣ, Greek text. HTML format.

Perseus: Greek text, edited by H. Diels (Oxford, 1909).

Other Resources

History of Philosophy without any gaps: The Next Generation: the Followers of Plato and Aristotle - podcast by philosopher Peter Adamson.

Simon Fraser University: Theophrastus Project.

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Theophrastus, by Katerina Ierodiakonou

Wikipedia: Theophrastus

The Great Conversation: Further reading at Tom's Learning Notes

Aristotle: Nicomachean Ethics.

Aristotle (attributed): On Virtues and Vices.

Aristotle: The Poetics.

Menander: Dyskolos.

 Ancient Greek resources: Learn to read Greek classics in the original.