Arius Didymus as a Doxographer of Stoicism: Some Observations

Abstract

A considerable number of doxographical passages on Aristotelian and Stoic physics and two continuous accounts of Aristotelian and Stoic ethics, all reproduced in Stobaeus, plus a much smaller number of fragments provided by other authors (Eusebius in particular) are nowadays commonly attributed to Arius Didymus, who is often identified with the court philosopher to the emperor Augustus. Various aspects of these attributions, previously canonized in Diels’ Doxographi Graeci, have been challenged by scholars in the past few decades. The first part of this paper takes critical stock of these developments: to what extent can we be sure of the attributions to Arius, of the identity and date of the author, and of the title(s), nature, and purpose of his work(s)? The second part zooms in on the material on Stoic physics and ethics. How was it structured, what can be said about the sources used and about the degree of authorial intervention on the part of the doxographer? What does this tell us about the value of Arius as a source? And to what extent does this type of doxography (belonging to the περὶ αἱρέσεων tradition) differ from the Placita tradition that is central to the rest of this volume?