Theophrastus: Characters

Theophrastus' Characters is a collection of 30 short character-sketches of various types of individuals who might be met in the streets of Athens in the late fourth century BC. It is a unique work which had a profound influence on European literature. This edition presents a radically improved text, a translation designed to be readable while bringing out fully the nuances of the very difficult Greek, a commentary covering every feature of the text and its interpretation, and offering full elucidation of the often enigmatic references contained therein.