Crantor

Crantor of Soli (Greek: Κράντωρ, gen.: Κράντορος; died 276/5 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosopher and member of the Old Academy who was the first philosopher to write commentaries on the works of Plato. He was probably born around the middle of the 4th century BC, at Soli in Cilicia. He moved to Athens to study philosophy, becoming a pupil of Xenocrates and a friend of Polemon. Crantor died before Polemon and Crates, the latter succeeding Polemon as scholarch. The cause of his death was dropsy. He left his fortune to his pupil Arcesilaus. His works, though numerous, survive only in fragments. They focused primarily on moral subjects. His most famous work was "On Grief" (Περὶ Πένθους), addressed to Hippocles on the death of his son, which was highly praised by Cicero and Panaetius. Crantor is credited with the first commentary on Plato's Timaeus. His ethical views ranked virtue, health, and pleasure as good, with riches following. He also wrote commentaries on Plato's works, with Diogenes Laërtius stating he left behind 30,000 lines of commentaries.