Theophrastus (c. 371–c. 287 BCE) was Aristotle’s student and successor as head of the Lyceum. He wrote on logic, ethics, rhetoric, natural science and botany, earning a reputation for range and careful observation. Characters is a short, influential set of moral sketches that turns social irritation into miniature anthropology.
Characters is a collection of brief sketches of recognizable social types: the dissembler, flatterer, chatterer, boor, complaisant man, reckless man, tactless man, mean man, show-off, coward, oligarchic sympathizer, late learner, slanderer and many others. Each sketch begins with a definition and then offers small scenes in which the type reveals himself through repeated behavior.
