Antipater of Tyre (Greek: Ἀντίπατρος ὁ Τύριος; fl. 1st century BC) was a Greek[1] Stoic philosopher and a friend of Cato the Younger and Cicero.[2]
Life
Antipater lived after, or was at least younger than, Panaetius. Cicero, in speaking of him, says, that he died "recently at Athens", which must mean shortly before 45 BC.[3] He is mentioned by Strabo as a "famous philosopher" from Tyre.[4] Antipater is said to have befriended Cato when Cato was a young man, and introduced him to Stoic philosophy:[5]
Having gained the intimate acquaintance of Antipater the Tyrian, the Stoic philosopher, he [Cato] devoted himself to the study, above everything, of moral and political doctrine.
Works
Little is known about his writings. From Cicero we can perhaps infer that Antipater, like Panaetius, wrote a work On Duties (Latin: de Officiis):
Antipater of Tyre, a Stoic philosopher who recently died at Athens, claims that two points were overlooked by Panaetius—the care of health and of property.
— Cicero, de Officiis, ii. 86
Diogenes Laërtius[6] refers to another work by him called On the Cosmos (Greek: περὶ κόσμου):
The whole world is a living being, endowed with soul and reason, and having aether for its ruling principle: so says Antipater of Tyre in the eighth book of his treatise On the Cosmos.
— Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 139