[3] The original name of Theophrastus, according to tradition, was Tyrtamus, but owing to his divine speech Aristotle gave him the name which has come down to us. [4] The following treatises are extant, either entire or in considerable parts: _On Sensation_, 1 bk.; _On Smells_, 1 bk.; _Moral Characters_, 1 bk.; _History of Plants_, 2 bks. [5] A character (χαράσσειν “to engrave”) is the individuality which is engraved by habits and temperament on a man or group of men, and in a literary sense (as used by Theophrastus) it is the verbal delineation of this individuality. _Characters of Theophrastus_ _Epistle Dedicatory_ THEOPHRASTUS TO POLYCLES: Many a time ere now I have stopped to think and wonder,—I fancy the marvel will never grow less,—why it is that we Greeks are not all one in character, for we have the same climate throughout the country, and our people enjoy the same education. I have studied human nature a long time, my dear Polycles, for I have lived nine and ninety years;[6] I have conversed with many men of divers characters, and have been at great pains to observe both good and bad. I have fancied, therefore, I ought to set down in writing how men live and act. I shall describe their characters, each after its kind, and show you their besetting weaknesses. I dare say, Polycles, our children will be the better, if we leave them memorials of this sort; and as they study these patterns of good[7] and ill, they will elect, I think, to live and hold communion with men of the highest type. In this way they will strive to maintain the level of the highest. I turn now to my task. Yours it is to follow me and see if what I say is true. I begin my book with a description of the _Dissembler_, omitting any preface and details about the word. And first of all I shall lay down a definition of dissembling, and with this in view shall describe the dissembler in his character and manner of life, exhibiting in such clearness, as I can, his various traits. [6] This dedication is now thought to be spurious. _The Characters_ were probably written in 319 B.C., at which time Theophrastus was not more than fifty-three years of age. [7] This allusion to patterns of good men is a further proof of the spuriousness of the _Epistle Dedicatory_; no such types seem to have been written by Theophrastus. See Introduction, p. xxxi f. I _The Dissembler_ (Εἰρωνεία) Dissembling, generally speaking, is an affectation, whether in word or action, intended to make things seem other than they really are. The dissembler is a man, for instance, who accosts his enemies and engages readily in talk with them, to show that he bears no grudge, and who praises to their faces the very men he slanders behind their backs; and when these lose a suit at court, he professes sympathy for their misfortune. When men malign him, or the opposition’s loud, he is ever ready with forgiveness.