The Earliest Peripatetic Commentators in the First Century BCE and the Old Academy: A Neglected Antiochean Legacy

This paper examines the references to the members of the Old Academy in Andronicus and Boethus. I defend the proposition that these earliest Peripatetic commentators' use of Speusippus and Xenocrates is indicative of their notion of the ancients and the recent authors. These first-century BCE Peripatetics attempt to return to the ancients or their philosophical authorities, namely Plato's first pupils: Aristotle, Speusippus, and Xenocrates. Furthermore, it is argued that this philosophical agenda is indicative of the Antiochean influence, which enables us to reevaluate the philosophical exchanges between different philosophical schools in the first century BCE.

Automated summary

This paper examines the references to the members of the Old Academy in Andronicus and Boethus, arguing that these references indicate the commentators' views on the ancients and recent authors. It further suggests that this philosophical agenda reflects the influence of the Antiochean school and allows for a reevaluation of the philosophical exchanges between different schools in the first century BCE.