Imprint Of A Greek Papyrus found in the palace at Ai Khanoum, Afghanistan. The papyrus has perished,
leaving only the traces of ink preserved in reverse on the fine earth formed by decomposed mud bricks
where they had fallen on the floor. Certain words which can be deciphered suggest that the text belonged
to a dialogue of philosophical, and more specifically Aristotelian, character.
For the Hellenistic philosophers wrote against one another. Philosophy became sectarian, and the sects
squabbled. There was, to be sure, dispute within the schools: thought did not ossify into doctrinal
inflexibility. But variation was held within limits. A man would be characterized as a Stoic or an
Epicurean or an Academic: he would be thought of primarily as a member of a school, devoted to its
theories and to the art of living which those theories supported; only secondarily might he be regarded as
an ingenuous seeker after truth.
The sects did not form exclusive or esoteric clubs. Men might study under several masters and migrate
from school to school. Philosophy was both esteemed and popular. The Hellenistic monarchs solicited the
presence of philosophers at their court. The city of Athens voted public honours to the Stoic Zeno. Nor
was the subject limited to a rich or intellectual clique: Theophrastus attracted as many as 2,000 students to
his lectures, and when Stilpo visited Athens men left their workshops and ran to see him. Far from