Timaeus the Sophist (Τίμαιος ὁ Σοφιστής)

Life Timaeus the Sophist was a Greek grammarian and scholar active during the Roman Imperial period, with proposed dates ranging from the 1st to the 4th century CE. His epithet indicates he worked as a professional teacher. No details of his birthplace or biography survive.

Works His sole extant work is the Lexicon of Platonic Words (Λεξικὸν τῶν Πλάτωνος λέξεων), a glossary explaining difficult terms found in Plato’s dialogues [1][2]. The text is preserved in a single 10th-century manuscript and was first published in 1833.

Significance Timaeus’s lexicon is a valuable witness to later Platonic scholarship and ancient lexicography. It reveals which words were considered obscure by post-classical readers and contributes to our understanding of the scholarly reception of classical Athenian authors in the Roman era [1][2].

Sources 1. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Plato): https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/plato-words/ 2. Perseus Digital Library (Catalog of Works): http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=timai=os-sophisths