Author

Theophrastus

Posthumous or imagined likeness of Theophrastus.
Posthumous or imagined likeness of Theophrastus. Source · CC BY-SA 2.5
Characters

c. 319 BCE · Ancient · Essays

Characters is a collection of brief sketches of recognizable social types: the dissembler, flatterer, chatterer, boor, complaisant man, reckless man, tactless man, mean man, show-off, coward, oligarchic sympathizer, late learner, slanderer and many others. Each sketch begins with a definition and then offers small scenes in which the type reveals himself through repeated behavior.