Cephisodorus
2. An Athenian orator, a most eminent disciple of Isocrates, wrote an apology for Isocrates against Aristotle. The work against Aristotle was in four books, under the title of αἱ προς Ἀριστοτέλη ἀντιγραφαί. (Dionys. Ep. ad Amm. p. 120. 32, Sylb.; Isoc. p. 102, 17; Isaeus, p. 111. 37; Dem. p. 120. 31; Athen. 2.60e., iii. p. 122b., viii. p. 359c.) He also attacked Plato. (Dionys. Ep. ad Pomp. p. 127. 3, Sylb.)
A writer of the same name is mentioned by the Scholiast on Aristotle (Aristot. EN 3.8) as the author of a history of the Sacred War. As the disciples of Isocrates paid much attention to historical composition, Ruhnken conjectures that the orator and the historian were the same person. (Hist. Crit. Orat. Graec. § 38.) There is a Cephisodorus, a Theban, mentioned by Athenaeus (xii. p. 548e) as an historian. It is possible that he may be the same person. If so, we must suppose that Cephisodorus was a native of Thebes, and settled at Athens as a μέτοικος: but this is mere conjecture.
From William Smith (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Text provided under a CC BY-SA license by Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Tufts University. Data accessed from https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-pdlrefwk/ on 17 October 2026.