Lacritus

Lacritus is recorded as a native of Phaselis and appears in the historical-literary record through Athenian forensic oratory. He is known chiefly from a speech of Demosthenes composed for Androcles, in which Lacritus is the defendant in a suit arising after the death of his brother Artemo. Androcles had lent money to Artemo; Lacritus, who had been security for his brother and later became his heir, is said to have refused repayment, provoking the litigation preserved in Demosthenes' oration. Later lexicographical summaries (as reflected in modern secondary sources) identify him as a sophist and teacher, notably as a pupil of Isocrates and the tutor of Archias of Thurii.

The surviving sources provide no physical description of Lacritus. Classical references treat him as a rhetorician and teacher rather than offering details of dress, stature, or facial features. Because the attestations are confined to legal and biographical notices, no contemporary textual evidence records his personal appearance.

Lacritus' documented 'abilities' are social and professional: he is described as a sophist and as a former pupil of Isocrates, indicating training in rhetorical craft and education. He is further recorded as the tutor of Archias of Thurii, which attests to a role as an educator. In the forensic narrative preserved by Demosthenes, Lacritus functions as a litigant whose refusal to repay a debt (despite being security and heir) is the central behavioral action leading to legal prosecution. One later source reports that he was spoken of as authoring some Athenian laws, though that attribution is presented uncertainly in the surviving summaries.