The hyperbolicity problem in circuit theory concerns the existence of purely imaginary eigenvalues (PIEs) in the linearization of the time-domain description of the circuit dynamics. In this paper we characterize the circuit configurations which, in a strictly passive setting, yield purely imaginary eigenvalues for all values of the capacitances and inductances. Our framework is based on branch-oriented, differential-algebraic circuit models which capture explicitly the circuit topology, and uses several notions and results from digraph theory. So-called P-structures arising in the analysis turn out to be the key element supporting our results. The analysis is shown to hold not only for classical (RLC) circuits but also for nonlinear circuits including memristors and other mem-devices.Keywords: electrical circuit, oscillations, hyperbolicity, digraph, matrix pencil, differentialalgebraic equation, memristor, memcapacitor, meminductor.AMS subject classification: 05C50, 15A22, 34A09, 94C05, 94C15. * This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article: R. Riaza and C. Tischendorf, Structural characterization of classical and memristive circuits with purely imaginary eigenvalues, Internat.