44 Such arranged marriages between cousins were not uncommon in the Greek world.
45 Otherwise unknown.
46 The father of Nicanor and husband of Arimneste, Aristotle’s sister.
47 Aristotle’s brother.
48 Aristotle’s deceased wife, who had been buried at Athens some time before this.
49 Aristotle probably made no provision for the Lyceum because, as a resident alien (or metic), he could not by Athenian law own or transfer property within the city.
50 Lyco (c. 300/298–c. 226/24 BC) succeeded Strato as the head of the Lyceum. Diogenes discusses his life and views at 5.65–74.
51 The point of the anecdote is that Aristotle gave up sleep to pursue his philosophic work.
52 Diogenes the Cynic (c. 412/03–c. 324/21 BC), whose life and views are discussed at 6.20–81.
53 The Greek word translated as “of god” has been supplied by a modern editor on the supposition that it fell out of the manuscripts.
54 That is, true friendship cannot be maintained with more than one person.
55 Cf. Eudemian Ethics 1245b20–21 and Nicomachean Ethics 1171a15–17.
56 This list does not correspond to the Aristotelian corpus as we know it today, nor does it even correspond to the corpus as Diogenes knew it, since he cites works elsewhere in his text that are not listed here.
57 The same work is given later in this list, as in the original.
58 Wife of Philip II of Macedon and mother of Alexander the Great.
59 One of Alexander the Great’s closest comrades.
60 Not the philosopher discussed at 9.34-49, but a contemporary of Aristotle.
61 “Far-Darter” was one of the standard epithets of the god Apollo.
62 Diogenes also gives line counts elsewhere: see, e.g., Theophrastus (5.50) and Strato (5.60). A comparison of the line totals with the number of works listed by Diogenes in each corpus yields some improbable results (for example, the works of Strato would have to be, on average, twice as long as those of Theophrastus). Modern scholars therefore consider these figures unreliable.
63 The account of Aristotle’s views given by Diogenes does not correspond closely to the Aristotelian corpus and is probably derived from a third source influenced by Stoicism.
64 Eristics is a branch of rhetoric concerned with the skill of formulating arguments so as to defeat an opponent in debate.
65 Nicomachean Ethics 1098a16–18.
66 Ibid., 1098b12–16.
67 Ibid., 1099a31–b7, 1100a7–9, and 1153b19–21.
68 On the division of kinds of friendship, see Rhetoric 1381b34 and Nicomachean Ethics 1161b11–16.
69 For this division of three ways of life, see Nicomachean Ethics 1095b17. Aristotle gives his defense of the contemplative life later in this work at 1177a12–79a32.
70 A key claim in Aristotle’s theology: see Metaphysics 1072a25.
71 See Aristotle’s definition of soul at De Anima 412a27–28. The idea that an ensouled body must be “organic”—i.e., differentiated into distinct organs—is introduced at De Anima 412a28–b6. The Greek word entelecheia literally means “having its end.” In saying that the soul is the first entelechy of the body, Aristotle means that a body has a soul when it has fully come to be a body of a specific type, e.g., a fully formed human body.
72 That is, a statue of Hermes about to be made from wax or bronze.
73 See De Anima 412a22–27.
74 An influential Athenian orator and teacher of rhetoric (436–338 BC).
75 Aristoxenus (fl. c. 350–322 BC) was a philosopher and musical theorist. Of his works, only an incomplete treatise on music has survived.
76 A city in western Lesbos.
77 This Olympiad began in 324 BC. Aristotle departed for Chalcis in 323 and died there the following year.
78 The Athenian playwright Menander, who died in 292/91 BC, was among the most popular of Greek dramatists. His work survives only in fragments and in Roman adaptations by Plautus and Terence.
79 Cassander (d. 297 BC), son of Antipater, ruled Macedonia starting in 317 BC.
80 Ptolemy I Soter (c. 367–282 BC) was a Macedonian general under Alexander the Great. Following the death of Alexander in 323, he became ruler of Egypt.
81 Hagnonides was an Athenian demagogue. Under rules of legal procedure, a citizen bringing charges against another was liable to a fine if he did not secure at least one fifth of the jurors’ votes.
82 Phanias of Eresus (fl. 320 BC) was a disciple of Aristotle.
83 These cryptic remarks may be connected to the fact (mentioned at 5.39) that after Aristotle’s death Theophrastus acquired a private garden, which he presumably used for teaching. The public spaces that he had previously been lecturing in may have exposed him to the critiques of unsympathetic auditors.
84 Not the tragic poet but a later Athenian politician.
85 These events were apparently triggered when Demetrius of Phalerum, the Peripatetic philosopher and pro-Macedonian ruler of Athens (see 5.75–85), was driven from power in 307 BC by Demetrius I Poliorcetes, king of Macedonia.
86 This particular Philo is otherwise unknown; a different Philo is cited at 9.67.
87 Not the hedonist philosopher Aristippus of Cyrene, whose life is discussed at 2.65–104, but a later author who assumed that name, presumably to give his work greater credibility. (This writer is also referred to as Pseudo-Aristippus.)
88 See 4.6.
89 The Greek term symposion, rendered here as “drinking party,” referred to an event that, at least among philosophers, combined consumption of wine with high-minded conversation.
90 Arcesilaus (316/15–242/41 BC) was a pupil of Theophrastus before he became the head of the Academy. Diogenes discusses Arcesilaus and Lacydes at 4.28–45 and 4.59–61, respectively.
91 This title occurs twice more in the list of Theophrastus’ works (in chapters 49 and 50, below); possibly Diogenes repeated it unwittingly. The same is true for Ethical Characters, a title listed in chapters 47 and 48.
92 The Greek word museion, the source of the English word “museum,” literally means “temple of the Muses.” The museion in the Lyceum probably combined elements of a library and a religious shrine. Plato also had a museion in his Academy.
93 A stoa is a covered colonnade or porch, often used as a place for conversation or teaching in ancient Athens.
94 This is likely Aristotle’s son, of whom Theophrastus was especially fond.
95 Not the famous sculptor Praxiteles, who was active in Athens c. 375–330 BC, but presumably a descendant of his.
96 Neleus of Scepsis was a follower of both Aristotle and Theophrastus.
97 Theophrastus, unlike his predecessor Aristotle, was able to make dispositions in his will for ownership of the properties constituting his philosophic school, since he was an Athenian citizen and able to own land (Aristotle was a Stagirite). Henceforth, to judge by the wills Diogenes records, scholarchs of the Lyceum designated their successors by passing on the grounds and buildings that made up the school.
98 Strato (d. c. 270 BC) succeeded Theophrastus as the head of the Peripatetic school. His life and views are discussed at 5.58–64.
99 A disciple of Theophrastus, perhaps a kinsman of the Callisthenes who accompanied Alexander the Great into Asia.
100 The Aristotle named here is the grandson of the philosopher by his daughter, Pythias (see Aristotle’s will, 5.11–16). Metrodorus, a physician, seems to have been Pythias’s third husband.
101 One of Theophrastus’ former slaves, who became a philosopher in his own right (see 5.36).
102 Erasistratus of Ceos was a celebrated physician and the author of a number of books on anatomy and practical medicine, now lost.
103 Ptolemy II Philadelphus (308–246 BC) was the second ruler in Egypt’s Ptolemaic dynasty.
104 This Olympiad began in 288 BC.
105 Probably a medical work concerned with decisive moments in the treatment of disease.
/> 106 Possibly the wife of Strato’s former student Ptolemy II Philadelphus.
107 Presumably the physician and former student of Theophrastus mentioned at 5.57.
108 That is, the Second Macedonian War (200–197 BC), in which Rome supported various Greek states against the encroachments of Philip V of Macedon and his son Perseus. The Macedonian forces were defeated, and Philip was confined to Macedon.
109 Probably a different person than either Arcesilaus of Pitane, discussed at 4.28–45, or Strato’s father.
110 Lyco’s life and views are discussed at 5.65–74.
111 A Peripatetic philosopher who probably succeeded Lyco as head of the Lyceum (c. 225 BC).
112 In the ancient world, the term “physics” meant something much broader than it does today. The word derived from the Greek phusis (nature) and was used to describe the study of nearly any natural process.
113 Probably not the Macedonian king of this name but Antigonus of Carystus, also cited by Diogenes at 5.67.
114 Adding the Greek letter gamma to Lyco’s name would render it “glyco,” a pun on glukus, an adjective meaning “sweet.”
115 To “seek the crown in the public square” is to pursue glory through a political career. The “crown at Olympia” refers to the wreaths awarded for athletic victories; Lyco was a lover of sport (see next chapter).
116 Eumenes and Attalus I, two successive members of the Attalid dynasty, ruled Pergamon through much of the third century BC. Both men cultivated an enlightened image by maintaining philosophers and artists at their courts.
117 Antiochus I (324–261 BC), called Soter (Savior), was a king of Syria.
118 See 4.41.
119 This Olympiad began in 272 BC.
120 Otherwise unknown.
121 It is odd to find a “brother” of Lyco also named Lyco, but at 5.70 this “brother” Lyco is described as a nephew who had lived in Lyco’s household, where he was treated like a son. There is also a third Lyco listed at 5.70.
122 The term (literally, a “walkway”) is used here to mean the grounds of the Lyceum and therefore the school itself.
123 Thericles was a Corinthian potter who achieved celebrity throughout Greece.
124 Phalerum (also, Phaleron) was the harbor of Athens until the early fifth century, when the Piraeus replaced it.
125 Demetrius governed Athens from 317 to 307 BC, with armed support from Cassander, the Macedonian king.
126 Harpalus, a Macedonian officer and the overseer of Babylon under Alexander the Great, embezzled a large sum of money and fled to Athens in 324 BC. Athenian leaders argued as to what should be done, and Demetrius evidently played some part in this debate.
127 Conon was an Athenian general who led forces in the Peloponnesian War, and evidently a man of modest means.
128 Lamia is elsewhere known as a flute player and courtesan, not a “well-born citizen.” Diogenes may have confused Demetrius of Phalerum with Demetrius I, the king mentioned at 5.77, who was involved with Lamia for many years.
129 It is uncertain which Cleon is meant. The famous politician by this name lived well before Demetrius’ time.
130 An Egyptian deity, later introduced into Greece, combining aspects of the Eygptian gods Osiris and Apis.
131 This Demetrius, the Macedonian king known by the epithet Poliorcetes, seized control of Athens from Demetrius of Phalerum in 307 BC.
132 309–308 BC (archon years began and ended in summer).
133 Demetrius indeed fled to Egypt, to the court of Ptolemy I Soter, in 297 BC, after the death of King Cassander; but Antigonus I was already dead by that time, and his grandson Antigonus II Gonatas was not yet old enough to be a threat. In any case, Demetrius was clearly seeking to find a haven with the enemy of his enemy, since Ptolemy was engaged in a fierce struggle with Demetrius I Poliorcetes, the man who had deposed him.
134 Ptolemy had married both Eurydice, daughter of the legendary statesman Antipater, and Berenice, Antipater’s niece. He also had a Persian wife named Artakama.
135 Busiris was a city in lower Egypt; Diospolis was another name for Thebes.
136 Ptolemy I’s son by Berenice; he would indeed succeed his father, in 285.
137 The comic playwright Menander was born in 342 BC, about eight years after Demetrius; both men studied under Theophrastus.
138 An allusion to the square stone pillars with a carved bust of Hermes at the top, called herms. Genitals and beard were standard features of these monuments; the belly and robe are added here to make a “four-square” figure (the word tetragōnos normally referred to the placement of herms at four-way street intersections).
139 The Greek word that forms this man’s nickname, graphikos, means “painter.”
140 A city in southwest Asia Minor.
141 The original Ixion was the mythical king of the Lapiths, who attempted to rape the goddess Hera. For this he was punished by being bound for eternity to a revolving wheel.
142 A Stoic philosopher (c. 180–109 BC).
143 Pontus was the largely Hellenized region along the south shore of the Black Sea.
144 Head of the Academy after Plato. Diogenes discusses his life and views at 4.1–5.
145 The Greek word pompikos can be used to mean “pompous” or “showy.” Heraclides was normally referred to as Ponticus (“from Pontus”) to distinguish him from several other literary figures with the same name.
146 Diogenes and his source, Demetrius of Magnesia, may here have confused this Heraclides with a different man of the same era, Heraclides of Aenus, who (as we know from other sources) overthrew a Thracian king named Cotys. There is no other evidence that Heraclides of Pontus performed such a deed.
147 The priestess of the oracle of Delphi.
148 The oracle at Delphi was thought to have been guarded in mythic times by Pytho, an enormous serpent, and apparently snakes were kept somewhere in the shrine.
149 After being afflicted with a disease of the eyes, the Stoic philosopher Dionysius of Heraclea (c. 328–248 BC) joined the hedonist Cyrenaics, earning himself the epithet “Turncoat.” Diogenes discusses his life and views at 7.166–67.
150 There were a number of ancient kings and aristocrats named Mithridates; it is unclear which is referred to here.
Diogenes with His Lantern, by Giuseppe Antonio Petrini, c. 1720–1740.
Book 6
ANTISTHENES c. 445–c. 365 bc
DIOGENES
c. 412/03–c. 324/21 bc
MONIMUS
late 4th and early 3rd cent. bc
ONESICRITUS
fl. 325 bc
CRATES
c. 368/65–288/85 bc
METROCLES
late 4th cent. bc
HIPPARCHIA
late 4th cent. bc
MENIPPUS
early 3rd cent. bc
MENEDEMUS
3rd cent. bc
Antisthenes
1 Antisthenes, son of Antisthenes, was an Athenian, though it was said he was not of legitimate birth.1 Hence his reply to someone who reproached him for it: “The mother of the gods also is a Phrygian.”2 For his mother was thought to have been from Thrace. And consequently when he had won renown at the Battle of Tanagra he gave Socrates occasion to declare that had both of Antisthenes’ parents been Athenians, he would not have turned out so brave.3 Antisthenes also rebuked the Athenians who plumed themselves on being born from the soil, saying that that did not make them any more well-born than snails or locusts.4
2 At first Antisthenes was a pupil of Gorgias the orator,5 which explains why he employed the rhetorical style in his dialogues, particularly in Truth and in his Precepts. Hermippus says that at a public gathering at the Isthmian games Antisthenes had been intending to both blame and praise the citizens of Athens, Thebes, and Sparta, but asked to be excused when he saw many people arriving from
Later on, however, he became a follower of Socrates and derived so much benefit from him that he would advise his
own disciples to become fellow disciples of Socrates. Living in the Piraeus, he used to walk five miles every day to listen to him. He adopted the man’s hardiness and emulated his impassivity, and thus he originated the Cynic way of life.7 And with his Great Heracles and Cyrus he established that suffering is a good thing, drawing one exemplar from the Greek world, the other from the barbarians.
Lamella Orphica, second half of fourth century BC. Flat rectangular gold sheet. The inscription reads: “I [masculine] am parched with thirst and am dying; but grant me to drink from the ever-flowing spring. On the right is a white cypress. ‘Who are you? Where are you from?’ I am a son of Earth and starry sky. But my race is heavenly” (Fritz Graf and Sarah Iles Johnston, Ritual Texts for the Afterlife).
3 He was the first to define “concept,” saying, “A concept is that which reveals what a thing was or is.” He often said, “I would rather go mad than feel pleasure” and “One should lie with such women as will be grateful for it.” When a young lad from Pontus8 who was about to attend his lectures asked what he needed, Antisthenes replied, “A new book, a new pen, and a new tablet,” by which he implied that intelligence was needed.9 When someone asked him what sort of woman he should marry, he answered, “If she’s beautiful, you’ll have to share her; if ugly, you’ll have to bear her.”10 On hearing that Plato was speaking ill of him, he said, “It’s the fate of royalty to do good and be maligned.”
4 When he was being initiated into the Orphic mysteries,11 and the priest said that the initiates would partake of many good things in Hades, Antisthenes said, “Then why don’t you die?” When reproached because both of his parents were not freeborn, he said, “Nor were they both wrestlers; yet I am a wrestler.” When asked why he had so few pupils, he said, “Because I drive them away with a silver staff.” Asked why he chastised his students so harshly, he said, “Doctors do the same with their patients.” Catching sight of an adulterer fleeing, he said, “Unlucky fellow, what danger you might have avoided at the cost of an obol!”12 According to Hecaton in his Anecdotes, Antisthenes used to say that it was better to fall in with crows (korakas) than with flatterers (kolakas); for you are devoured by the former when dead, but by the latter while you are alive.
Lives of the Eminent Philosophers Page 32