The lastnamed author says that according to the magi men will live in a future life and. Diogenes laertius, vitae philosophorum viii, 40 dycearchus says that pythagoras, having repaired to metapontus temple of the muses, died there after fasting for forty days. Diogenes laertius gives his fathers name as bloson or heracon. Eurymenes was the first man, according to the statement of favorinus.
Ionian from anaximander to theophrastus and chrysippus, including the socratic schools and italian from pythagoras. This is volume ii of the lives of eminent philosophers and it has, among many others, sections on pythagoras, parmenides, heraclitus, zeno, epicurus and diogenes this last is the philosophercynic, not our author diogenes laertius, who is really little more than a sophisticated gossip. Diogenes laertius was a biographer of the greek philosophers. Little is known about the thirdcentury historian of philosophy, diogenes laertius. Diogenes laertius gathered his material from lost second or thirdhand. Diogenes laertius, with his vague allusion to oenopides, immediately alerts us to the characteristic methodology of biographers and their. Diogenes, archetype of the cynics, a greek philosophical sect that stressed stoic selfsufficiency and the rejection of luxury. The lives and opinions of eminent philosophers by diogenes. The doxographies in diogenes laertius that are concerned with pythagoras, empedocles, heraclitus, and democritus are preceded by fairly extensive biographies, whereas biographical information about the. Publication date 1925 topics philosophers, ancient, philosophy, ancient publisher.
A biography of pythagoras homework example april 2020. Click download or read online button to get diogenes laertius book now. And we have written a sportive epigram on him, which is couched in the following terms. Uh i am sorry, but i am not aware of any evidence from any ancient source that pythagoras did not use the names of the gods in his philosophy. Long before our own day of selfhelp books offering twelvestep programs and other guides to attain happiness, the philosophers of ancient greece explored the riddle of what makes a life worth living, producing a wide variety. This is volume ii of the lives of eminent philosophers and it has, among many others, sections on pythagoras, parmenides, heraclitus, zeno, epicurus and diogenes this last is the philosophercynic, not our author diogenes laertius, who is really little more than a. English translation socrates out of his senses, 1771. Even his real name is in question, as some scholars have suggested laertius is a penname chosen to distinguish himself from the numerous other persons named diogenes at the time. Now pythagoras, as heraclides, the son of sarapian, relates, died when he was eighty years of age.
The lives of the philosophers, by diogenes laertius, is the most comprehensive ancient account of the lives of the early greek philosophers. But eubulides in his book on diogenes says that diogenes himself did this and was forced. Hicks in 1925 and there is some pretty interesting stuff throughout. He continually simplifies philosophies, wrongly assesses various philosophers importance and relates unbelievable anecdotes. His life, therefore, was lived with extreme simplicity, inured to want, and without shame. Diogenes laertius lived probably in the earlier half of the 3rd century ce, his ancestry and birthplace being unknown. Diogenes laertius on plato diogenes laertius lived 3rd century, c. Read lives of the eminent philosophers by diogenes laertius by diogenes laertius available from rakuten kobo. Diogenes of sinope biography childhood, life achievements. The life of pythagoras covers almost all of the sixth century. Diogenes laertius, live of philosophers, viii 45 pythagoras believed in metempsychosis and thought that eating meat was an abominable thing, saying that the souls of all animals enter different animals after death. Diogenes laertius divides the philosophy of the greeks into the ionic, beginning with anaximander, and ending with theophrastus in which class, he includes the socratic philosophy and all its various ramifications.
He is credited by some with originating the cynic way of life, but he himself acknowledges an indebtedness to antisthenes, by whose numerous writings he was probably influenced. Diogenes laertius, lives of eminent philosophers, book viii. Diogenes is the primary model for the philosopher didactylos in terry pratchett s small gods. The earliest sources on pythagorass life are brief, ambiguous, and often satirical. Lives of the eminent philosophers by diogenes laertius. Book 10 contains the life and doctrines of epicurus. He also frequently focuses on trivial or insignificant details of his subjects lives. Nothing is definitively known about his life, but his surviving lives and opinions of eminent philosophers is a principal source for the history of ancient greek philosophy. The lives and opinions of eminent philosophers by diogenes laertius. Pythagoras made a journey to crete shortly after his return to samos to study the system of laws there. Diogenes life was riddled with various controversies, he was very opinionated and spent his entire life engaging in efforts to disparage and deprecate social values, and to unmask the institutions of a corrupt society. According to diogenes laertius, pythagoras was the first person who invented the term philosophy, and called himself a philosopher. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext.
Diogenes himself notices the agreement between favorinus and idomeneus of lampsacus, a much earlier author, for he was a disciple of epicurus, whom he knew from 310 to 270 b. The lastnamed author says that according to the magi men will live in a future life and be immortal, and that the world will endure through their invocations. The section numbers in the greek text are shown in red and the section numbers in the translation are shown in. His reputation is controversial among scholars because he often repeats information from his sources without critically evaluating it.
Porphyry, life of pythagoras 12 thales led pythagoras to sail to egypt and meet with the priests of memphis and diospolis, because it was they who instructed him in those disciplines, for which he was called a sage by the people. Most of the text in this book is devoted to the anecdotes concerning diogenes s life and sayings. Diogenes laertius, life of pythagoras, from lives of the. Lives of the eminent philosophersbook viii wikisource. The campaigns of alexander, herodotus histories, and plutarchs. Diogenes laertius 3rd century ad is the primary source for the surviving complete letters of epicurus and for biographical and other pertinent information about him. Long before our own day of selfhelp books offering twelvestep programs and o. Lives of the eminent philosophersbook ix wikisource. Diogenes laertius pronounced dieojuhneez leyuhshus.
Nothing is known about his life, apart from his authorship of the lives of the eminent philosophers. Diogenes of sinope by individual philosopher philosophy. Diogenes laertius was a greek writer who probably lived in the first half of the third century ad. Get this from a library the life of pythagoras iamblichus kenneth sylvan guthrie porphyry photius, saint patriarch of constantinople diogenes laertius. His history, in ten books, is divided unscientifically into two successions or sections. An english translation of diogenes laertiuss lives of the. Lives of the eminent philosophers by laertius, diogenes. His followers positioned themselves as watchdogs of morality.
Lives of the eminent philosophers by diogenes laertius, translated by. Lives of eminent philosophers by diogenes laertius. Publication date 1853 topics philosophers publisher london. Pythagoras humanities libertexts libretextshumanities. Pythagoras of samos was an ancient ionian greek philosopher and the eponymous founder of. Like his doctrines, the life of pythagoras also becomes a mirror. Lives of the eminent philosophers diogenes laertius. Eurymenes was the first man, according to the statement of favorinus, in the third book of his commentaries, who ever did submit to this diet, as before that time men used to train themselves on dry figs, and moist cheese and wheaten bread, as the same favorinus informs us in the eighth book of his miscellaneous history. Life of pythagoras by diogenes laertius excerpted from lives of eminent philosophers, viii, xii translated by kenneth sylvan guthrie pdf version he is said to have been the first man who trained athletes on meat. There are those who say that the study of philosophy had its beginning among the. If pythagoras said he was a son of hermes and diogenes. The philosophy of pythagoras university of illinois archives. The ancient manuscripts invariably refer to a laertius diogenes, and this form of the name is repeated by sopater and the suda. Diocles relates that he went into exile because his father was entrusted with the money of the state and adulterated the coin.
It was by personal example rather than any coherent system of thought that diogenes conveyed the cynic philosophy. Zeno, the son of mnaseas or demeas, was a native of citium in cyprus, a greek city which had received phoenician settlers. Lives of the eminent philosophers ebook by diogenes laertius. Diogenes was born on 412 bc in the greek colony of sinope on the south coast of the black sea. His political and religious teachings were well known in magna graecia and influenced the philosophies of plato, aristotle, and, through them, western philosophy. An english translation of diogenes laertiuss lives of the philosophers this is a successful 2008 neh summer stipend proposal, authored by professor john palmer, department of philosophy, university of florida. He is said to have been the first man who trained athletes on meat. Reviewed 1262007 on the importance of gossip this is yet another loeb book where i have shamefully lost the companion volume. Zeno of citium in diogenes laertius book seven this volume is a revised translation of the complete text of book seven about zeno of citium and the stoics, taken from the lives and opinions of eminent philosophers written around ad by the graeco roman author diogenes laertius the life of zeno is accompanied by a complete. Diogenes laertius lives of eminent philosophers ii. Pythagoras and pythagoreanism are treated on an extraordinarily.
He lived as a beggar in the streets of athens and made a virtue of extreme poverty. This text was converted to electronic form by data entry and has been proofread to a low level of accuracy. He was one of the founders and the archetypical practitioner of the ancient greek philosophical school of cynicism. Diogenes laertius, lives of eminent philosophers, book vii. Nothing is definitively known about his life, but his surviving lives and opinions of eminent philosophers is a prin. Nothing is known about his life, but his surviving lives and opinions of eminent philosophers is a principal source for the history of greek philosophy. Diogenes himself notices the agreement between favorinus and idomeneus of lampsacus, a much earlier author, for he was a. The project gutenberg ebook of the lives and opinions of. Diogenes laertius who state that polycrates was still in control of samos when pythagoras returned there. Diogenes laertius, lives of eminent philosophers, book i, prologue. Diogenes laertius, life of the philosophers viii, 15.
It discusses some specific features of diogenes picture of pythagoras. There is no information on his early life except that his fathers name was hicesias who was a banker by profession. The section numbers in the greek text are shown in red and the section numbers in the translation are shown in green. Diogenes laertius, author of a biographically arranged history of greek philosophy in ten books that also deals with the persian magi, especially in the first book on the origins of philosophy.
In lives and opinions of eminent philosophers, diogenes laertius 3rd. Mar 23, 2020 lives of the eminent philosophersbook i. Lives of eminent philosophers, volume i diogenes laertius. The first is entitled the life of py thagoras and contains the four biographies of pythagoras that have survived from antiquity. Having now completed our account of the philosophy of ionia starting with thales, as well as of its chief representatives, let us proceed to examine the philosophy of italy, which was started by pythagoras, son of the gemengraver mnesarchus, and according to hermippus, a samian, or, according to aristoxenus, a tyrrhenian from one of those islands which the athenians held. Pamela mensch is a translator of ancient greek whose works include the landmark arrian. A look at the history and significance to raphaels the school of athens, in the foreground, pythagoras sits with a book and an inkwell, also.
All of these works were written at a time when pythagoras. Diogenes of apollonia, son of apollothemis, was a natural philosopher and a most famous man. Diogenes laertius lived probably in the earlier half of the third century ce, his ancestry and birthplace being unknown. Diogenes was a native of sinope, son of hicesius, a banker. Lives of the eminent philosophers by diogenes laertius diogenes laertius, translated by pamela mensch, and edited by james miller. He himself used to say that he remembered being, in trojan times, euphorbus, panthus son who was killed by. The first complete english translation in nearly a century. Lives of the eminent philosophersbook viii wikisource, the free. It appears that diogenes was also engaged into the banking business helping his father. Diogenes laertius, lives of eminent philosophers, book. The modern form diogenes laertius is much rarer, used by stephanus of byzantium, and in a lemma to the greek anthology. Iamblichus claims that pythagoras died when telauges was very young, and that telauges eventually married bitale the daughter of damo, his sister. He was, to be honest, not the most astute philosopher himself.
Diogenes laertius, lives of eminent philosophers, book i. He also frequently focuses on trivial or insignificant details of his subjects lives while ignoring important details of. He wrote about the lives of the eminent philosophers, via what he had heard about them, what he had read about them from others, or of their works, etc. Diogenes laertius carefully compiled his information from hundreds of sources and enriches his accounts with numerous quotations. Lives of eminent philosophers, vol 2, books 610 by diogenes. Lives of the eminent philosophersbook viii wikisource, the. Socrates diogenes laertius, circa 225 famous trials. Diogenes laertius we have reports that democritus was a student of leucippus 9. He learned the egyptian language, and also journeyed among the chaldaeans and magi. Back in samos he founded a school which was called the semicircle. Lives and opinions of eminent philosophers by diogenes. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. Diogenes laertius, lives of eminent philosophers, volume i. If one wants to detect an overall interest in diogenes life of pythagoras, they must certainly locate it in the pythagorean mode of life as reflected in the long lists of religious and ethical precepts.
Im currently reading lives of the eminent philosophers by diogenes laertius translated by r. This rich tradition was recast by diogenes laertius into an anthology, a miscellany of maxims and anecdotes, that generations of western readers have consulted for edification as well as entertainment ever since the lives of the eminent philosophers, first compiled in the third century ad, came to prominence in renaissance italy. This rich tradition was recast by diogenes laertius into an anthology, a miscellany of maxims and anecdotes, that generations of western readers have consulted for edification as well as entertainment ever since thelives of the eminent philosophers, first compiled in the third century ad, came to prominence in renaissance italy. Diogenes believed that virtue can only be exhibited through actions rather than words. Diogenes laertius asserts that pythagoras later visited crete, where he went to the. This man, so great was his unpopularity at athens, almost lost his life, as demetrius of phalerum states in his defence of socrates. Diogenes laertius download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi. Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. Diogenes gives his own life and opinions in christoph martin wielands novel socrates mainomenos 1770. Lives of the eminent philosophersbook i wikisource, the. Lives of the eminent philosophers ebook by diogenes.