When Thales was asked what was difficult, he said, "To know one’s self." And what was easy, "To advise another." 
Thales, 9.
He said that men ought to remember those friends who were absent as well as those who were present.
Thales, 9.
The apophthegm "Know thyself" is his.
Thales, 13. Compare" "There are two sentences inscribed upon the Delphic oracle, hugely accommodated to the usages of man’s life: 'Know thyself', and 'Nothing too much'; and upon these all other precepts depend", Plutarch, Consolation to Apollonius.
Writers differ with respect to the apophthegms of the Seven Sages, attributing the same one to various authors.
Thales, 14.
Solon gave the following advice: "Consider your honour, as a gentleman, of more weight than an oath. Never tell a lie. Pay attention to matters of importance."
Solon, 12.
As some say, Solon was the author of the apophthegm, "Nothing in excess."
Solon, 16.
Diogenes Laertius was a biographer of the
GreekGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
philosophers. Nothing is known about his life, but his surviving
Lives and Opinions of Eminent PhilosophersLives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers is a biography of the Greek philosophers by Diogenes Laërtius, written in Greek, perhaps in the first half of the third century AD.-Overview:...
is one of the principal surviving sources for the history of Greek philosophy.
Life
Nothing is definitively known about his life. He must have lived after
Sextus EmpiricusSextus Empiricus , was a physician and philosopher, and has been variously reported to have lived in Alexandria, Rome, or Athens. His philosophical work is the most complete surviving account of ancient Greek and Roman skepticism....
(c. 200 AD), whom he mentions, and before
Stephanus of ByzantiumStephen of Byzantium, also known as Stephanus Byzantinus , was the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled Ethnica...
and
SopaterSopater of Apamea , was a distinguished sophist and Neoplatonist philosopher.He was a disciple of Iamblichus, after whose death Sopater of Apamea (d. before 337), was a distinguished sophist and Neoplatonist philosopher.He was a disciple of Iamblichus, after whose death Sopater of Apamea (d. before...
(c. 500 AD), who quote him. His work makes no mention of
NeoplatonismNeoplatonism , is the modern term for a school of religious and mystical philosophy that took shape in the 3rd century AD, based on the teachings of Plato and earlier Platonists, with its earliest contributor believed to be Plotinus, and his teacher Ammonius Saccas...
, even though it is addressed to a woman who was "an enthusiastic Platonist." It is probable that he flourished in the first half of the third century, during the reign of
Alexander SeverusSeverus Alexander was Roman Emperor from 222 to 235. Alexander was the last emperor of the Severan dynasty. He succeeded his cousin Elagabalus upon the latter's assassination in 222, and was ultimately assassinated himself, marking the epoch event for the Crisis of the Third Century — nearly fifty...
(222–235) and his successors.
The precise form of his name is uncertain. In the ancient manuscripts of his work, he is invariably referred to as "Laertius Diogenes," and this form of the name is repeated by Sopater, and the
SudaThe Suda or Souda is a massive 10th century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Suidas. It is an encyclopedic lexicon, written in Greek, with 30,000 entries, many drawing from ancient sources that have since been lost, and often...
. The modern form "Diogenes Laertius" is much rarer, and occurs in
Stephanus of ByzantiumStephen of Byzantium, also known as Stephanus Byzantinus , was the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled Ethnica...
, and in a
lemmaLemma may refer to:* Lemma , a proven statement used as a stepping-stone toward the proof of another statement* Lemma , the canonical form or citation form of a word...
to the
Greek AnthologyThe Greek Anthology is a collection of poems, mostly epigrams, that span the classical and Byzantine periods of Greek literature...
. He is also referred to as "Laertes," or just "Diogenes."
The origin of his name "Laertius" is equally uncertain. Stephanus of Byzantium, in one passage, refers to him as "Διογένης ὁ Λαερτιεύς" (
Diogenes ho Laertieus), implying that he was the native of some town, perhaps the Laerte in
CariaCaria was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionian and Dorian Greeks colonized the west of it and joined the Carian population in forming Greek-dominated states there...
, or the one in
CiliciaIn antiquity, Cilicia was the south coastal region of Asia Minor, south of the central Anatolian plateau. It existed as a political entity from Hittite times into the Byzantine empire...
. An alternative suggestion is that one of his ancestors had for a patron a member of the
RomanThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
family of the Laërtii. The modern theory is that "Laertius" is a nickname, to distinguish him from the many other people called Diogenes in the ancient world, and derived from the
HomerIn the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
ic epithet "Diogenes Laertiade," used in addressing
OdysseusOdysseus or Ulysses was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's Iliad and other works in the Epic Cycle....
.
His home town is unknown, assuming that his name does not refer to his place of origin. A disputed passage in his writings has been used to suggest that it was Nicaea in
BithyniaBithynia was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor, adjoining the Propontis, the Thracian Bosporus and the Euxine .-Description:...
.
Writings
The work by which he is known,
Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, was written in Greek and professes to give an account of the lives and sayings of the Greek philosophers. Although it is at best an uncritical and unphilosophical compilation, its value, as giving us an insight into the private lives of the Greek sages, led
MontaigneLord Michel Eyquem de Montaigne , February 28, 1533 – September 13, 1592, was one of the most influential writers of the French Renaissance, known for popularising the essay as a literary genre and is popularly thought of as the father of Modern Skepticism...
to exclaim that he wished that instead of one Laërtius there had been a dozen. On the other hand, modern scholars advise that we treat Diogenes' testimonia with care, especially when he fails to cite his sources: "Diogenes has acquired an importance out of all proportion to his merits because the loss of many primary sources and of the earlier secondary compilations has accidentally left him the chief continuous source for the history of Greek philosophy."
Werner JaegerWerner Wilhelm Jaeger was a classicist of the 20th century.Jaeger was born in Lobberich, Rhenish Prussia. He attended school at Lobberich and at the Gymnasium Thomaeum in Kempen Jaeger studied at the University of Marburg and University of Berlin. He received a Ph.D...
damned him as 'that great ignoramus.'
Chiefly he is criticized for being more concerned with the superficial details of the philosophers' lives, lacking the intellectual capacity to explore the doctrines of the philosophers in his book with any penetration.
Diogenes treats his subject in two divisions which he describes as the Ionian and the Italian schools; the division is somewhat dubious and appears to be drawn from the lost
doxographyDoxography is a term used especially for the works of classical historians, describing the points of view of past philosophers and scientists. The term was coined by the German classical scholar Hermann Alexander Diels.- Classic Greek philosophy :...
of
SotionSotion of Alexandria was a Greek doxographer and biographer, and an important source for Diogenes Laërtius. None of his works survive; they are known only indirectly...
. The biographies of the former begin with
AnaximanderAnaximander was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher who lived in Miletus, a city of Ionia; Milet in modern Turkey. He belonged to the Milesian school and learned the teachings of his master Thales...
, and end with Clitomachus,
TheophrastusTheophrastus , a Greek native of Eresos in Lesbos, was the successor to Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. He came to Athens at a young age, and initially studied in Plato's school. After Plato's death he attached himself to Aristotle. Aristotle bequeathed to Theophrastus his writings, and...
and
ChrysippusChrysippus of Soli was a Greek Stoic philosopher. He was a native of Soli, Cilicia, but moved to Athens as a young man, where he became a pupil of Cleanthes in the Stoic school. When Cleanthes died, around 230 BC, Chrysippus became the third head of the school...
; the latter begins with
PythagorasPythagoras of Samos was an Ionian Greek philosopher, mathematician, and founder of the religious movement called Pythagoreanism. Most of the information about Pythagoras was written down centuries after he lived, so very little reliable information is known about him...
, and ends with
EpicurusEpicurus was an ancient Greek philosopher and the founder of the school of philosophy called Epicureanism.Only a few fragments and letters remain of Epicurus's 300 written works...
. The
Socratic Socrates was a classical Greek Athenian philosopher. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of later classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon, and the plays of his contemporary ...
school, with its various branches, is classed with the Ionic; while the
EleaticsThe Eleatics were a school of pre-Socratic philosophers at Elea , a Greek colony in Campania, Italy. The group was founded in the early fifth century BCE by Parmenides. Other members of the school included Zeno of Elea and Melissus of Samos...
and sceptics are treated under the Italic. From the statements of
Walter BurleyWalter Burley was a medieval English Scholastic philosopher and logician. He was a Master of Arts at Oxford in 1301, and a fellow of Merton College, Oxford until about 1310. He spent sixteen years at Paris until 1326, becoming a fellow of the Sorbonne by 1324. After that, he spent seventeen...
(a 14th-century monk) in his
De vita et moribus philosophorum the text of Diogenes seems to have been much fuller than that which we now possess.
His own opinions are uncertain. It has been suggested that Diogenes was an Epicurean, or a
SkepticPyrrhonism, or Pyrrhonian skepticism, was a school of skepticism founded by Aenesidemus in the 1st century BCE and recorded by Sextus Empiricus in the late 2nd century or early 3rd century CE. It was named after Pyrrho, a philosopher who lived from c. 360 to c. 270 BCE, although the relationship...
. In favour of the view that he was an Epicurean, is the fact that he passionately defends
EpicurusEpicurus was an ancient Greek philosopher and the founder of the school of philosophy called Epicureanism.Only a few fragments and letters remain of Epicurus's 300 written works...
. Book 10, which discusses Epicurus, is of high quality, and contains three long letters, written by Epicurus, which explain Epicurean doctrines. In favour of the view that he was a Skeptic, is the way in which he is impartial to all the schools in the manner of the ancient skeptics, and he carries the succession of the school further than the other schools. At one point, he even seems to refer to the Skeptics as "our school." On the other hand, most of these points can be explained by the way he uncritically copies from his sources. It is impossible to be certain that he adhered to any school, and he is usually more interested in biographical details than in philosophical doctrines.
In addition to the
Lives, Diogenes was the author of a work in verse on famous men, in various metres.
Works
- Critical edition: Diogenis Laertii Vitae philosophorum edidit Miroslav Marcovich
Miroslav Marcovich was a philologist and university professor. Marcovich was born in Belgrade. He studied at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy graduating in 1942. In 1943 he served as the assistant to Georg Ostrogorsky, expert in Byzantine studies. He served in the army under Josip...
, Stuttgart-Lipsia, Teubner, 1999-2002. Bibliotheca scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana, vol. 1: Books I—X; vol. 2: Excerpta Byzantina; v. 3: Indices by Hans Gärtner
- Trans. R. D. Hicks, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, I, 1925. Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. In 2005, it published 220 new titles. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. Its current director is William P...
, Loeb Classical Library, ISBN 978-0-674-99203-0
- Trans. R. D. Hicks, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, II, 1925. Harvard University Press, Loeb Classical Library, ISBN 978-0-674-99204-7
External links