Chapter XIV.—Succession of Philosophers in Greece.

The Greeks say, that after Orpheus and Linus, and the most ancient of the poets that appeared among them, the seven, called wise, were the first that were admired for their wisdom. Of whom four were of Asia—Thales of Miletus, and Bias of Priene, Pittacus of Mitylene, and Cleobulus of Lindos; and two of Europe, Solon the Athenian, and Chilon the Lacedæmonian; and the seventh, some say, was Periander of Corinth; others, Anacharsis the Scythian; others, Epimenides the Cretan, whom Paul knew as a Greek prophet, whom he mentions in the Epistle to Titus, where he speaks thus: “One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, The Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. And this witness is true.”156    Tit. i. 12, 13. You see how even to the prophets of the Greeks he attributes something of the truth, and is not ashamed,157    [Though Canon Farrar minimizes the Greek scholarship of St. Paul, as is now the fashion, I think Clement credits him with Greek learning. The apostle’s example seems to have inspired the philosophical arguments of Clement, as well as his exuberance of poetical and mythological quotation.] when discoursing for the edification of some and the shaming of others, to make use of Greek poems. Accordingly to the Corinthians (for this is not the only instance), while discoursing on the resurrection of the dead, he makes use of a tragic Iambic line, when he said, “What advantageth it me if the dead are not raised? Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die. Be not deceived; evil communications corrupt good manners.”158    1 Cor. xv. 32, 33. Others have enumerated Acusilaus the Argive among the seven wise men; and others, Pherecydes of Syros. And Plato substitutes Myso the Chenian for Periander, whom he deemed unworthy of wisdom, on account of his having reigned as a tyrant. That the wise men among the Greeks flourished after the age of Moses, will, a little after, be shown. But the style of philosophy among them, as Hebraic and enigmatical, is now to be considered. They adopted brevity, as suited for exhortation, and most useful. Even Plato says, that of old this mode was purposely in vogue among all the Greeks, especially the Lacedæmonians and Cretans, who enjoyed the best laws.

The expression, “Know thyself,” some supposed to be Chilon’s. But Chamæleon, in his book About the Gods, ascribes it to Thales; Aristotle to the Pythian. It may be an injunction to the pursuit of knowledge. For it is not possible to know the parts without the essence of the whole; and one must study the genesis of the universe, that thereby we may be able to learn the nature of man. Again, to Chilon the Lacedæmonian they attribute, “Let nothing be too much.”159    “Nequid Nimis.” Μηδὲν ἄγαν. Strato, in his book Of Inventions, ascribes the apophthegm to Stratodemus of Tegea. Didymus assigns it to Solon; as also to Cleobulus the saying, “A middle course is best.” And the expression, “Come under a pledge, and mischief is at hand,” Cleomenes says, in his book Concerning Hesiod, was uttered before by Homer in the lines:—

The Aristotelians judge it to be Chilon’s; but Didymus says the advice was that of Thales. Then, next in order, the saying, “All men are bad,” or, “The most of men are bad” (for the same apophthegm is expressed in two ways), Sotades the Byzantian says that it was Bias’s. And the aphorism, “Practice conquers everything,”161    Μελέτη πάντα καθαιρεῖ. they will have it to be Periander’s; and likewise the advice, “Know the opportunity,” to have been a saying of Pittacus. Solon made laws for the Athenians, Pittacus for the Mitylenians. And at a late date, Pythagoras, the pupil of Pherecydes, first called himself a philosopher. Accordingly, after the fore-mentioned three men, there were three schools of philosophy, named after the places where they lived: the Italic from Pythagoras, the Ionic from Thales, the Eleatic from Xenophanes. Pythagoras was a Samian, the son of Mnesarchus, as Hippobotus says: according to Aristoxenus, in his life of Pythagoras and Aristarchus and Theopompus, he was a Tuscan; and according to Neanthes, a Syrian or a Tyrian. So that Pythagoras was, according to the most, of barbarian extraction. Thales, too, as Leander and Herodotus relate, was a Phœnician; as some suppose, a Milesian. He alone seems to have met the prophets of the Egyptians. But no one is described as his teacher, nor is any one mentioned as the teacher of Pherecydes of Syros, who had Pythagoras as his pupil. But the Italic philosophy, that of Pythagoras, grew old in Metapontum in Italy. Anaximander of Miletus, the son of Praxiades, succeeded Thales; and was himself succeeded by Anaximenes of Miletus, the son of Eurustratus; after whom came Anaxagoras of Clazomenæ, the son of Hegesibulus.162    Or Eubulus. He transferred his school from Ionia to Athens. He was succeeded by Archelaus, whose pupil Socrates was.

says Timon in his Satirical Poems, on account of his quitting physics for ethics. Antisthenes, after being a pupil of Socrates, introduced the Cynic philosophy; and Plato withdrew to the Academy. Aristotle, after studying philosophy under Plato, withdrew to the Lyceum, and founded the Peripatetic sect. He was succeeded by Theophrastus, who was succeeded by Strato, and he by Lycon, then Critolaus, and then Diodorus. Speusippus was the successor of Plato; his successor was Xenocrates; and the successor of the latter, Polemo. And the disciples of Polemo were Crates and Crantor, in whom the old Academy founded by Plato ceased. Arcesilaus was the associate of Crantor; from whom, down to Hegesilaus, the Middle Academy flourished. Then Carneades succeeded Hegesilaus, and others came in succession. The disciple of Crates was Zeno of Citium, the founder of the Stoic sect. He was succeeded by Cleanthes; and the latter by Chrysippus, and others after him. Xenophanes of Colophon was the founder of the Eleatic school, who, Timæus says, lived in the time of Hiero, lord of Sicily, and Epicharmus the poet; and Apollodorus says that he was born in the fortieth Olympiad, and reached to the times of Darius and Cyrus. Parmenides, accordingly, was the disciple of Xenophanes, and Zeno of him; then came Leucippus, and then Democritus. Disciples of Democritus were Protagoras of Abdera, and Metrodorus of Chios, whose pupil was Diogenes of Smyrna; and his again Anaxarchus, and his Pyrrho, and his Nausiphanes. Some say that Epicurus was a scholar of his.

Such, in an epitome, is the succession of the philosophers among the Greeks. The periods of the originators of their philosophy are now to be specified successively, in order that, by comparison, we may show that the Hebrew philosophy was older by many generations.163    [Clement’s Attic scholarship never seduces him from this fidelity to the Scriptures. The argument from superior antiquity was one which the Greeks were sure to feel when demonstrated.]

It has been said of Xenophanes that he was the founder of the Eleatic philosophy. And Eudemus, in the Astrological Histories, says that Thales foretold the eclipse of the sun, which took place at the time that the Medians and the Lydians fought, in the reign of Cyaxares the father of Astyages over the Medes, and of Alyattus the son of Crœsus over the Lydians. Herodotus in his first book agrees with him. The date is about the fiftieth Olympiad. Pythagoras is ascertained to have lived in the days of Polycrates the tyrant, about the sixty-second Olympiad. Mnesiphilus is described as a follower of Solon, and was a contemporary of Themistocles. Solon therefore flourished about the forty-sixth Olympiad. For Heraclitus, the son of Bauso, persuaded Melancomas the tyrant to abdicate his sovereignty. He despised the invitation of king Darius to visit the Persians.

Φασὶ δὲ Ἕλληνες μετά γε Ὀρφέα καὶ Λίνον καὶ τοὺς παλαιοτάτους παρὰ σφίσι ποιητὰς ἐπὶ σοφίᾳ πρώτους θαυμασθῆναι τοὺς ἑπτὰ τοὺς ἐπικληθέντας σοφούς, ὧν τέσσαρες μὲν ἀπὸ Ἀσίας ἦσαν, Θαλῆς τε ὁ Μιλήσιος καὶ Βίας ὁ Πριηνεὺς καὶ Πιττακὸς ὁ Μιτυληναῖος καὶ Κλεόβουλος ὁ Λίνδιος, δύο δὲ ἀπὸ Εὐρώπης, Σόλων τε ὁ Ἀθηναῖος καὶ Χίλων ὁ Λακεδαιμόνιος, τὸν δὲ ἕβδομον οἳ μὲν Περίανδρον εἶναι λέγουσιν τὸν Κροίνθιον, οἳ δὲ Ἀνάχαρσιν τὸν Σκύθην, οἳ δὲ Ἐπιμενίδην τὸν Κρῆτα· (ὃν Ἑλληνικὸν οἶδε προφήτην, οὗ μέμνηται ὁ ἀπόστολος Παῦλος ἐν τῇ πρὸς Τίτον ἐπιστολῇ, λέγων οὕτως· εἶπέν τις ἐξ αὐτῶν ἴδιος προφήτης οὕτως· Κρῆτες ἀεὶ ψεῦσται, κακὰ θηρία, γαστέρες ἀργαί· καὶ ἡ μαρτυρία αὕτη ἐστὶν ἀληθής. ὁρᾷς ὅπως κἂν τοῖς Ἑλλήνων προφήταις δίδωσί τι τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ οὐκ ἐπαισχύνεται πρός τε οἰκοδομὴν καὶ πρὸς ἐντροπὴν διαλεγόμενός τινων Ἑλληνικοῖς συγχρῆσθαι ποιήμασι; πρὸς γοῦν Κορινθίους, οὐ γὰρ ἐνταῦθα μόνον, περὶ τῆς τῶν νεκρῶν ἀναστάσεως διαλεγόμενος ἰαμβείῳ συγκέχρηται τραγικῷ τί μοι ὄφελος; λέγων, εἰ νεκροὶ οὐκ ἐγείρονται, φάγωμεν καὶ πίωμεν· αὔριον γὰρ ἀποθνῄσκομεν. μὴ πλανᾶσθε· φθείρουσιν ἤθη χρηστὰ ὁμιλίαι κακαί)· οἳ δὲ Ἀκουσίλαον τὸν Ἀργεῖον ἐγκατέλεξαν τοῖς ἑπτὰ σοφοῖς, ἄλλοι δὲ Φερεκύδην τὸν Σύριον. Πλάτων δὲ ἀντὶ Περιάνδρου ὡς ἀναξίου σοφίας διὰ τὸ τετυραννηκέναι ἀντικατατάττει Μύσωνα τὸν Χηνέα. ὡς μὲν οὖν κάτω που τῆς Μωυσέως ἡλικίας οἱ παρ' Ἕλλησι σοφοὶ γεγόνασι, μικρὸν ὕστερον δειχθήσεται· ὁ δὲ τρόπος τῆς παρ' αὐτοῖς φιλοσοφίας, ὡς Ἑβραϊκὸς καὶ αἰνιγματώδης, ἤδη ἐπισκεπτέος. βραχυλογίαν γοῦν ἠσπάζοντο τὴν παραινετικήν, τὴν ὠφελιμωτάτην. αὐτίκα Πλάτων πάλαι τὸ διὰ σπουδῆς γεγονέναι τόνδε τὸν τρόπον λέγει, κοινῶς μὲν πᾶσιν Ἕλλησιν, ἐξαιρέτως δὲ Λακεδαιμονίοις καὶ Κρησὶ τοῖς εὐνομωτάτοις. Τὸ μὲν οὖν γνῶθι σαυτὸν οἳ μὲν Χίλωνος ὑπειλήφασι, Χαμαιλέων δὲ ἐν τῷ περὶ θεῶν Θαλοῦ, Ἀριστοτέλης δὲ τῆς Πυθίας. δύναται δὲ τὴν γνῶσιν ἐγκελεύεσθαι μεταδιώκειν. οὐκ ἔστι γὰρ ἄνευ τῆς τῶν ὅλων οὐσίας εἰδέναι τὰ μέρη· δεῖ δὴ τὴν γένεσιν τοῦ κόσμου πολυπραγμονῆσαι, δι' ἧς καὶ τὴν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου φύσιν καταμαθεῖν ἐξέσται. πάλιν αὖ Χίλωνι τῷ Λακεδαιμονίῳ ἀναφέρουσι τὸ μηδὲν ἄγαν· Στράτων δὲ ἐν τῷ περὶ εὑρημάτων Σωδάμῳ τῷ Τεγεάτῃ προσάπτει τὸ ἀπόφθεγμα, ∆ίδυμος δὲ Σόλωνι αὐτὸ ἀνατίθησιν, ὥσπερ ἀμέλει Κλεοβούλῳ τὸ μέτρον ἄριστον. τὸ δ' ἐγγύα, πάρα δ' ἄτα Κλεομένης μὲν ἐν τῷ περὶ Ἡσιόδου Ὁμήρῳ φησὶ προειρῆσθαι διὰ τούτων· δειλαί τοι δειλῶν γε καὶ ἐγγύαι ἐγγυάασθαι· οἳ δὲ περὶ Ἀριστοτέλη Χίλωνος αὐτὸ νομίζουσι, ∆ίδυμος δὲ Θαλοῦ φησιν εἶναι τὴν παραίνεσιν. ἔπειτα ἑξῆς τὸ πάντες ἄνθρωποι κακοὶ ἢ οἱ πλεῖστοι τῶν ἀνθρώπων κακοὶ (διχῶς γὰρ ἐκφέρεται τὸ αὐτὸ ἀπόφθεγμα) οἱ περὶ Σωτάδαν τὸν Βυζάντιον Βίαντος λέγουσιν εἶναι καὶ τὸ μελέτη πάντα καθαιρεῖ Περιάνδρου τυγχάνειν βούλονται, ὁμοίως δὲ τὴν γνῶθι καιρὸν παραίνεσιν Πιττακοῦ καθεστάναι. ὁ μὲν οὖν Σόλων Ἀθηναίοις, Πιττακὸς δὲ Μιτυληναίοις ἐνομοθέτησαν. ὀψὲ δὲ Πυθαγόρας ὁ Φερεκύδου γνώριμος φιλόσοφον ἑαυτὸν πρῶτος ἀνηγόρευσεν. Φιλοσοφίας τοίνυν μετὰ τοὺς προειρημένους ἄνδρας τρεῖς γεγόνασι διαδοχαὶ ἐπώνυμοι τῶν τόπων περὶ οὓς διέτριψαν, Ἰταλικὴ μὲν ἡ ἀπὸ Πυθαγόρου, Ἰωνικὴ δὲ ἡ ἀπὸ Θαλοῦ, Ἐλεατικὴ δὲ ἡ ἀπὸ Ξενοφάνους. Πυθαγόρας μὲν οὖν Μνησάρχου Σάμιος, ὥς φησιν Ἱππόβοτος, ὡς δὲ Ἀριστόξενος ἐν τῷ Πυθαγόρου βίῳ καὶ † Ἀρίσταρχοςκαὶ Θεόπομπος, Τυρρηνὸς ἦν, ὡς δὲ Νεάνθης. Σύριος ἢ Τύριος, ὥστε εἶναι κατὰ τοὺς πλείστους τὸν Πυθαγόραν βάρβαρον τὸ γένος. ἀλλὰ καὶ Θαλῆς, ὡς Λέανδρος καὶ Ἡρόδοτος ἱστοροῦσι, Φοῖνιξ ἦν, ὡς δέ τινες ὑπειλήφασι, Μιλήσιος. μόνος οὗτος δοκεῖ τοῖς τῶν Αἰγυπτίων προφήταις συμβεβληκέναι, διδάσκαλος δὲ αὐτοῦ οὐδεὶς ἀναγράφεται, ὥσπερ οὐδὲ Φερεκύδου τοῦ Συρίου, ᾧ Πυθαγόρας ἐμαθήτευσεν. ἀλλ' ἡ μὲν ἐν Μεταποντίῳ τῆς Ἰταλίας ἡ κατὰ Πυθαγόραν φιλοσοφία ἡ Ἰταλικὴ κατεγήρασεν. Ἀναξίμανδρος δὲ Πραξιάδου Μιλήσιος Θαλῆν διαδέχεται, τοῦτον δὲ Ἀναξιμένης Εὐρυστράτου Μιλήσιος, μεθ' ὃν Ἀναξαγόρας Ἡγησιβούλου Κλαζομένιος. οὗτος μετήγαγεν ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰωνίας Ἀθήναζε τὴν διατριβήν. τοῦτον διαδέχεται Ἀρχέλαος, οὗ Σωκράτης διήκουσεν. ἐκ δ' ἄρα τῶν ἀπέκλινε λαοξόος, ἐννομολέσχης. Ἑλλήνων ἐπαοιδός, ὁ Τίμων φησὶν ἐν τοῖς Σίλλοις διὰ τὸ ἀποκεκλικέναι ἀπὸ τῶν φυσικῶν ἐπὶ τὰ ἠθικά. Σωκράτους δὲ ἀκούσας Ἀντισθένης μὲν ἐκύνισε, Πλάτων δὲ εἰς τὴν Ἀκαδημίαν ἀνεχώρησε. παρὰ Πλάτωνι Ἀριστοτέλης φιλοσοφήσας μετελθὼν εἰς τὸ Λύκειον κτίζει τὴν Περιπατητικὴν αἵρεσιν. τοῦτον διαδέχεται Θεόφραστος, ὃν Στράτων, ὃν Λύκων, εἶτα Κριτόλαος, εἶτα ∆ιόδωρος. Σπεύσιππος δὲ Πλάτωνα διαδέχεται, τοῦτον δὲ Ξενοκράτης, ὃν Πολέμων. Πολέμωνος δὲ ἀκουσταὶ Κράτης τε καὶ Κράντωρ, εἰς οὓς ἡ ἀπὸ Πλάτωνος κατέληξεν ἀρχαία Ἀκαδημία. Κράντορος δὲ μετέσχεν Ἀρκεσίλαος, ἀφ' οὗ μέχρι Ἡγησίνου ἤνθησεν Ἀκαδημία ἡ μέση. εἶτα Καρνεάδης διαδέχεται Ἡγησίνουν καὶ οἱ ἐφεξῆς· Κράτητος δὲ Ζήνων ὁ Κιτιεὺς ὁ τῆς Στωϊκῆς ἄρξας αἱρέσεως γίνεται μαθητής. τοῦτον διαδέχεται Κλεάνθης, ὃν Χρύσιππος καὶ οἱ μετ' αὐτόν. Τῆς δὲ Ἐλεατικῆς ἀγωγῆς Ξενοφάνης ὁ Κολοφώνιος κατάρχει, ὅν φησι Τίμαιος κατὰ Ἱέρωνα τὸν Σικελίας δυνάστην καὶ Ἐπίχαρμον τὸν ποιητὴν γεγονέναι, Ἀπολλόδωρος δὲ κατὰ τὴν † τεσσαρακοστὴν ὀλυμπιάδα γενόμενον παρατετακέναι ἄχρι τῶν ∆αρείου τε καὶ Κύρου χρόνων. Παρμενίδης τοίνυν Ξενοφάνους ἀκουστὴς γίνεται, τούτου δὲ Ζήνων, εἶτα Λεύκιππος, εἶτα ∆ημόκριτος. ∆ημοκρίτου δὲ ἀκουσταὶ Πρωταγόρας ὁ Ἀβδηρίτης καὶ Μητρόδωρος ὁ Χῖος, οὗ ∆ιογένης ὁ Σμυρναῖος, οὗ Ἀνάξαρχος, τούτου δὲ Πύρρων, οὗ Ναυσιφάνης. τούτου φασὶν ἔνιοι μαθητὴν Ἐπίκουρον γενέσθαι. Καὶ ἡ μὲν διαδοχὴ τῶν παρ' Ἕλλησι φιλοσόφων ὡς ἐν ἐπιτομῇ ἥδε, οἱ χρόνοι δὲ τῶν προκαταρξάντων τῆς φιλοσοφίας αὐτῶν ἑπομένως λεκτέοι. ἵνα δὴ ἐν συγκρίσει ἀποδείξωμεν πολλαῖς γενεαῖς πρεσβυτέραν τὴν κατὰ Ἑβραίους φιλοσοφίαν. καὶ περὶ μὲν Ξενοφάνους εἴρηται, ὃς τῆς Ἐλεατικῆς ἦρξε φιλοσοφίας, Θαλῆν δὲ Εὔδημος ἐν ταῖς Ἀστρολογικαῖς ἱστορίαις τὴν γενομένην ἔκλειψιν τοῦ ἡλίου προειπεῖν φησι καθ' οὓς χρόνους συνῆψαν μάχην πρὸς ἀλλήλους Μῆδοί τε καὶ Λυδοὶ βασιλεύοντος Κυαξάρους μὲν τοῦ Ἀστυάγους πατρὸς Μήδων, Ἀλυάττου δὲ τοῦ Κροίσου Λυδῶν. συνᾴδει δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ Ἡρόδοτος ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ. εἰσὶ δὲ οἱ χρόνοι ἀμφὶ τὴν πεντηκοστὴν ὀλυμπιάδα. Πυθαγόρας δὲ κατὰ Πολυκράτη τὸν τύραννον περὶ τὴν ἑξηκοστὴν δευτέραν ὀλυμπιάδα εὑρίσκεται. Σόλωνος δὲ ζηλωτὴς Μνησίφιλος ἀναγράφεται, ᾧ Θεμιστοκλῆς συνδιέτριψεν. ἤκμασεν οὖν ὁ Σόλων κατὰ τὴν τεσσαρακοστὴν ἕκτην ὀλυμπιάδα. Ἡράκλειτος γὰρ ὁ Βλύσωνος Μελαγκόμαν τὸν τύραννον ἔπεισεν ἀποθέσθαι τὴν ἀρχήν. οὗτος βασιλέα ∆αρεῖον παρακαλοῦντα ἥκειν εἰς Πέρσας ὑπερεῖδεν.