Diogenes laertius on epicurs11/6/2023 ![]() In fact, almost nothing is known about the man. (Still, the nineteen or so dialogues Aristotle composed-esteemed for their literary quality by Cicero as “a river of flowing gold”-were somehow mislaid by Western civilization.) But Diogenes Laertius didn’t have a school, as far as anyone knows. Aristotle too founded a school, and his treatises were widely copied and studied. We still have Plato’s dialogues because they were diligently preserved by the Academy. What made this fellow so lucky? It’s not hard to explain why certain works survive. And by dint of that, its author has become what Nietzsche called “the night watchman of the history of Greek philosophy: no one can enter into it unless he has given him the key.” Well, Lives of the Eminent Philosophers showed up. ![]() But those other sources are lost, which makes what Diogenes Laertius left behind, to quote the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “truly priceless.” Eighty percent of success is showing up, Woody Allen supposedly said. He may have produced a scissors-and-paste job cribbed from other ancient sources. ![]() He may have been credulous and intellectually shallow. Then why waste time on him? For this excellent reason: Diogenes Laertius compiled the sole extant work from antiquity that gives anything like a comprehensive picture of Greek and Hellenistic philosophy. And he had “no talent for philosophical exposition,” declares The Oxford Companion to Philosophy. In his lyric moods he wrote “perhaps the worst verses ever published,” an anthologist pronounced. An “ignoramus,” declared the twentieth-century classicist Werner Jaeger. A “perfect ass”-“ asinus germanus”-one nineteenth-century scholar called him. George’s Church, Suceava, Romania, sixteenth century Plato, Pythagoras, and Solon fresco in St. In the preface to the Compact Edition the editors note: “Our common goal has been to make Lives as accessible as possible to English-speaking readers -and at the same time to convey some of the essential strangeness of what philosophy once was, in hopes that readers may wonder anew at what philosophy might yet become” (xiii).De Agostini Picture Library/G. Epicurus suggests people should strive for self-sufficiency and live a life of happiness.įor this reading I used the ‘Compact Edition’ of the Lives of the Eminent Philosophers by Diogenes Laertes translated by Pamela Mensch and edited by James Miller. In a particularly remarkable letter cited by Diogenes from Epicurus to Herodotus, Epicurus explains his natural doctrine -the totality of things is unlimited as are the atoms which are through the void (this exposition rings true in Luctretius’s De Rerum Natura). The Epicureans held that there were two states of feeling: pleasure and pain. He also lists Epicurus’s 40 chief maxims.ĭiogenes offers a summary of Epicurus’s work divided into three parts -canonical, physics, and ethics. Diogenes includes a copy of Epicurus’s last will and testament as well as various writings, letters, and Diogenes’s own poetry dedicated to Epicurus. His school was “The Garden.” Epicurus died in either 270 or 271 BC as a result of an illness acquired from after a kidney stone. He founded his school at the age of thirty-two and the Epicurean school flourished. Among the ancients Epicurus admired Anaxagoras, and he lived a simple life with a stark diet. He praises Epicurus’s long-lasting school and entrancing doctrine. As a result there were many wild rumors circulating about his poor health and feeble mind.ĭiogenes Laertius calls Epicurus’s detractors “out of their minds” (Book X.9). However, Epicurus drew many enemies who slandered him including the Stoics (Diogenes mentions Epictetus). He was joined in his efforts by his three brothers. Some have suggested Epicurus was originally from Samos and then may have moved to the Ionian coast with his father after Alexander the Great died and Athens fell (Diogenes refers to Alexander as “Alexander of Macedon”).Įpicurus initially took up philosophy at the age of fourteen when studying the idea of Chaos in Hesiod. He was born about 7 years after the death of Plato. Although he is something of a mere documentarian, Diogenes Laertius’s chapter on Epicurus contains some of the only credible links to Epicurus’s original doctrine still in our possession.Įpicurus was an Athenian from the deme Gargettus and he descended from the family of Philaedae (a prominent aristocratic family lineage). As a narrator, his opinions appear several times to defend Epicurus. As a result, many writers throughout the centuries have speculated as to whether or not Diogenes Laertius was an Epicurean. Book X, the final chapter of Diogenes Laertius’s Lives, is dedicated entirely to a biography of Epicurus.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |