But those who attribute its origin to them, introduce Orpheus the Thracian, and say that he was a philosopher, and the most ancient one of all. And thus did philosophy arise among the Greeks, and indeed its very name shows that it has no connection with the barbarians. Urania’s son with fairest garlands crown’d. The Theban Linus sleeps beneath this ground, They say, moreover, that Linus died in Euboea, having been shot with an arrow by Apollo, and that this epitaph was set over him: There was a time when all the present worldįrom which Anaxagoras derived his theory, when he said that all things had been produced at the same time, and that then intellect had come and arranged them all in order. They say too that Linus was the son of Mercury and the Muse Urania and that he invented a system of Cosmogony, and of the motions of the sun and moon, and of the generation of animals and fruits and the following is the beginning of his poem, Phalerum’s soil beneath this tomb containsĪnd it is from the father of Musaeus that the family called Eumolpidae among the Athenians derive their name. For Musaeus was born among the Athenians, and Linus among the Thebans and they say that the former, who was the son of Eumolpus, was the first person who taught the system of the genealogy of the gods, and who invented the spheres and that he taught that all things originated in one thing, and when dissolved returned to that same thing and that he died at Phalerum, and that this epitaph was inscribed on his tomb: But those who say this, ignorantly impute to the barbarians the merits of the Greeks, from whom not only all philosophy, but even the whole human race in reality originated. But Xanthus the Lydian says that the passage of the Hellespont by Xerxes took place six thousand years after the time of Zoroaster,⁶ and that after him there was a regular succession of Magi under the names of Ostanes and Astrampsychos and Gobryas and Pazatas, until the destruction of the Persian empire by Alexander. From his age to that of Alexander, king of the Macedonians, were forty-eight thousand eight hundred and sixty-three years, and during this time there were three hundred and seventy-three eclipses of the sun, and eight hundred and thirty-two eclipses of the moon.Īgain, from the time of the Magi, the first of whom was Zoroaster the Persian, to that of the fall of Troy, Hermodorus the Platonic philosopher, in his treatise on Mathematics, calculates that fifteen thousand years elapsed. For the Egyptians say that Vulcan was the son of Nilus*, and that he was the author of philosophy, in which those who were especially eminent were called his priests and prophets. Besides those men there were the Phoenician Ochus, the Thracian Zamolxis,⁵ and the Libyan Atlas. In that among the Persians there existed the Magi,¹ and among the Babylonians or Assyrians the Chaldaei,² among the Indians the Gymnosophistae,³ and among the Celts and Gauls men who were called Druids⁴ and Semnothei, as Aristotle relates in his book on Magic, and Sotion in the twenty-third book of his Succession of Philosophers. SOME SAY THAT THE study of philosophy originated with the barbarians. The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers Thank you for supporting authors and a diverse, creative culture by purchasing this book and complying with copyright laws.Ĭopyright © 2015 by Diogenes Laertius TABLE OF CONTENTS Aside from brief quotations for media coverage and reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced or distributed in any form without the author’s permission. This book is a work of nonfiction and is intended to be factually accurate.Īll rights reserved. In the event that you appreciate this book, please show the author some love. ……………… Diogenes Laertius Translated by C.D. THE LIVES AND OPINIONS OF EMINENT PHILOSOPHERS
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