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Diogenes Laërtius, the biographer of the Greek philosophers, is supposed by some to have received his surname from the town of Laerte in Cilicia, and by others from the Roman family of the Laërtii.Of the circumstances of his life we know nothing. He must have lived after Sextus Empiricus (c. 200), whom he mentions, and before Stephanus of Byzantium (c. 500), who quotes him. It is probable that he flourished during the reign of Alexander Severus ( 222– 235) and his successors.
His own opinions are equally uncertain. By some he was regarded as a Christian; but it seems more probable that he was an Epicurean. 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 life of the Greek sages, justly led Montaigne to exclaim that he wished that instead of one Laërtius there had been a dozen.
He treats his subject in two divisions which he describes as the Ionian and the Italian schools; the division is quite unscientific. The biographies of the former begin with Anaximander, and end with Clitomachus , Theophrastus and ChrysippusThis article is about the philosopher. See also Chrysippus (mythology) of Greek mythology Chrysippus of Soli ( 279- 207 BC) was Cleanthes's pupil and eventual successor to the head of the stoic philosophy. A prolific writer and debater, Chrysippus would o; the latter begins with PythagorasPythagoras ( 582 BC 496 BC, Greek: Πυθαγρας) was an Ionian mathematician and philosopher, known best for formulating the Pythagorean theorem. Pythagoras, known as "the father of numbers", made influential cont, and ends with EpicurusEpicurus Hellenistic Greek philosopher (born Samos, 341 BC; died Athens, 270 BC). Epicurus was born into an Athenian emigre family — his parents, both Athenian citizens, had moved to an Athenian settlement on the Aegean island of Samos. He returned to Ath. The SocraticThis article is about the ancient Greek philosopher. For the Byzantine church historian, see Socrates Scholasticus for the Brazilian football player, see Socrates (football player . Socrates ( June 4, 470 399 BC) ( Greek &#x;Σωκ< 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 Lucania, Italy. The group was founded in the early fifth century BCE by Parmenides. Other members of the school included Parmenides, Zeno of Elea, and Melissus. Xenophanes and sceptics are treated under the Italic.
The whole of the last book is devoted to Epicurus, and contains three most interesting letters addressed to HerodotusHerodotus of Halicarnassus (modern Bodrum in Turkey) was an ancient Greek historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC? c. 430 BC/ 420 BC?). Overview Herodotus wrote a history of the Persian invasion of Greece in the early fifth century B. known sim, Pythocles and MenoeceusIn Greek mythology, Menoeceus was the father of Jocasta and Creon, and (in a true greek-drama way) both grandfather and father-in-law of Oedipus. Greek mythological people.. His chief authorities were Diodes of Magnesia 's Cursory Notice of Philosophers and Favorinus's Miscellaneous History and Memoirs. From the statements of Burlaeus (Walter Burley, 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. In addition to the Lives, Diogenes was the author of a work in verse on famous men, in various metres.
This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. 1911 Britannica
