| Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers (English) (XML Header) [word count] [lemma count] [Diog. Laert.]. | ||
| <<Diog. Laert. 7.5.171 | Diog. Laert. 7.6.177 (Greek) | >>Diog. Laert. 7.7.183 |
Antiquities.
Of the Gods.
Of Giants.
Of Marriage.
On Homer.
Of Duty, three books.
Of Good Counsel.
Of Gratitude.
An Exhortation.
Of the Virtues.
Of Natural Ability.
Of Gorgippus.
Of Envy.
Of Love.
Of Freedom.
The Art of Love.
Of Honour.
Of Fame.
The Statesman.
Of Deliberation.
Of Laws.
Of Litigation.
Of Education.
Of Logic, three books.
Of the End.
Of Beauty.
Of Conduct.
Of Knowledge.
Of Kingship.
Of Friendship.
On the Banquet.
On the Thesis that Virtue is the same in Man and in Woman.
On the Wise Man turning Sophist.
Of Usages.
Lectures, two books.
Of Pleasure.
On Properties.
On Insoluble Problems.
Of Dialectic.
Of Moods or Tropes.
Of Predicates.
This, then, is the list of his works.
7.5.176His end was as follows. He had severe inflammation of the gums, and by the advice of his doctors he abstained from food for two whole days. As it happened, this treatment succeeded, so that the doctors were for allowing him to resume his usual diet. To this, however, he would not consent, but declaring that he had already got too far on the road, he went on fasting the rest of his days until his death at the same age as Zeno according to some authorities, having spent nineteen years as Zeno's pupil.
My lighter verse note on him runs thus : I praise Cleanthes, but praise Hades more,
Who could not bear to see him grown so old,
So gave him rest at last among the dead,
Who'd drawn such load of water while alive.
Amongst those who after the death of Zeno became pupils of Cleanthes was Sphaerus of Bosporus, as already mentioned. note After making considerable progress in his studies, he went to Alexandria to the court of King Ptolemy Philopator. note One day when a discussion had arisen on the question whether the wise man could stoop to hold opinion, noteand Sphaerus had maintained that this was impossible, the king, wishing to refute him, ordered some waxen pomegranates to be put on the table. Sphaerus was taken in and the king cried out, "You have given your assent to a presentation which is false." But Sphaerus was ready with a neat answer. "I assented not to the proposition that they are pomegranates, but to another, that there are good grounds for thinking them to be pomegranates. Certainty of presentation and reasonable probability are two totally different things." Mnesistratus having accused him of denying that Ptolemy was a king, his reply was, "Being of such quality as he is, Ptolemy is indeed a king."
7.6.178The books that he wrote were as follows :
Of the Cosmos, two books.
Of Elements.
Of Seed.
Of Fortune. Of Minimal Parts.
Against Atoms and Images.
Of Organs of Sense.
A Course of Five Lectures on Heraclitus.
On the Right Arrangement of Ethical Doctrine.
Of Duty.
Of Impulse.
Of the Passions, two books.
Of Kingship.
Of the Spartan Constitution.
Of Lycurgus and Socrates, three books.
Of Law.
On Divination.
Dialogues on Love.
Of the School of Eretria.
Of Similars.
Of Terms.
Of Habit.
Of Contradictions, three books.
Of Discourse.
Of Wealth.
Of Fame.
Of Death.
Handbook of Dialectic, two books.
Of Predicates.
Of Ambiguous Terms.
Letters.
Chrysippus, the son of Apollonius, came either from Soli or from Tarsus, as Alexander relates in his Successions. He was a pupil of Cleanthes. Before this he used to practise as a long-distance runner ; but afterwards he came to hear Zeno, or, as Diocles and most people say, Cleanthes ; and then, while Cleanthes was still living, withdrew from his school and attained exceptional eminence as a philosopher. He had good natural parts and showed the greatest acuteness in every branch of the subject ; so much so that he differed on most points from Zeno, and from Cleanthes as well, to whom he often used to say that all he wanted was to be told what the doctrines were ; he would find out the proofs for himself. Nevertheless, whenever he had contended against Cleanthes, he would afterwards feel remorse, so that he constantly came out with the lines note :
Blest in all else am I, save only where
I touch Cleanthes : there I am ill-fortuned.
| Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers (English) (XML Header) [word count] [lemma count] [Diog. Laert.]. | ||
| <<Diog. Laert. 7.5.171 | Diog. Laert. 7.6.177 (Greek) | >>Diog. Laert. 7.7.183 |
