Vitae philosophorum

Diogenes Laertius

Diogenes Laertius. Hicks, R. D., editor. Cambridge, MA.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1925.

To the solitary man who talked to himself he remarked, You are not talking to a bad man. When some one twitted him on his old age, his reply was, I too am ready to depart; but when again I consider that I am in all points in good health and that I can still write and read, I am content to wait. We are told that he wrote down Zeno’s lectures on oyster-shells and the blade-bones of oxen through lack of money to buy paper. Such was he; and yet, although Zeno

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had many other eminent disciples, he was able to succeed him in the headship of the school.

He has left some very fine writings, which are as follows:

Of Time.

Of Zeno’s Natural Philosophy, two books.

Interpretations of Heraclitus, four books.

De Sensu.

Of Art.

A Reply to Democritus.

A Reply to Aristarchus.

A Reply to Herillus.

Of Impulse, two books.

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.

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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.

His 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[*](Anth. Plan. v. 36.) on him runs thus:

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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.[*]( § 37.) After making considerable progress in his studies, he went to Alexandria to the court of King Ptolemy Philopator. [*](222-205 b.c.) One day when a discussion had arisen on the question whether the wise man could stoop to hold opinion, [*](Cf. sup. § 162.)and 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.

The books that he wrote were as follows:

Of the Cosmos, two books.

Of Elements.

Of Seed.

Of Fortune.

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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.