---
title: "Lives of the Eminent Philosophers · Βίοι καὶ γνῶμαι τῶν ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ εὐδοκιμησάντων"
author: "Diogenes Laertius"
translator: "R. D. Hicks"
languages: [grc, en]
shelf: "Philosophy"
section: 13 of 34
url: https://scriptura.si/works/diogenes-laertius-lives/13/
cite: "Diogenes Laertius, tr. R. D. Hicks, Lives of the Eminent Philosophers · Βίοι καὶ γνῶμαι τῶν ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ εὐδοκιμησάντων, section 13. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/diogenes-laertius-lives/13/"
---

# Lives of the Eminent Philosophers · Βίοι καὶ γνῶμαι τῶν ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ εὐδοκιμησάντων

*Diogenes Laertius, tr. R. D. Hicks*

Lives, sayings and doctrines of the Greek philosophers, from Thales to Epicurus.

> Greek: ed. R. D. Hicks, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-greekLit, tlg0004.tlg001, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: R. D. Hicks, from the Perseus Digital Library (tlg0004.tlg001.perseus-eng2). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the references the two texts share (books, chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence.

## 13. Book IV · chapters 6–10

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/diogenes-laertius-lives/13/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/diogenes-laertius-lives/13/#p-N

[¶0] 6.34. This is why Timon speaks of him again as follows: “And mixing sound sense with wily cavils.” Hence, when a young man talked more boldly than was becoming, Arcesilaus exclaimed, “Will no one beat him at a game of knuckle-bone?” Again, when some one of immodest life denied that one thing seemed to him greater than another, he rejoined, “Then six inches and ten inches are all the same to you?” There was a certain Hemon, a Chian, who, though ugly, fancied himself to be handsome, and always went about in fine clothes. He having propounded as his opinion that the wise man will never fall in love, Arcesilaus replied, “What, not with one so handsome as you and so handsomely dressed?” And when one of loose life, to imply that Arcesilaus was arrogant, addressed him thus:

> Greek: 6.34. διὸ καὶ πάλιν ὁ Τίμων οὑτωσὶ περὶ αὐτοῦ· καὶ * νόον αἱμυλίοις ἐπιπλήξεσιν ἐγκαταμιγνύς. ὅθεν καὶ πρὸς τὸν θρασύτερον διαλεγόμενον νεανίσκον, οὐ λήψεταί τις, ἔφη, τοῦτον ἀστραγάλῳ; πρὸς δὲ τὸν αἰτίαν ἔχοντα περαίνεσθαι, ὡς ἀνήνεγκεν αὐτῷ ὅτι οὐ δοκεῖ ἕτερον ἕτερου μεῖζον εἶναι, ἠρώτησεν εἰ οὐδὲ τὸ δεκαδάκτυλον τοῦ ἑξαδακτύλου. Ἥμονος δέ τινος Χίου ἀειδοῦς ὄντος καὶ ὑπολαμβάνοντος εἶναι καλοῦ καὶ ἐν χλανίσιν ἀεὶ ἀναστρεφομένου εἰπόντος ὅτι οὐ δοκεῖ αὐτῷ 〈ὁ〉 σοφὸς ἐρασθήσεσθαι, ἔφη, πότερον οὐδʼ ἐὰν οὕτω καλὸς ᾖ τις ὥσπερ σὺ οὐδʼ ἐὰν οὕτω καλὰ ἱμάτια ἔχῃ; ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ παρακίναιδος ὢν ὡς εἰς βαρὺν τὸν Ἀρκεσίλαον ἔφη·

[¶1] 6.35. “Queen, may I speak, or must I silence keep?” his reply was: “Woman, why talk so harshly, not as thou art wont?” When some talkative person of no family caused him considerable trouble, he cited the line: “Right ill to live with are the sons of slaves.” Of another who talked much nonsense he said that he could not have had even a nurse to scold him. And some persons he would not so much as answer. To a money-lending student, upon his confessing ignorance of something or other, Arcesilaus replied with two lines from the Oenomaus of Sophocles: “Be sure the hen-bird knows not from what quarter the wind blows until she looks for a new brood in the nest.”

> Greek: 6.35. ἔξεστʼ ἐρωτᾶν πότνιά σʼ ἢ σιγὴν ἔχω; ὑπολαβὼν ἔφη· γύναι, τί μοι τραχεῖα κοὐκ εἰθισμένως λαλεῖς; στωμύλου δὲ ἀγεννοῦς πράγματα αὐτῷ παρέχοντος ἔφη· ἀκόλασθʼ ὁμιλεῖν γίγνεται δούλων τέκνα. ἄλλου δὲ πολλὰ φλυαροῦντος οὐδὲ τίτθης αὐτὸν χαλεπῆς τετυχηκέναι ἔφη· τισὶ δὲ οὐδὲ ἀπεκρίνετο. πρὸς δὲ τὸν δανειστικὸν καὶ φιλόλογον εἰπόντα τι ἀγνοεῖν, ἔφη·
λήθουσι γάρ τοι κἀνέμων διέξοδοι
θήλειαν ὄρνιν, πλὴν ὅταν τόκος παρῇ.
ἔστι δὲ ταῦτα ἐκ τοῦ Οἰνομάου τοῦ Σοφοκλέους.

[¶2] 6.36. A certain dialectic, a follower of Alexinus, was unable to repeat properly some argument of his teacher, whereupon Arcesilaus reminded him of the story of Philoxenus and the brickmakers. He found them singing some of his melodies out of tune; so he retaliated by trampling on the bricks they were making, saying, “If you spoil my work, I’ll spoil yours.” He was, moreover, genuinely annoyed with any who took up their studies too late. By some natural impulse he was betrayed into using such phrases as “I assert,” and “So-and-so” (mentioning the name) “will not assent to this.” And this trait many of his pupils imitated, as they did also his style of speaking and his whole address.

> Greek: 6.36. Πρὸς Ἀλεξίνειόν τινα διαλεκτικὸν μὴ δυνάμενον κατʼ ἀξίαν τῶν Ἀλεξίνου τι διηγήσασθαι τὸ Φιλοξένῳ πρὸς τοὺς πλινθιακοὺς πραχθὲν εἶπεν· ἐκεῖνος γὰρ τὰ αὑτοῦ κακῶς ᾅδοντας τούτους καταλαβὼν αὐτὸς τὰς πλίνθους αὐτῶν συνεπάτησεν, εἰπών, ὡς ὑμεῖς τὰ ἐμὰ διαφθείρετε, οὕτω κἀγὼ τὰ ὑμέτερα. ἤχθετο οὖν δὴ τοῖς μὴ καθʼ ὥραν τὰ μαθήματα ἀνειληφόσι. φυσικῶς δέ πως ἐν τῷ διαλέγεσθαι ἐχρῆτο τῷ Φημʼ ἐγώ, καί, Οὐ συγκαταθήσεται τούτοις ὁ δεῖνα, εἰπὼν τοὔνομα· ὃ καὶ πολλοὶ τῶν μαθητῶν ἐζήλουν 〈ὡσ〉 καὶ τὴν ῥητορείαν καὶ πᾶν τὸ σχῆμα.

[¶3] 6.37. Very fertile in invention, he could meet objection acutely or bring the course of discussion back to the point at issue, and fit it to every occasion. In persuasiveness he had no equal, and this all the more drew pupils to the school, although they were in terror of his pungent wit. But they willingly put up with that; for his goodness was extraordinary, and he inspired his pupils with hopes. He showed the greatest generosity in private life, being ever ready to confer benefits, yet most modestly anxious to conceal the favour. For instance, he once called upon Ctesibius when he was ill and, seeing in what straits he was, quietly put a purse under his pillow. He, when he found it, said, “This is the joke of Arcesilaus.” Moreover, on another occasion, he sent him 1000 drachmas.

> Greek: 6.37. Ἦν δὲ καὶ εὑρεσιλογώτατος ἀπαντῆσαι εὐστόχως καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ προκείμενον ἀνενεγκεῖν τὴν περίοδον τῶν λόγων καὶ ἅπαντι συναρμόσασθαι καιρῷ. πειστικός τε ὑπὲρ πάνθʼ ὁντινοῦν· παρὸ καὶ πλείους πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀπήντων εἰς τὴν σχολὴν καίπερ ὑπʼ ὀξύτητος αὐτοῦ ἐπιπληττόμενοι. ἀλλʼ ἔφερον ἡδέως· καὶ γὰρ ἦν ἀγαθὸς σφόδρα καὶ ἐλπίδων ὑποπιμπλὰς τοὺς ἀκούοντας. ἔν τε τῷ βίῳ κοινωνικώτατος ἐγένετο καὶ εὐεργετῆσαι πρόχειρος ἦν καὶ λαθεῖν τὴν χάριν ἀτυφότατος. εἰσελθὼν γοῦν ποτὲ πρὸς Κτησίβιον νοσοῦντα καὶ ἰδὼν ἀπορίᾳ θλιβόμενον, κρύφα βαλάντιον ὑπέθηκε τῷ προσκεφαλαίῳ· καὶ ὃς εὑρών, Ἀρκεσιλάου, φησί, τὸ παίγνιον. ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄλλοτε χιλίας ἀπέστειλεν.

[¶4] 6.38. Again, by introducing Archias the Arcadian to Eumenes, he caused him to be advanced to great dignity. And, as he was very liberal, caring very little for money, so he was the first to attend performances where seats were paid for, and he was above all eager to go to those of Archecrates and Callicrates, for which the fee was a gold piece. And he helped many people and collected subscriptions for them. Some one once borrowed his silver plate in order to entertain friends and never brought it back, but Arcesilaus did not ask him for it and pretended it had not been borrowed. Another version of the story is that he lent it on purpose, and, when it was returned, made the borrower a present of it because he was poor. He had property in Pitane from which his brother Pylades sent him supplies. Furthermore, Eumenes, the son of Philetaerus, furnished him with large sums, and for this reason Eumenes was the only one of the contemporary kings to whom he dedicated any of his works.

> Greek: 6.38. Ἀρχίαν τε τὸν Ἀρκάδα Εὐμένει συστήσας πολλῆς ἐποίησε τυχεῖν τῆς ἀξίας. ἐλευθέριός τε ὢν καὶ ἀφιλαργυρώτατος εἰς τὰς ἀργυρικὰς δείξεις ἀπήντα πρῶτος, καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν Ἀρχεκράτους καὶ Καλλικράτους τὰς χρυσιαίας παντὸς ἔσπευδε μᾶλλον. συχνοῖς τε ἐπήρκει καὶ συνηράνιζε· καί ποτέ τινος ἀργυρώματα λαβόντος εἰς ὑποδοχὴν φίλων καὶ ἀποστεροῦντος οὐκ ἀπῄτησεν οὐδὲ προσεποιήθη. οἱ δέ φασιν ἐπίτηδες χρῆσαι καὶ ἀποδιδόντος, ἐπεὶ πένης ἦν, χαρίσασθαι. ἦν μὲν οὖν αὐτῷ καὶ ἐν Πιτάνῃ περιουσία, ἀφʼ ἧς ἀπέστειλεν αὐτῷ Πυλάδης ὁ ἀδελφός. ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐχορήγει αὐτῷ πολλὰ Εὐμένης ὁ τοῦ Φιλεταίρου· διὸ καὶ τούτῳ μόνῳ τῶν ἄλλων βασιλέων προσεφώνει.

[¶5] 6.39. And whereas many persons courted Antigonus and went to meet him whenever he came to Athens, Arcesilaus remained at home, not wishing to thrust himself upon his acquaintance. He was on the best of terms with Hierocles, the commandant in Munichia and Piraeus, and at every festival would go down to see him. And though Hierocles joined in urging him to pay his respects to Antigonus, he was not prevailed upon, but, after going as far as the gates, turned back. And after the battle at sea, when many went to Antigonus or wrote him flattering letters, he held his peace. However, on behalf of his native city, he did go to Demetrias as envoy to Antigonus, but failed in his mission. He spent his time wholly in the Academy, shunning politics.

> Greek: 6.39. Πολλῶν δὲ καὶ τὸν Ἀντίγονον θεραπευόντων καὶ ὁπότε ἥκοι ἀπαντώντων αὐτὸς ἡσύχαζε, μὴ βουλόμενος προεμπίπτειν εἰς γνῶσιν. φίλος τε ἦν μάλιστα Ἱεροκλεῖ τῷ τὴν Μουνιχίαν ἔχοντι καὶ τὸν Πειραιᾶ· ἔν τε ταῖς ἑορταῖς κατῄει πρὸς αὐτὸν ἑκάστοτε. καὶ δὴ καὶ πολλὰ ἐκείνου συμπείθοντος ὥστʼ ἀσπάσασθαι τὸν Ἀντίγονον, οὐκ ἐπείσθη, ἀλλʼ ἕως πυλῶν ἐλθὼν ἀνέστρεψε. μετά τε τὴν Ἀντιγόνου ναυμαχίαν πολλῶν προσιόντων καὶ ἐπιστόλια παρακλητικὰ γραφόντων αὐτὸς ἐσιώπησεν. ἀλλʼ οὖν ὅμως ὑπὲρ τῆς πατρίδος ἐπρέσβευσεν εἰς Δημητριάδα πρὸς Ἀντίγονον καὶ οὐκ ἐπέτυχε. τὸ πᾶν δὴ διέτριβεν ἐν τῇ Ἀκαδημείᾳ τὸν πολιτισμὸν ἐκτοπίζων.

[¶6] 6.40. Once indeed, when at Athens, he stopped too long in the Piraeus, discussing themes, out of friendship for Hierocles, and for this he was censured by certain persons. He was very lavish, in short another Aristippus, and he was fond of dining well, but only with those who shared his tastes. He lived openly with Theodete and Phila, the Elean courtesans, and to those who censured him he quoted the maxims of Aristippus. He was also fond of boys and very susceptible. Hence he was accused by Ariston of Chios, the Stoic, and his followers, who called him a corrupter of youth and a shameless teacher of immorality.

> Greek: 6.40. Καί ποτε δὴ καὶ Ἀθήνησιν ἐν τῷ Πειραιεῖ πρὸς τὰς θέσεις λέγων ἐχρόνισεν, οἰκείως ἔχων πρὸς Ἱεροκλέα· ἐφʼ ᾧ καὶ πρός τινων διεβάλλετο. πολυτελὴς δὲ ἄγαν ὤν—καὶ τί γὰρ ἄλλο ἢ ἕτερος Ἀρίστιππος;—ἐπὶ τὰ δεῖπνα πρὸς τοὺς ὁμοιοτρόπους μέν, πλὴν ἀλλʼ ἀπήντα. καὶ Θεοδότῃ τε καὶ Φίλᾳ ταῖς Ἠλείαις ἑταίραις συνῴκει φανερῶς καὶ πρὸς τοὺς διασύροντας προεφέρετο τὰς Ἀριστίππου χρείας. φιλομειράκιός τε ἦν καὶ καταφερής· ὅθεν οἱ περὶ Ἀρίστωνα τὸν Χῖον στωικοὶ ἐπεκάλουν αὐτῷ, φθορέα τῶν νέων καὶ κιναιδολόγον καὶ θρασὺν ἀποκαλοῦντες.

[¶7] 6.41. He is said to have been particularly enamoured of Demetrius who sailed to Cyrene, and of Cleochares of Myrlea; of him the story is told that, when a band of revellers came to the door, he told them that for his part he was willing to admit them but that Cleochares would not let him. This same youth had amongst his admirers Demochares the son of Laches, and Pythocles the son of Bugelus, and once when Arcesilaus had caught them, with great forbearance he ordered them off. For all this he was assailed and ridiculed by the critics abovementioned, as a friend of the mob who courted popularity. The most virulent attacks were made upon him in the circle of Hieronymus the Peripatetic, whenever he collected his friends to keep the birthday of Halcyoneus, son of Antigonus, an occasion for which Antigonus used to send large sums of money to be spent in merrymaking.

> Greek: 6.41. καὶ γὰρ δὴ καὶ Δημητρίου τοῦ πλεύσαντος εἰς Κυρήνην ἐπὶ πλέον ἐρασθῆναι λέγεται, καὶ Κλεοχάρους τοῦ Μυρλεανοῦ· ἐφʼ ᾧ καὶ πρὸς τοὺς κωμάσαντας εἰπεῖν αὐτὸς μὲν θέλειν ἀνοῖξαι, ἐκεῖνον δὲ διακωλύειν. τούτου δὲ ἤρων καὶ Δημοχάρης ὁ Λάχητος καὶ Πυθοκλῆς ὁ τοῦ Βουγέλου· οὓς καταλαβὼν ὑπʼ ἀνεξικακίας παραχωρεῖν ἔφη. διὰ ταῦτα δὴ οὖν ἔδακνόν τε αὐτὸν οἱ προειρημένοι καὶ ἐπέσκωπτον ὡς φίλοχλον καὶ φιλόδοξον· μάλιστα δὲ ἐπετίθεντο αὐτῷ οἱ περὶ Ἱερώνυμον τὸν Περιπατητικόν, ὁπότε συνάγοι τοὺς φίλους εἰς τὴν Ἁλκυονέως τοῦ Ἀντιγόνου υἱοῦ ἡμέραν, εἰς ἣν ἱκανὰ χρήματα ἀπέστελλεν Ἀντίγονος πρὸς ἀπόλαυσιν.

[¶8] 6.42. There he had always shunned discussion over the wine; and when Aridices, proposing a certain question, requested him to speak upon it, he replied, “The peculiar province of philosophy is just this, to know that there is a time for all things.” As to the charge brought against him that he was the friend of the mob, Timon, among many other things, has the following: “So saying, he plunged into the surrounding crowd. And they were amazed at him, like chaffinches about an owl, pointing him out as vain, because he was a flatterer of the mob. And why, insignificant thing that you are, do you puff yourself out like a simpleton?” And yet for all that he was modest enough to recommend his pupils to hear other philosophers. And when a certain youth from Chios was not well pleased with his lectures and preferred those of the above-mentioned Hieronymus, Arcesilaus himself took him and introduced him to that philosopher, with an injunction to behave well.

> Greek: 6.42. ἔνθα καὶ παραιτούμενος ἑκάστοτε τὰς ἐπικυλικείους ἐξηγήσεις πρὸς Ἀριδείκην προτείνοντά τι θεώρημα καὶ ἀξιοῦντα εἰς αὐτὸ λέγειν εἶπεν, ἀλλʼ αὐτὸ τοῦτο μάλιστα φιλοσοφίας ἴδιον, τὸ τὸν καιρὸν ἑκάστων ἐπίστασθαι. εἰς δὲ τὸ διαβαλλόμενον αὐτοῦ φίλοχλον καὶ Τίμων τά τʼ ἄλλα φησίν, ἀτὰρ δὴ καὶ τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον·
ὣς εἰπὼν ὄχλοιο περίστασιν εἰσκατέδυνεν.
οἱ δέ μιν ἠΰτε γλαῦκα πέρι σπίζαι τερατοῦντο
ἠλέματον δεικνύντες, ὁθούνεκεν ὀχλοάρεσκος.
οὐ μέγα πρῆγμα, τάλας· τί πλατύνεαι ἠλίθιος ὥς; Οὐ μὴν ἀλλʼ οὕτως ἄτυφος ἦν ὥστε τοῖς μαθηταῖς παρῄνει καὶ ἄλλων ἀκούειν. καί τινος Χίου νεανίσκου μὴ εὐαρεστουμένου τῇ διατριβῇ αὐτοῦ, ἀλλʼ Ἱερωνύμου τοῦ προειρημένου, αὐτὸς ἀπαγαγὼν συνέστησε τῷ φιλοσόφῳ, παραινέσας εὐτακτεῖν.

[¶9] 6.43. Another pleasant story told of him is this. Some one had inquired why it was that pupils from all the other schools went over to Epicurus, but converts were never made from the Epicureans: “Because men may become eunuchs, but a eunuch never becomes a man,” was his answer. At last, being near his end, he left all his property to his brother Pylades, because, unknown to Moereas, he had taken him to Chios and thence brought him to Athens. In all his life he never married nor had any children. He made three wills: the first he left at Eretria in the charge of Amphicritus, the second at Athens in the charge of certain friends, while the third he dispatched to his home to Thaumasias, one of his relatives, with the request that he would keep it safe. To this man he also wrote as follows: “Arcesilaus to Thaumasias greeting.”

> Greek: 6.43. Χάριεν δʼ αὐτοῦ φέρεται κἀκεῖνο· πρὸς τὸν πυθόμενον διὰ τί ἐκ μὲν τῶν ἄλλων μεταβαίνουσιν εἰς τὴν Ἐπικούρειον, ἐκ δὲ τῶν Ἐπικουρείων οὐδέποτε, ἔφη, ἐκ μὲν γὰρ ἀνδρῶν γάλλοι γίνονται, ἐκ δὲ γάλλων ἄνδρες οὐ γίνονται. Λοιπὸν δὲ πρὸς τῷ τέλει γενόμενος ἅπαντα καταλέλοιπε Πυλάδῃ τἀδελφῷ τὰ αὑτοῦ, ἀνθʼ ὧν ἐς Χῖον αὐτὸν προήγαγε τὸν Μοιρέαν λανθάνων, κἀκεῖθεν εἰς Ἀθήνας ἀπήγαγε. περιιὼν δὲ οὔτε γύναιον ἐπηγάγετο οὔτʼ ἐπαιδοποιήσατο. τρεῖς τε διαθήκας ποιησάμενος ἔθετο τὴν μὲν ἐν Ἐρετρίᾳ πρὸς Ἀμφίκριτον, τὴν δʼ Ἀθήνησι παρά τινας τῶν φίλων, τὴν δὲ τρίτην ἀπέστειλεν εἰς οἶκον πρὸς Θαυμασίαν ἕνα τινὰ τῶν ἀναγκαίων, ἀξιώσας διατηρῆσαι· πρὸς ὃν καὶ γράφει ταυτί· “Ἀρκεσίλαος Θαυμασίᾳ χαίρειν.

[¶10] 6.44. “I have given Diogenes my will to be conveyed to you. For, owing to my frequent illnesses and the weak state of my body, I decided to make a will, in order that, if anything untoward should happen, you, who have been so devotedly attached to me, should not suffer by my decease. You are the most deserving of all those in this place to be entrusted with the will, on the score both of age and of relationship to me. Remember then that I have reposed the most absolute confidence in you, and strive to deal justly by me, in order that, so far as you are concerned, the provisions I have made may be carried out with fitting dignity. A copy is deposited at Athens with some of my acquaintance, and another in Eretria with Amphicritus.” He died, according to Hermippus, through drinking too freely of unmixed wine which affected his reason; he was already seventy-five and regarded by the Athenians with unparalleled good-will.

> Greek: 6.44. “Δέδωκα Διογένει διαθήκας ἐμαυτοῦ κομίσαι πρὸς σέ διὰ γὰρ τὸ πολλάκις ἀρρωστεῖν καὶ τὸ σῶμα ἀσθενῶς ἔχειν ἔδοξέ μοι διαθέσθαι, ἵνʼ εἴ τι γένοιτο ἀλλοῖον, μήτι σὲ ἠδικηκὼς ἀπίω τὸν εἰς ἔμʼ ἐκτενῶς οὕτω πεφιλοτιμημένον. καὶ ἀξιοπιστότατος δʼ εἶ τῶν ἐνθάδε σύ μοι τηρῶν αὐτὰς διά τε τὴν ἡλικίαν καὶ τὴν πρὸς ἡμᾶς οἰκειότητα. πειρῶ οὖν, μεμνημένος διότι σοι πίστιν τὴν ἀναγκαιοτάτην παρακατατίθεμαι, δίκαιος ἡμῖν εἶναι, ὅπως ὅσον ἐπὶ σοὶ τὰ κατʼ ἐμὲ εὐσχημόνως ᾖ μοι διῳκημένα. κεῖνται δὲ Ἀθήνησιν αὗται παρά τισι τῶν γνωρίμων καὶ ἐν Ἐρετρίᾳ παρʼ Ἀμφικρίτῳ. Ἐτελεύτησε δέ, ὥς φησιν Ἕρμιππος, ἄκρατον ἐμφορηθεὶς πολὺν καὶ παρακόφας, ἤδη γεγονὼς ἔτος πέμπτον καὶ ἑβδομηκοστόν, ἀποδεχθεὶς πρὸς Ἀθηναίων ὡς οὐδείς.

[¶11] 6.45. I have written upon him as follows: “Why, pray, Arcesilaus, didst thou quaff so unsparingly unmixed wine as to go out of thy mind? I pity thee not so much for thy death as because thou didst insult the Muses by immoderate potations.” Three other men have borne the name of Arcesilaus: a poet of the Old Comedy, another poet who wrote elegies, and a sculptor besides, on whom Simonides composed this epigram: “This is a statue of Artemis and its cost two hundred Parian drachmas, which bear a goat for their device. It was made by Arcesilaus, the worthy son of Aristodicus, well practised in the arts of Athena.” According to Apollodorus in his Chronology, the philosopher described in the foregoing flourished about the 120th Olympiad.

> Greek: 6.45. Ἔστι καὶ εἰς τοῦτον ἡμῶν·
Ἀρκεσίλαε, τί μοι τόσον οἶνον ἄκρητον ἀφειδῶς
ἔσπασας, ὥστε φρενῶν ἐκτὸς ὄλισθες ἑῶν;
οἰκτείρω σʼ οὐ τόσσον ἐπεὶ θάνες, ἀλλʼ ὅτι Μούσας
ὕβρισας οὐ μετρίῃ χρησάμενος κύλικι. Γεγόνασι δὲ καὶ ἄλλοι τρεῖς Ἀρκεσίλαοι· ποιητὴς ἀρχαίας κωμῳδίας, ἄλλος ἐλεγείας, ἕτερος ἀγαλματοποιός· εἰς ὃν καὶ Σιμωνίδης ἐποίησεν ἐπίγραμμα τουτί·
Ἀρτέμιδος τόδʼ ἄγαλμα, διηκόσιαι δʼ ἄρʼ ὁ μισθὸς
δραχμαὶ ταὶ Πάριαι, τῶν ἐπίσημα τράγος.
ἀσκητὸς δʼ ἐποίησεν Ἀθηναίης παλάμῃσιν
ἄξιος Ἀρκεσίλας υἱὸς Ἀριστοδίκου. Ὁ δὲ προειρημένος φιλόσοφος, καθά φησιν Ἀπολλόδωρος ἐν Χρονικοῖς, ἤκμαζε περὶ τὴν εἰκοστὴν καὶ ἑκατοστὴν Ὀλυμπιάδα.

[¶12] 7.46. Bion was by birth a citizen of Borysthenes [Olbia]; who his parents were, and what his circumstances before he took to philosophy, he himself told Antigonus in plain terms. For, when Antigonus inquired: “Who among men, and whence, are you? What is your city and your parents?” he, knowing that he had already been maligned to the king, replied, “My father was a freedman, who wiped his nose on his sleeve”—meaning that he was a dealer in salt fish—“a native of Borysthenes, with no face to show, but only the writing on his face, a token of his master’s severity. My mother was such as a man like my father would marry, from a brothel. Afterwards my father, who had cheated the revenue in some way, was sold with all his family. And I, then a not ungraceful youngster, was bought by a certain rhetorician, who on his death left me all he had.”

> Greek: 7.46. Βίων τὸ μὲν γένος ἦν Βορυσθενίτης, ὧντινων δὲ γονέων καὶ ἀφʼ οἵων πραγμάτων ἧξεν ἐπὶ φιλοσοφίαν, αὐτὸς Ἀντιγόνῳ διασαφεῖ. ἐρομένου γὰρ αὐτὸν τίς πόθεν εἶς ἀνδρῶν; πόθι τοι πόλις ἠδὲ τοκῆες; αἰσθόμενος ὅτι προδιαβέβληται, φησὶ πρὸς αὐτόν· ἐμοὶ ὁ πατὴρ μὲν ἦν ἀπελεύθερος, τῷ ἀγκῶνι ἀπομυσσόμενος—διεδήλου δὲ τὸν ταριχέμπορον—γένος Βορυσθενίτης, ἔχων οὐ πρόσωπον, ἀλλὰ συγγραφὴν ἐπὶ τοῦ προσώπου, τῆς τοῦ δεσπότου πικρίας σύμβολον· μήτηρ δὲ οἵαν ὁ τοιοῦτος ἂν γήμαι, ἀπʼ οἰκήματος. ἔπειτα ὁ πατὴρ παρατελωνησάμενός τι πανοίκιος ἐπράθη μεθʼ ἡμῶν. καί με ἀγοράζει τις ῥήτωρ νεώτερον ὄντα καὶ εὔχαριν· ὃς καὶ ἀποθνήσκων κατέλιπέ μοι πάντα.

[¶13] 7.47. “And I burnt his books, scraped everything together, came to Athens and turned philosopher. “This is the stock and this the blood from which I boast to have sprung.” Such is my story. It is high time, then, that Persaeus and Philonides left off recounting it. Judge me by myself.” In truth Bion was in other respects a shifty character, a subtle sophist, and one who had given the enemies of philosophy many an occasion to blaspheme, while in certain respects he was even pompous and able to indulge in arrogance. He left very many memoirs, and also sayings of useful application. For example, when he was reproached for not paying court to a youth, his excuse was, “You can’t get hold of a soft cheese with a hook.”

> Greek: 7.47. κἀγὼ κατακαύσας αὐτοῦ τὰ συγγράμματα καὶ πάντα συγξύσας Ἀθήναζε ἦλθον καὶ ἐφιλοσόφησα. ταύτης τοι γενεῆς τε καὶ αἵματος εὔχομαι εἶναι. ταῦτά ἐστι τὰ κατʼ ἐμέ. ὥστε παυσάσθωσαν Περσαῖός τε καὶ Φιλωνίδης ἱστοροῦντες αὐτά· σκόπει δέ με ἐξ ἐμαυτοῦ. Καὶ ἦν ὡς ἀληθῶς ὁ Βίων τὰ μὲν ἄλλα πολύτροπος καὶ σοφιστὴς ποικίλος καὶ πλείστας ἀφορμὰς δεδωκὼς τοῖς βουλομένοις καθιππάζεσθαι φιλοσοφίας· ἔν τισι δὲ καὶ πομπικὸς καὶ ἀπολαῦσαι τύφου δυνάμενος. πλεῖστά τε καταλέλοιπεν ὑπομνήματα, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀποφθέγματα χρειώδη πραγματείαν περιέχοντα. οἷον ὀνειδιζόμενος ἐπὶ τῷ μὴ θηρᾶσαι μειράκιον, οὐχ οἷόντε, εἶπεν, ἁπαλὸν τυρὸν ἀγκίστρῳ ἐπισπᾶσθαι.

[¶14] 7.48. Being once asked who suffers most from anxiety, he replied, “He who is ambitious of the greatest prosperity.” Being consulted by some one as to whether he should marry—for this story is also told of Bion— he made answer, “If the wife you marry be ugly, she will be your bane; if beautiful, you will not keep her to yourself.” He called old age the harbour of all ills; at least they all take refuge there. Renown he called the mother of virtues; beauty another’s good; wealth the sinews of success. To some one who had devoured his patrimony he said, “The earth swallowed Amphiaraus, but you have swallowed your land.” To be unable to bear an ill is itself a great ill. He used to condemn those who burnt men alive as if they could not feel, and yet cauterized them as if they could.

> Greek: 7.48. ἐρωτηθείς ποτε τίς μᾶλλον ἀγωνιᾷ, ἔφη, ὁ τὰ μέγιστα βουλόμενος εὐημερεῖν. ἐρωτηθεὶς εἰ γήμαι—ἀναφέρεται γὰρ καὶ εἰς τοῦτον—ἔφη, ἐὰν μὲν γήμῃς αἰσχράν, ἕξεις ποινήν· ἂν δὲ καλήν, ἕξεις κοινήν. τὸ γῆρας ἔλεγεν ὅρμον εἶναι τῶν κακῶν· εἰς αὐτὸ γοῦν πάντα καταφεύγειν. τὴν δόξαν 〈ἀρ〉ετῶν μητέρα εἶναι· τὸ κάλλος ἀλλότριον ἀγαθόν· τὸν πλοῦτον νεῦρα πραγμάτων. πρὸς τὸν τὰ χωρία κατεδηδοκότα, τὸν μὲν Ἀμφιάραον, ἔφη, ἡ γῆ κατέπιε, σὺ δὲ τὴν γῆν. μέγα κακὸν τὸ μὴ δύνασθαι φέρειν κακόν. κατεγίνωσκε δὲ καὶ τῶν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους κατακαόντων μὲν ὡς ἀναισθήτους, παρακαόντων δὲ ὡς αἰσθανομένους.

[¶15] 7.49. He used repeatedly to say that to grant favours to another was preferable to enjoying the favours of others. For the latter means ruin to both body and soul. He even abused Socrates, declaring that, if he felt desire for Alcibiades and abstained, he was a fool; if he did not, his conduct was in no way remarkable. The road to Hades, he used to say, was easy to travel; at any rate men passed away with their eyes shut. He said in censure of Alcibiades that in his boyhood he drew away the husbands from their wives, and as a young man the wives from their husbands. When the Athenians were absorbed in the practice of rhetoric, he taught philosophy at Rhodes. To some one who found fault with him for this he replied, “How can I sell barley when what I brought to market is wheat?”

> Greek: 7.49. ἔλεγε δὲ συνεχὲς ὅτι αἱρετώτερόν ἐστι τὴν ὥραν ἄλλῳ χαρίζεσθαι ἢ ἀλλοτρίας ἀποδρέπεσθαι· καὶ γὰρ εἰς σῶμα βλάπτεσθαι καὶ εἰς ψυχήν. διέβαλε δὲ καὶ τὸν Σωκράτην, λέγων ὡς εἰ μὲν εἶχεν Ἀλκιβιάδου χρείαν καὶ ἀπείχετο, μάταιος ἦν· εἰ δὲ μὴ εἶχεν, οὐδὲν ἐποίει παράδοξον. εὔκολον ἔφασκε τὴν εἰς ᾅδου ὁδόν· καταμύοντας γοῦν ἀπιέναι. τὸν Ἀλκιβιάδην μεμφόμενος ἔλεγεν ὡς νέος μὲν ὢν τοὺς ἄνδρας ἀπαγάγοι τῶν γυναικῶν, νεανίσκος δὲ γενόμενος τὰς γυναῖκας τῶν ἀνδρῶν. ἐν Ῥόδῳ τὰ ῥητορικὰ διασκούντων τῶν Ἀθηναίων τὰ φιλοσοφούμενα ἐδίδασκε· πρὸς οὖν τὸν αἰτιασάμενον ἔφη, πυροὺς ἐκόμισα καὶ κριθὰς πιπράσκω;

[¶16] 7.50. He used to say that those in Hades would be more severely punished if the vessels in which they drew water were whole instead of being pierced with holes. To an importunate talker who wanted his help he said, “I will satisfy your demand, if you will only get others to plead your cause and stay away yourself.” On a voyage in bad company he fell in with pirates. When his companions said, “We are lost if we are discovered,” “And I too,” he replied, “unless I am discovered.” Conceit he styled a hindrance to progress. Referring to a wealthy miser he said, “He has not acquired a fortune; the fortune has acquired him.” Misers, he said, took care of property as if it belonged to them, but derived no more benefit from it than if it belonged to others. “When we are young,” said he, “we are courageous, but it is only in old age that prudence is at its height.”

> Greek: 7.50. Ἔλεγε δὲ τοὺς ἐν ᾅδου μᾶλλον ἂν κολάζεσθαι εἰ ὁλοκλήροις καὶ μὴ τετρημένοις ἀγγείοις ὑδροφόρουν. πρὸς τὸν ἀδολέσχην λιπαροῦντα αὐτῷ συλλαβέσθαι, τὸ ἱκανόν σοι ποιήσω, φησίν, ἐὰν παρακλήτους πέμψῃς καὶ αὐτὸς μὴ ἔλθῃς. πλέων μετὰ πονηρῶν λῃσταῖς περιέπεσε· τῶν δέ, ἀπολώλαμεν, εἰπόντων, ἐὰν γνωσθῶμεν, ἐγὼ δέ γε, φησίν, ἐὰν μὴ γνωσθῶ. τὴν οἴησιν ἔλεγε προκοπῆς ἐγκοπήν. πρὸς τὸν μικρολόγον πλούσιον, οὐχ οὗτος, ἔφη, τὴν οὐσίαν κέκτηται, ἀλλʼ ἡ οὐσία τοῦτον. ἔλεγε τοὺς μικρολόγους τῶν μὲν ὑπαρχόντων ὡς ἰδίων ἐπιμελεῖσθαι, ὡς δʼ ἐξ ἀλλοτρίων μηδὲν ὠφελεῖσθαι. τῇ μὲν ἀνδρείᾳ νέους ὄντας ἔφη χρῆσθαι, τῇ δὲ φρονήσει γηράσκοντας ἀκμάζειν.

[¶17] 7.51. Prudence, he said, excels the other virtues as much as sight excels the other senses. He used to say that we ought not to heap reproaches on old age, seeing that, as he said, we all hope to reach it. To a slanderer who showed a grave face his words were, “I don’t know whether you have met with ill luck, or your neighbour with good.” He used to say that low birth made a bad partner for free speech, for— “It cows a man, however bold his heart.” We ought, he remarked, to watch our friends and see what manner of men they are, in order that we may not be thought to associate with the bad or to decline the friendship of the good. Bion at the outset used to deprecate the Academic doctrines, even at the time when he was a pupil of Crates. Then he adopted the Cynic discipline, donning cloak and wallet.

> Greek: 7.51. τοσοῦτον διαφέρειν τὴν φρόνησιν τῶν ἄλλων ἀρετῶν, ὅσον τὴν ὅρασιν τῶν ἄλλων αἰσθήσεων. μὴ δεῖν ἔφασκεν ὀνειδίζειν τὸ γῆρας, εἰς ὅ, ἔφη, πάντες εὐχόμεθα ἐλθεῖν. πρὸς τὸν βάσκανον ἐσκυθρωπακότα, οὐκ οἶδα, ἔφη, πότερον σοὶ κακὸν γέγονεν ἢ ἄλλῳ ἀγαθόν. τὴν δυσγένειαν πονηρὸν ἔλεγεν εἶναι σύνοικον τῇ παρρησίᾳ· δουλοῖ γὰρ ἄνδρα, κἂν θρασύσπλαγχνός τις ᾖ. τοὺς φίλους ὁποῖοι ἂν ὦσι συντηρεῖν, ἵνα μὴ δοκοίημεν πονηροῖς κεχρῆσθαι ἢ χρηστοὺς παρῃτῆσθαι. Οὗτος τὴν ἀρχὴν μὲν παρῃτεῖτο τὰ Ἀκαδημαϊκά, καθʼ ὃν χρόνον ἤκουε Κράτητος· εἶτʼ ἐπανείλετο τὴν κυνικὴν ἀγωγήν, λαβὼν τρίβωνα καὶ πήραν.

[¶18] 7.52. For little else was needed to convert him to the doctrine of entire insensibility. Next he went over to Theodorean views, after he had heard the lectures of Theodorus the Atheist, who used every kind of sophistical argument. And after Theodorus he attended the lectures of Theophrastus the Peripatetic. He was fond of display and great at cutting up anything with a jest, using vulgar names for things. Because he employed every style of speech in combination, Eratosthenes, we hear, said of him that he was the first to deck philosophy with bright-flowered robes. He was clever also at parody. Here is a specimen of his style: “O gentle Archytas, musician-born, blessed in thine own conceit, most skilled of men to stir the bass of strife.”

> Greek: 7.52. καὶ τί γὰρ ἄλλο μετεσκεύασεν αὐτὸν πρὸς ἀπάθειαν; ἔπειτα ἐπὶ τὰ Θεοδώρεια μετῆλθε διακούσας Θεοδώρου τοῦ ἀθέου κατὰ πᾶν εἶδος λόγου σοφιστεύοντος· μεθʼ ὃν Θεοφράστου διήκουσε τοῦ περιπατητικοῦ. ἦν δὲ καὶ θεατρικὸς καὶ πολὺς ἐν τῷ γελοίως διαφορῆσαι, φορτικοῖς ὀνόμασι κατὰ τῶν πραγμάτων χρώμενος. διὰ δὴ οὖν τὸ παντὶ εἴδει λόγου κεκρᾶσθαί φασι λέγειν ἐπʼ αὐτοῦ τὸν Ἐρατοσθένην, ὡς πρῶτος Βίων τὴν φιλοσοφίαν ἀνθινὰ ἐνέδυσεν. εὐφυὴς γὰρ ἦν καὶ παρῳδῆσαι· οἷά ἐστιν αὐτοῦ καὶ ταῦτα·
ὦ πέπον Ἀρχύτα, ψαλληγενές, ὀλβιότυφε,
τῆς ὑπάτης ἔριδος πάντων ἐμπειρότατʼ ἀνδρῶν.

[¶19] 7.53. And in general he made sport of music and geometry. He lived extravagantly, and for this reason he would move from one city to another, sometimes contriving to make a great show. Thus at Rhodes he persuaded the sailors to put on students’ garb and follow in his train. And when, attended by them, he made his way into the gymnasium, all eyes were fixed on him. It was his custom also to adopt certain young men for the gratification of his appetite and in order that he might be protected by their goodwill. He was extremely selfish and insisted strongly on the maxim that “friends share in common.” And hence it came about that he is not credited with a single disciple, out of all the crowds who attended his lectures. And yet there were some who followed his lead in shamelessness.

> Greek: 7.53. καὶ ὅλως καὶ μουσικὴν καὶ γεωμετρίαν διέπαιζεν. ἦν δὲ πολυτελής· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πόλιν ἐκ πόλεως ἤμειβεν, ἐνίοτε καὶ φαντασίαν ἐπιτεχνώμενος. ἐν γοῦν Ῥόδῳ τοὺς ναύτας ἔπεισε σχολαστικὰς ἐσθῆτας ἀναλαβεῖν καὶ ἀκολουθῆσαι αὐτῷ· σὺν οἷς εἰσβάλλων εἰς τὸ γυμνάσιον περίβλεπτος ἦν. εἰώθει τε νεανίσκων τινῶν υἱοθεσίας ποιεῖσθαι εἰς τὸ ἀποχρῆσθαι αὐτοῖς ἔς τε τὰς ἡδονὰς καὶ ὥστε φυλάττεσθαι ὑπʼ εὐνοίας αὐτῶν· ἀλλὰ καὶ φίλαυτος ἦν ἰσχυρῶς καὶ πολὺς ἐγκείμενος τῷ Κοινὰ τὰ φίλων. παρʼ ὃ καὶ οὐδεὶς μαθητὴς αὐτοῦ ἐπιγράφεται, τοσούτων αὐτῷ σχολασάντων· καίτοι τινὰς εἰς ἀναισχυντίαν προῆγεν.

[¶20] 7.54. For instance, Betion, one of his intimates, is said once to have addressed Menedemus in these words: “For my part, Menedemus, I pass the night with Bion, and I don’t think I am any the worse for it.” In his familiar talk he would often vehemently assail belief in the gods, a taste which he had derived from Theodorus. Afterwards, when he fell ill (so it was said by the people of Chalcis where he died), he was persuaded to wear an amulet and to repent of his offences against religion. And even for want of nurses he was in a sad plight, until Antigonus sent him two servants. And it is stated by Favorinus in his Miscellaneous History that the king himself followed in a litter. Even so he died, and in these lines I have taken him to task:

> Greek: 7.54. ὁ γοῦν Βητίων εἷς τῶν συνήθων αὐτῷ πρὸς Μενέδημόν ποτε λέγεται εἰπεῖν, ἐγώ τοι, ὦ Μενέδημε, νύκτωρ συνδέομαι Βίωνι καὶ οὐδὲν ἄτοπον δοκῶ μοι πεπονθέναι. πολλὰ δὲ καὶ ἀθεώτερον προεφέρετο τοῖς ὁμιλοῦσι, τοῦτο Θεοδώρειον ἀπολαύσας. καὶ ὕστερόν ποτε ἐμπεσὼν εἰς νόσον, ὡς ἔφασκον οἱ ἐν Χαλκίδι—αὐτόθι γὰρ καὶ κατέστρεψε—περίαπτα λαβεῖν ἐπείσθη καὶ μεταγινώσκειν ἐφʼ οἷς ἐπλημμέλησεν εἰς τὸ θεῖον. ἀπορίᾳ δὲ καὶ τῶν νοσοκομούντων δεινῶς διετίθετο, ἕως Ἀντίγονος αὐτῷ δύο θεράποντας ἀπέστειλε. καὶ ἠκολούθει γε αὐτὸς ἐν φορείῳ, καθά φησι Φαβωρῖνος ἐν Παντοδαπῇ ἱστορίᾳ. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ὣς κατέστρεψε καὶ ἡμεῖς αὐτὸν οὕτως ᾐτιασάμεθα·

[¶21] 7.55. “We hear that Bion, to whom the Scythian land of Borysthenes gave birth, denied that the gods really exist. Had he persisted in holding this opinion, it would have been right to say, “He thinks as he pleases: wrongly, to be sure, but still he does think so.” But in fact, when he fell ill of a lingering disease and feared death, he who denied the existence of the gods, and would not even look at a temple,” “who often mocked at mortals for sacrificing to deities, not only over hearth and high altars and table, with sweet savour and fat and incense did he gladden the nostrils of the gods; nor was he content to say “I have sinned, forgive the past,””

> Greek: 7.55. Βίωνα, τὸν Βορυσθένης ἔφυσε γῆ Σκύθισσα,
λέγειν ἀκούομεν θεοὺς ὡς οὐδέν εἰσιν ὄντως.
κεἰ μὲν τὸ δόγμα τοῦτʼ ἔχων ἔμιμνεν, ἦν ἂν εἰκὸς
λέγειν, φρονεῖν ὅπως δοκεῖ· κακῶς μέν, ἀλλʼ ἔδοξε.
νῦν δʼ ἐς νόσον πεσὼν μακρὴν καὶ μὴ θάνῃ δεδοικὼς
ὁ μὴ θεοὺς εἶναι λέγων, ὁ νηὸν οὐδὲ βλέψας, ὁ πολλὰ χλευάσας βροτούς, ὅσοι θεοῖς ἔθυον,
οὐ μοῦνον ἐσχάρης ὕπερ βωμῶν τε καὶ τραπέζης
κνίσῃ, λίπει, θυλήμασιν θεῶν ἔδαισε ῥῖνας· οὐδʼ εἶπε μοῦνον, Ἤλιτον, σύγγνωτε τοῖς πρίν· ἀλλὰ
καὶ γραῒ δῶκεν εὐμαρῶς τράχηλον εἰς ἐπῳδὴν
καὶ σκυτίσιν βραχίονας πεπεισμένως ἔδησε·

[¶22] 7.57. “but he cheerfully allowed an old woman to put a charm round his neck, and in full faith bound his arms with leather and placed the rhamnus and the laurel-branch over the door, being ready to submit to anything sooner than die. Fool for wishing that the divine favour might be purchased at a certain price, as if the gods existed just when Bion chose to recognize them! It was then with vain wisdom that, when the driveller was all ashes, he stretched out his hand and said “Hail, Pluto, hail!””

> Greek: 7.57. ῥάμνον τε καὶ κλάδον δάφνης ὑπὲρ θύρην ἔθηκεν,
ἅπαντα μᾶλλον ἢ θανεῖν ἕτοιμος ὢν ὑπουργεῖν.
μωρὸς δʼ ὃς ἤθελέν τινος μισθοῦ τὸ θεῖον εἶναι,
ὡς τῶν θεῶν ὄντων ὅταν Βίων θέλῃ νομίζειν.
τοιγὰρ μάτην φρονῶν, ὅτʼ ἦν ἅπας ὁ λέμφος ἄνθραξ,
τὴν χεῖρα τείνας ὧδέ πως, Χαῖρʼ, εἶπε, χαῖρε,
Πλουτεῦ.

[¶23] 7.58. Ten men have borne the name of Bion: (1) the contemporary of Pherecydes of Syria, to whom are assigned two books in the Ionic dialect; he was of Proconnesus; (2) a Syracusan, who wrote rhetorical handbooks; (3) our philosopher; (4) a follower of Democritus and mathematician of Abdera, who wrote both in Attic and in Ionic: he was the first to affirm that there are places where the night lasts for six months and the day for six months; (5) a native of Soli, who wrote a work on Aethiopia; (6) a rhetorician, the author of nine books called after the Muses; (7) a lyric poet; (8) a Milesian sculptor, mentioned by Polemo; (9) a tragic poet, one of the poets of Tarsus, as they are called; (10) a sculptor of Clazomenae or Chios, mentioned by Hipponax.

> Greek: 7.58. Γεγόνασι δὲ Βίωνες δέκα· πρῶτος ὁ Φερεκύδῃ τῷ Συρίῳ συνακμάσας, οὗ φέρεται βιβλία δύο Ἰάδι· ἔστι δὲ Προκοννήσιος. δεύτερος Συρακόσιος, τέχνας ῥητορικὰς γεγραφώς· τρίτος αὐτὸς οὗτος· τέταρτος Δημοκρίτειος καὶ μαθηματικός, Ἀβδη· ρίτης, Ἀτθίδι γεγραφὼς καὶ Ἰάδι· οὗτος πρῶτος εἶπεν εἶναί τινας οἰκήσεις ἔνθα γίνεσθαι ἓξ μηνῶν τὴν νύκτα καὶ ἓξ τὴν ἡμέραν. πέμπτος Σολεύς, Αἰθιοπικὰ γεγραφώς· ἕκτος ῥητορικός, οὗ φέρεται ἐννέα βιβλία Μουσῶν ἐπιγραφόμενα· ἕβδομος μελικὸς ποιητής· ὄγδοος Μιλήσιος ἀνδριαντοποιός, οὗ μέμνηται καὶ Πολέμων· ἔνατος ποιητὴς τραγῳδίας τῶν Ταρσικῶν λεγομένων· δέκατος ἀγαλματοποιὸς Κλαζομένιος ἢ Χῖος, οὗ μέμνηται καὶ Ἱππῶναξ.

[¶24] 8.59. Lacydes, son of Alexander, was a native of Cyrene He was the founder of the New Academy and the successor of Arcesilaus: a man of very serious character who found numerous admirers; industrious from his youth up and, though poor, of pleasant manners and pleasant conversation. A most amusing story is told of his housekeeping. Whenever he brought anything out of the store-room, he would seal the door up again and throw his signet-ring inside through the opening, to ensure that nothing laid up there should be stolen or carried off. So soon, then, as his rogues of servants got to know this, they broke the seal and carried off what they pleased, afterwards throwing the ring in the same way through the opening into the store-room. Nor were they ever detected in this.

> Greek: 8.59. Λακύδης Ἀλεξάνδρου Κυρηναῖος. οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ τῆς νέας Ἀκαδημείας κατάρξας καὶ Ἀρκεσίλαον διαδεξάμενος, ἀνὴρ σεμνότατος καὶ οὐκ ὀλίγους ἐσχηκὼς ζηλωτάς· φιλόπονός τε ἐκ νέου καὶ πένης μέν, εὔχαρις δʼ ἄλλως καὶ εὐόμιλος. τοῦτόν φασι καὶ περὶ οἰκονομίαν γλυκύτατα ἐσχηκέναι· ἐπειδὴ γάρ τι προέλοι τοῦ ταμιείου, σφραγισάμενος πάλιν εἴσω τὸν δακτύλιον διὰ τῆς ὀπῆς ἐρρίπτει, ὡς μηδέποτʼ αὐτοῦ περιαιρεθείη τι καὶ βασταχθείη τῶν ἀποκειμένων. μαθόντα δὴ τοῦτο τὰ θεραπόντια ἀπεσφράγιζε καὶ ὅσα ἐβούλετο ἐβάσταζεν· ἔπειτα τὸν δακτύλιον τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον διὰ τῆς ὀπῆς ἐνίει εἰς τὴν στοάν· καὶ τοῦτο ποιοῦντα οὐδέ ποτʼ ἐφωράθη.

[¶25] 8.60. Lacydes used to lecture in the Academy, in the garden which had been laid out by King Attalus, and from him it derived its name of Lacydeum. He did what none of his predecessors had ever done; in his lifetime he handed over the school to Telecles and Evander, both of Phocaea. Evander was succeeded by Hegesinus of Pergamum, and he again by Carneades. A good saying is attributed to Lacydes. When Attalus sent for him, he is said to have remarked that statues are best seen from a distance. He stadied geometry late, and some one said to him, “Is this a proper time?” To which he replied, “Nay, is it not even yet the proper time?”

> Greek: 8.60. Ὁ γοῦν Λακύδης ἐσχόλαζεν ἐν Ἀκαδημείᾳ ἐν τῷ κατασκευασθέντι κήπῳ ὑπὸ Ἀττάλου τοῦ βασιλέως, καὶ Λακύδειον ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ προσηγορεύετο. καὶ μόνος τῶν ἀπʼ αἰῶνος ζῶν παρέδωκε τὴν σχολὴν Τηλεκλεῖ καὶ Εὐάνδρῳ τοῖς Φωκαεῦσι. παρὰ δʼ Εὐάνδρου διεδέξατο Ἡγησίνους Περγαμηνός, ἀφʼ οὗ Καρνεάδης. χάριεν δʼ εἰς τὸν Λακύδην ἀναφέρεται· Ἀττάλου γὰρ αὐτὸν μεταπεμπομένου φασὶν εἰπεῖν τὰς εἰκόνας πόρρωθεν δεῖν θεωρεῖσθαι. ὀψὲ δὲ αὐτῷ γεωμετροῦντι λέγει τις, εἶτα νῦν καιρός; 〈καὶ ὅς·〉 εἶτα μηδὲ νῦν;

[¶26] 8.61. He assumed the headship of the school in the fourth year of the 134th Olympiad, and at his death he had been head for twenty-six years. His end was a palsy brought on by drinking too freely. And here is a quip of my own upon the fact: “Of thee too, O Lacydes, I have heard a tale, that Bacchus seized thee and dragged thee on tip-toe to the underworld. Nay, was it not clear that when the wine-god comes in force into the frame, he loosens our limbs? Perhaps this is why he gets his name of the Loosener.”

> Greek: 8.61. Ἐτελεύτησε δὲ σχολαρχεῖν ἀρξάμενος τῷ τετάρτῳ ἔτει τῆς τετάρτης καὶ τριακοστῆς καὶ ἑκατοστῆς Ὀλυμπιάδος, τῆς σχολῆς ἀφηγησάμενος ἓξ πρὸς τοῖς εἴικοσιν ἔτη· ἡ τελευτὴ δὲ αὐτῷ παράλυσις ἐκ πολυποσίας. καὶ αὐτῷ προσεπαίξαμεν ἡμεῖς οὑτωσί·
καὶ σέο, Λακύδη, φάτιν ἔκλυον ὡς ἄρα καὶ σὲ
Βάκχος ἑλὼν Ἀΐδῃ ποσσὶν ἔσυρεν ἄκροις.
ἦ σαφὲς ἦν, Διόνυσος ὅταν πολὺς ἐς δέμας ἔλθῃ,
λῦσε μέλη· διὸ δὴ μήτι Λυαῖος ἔφυ;

[¶27] 9.62. Carneades, the son of Epicomus or (according to Alexander in his Successions of Philosophers) of Philocomus, was a native of Cyrene. He studied carefully the writings of the Stoics and particularly those of Chrysippus, and by combating these successfully he became so famous that he would often say: “Without Chrysippus where should I have been?” The man’s industry was unparalleled, although in physics he was not so strong as in ethics. Hence he would let his hair and nails grow long from intense devotion to study. Such was his predominance in philosophy that even the rhetoricians would dismiss their classes and repair to him to hear him lecture.

> Greek: 9.62. Καρνεάδης Ἐπικώμου ἢ Φιλοκώμου, ὡς Ἀλέξανδρος ἐν Διαδοχαῖς, Κυρηναῖος. οὗτος τὰ τῶν Στωικῶν βιβλία ἀναγνοὺς ἐπιμελῶς 〈καὶ μάλιστα〉 τὰ Χρυσίππου, ἐπιεικῶς αὐτοῖς ἀντέλεγε καὶ εὐημέρει τοσοῦτον, ὥστε ἐκεῖνο ἐπιλέγειν· εἰ μὴ γὰρ ἦν Χρύσιππος, οὐκ ἂν ἦν ἐγώ. φιλόπονος δʼ ἄνθρωπος γέγονεν εἰ καί τις ἄλλος, ἐν μὲν τοῖς φυσικοῖς ἧττον φερόμενος, ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἠθικοῖς μᾶλλον. ὅθεν καὶ ἐκόμα καὶ ἔτρεφεν ὄνυχας ἀσχολίᾳ τῇ περὶ τοὺς λόγους. τοσοῦτον δʼ ἴσχυσεν ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ, ὥστε καὶ τοὺς ῥήτορας ἀπολύσαντας ἐκ τῶν σχολῶν παρʼ αὐτὸν ἰέναι καὶ αὐτοῦ ἀκούειν.

[¶28] 9.63. His voice was extremely powerful, so that the keeper of the gymnasium sent to him and requested him not to shout so loud. To which he replied, “Then give me something by which to regulate my voice.” Thereupon by a happy hit the man replied in the words, “You have a regulator in your audience.” His talent for criticizing opponents was remarkable, and he was a formidable controversialist. And for the reasons already given he further declined invitations to dine out. One of his pupils was Mentor the Bithynian, who tried to ingratiate himself with a concubine of Carneades; so on one occasion (according to Favorinus in his Miscellaneous History), when Mentor came to lecture, Carneades in the course of his remarks let fall these lines by way of parody at his expense:

> Greek: 9.63. Ἦν δὲ καὶ μεγαλοφωνότατος, ὥστε τὸν γυμνασίαρχον προσπέμψαι αὐτῷ μὴ οὕτω βοᾶν· τὸν δὲ εἰπεῖν, καὶ δὸς μέτρον φωνῆς. ἔνθεν εὐστόχως ἑλόντα ἀμείψασθαι· φάναι γάρ, μέτρον ἔχεις τοὺς ἀκούοντας. δεινῶς τʼ ἦν ἐπιπληκτικὸς καὶ ἐν ταῖς ζητήσεσι δύσμαχος· τά τε δεῖπνα λοιπὸν παρῃτεῖτο διὰ τὰς προειρημένας αἰτίας. οὗτός ποτε Μέντορος τοῦ Βιθυνοῦ μαθητοῦ ὄντος καὶ παρʼ αὐτὸν ἐλθόντος εἰς τὴν διατριβήν, ὡς ἐπείρα αὐτοῦ τὴν παλλακὴν ὁ Μέντωρ, καθά φησι Φαβωρῖνος ἐν Παντοδαπῇ ἱστορίᾳ, μεταξὺ λέγων παρῴδησεν εἰς αὐτόν·

[¶29] 9.64. “Hither comes an old man of the sea, infallible, like to Mentor in person and in voice. Him I proclaim to have been banished from this school.” Thereupon the other got up and replied: “Those on their part made proclamation, and these speedily assembled.” He seems to have shown some want of courage in the face of death, repeating often the words, “Nature which framed this whole will also destroy it.” When he learnt that Antipater committed suicide by drinking a potion, he was greatly moved by the constancy with which he met his end, and exclaimed, “Give it then to me also.” And when those about him asked “What?” “A honeyed draught,” said he. At the time he died the moon is said to have been eclipsed, and one might well say that the brightest luminary in heaven next to the sun thereby gave token of her sympathy.

> Greek: 9.64. πωλεῖταί τις δεῦρο γέρων ἅλιος νημερτής,
Μέντορι εἰδόμενος ἠμὲν δέμας ἠδὲ καὶ αὐδήν·
τοῦτον σχολῆς τῆσδʼ ἐκκεκηρῦχθαι λέγω·
καὶ ὃς ἀναστὰς ἔφη· οἱ μὲν ἐκήρυσσον, τοὶ δʼ ἠγείροντο μάλʼ ὦκα. Δειλότερον δέ πως δοκεῖ περὶ τὴν τελευτὴν ἀνεστράφθαι, ὅτε συνεχὲς ἔλεγεν, ἡ συστήσασα φύσις καὶ διαλύσει. μαθών τε Ἀντίπατρον φάρμακον πιόντα ἀποθανεῖν, παρωρμήθη πρὸς τὸ εὐθαρσὲς τῆς ἀπαλλαγῆς καί φησι, δότε οὖν κἀμοί· τῶν δὲ εἰπόντων, τί; οἰνόμελι εἶπεν. τελευτῶντος δʼ αὐτοῦ φασιν ἔκλειψιν γενέσθαι σελήνης, συμπάθειαν, ὡς ἂν εἴποι τις, αἰνιττομένου τοῦ μεθʼ ἥλιον καλλίστου τῶν ἄστρων.

[¶30] 9.65. According to Apollodorus in his Chronology, he departed this life in the fourth year of the 162nd Olympiad at the age of eighty-five years. Letters of his to Ariarathes, king of Cappadocia, are extant. Everything else was compiled by his pupils; he himself left nothing in writing. I have written upon him in logaoedic metre as follows: “Why, Muse, oh why wouldst thou have me censure Carneades? For he is ignorant who knoweth not how he feared death. When wasting away with the worst of diseases, he would not find release. But when he heard that Antipater’s life was quenched by drinking a potion,” ““Give me too,” he cried, “a draught to drink.”

> Greek: 9.65. Φησὶ δὲ Ἀπολλόδωρος ἐν Χρονικοῖς ἀπελθεῖν αὐτὸν ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἔτει τετάρτῳ τῆς δευτέρας καὶ ἑξηκοστῆς καὶ ἑκατοστῆς Ὀλυμπιάδος, βιώσαντα ἔτη πέντε πρὸς τοῖς ὀγδοήκοντα. φέρονται δʼ αὐτοῦ ἐπιστολαὶ πρὸς Ἀριαράθην τὸν Καππαδοκίας βασιλέα. τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ αὐτοῦ οἱ μαθηταὶ συνέγραψαν· αὐτὸς δὲ κατέλιπεν οὐδέν. ἔστι καὶ εἰς τοῦτον ἡμῶν τῷ λογαοιδικῷ μέτρῳ [καὶ Ἀρχεβουλείῳ]·
τί με Καρνεάδην, τί με, Μοῦσα, θέλεις ἐλέγχειν;
ἀμαθὴς γὰρ ὃς οὔτι κάτοιδεν ὅπως δεδοίκει
τὸ θανεῖν· ὅτε καὶ φθισικήν ποτʼ ἔχων κακίστην
νόσον, οὐκ ἔθελεν λύσιν ἰσχέμεν· ἀλλʼ ἀκούσας
ὅτι φάρμακον Ἀντίπατρός τι πιὼν ἀπέσβη, δότε τόινυν, ἔφησε, τὶ κἀμὲ πιεῖν.

[¶31] 9.66. “What? pray what?” “Give me a draught of honeyed wine.” He had often on his lips the words, “Nature which holds this frame together will surely dissolve it.” None the less he too went down to the grave, and he might have got there sooner by cutting short his tale of woes.” It is said that his eyes went blind at night without his knowing it, and he ordered the slave to light the lamp. The latter brought it and said, “Here it is.” “Then,” said Carneades, “read.” He had many other disciples, but the most illustrious of them all was Clitomachus, of whom we have next to speak. There was another Carneades, a frigid elegiac poet.

> Greek: 9.66. τί μέντοι;
τί; δότʼ οἰνόμελι. σφόδρα τʼ εἶχε πρόχειρα ταυτί·
φύσις ἡ συνέχουσά με καὶ διαλύσεται δή.
ὁ μὲν οὐδὲν ἔλασσον ἔβη κατὰ γῆς, ἐνῆν δὲ
τὰ πλέω κακὰ κέρδεʼ ἔχοντα μολεῖν ἐς ᾅδου. Λέγεται καὶ τὰς ὄψεις νυκτὸς ὑποχυθῆναι καὶ ἀγνοεῖν· κελεῦσαί τε τὸν παῖδα λύχνον ἅψαι· εἰσκομίσαντος δὲ καὶ εἰπόντος, κεκόμικα, οὐκοῦν, εἰπεῖν, σὺ ἀναγίνωσκε. Τούτου πολλοὶ μὲν καὶ ἄλλοι γεγόνασι μαθηταί, ἐλλογιμώτατος δὲ Κλειτόμαχος· περὶ οὗ καὶ λεκτέον. Γέγονε μέντοι καὶ ἄλλος Καρνεάδης, ἐλεγείας ποιητὴς ψυχρός.

[¶32] 10.67. Clitomachus was a Carthaginian, his real name being Hasdrubal, and he taught philosophy at Carthage in his native tongue. He had reached his fortieth year when he went to Athens and became a pupil of Carneades. And Carneades, recognizing his industry, caused him to be educated and took part in training him. And to such lengths did his diligence go that he composed more than four hundred treatises. He succeeded Carneades in the headship of the school, and by his writings did much to elucidate his opinions. He was eminently well acquainted with the three sects—the Academy, the Peripatetics, and the Stoics. The Academics in general are assailed by Timon in the line: “The prolixity of the Academics unseasoned by salt.” Having thus reviewed the Academics who derived from Plato, we will now pass on to the Peripatetics, who also derived from Plato. They begin with Aristotle.

> Greek: 10.67. Κλειτόμαχος Καρχηδόνιος. οὗτος ἐκαλεῖτο μὲν Ἀσδρούβας καὶ τῇ ἰδίᾳ φωνῇ κατὰ τὴν πατρίδα ἐφιλοσόφει. ἐλθὼν δʼ εἰς Ἀθήνας ἤδη τετταράκοντʼ ἔτη γεγονὼς ἤκουσε Καρνεάδου· κἀκεῖνος ἀποδεξάμενος αὐτοῦ τὸ φιλόπονον γράμματά τʼ ἐποίησε μαθεῖν καὶ συνήσκει τὸν ἄνδρα. ὁ δὲ εἰς τοσοῦτον ἤλασεν ἐπιμελείας, ὥστε ὑπὲρ τὰ τετρακόσια βιβλία συνέγραψε. καὶ διεδέξατο τὸν Καρνεάδην καὶ τὰ αὐτοῦ μάλιστα διὰ τῶν συγγραμμάτων ἐφώτισεν. ἀνὴρ ἐν ταῖς τρισὶν αἱρέσεσι διαπρέψας, ἔν τε τῇ Ἀκαδημαϊκῇ καὶ περιπατητικῇ καὶ στωικῇ. Καθόλου δὲ τοὺς Ἀκαδημαϊκοὺς ὁ Τίμων οὕτω διασύρει· οὐδʼ Ἀκαδημιακῶν πλατυρημοσύνης ἀναλίστου. Ἡμεῖς δὲ τοὺς Ἀκαδημαϊκοὺς τοὺς ἀπὸ Πλάτωνος διεληλυθότες ἔλθωμεν ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀπὸ Πλάτωνος περιπατητικούς, ὧν ἦρξεν Ἀριστοτέλης.