Diogenes Laertius
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
Chrysippus; the latter begins with
Pythagoras, and ends with
Epicurus. The
Socratic school, with its various branches, is classed with the Ionic; while the
Eleatics 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 Herodotus,
Pythocles and Menoeceus. 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.
The foundation of every state is the education of its youth.* Diogenes Laertius:
Lives of Eminent Philosophers ISBN 0674992040
*
On-line version of Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers*
Diogenes Laertius: the Manuscripts of "The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosphers" (notes on the publication history of Diogenes Laertius, from R.D. Hicks' edition of the "Lives", 1925)*
On-line version of the ancient Greek text of Diogenes' Lives
