The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers
Socrates, affirms that he never came to Athens at all. And that is a
still stranger circumstance than any, if he despised so important a
city, not wishing to derive glory from the place in which he was, but
preferring rather himself to invest the place with glory.
VI. And it is evident from his writings, what sort of man he was.
“He seems,” says Thrasylus, “to have been also an admirer of the
Pythagoreans.” And he mentions Pythagoras himself, speaking of him with
admiration, in the treatise which is inscribed with his name. And he
appears to have derived all his doctrines from him to such a degree, that
one would have thought that he had been his pupil, if the difference
of time did not prevent it. At all events, Glaucus, of Rhegium, who
was a contemporary of his, affirms that he was a pupil of some of the
Pythagorean school.
And Apollodorus, of Cyzicus, says that he was intimate with Philolaus;
“He used to practise himself,” says Antisthenes, “in testing perceptions
in various manners; sometimes retiring into solitary places, and spending
his time even among tombs.”
VII. And he further adds, that when he returned from his travels, he
lived in a most humble manner; like a man who had spent all his property,
and that on account of his poverty, he was supported by his brother
Damasus. But when he had foretold some future event, which happened
as he had predicted, and had in consequence become famous, he was for
all the rest of his life thought worthy of almost divine honours by
the generality of people. And as there was a law, that a man who had
squandered the whole of his patrimony, should not be allowed funeral
rites in his country, Antisthenes says, that he, being aware of this
law, and not wishing to be exposed to the calumnies of those who envied
him, and would be glad to accuse him, recited to the people his work
called the Great World, which is far superior to all his other writings,
and that as a reward for it he was presented with five hundred talents;
and not only that, but he also had some brazen statues erected in his
honour. And when he died, he was buried at the public expense; after
having attained the age of more than a hundred years. But Demetrius says,
that it was his relations who read the Great World, and that they were
presented with a hundred talents only; and Hippobotus coincides in this
statement.
VIII. And Aristoxenus, in his Historic Commentaries, says that Plato
wished to burn all the writings of Democritus that he was able to
collect; but that Amyclas and Cleinias, the Pythagoreans, prevented him,
as it would do no good; for that copies of his books were already in many
hands. And it is plain that that was the case; for Plato, who mentions
nearly all the ancient philosophers, nowhere speaks of Democritus; not
even in those passages where he has occasion to contradict his theories,
evidently, because he said that if he did, he would be showing his
disagreement with the best of all philosophers; a man whom even Timon
praises in the following terms:—
Like that Democritus, wisest of men,
Sage ruler of his speech; profound converser,
Whose works I love to read among the first.
IX. But he was, according to the statement made by himself in the Little
World, a youth when Anaxagoras was an old man, being forty years younger
than he was. And he says, that he composed the Little World seven hundred
and thirty years after the capture of Troy. And he must have been born,
according to the account given by Apollodorus in his Chronicles, in the
eightieth olympiad; but, as Thrasylus says, in his work entitled the
Events, which took place before the reading of the books of Democritus,
in the third year of the seventy-seventh olympiad, being, as it is there
stated, one year older than Socrates. He must therefore have been a
contemporary of Archelaus, the pupil of Anaxagoras, and of Œnopides,
for he makes mention of this letter. He also speaks of the theories of
Parmenides and Zeno, on the subject of the One, as they were the men of
the highest reputation in histories, and he also speaks of Protagoras of
Abdera, who confessedly lived at the same time as Socrates.
X. Athenodorus tells us, in the eighth book of his Conversations, that
once, when Hippocrates came to see him, he ordered some milk to be
brought; and that, when he saw the milk, he said that it was the milk
of a black goat, with her first kid; on which Hippocrates marvelled at
his accurate knowledge. Also, as a young girl came with Hippocrates, on
the first day, he saluted her thus, “Good morning, my maid;” but on the
next day, “Good morning, woman;” for, indeed, she had ceased to be a maid
during the night.
XI. And Hermippus relates, that Democritus died in the following manner:
he was exceedingly old, and appeared at the point of death; and his
sister was lamenting that he would die during the festival of the
Thesmophoria,[128] and so prevent her from discharging her duties to the
Goddess; and so he bade her be of good cheer, and desired her to bring
him hot loaves every day. And, by applying these to his nostrils, he kept
himself alive even over the festival. But when the days of the festival
were passed (and it lasted three days), then he expired, without any
pain, as Hipparchus assures us, having lived a hundred and nine years.
And we have written an epigram upon him in our collection of poems in
every metre, which runs thus:—
What man was e’er so wise, who ever did
So great a deed as this Democritus?
Who kept off death, though present for three days,
And entertained him with hot steam of bread.
Such was the life of this man.
XII. Now his principal doctrines were these. That atoms and the vacuum
were the beginning of the universe; and that everything else existed
only in opinion. That the worlds were infinite, created, and perishable.
But that nothing was created out of nothing, and that nothing was
destroyed so as to become nothing. That the atoms were infinite both
in magnitude and number, and were borne about through the universe in
endless revolutions. And that thus they produced all the combinations
that exist; fire, water, air, and earth; for that all these things are
only combinations of certain atoms; which combinations are incapable of
being affected by external circumstances, and are unchangeable by reason
of their solidity. Also, that the sun and the moon are formed by such
revolutions and round bodies; and in like manner the soul is produced;
and that the soul and the mind are identical: that we see by the falling
of visions across our sight; and that everything that happens, happens of
necessity. Motion, being the cause of the production of everything, which
he calls necessity. The chief good he asserts to be cheerfulness; which,
however, he does not consider the same as pleasure; as some people, who
have misunderstood him, have fancied that he meant; but he understands by
cheerfulness, a condition according to which the soul lives calmly and
steadily, being disturbed by no fear, or superstition, or other passion.
He calls this state εὐθυμία, and εὐεστὼ, and several other names.
Everything which is made he looks upon as depending for its existence on
opinion; but atoms and the vacuum he believes exist by nature. These were
his principal opinions.
XIII. Of his books, Thrasylus has given a regular catalogue, in the same
way that he has arranged the works of Plato, dividing them into four
classes.
Now these are his ethical works. The Pythagoras; a treatise on the
Disposition of the Wise Man; an essay on those in the Shades Below; the
Tritogeneia (this is so called because from Minerva three things are
derived which hold together all human affairs); a treatise on Manly
Courage or Valour; the Horn of Amalthea; an essay on Cheerfulness; a
volume of Ethical Commentaries. A treatise entitled, For Cheerfulness,
(εὐεστὼ) is not found.
These are his writings on natural philosophy. The Great World (which
Theophrastus asserts to be the work of Leucippus); the Little World; the
Cosmography; a treatise on the Planets; the first book on Nature; two
books on the Nature of Man, or on Flesh; an essay on the Mind; one on the
Senses (some people join these two together in one volume, which they
entitle, on the Soul); a treatise on Juices; one on Colours; one on the
Different Figures; one on the Changes of Figures; the Cratynteria (that
is to say, an essay, approving of what has been said in preceding ones);
a treatise on Phænomenon, or on Providence; three books on Pestilences,
or Pestilential Evils; a book of Difficulties. These are his books on
natural philosophy.
His miscellaneous works are these. Heavenly Causes; Aërial Causes; Causes
affecting Plane Surfaces; Causes referring to Fire, and to what is in
Fire; Causes affecting Voices; Causes affecting Seeds, and Plants, and
Fruits; three books of Causes affecting Animals; Miscellaneous Causes; a
treatise on the Magnet. These are his miscellaneous works.
His mathematical writings are the following. A treatise on the Difference
of Opinion, or on the Contact of the Circle and the Sphere; one on
Geometry; one on Numbers; one on Incommensurable Lines, and Solids,
in two books; a volume called Explanations; the Great Year, or the
Astronomical Calendar; a discussion on the Clepsydra; the Map of the
Heavens; Geography; Polography; Actinography, or a discussion on Rays of
Light. These are his mathematical works.
His works on music are the following. A treatise on Rhythm and Harmony;
one on Poetry; one on the beauty of Epic Poems; one on Euphonious and
Discordant Letters; one on Homer, or on Propriety of Diction[129] and
Dialects; one on Song, one on Words; the Onomasticon. These are his
musical works.
The following are his works on art. Prognostics; a treatise on the Way
of Living, called also Diætetics, or the Opinions of a Physician; Causes
relating to Unfavourable and Favourable Opportunities; a treatise on
Agriculture, called also the Georgic; one on Painting; Tactics, and
Fighting in heavy Armour. These are his works on such subjects.
Some authors also give a list of some separate treatises which they
collect from his Commentaries. A treatise on the Sacred Letters seen at
Babylon; another on the Sacred Letters seen at Meroe; the Voyage round
the Ocean; a treatise on History; a Chaldaic Discourse; a Phrygian
Discourse; a treatise on Fever; an essay on those who are attacked with
Cough after illness; the Principles of Laws; Things made by Hand, or
Problems.
As to the other books which some writers ascribed to him, some are merely
extracts from his other writings, and some are confessedly the work of
others. And this is a sufficient account of his writings.
XIV. There were six people of the name of Democritus. The first was this
man of whom we are speaking; the second was a musician of Chios, who
lived about the same time; the third was a sculptor who is mentioned by
Antigonus; the fourth is a man who wrote a treatise on the Temple at
Ephesus, and on the city of Samothrace; the fifth was an epigrammatic
poet, of great perspicuity and elegance; the sixth was a citizen of
Pergamus, who wrote a treatise on Oratory.
LIFE OF PROTAGORAS.
I. Protagoras was the son of Artemon, or, as Apollodorus says (which
account is corroborated by Deinon, in his History of Persia), of Mæander.
He was a native of Abdera, as Heraclides Ponticus tell us, in his
treatise on Laws; and the same authority informs us that he made laws
for the Thurians. But, according to the statement of Eupolis, in his
Flatterers, he was a native of Teos; for he says:—
Within you’ll find Protagoras, of Teos.
He, and Prodicus of Ceos, used to levy contributions for giving their
lectures; and Plato, in his Protagoras, says that Prodicus had a very