He appear^ to have been a very arrogant man/ 1 At any rate, of all his many writings he dedicated none to any of the kings. And he was satisfied with one old woman's judgement, says Demetrius in his work called Men of the Same Name. When Ptolemy wrote to Cleanthes requesting him to come himself or else to send some one to his court, Sphaerus undertook the journey, while Chrysippus declined to go. On the other hand, he sent for his sister's sons, Aristocreon and Philocrates, and educated them. Demetrius above mentioned is also our authority for the. statement that Chrysippus was the first who ventured to hold a lecture-class in the open air in the Lyceum. There was another Chrysippus, a native of Cnidus, a physician, 11 to whom Erasistratus says that he was under great obligation. And another besides, a son c of the former, court-physician to Ptolemy, who on a false charge was dragged about and castigated with the lash. And yet another was a pupil of Erasistratus, and another the author of a work on Agriculture. To return to the philosopher. He used to propound arguments such as the following : " He who divulges the mysteries to the uninitiated is guilty of impiety. Now the hierophant certainly does reveal the mysteries to the uninitiated, ergo he is guilty of impiety." d Or again : " What is not in the city is not in the house either : now there is no well in the city, ergo there is none in the house either." Yet another : " There is a certain head, and that head you have not. Now this being so, there is a head which you have not, therefore you are without a head." Again : "If anyone is in Megara, he is not in Athens : now there is a man in Megara,
The Greek stands ready in the workroom; the English is served. Both faces will read together.
Chrysippus — a candidate entry Cleanthes — a candidate entry Demetrius — a life Ptolemy — a candidate entry Sphaerus — a life
Lives of Eminent Philosophers, Volume II (Books VI-X), Diogenes Laertius — translated by R. D. Hicks, 1925
Apparatus shelf — Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, vol. II (R. D. Hicks translation, Loeb L185) · R. D. Hicks, Loeb Classical Library, London: William Heinemann / New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, MCMXXV (1925)
license: public-domain (US: published 1925, pre-1930 — the MCMXXV title page verified from the scan itself; only the English rectos are served, Hicks's translation)