Bion of Borysthenes
Bion of Borysthenes | |
|---|---|
Olbia | |
| Died | c. 250 BC |
| School | Cynicism |
Bion of Borysthenes (Greek: Βίων Βορυσθενίτης, gen.: Βίωνος; c. 325 – c. 250 BC) was a Greek philosopher. After being sold into slavery, and then released, he moved to Athens, where he studied in almost every school of philosophy. It is, however, for his Cynic-style diatribes that he is chiefly remembered. He satirized the foolishness of people, attacked religion, and eulogized philosophy.
Life
Bion was from the town of
Macedonia, and was admitted to the literary circle at the court of Antigonus II Gonatas.[7] He subsequently taught philosophy at Rhodes,[8] and died at Chalcis in Euboea.[6]
Philosophy
Because of his early association with the
fear of death, down to the more particular case of a nagging wife."[11]
His influence is distinctly traceable in succeeding writers, e.g. in the satires of Menippus. Horace alludes to his satires and caustic wit.[13] Examples of this wit are his sayings:
- "The miser did not possess wealth, but was possessed by it."
- "Impiety was the companion of credulity, [and] avarice the metropolis of vice."
- "Good slaves are really free, and bad freemen really slaves."
One saying is preserved by Cicero:[14]
- "It is useless to tear our hair when we are in grief, since sorrow is not cured by baldness."
Another is cited by Plutarch:[15]
- "Though boys throw stones at frogs in sport, the frogs do not die in sport but in earnest."
Notes
- ^ Strabo i.2.2
- ^ Diogenes Laërtius, iv. 46–47
- ^ Diogenes Laërtius, iv. 10
- ^ a b Diogenes Laërtius, iv. 51
- ^ a b Diogenes Laërtius, iv. 52
- ^ a b Diogenes Laërtius, iv. 54
- ^ Diogenes Laërtius, iv. 46, 54
- ^ Diogenes Laërtius, iv. 49, 53
- ^ Eduard Zeller, Outlines of the History of Greek Philosophy, 13th Edition, page 247
- ^ Luis E. Navia, (1996), Classical Cynicism: A Critical Study, pages 154–5. Greenwood
- ^ a b c Donald Dudley, (1937) A History of Cynicism, pages 64–6
- ^ Diogenes Laërtius, iv. 54: "In his familiar talk he would often vehemently assail belief in the gods, a taste which he had derived from Theodorus." See also iv. 56.
- ^ Horace, Epistles, ii. 2.60
- ^ Cicero, Tusculan Disputations, iii. 62 , "In quo facetum illud Bionis, perinde stultissimum regem in luctu capillum sibi evellere quasi calvitio maeror levaretur."
- ^ Plutarch, Moralia, xii. 66
References
Lives of the Eminent Philosophers. Vol. 1:4. Translated by Hicks, Robert Drew(Two volume ed.). Loeb Classical Library.
Further reading
- Kindstrand, Jan, (1976) Bion of Borysthenes: A Collection of the Fragments with Introduction and Commentary. Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. ISBN 91-554-0486-3
External links
Quotations related to Bion of Borysthenes at Wikiquote
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