Cleanthes
Cleanthes | |
---|---|
Born | c. 330 BC |
Died | c. 230 BC |
Era | Hellenistic philosophy |
Region | Western philosophy |
School | Stoicism |
Main interests | Physics, ethics |
Cleanthes (/kliˈænθiːz/; Greek: Κλεάνθης; c. 330 BC – c. 230 BC), of Assos, was a Greek Stoic philosopher and boxer who was the successor to Zeno of Citium as the second head (scholarch) of the Stoic school in Athens. Originally a boxer, he came to Athens where he took up philosophy, listening to Zeno's lectures. He supported himself by working as a water-carrier at night. After the death of Zeno, c. 262 BC, he became the head of the school, a post he held for the next 32 years. Cleanthes successfully preserved and developed Zeno's doctrines. He originated new ideas in Stoic physics, and developed Stoicism in accordance with the principles of materialism and pantheism. Among the fragments of Cleanthes' writings which have come down to us, the largest is a Hymn to Zeus. His pupil was Chrysippus who became one of the most important Stoic thinkers.
Life
Cleanthes was born in
Such was the esteem awakened by his high moral qualities that, on the death of Zeno in 262 BC, he became the leader of the school. He continued, however, to support himself by the labour of his own hands. Among his pupils were his successor,
Simplicius, writing in the 6th century AD, mentions that a statue of Cleanthes was still visible at Assos, which had been erected by the Roman Senate.[4]
Philosophy
Cleanthes was an important figure in the development of Stoicism, and stamped his personality on the physical speculations of the school, and by his materialism gave a unity to the Stoic system.[5] He wrote some fifty works, of which only fragments have survived preserved by writers such as
.Physics
Cleanthes revolutionized
Cleanthes regarded the Sun as being divine;[10] because the Sun sustains all living things, it resembled the divine fire which (in Stoic physics) animated all living beings, hence it too must be part of the vivifying fire or aether of the universe. Some maintain that he accused Aristarchus of impiety for daring to put into motion "the hearth of the universe" (i.e. the Earth); this interpretation depends on an emendation of the received text,[11] since in the manuscripts it is Aristarchus that did the accusing.[12] The largest surviving fragment of Cleanthes is the portion of the Hymn to Zeus,[13] which has been preserved in Stobaeus, in which he declares praise and honour of Zeus to be the highest privilege of all rational beings.[14]
Ethics
Cleanthes maintained that pleasure is not only not a good, but is "contrary to nature" and "worthless."[15] It was his opinion that the passions (love, fear, grief) are weaknesses: they lack the strain or tension which he persistently emphasized, and on which the strength of the soul, no less than that of the body, depends, and which constitutes in human beings self-control, and moral strength, and also conditions every virtue.[15] He said in a striking passage: "People walk in wickedness all their lives or, at any rate, for the greater part of it. If they ever attain to virtue, it is late and at the very sunset of their days."[16]
Zeno had said that the goal of life was "to live consistently," the implication being that no life but the passionless life of reason could ultimately be consistent with itself. Cleanthes is credited with having added the words "with nature," thus completing the well-known Stoic formula that the goal is "to live consistently with nature."[17] For Cleanthes, this meant, in the first place, living conformably to the course of the universe; for the universe is under the governance of reason, and everyone has it as their privilege to know or become acquainted with the world-course, to recognize it as rational and cheerfully to conform to it.[18] This, according to him, is true freedom of will not acting without motive, or apart from set purpose, or capriciously, but humbly acquiescing in the universal order, and, therefore, in everything that befalls one.[18] The direction to follow Universal Nature can be traced in his famous prayer:
Modern influence
Most notably, a fictionalized version of Cleanthes appears as one of the three main interlocutors in David Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, where he defends the view that a posteriori knowledge of the existence and nature of God is possible for us.[20]
Cleanthes also appears in José Enrique Rodó's essay Ariel, in which he is depicted as meditating on the teachings of Zeno as he carried water all through the night.
See also
- Acts 17:28
Notes
- ^ Diogenes Laërtius says he died at the age of 80.[1]) Dorandi prefers an age of 101. For more information see Dorandi 1999, p. 38.
- ^ "until his death at the same age as Zeno according to some authorities" (Laërtius 1925, § 168–176).
- ^ a b Laërtius 1925, § 168–176
- ^ Suda, Cleanthes
- ^ Simplicius, Commentary on the Enchiridion of Epictetus.
- ^ Davidson 1907, p. 27
- ^ Hicks 1910, p. 7
- ^ Davidson 1907, p. 28
- ^ Davidson 1907, p. 95
- ^ Plutarch, Plac. Phil. iv. 7.
- ^ Cicero, De Natura Deorum, ii. 15.
- ^ Plutarch, On the face of the orb of the Moon, 922F–923A
- ^ Russo & Medaglia 1996, pp. 113–121.
- ^ Ellery 1976; Rolleston 1890, pp. 1–2, 129
- ^ Hicks 1910, pp. 96–97
- ^ a b Davidson 1907, p. 148
- ^ Hicks 1910, p. 89
- ^ Stock 1908, p. 7
- ^ a b Davidson 1907, p. 143
- ^ Epictetus, Enchiridion, 53; Seneca, Epistles, cvii, 11. The fifth line is not found in Epictetus.
- ^ Hume, David (1779). Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion. London: Penguin Books.
References
- Dorandi, Tiziano (1999), "Chapter 2: Chronology", in Algra, Keimpe; et al. (eds.), The Cambridge History of Hellenistic Philosophy, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 38, ISBN 978-0521250283
- Davidson, William Leslie (1907), The Stoic Creed, Clark
- Cleanthes' Hymn to Zeus, translated by Ellery, M., 1976, archived from the original on 2007-12-24
- Hicks, Robert Drew (1910), Stoic and Epicurean, C. Scribner
- Lives of the Eminent Philosophers, vol. 2:7, translated by Hicks, Robert Drew(Two volume ed.), Loeb Classical Library, § 168–176
- "'Cleanthes' Hymn to Zeus", The Teaching of Epictetus: Being the 'Encheiridion of Epictetus', with Selections from the 'Dissertations' and 'Fragments', translated by Rolleston, Thomas William (2nd ed.), London: Walter Scott, Ltd., 1890, pp. 1–192, note 1 on p. 192
- Russo, Lucio; Medaglia, Silvio M. (1996), "Sulla presunta accusa di empietà ad Aristarco di Samo", Quaderni Urbinati di Cultura Classica, New Series, 53 (2), Fabrizio Serra Editore: 113, JSTOR 20547344
- Stock, St. George William Joseph (1908), Stoicism, Constable
Further reading
- ISBN 978-0525541875.
- Hume, David, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, in which "Cleanthes" is a character
- Meijer P. A., (2008), Stoic theology. Proofs for the existence of the cosmic god and of the traditional gods. Including a commentary on Cleanthes' Hymn on Zeus. Delft, Eburon.
- Pearson, A., (1891), Fragments of Zeno and Cleanthes. Greek/Latin fragments with English commentary.
- Thom, J., (2005), Cleanthes' Hymn to Zeus: Text, Translation, and Commentary. Mohr Siebeck. ISBN 3161486609.
External links
- Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911. .
- Works by or about Cleanthes at Internet Archive
- Works by Cleanthes at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- "Bibliography for Cleanthes" at "A Hellenistic Bibliography", compiled by Martine Cuypers, Trinity College Dublin.