Phaedo of Elis
Phaedo of Elis (.
He returned to Elis, and founded the Elean School of philosophy. Almost nothing is known of his doctrines, but his school survived him and was subsequently transferred to Eretria by his pupil Menedemus, where it became the Eretrian school.[1]
Life
Born in the last years of the 5th century BCE, Phaedo was a native of Elis and of high birth.[1] He was taken prisoner in his youth, and passed into the hands of an Athenian slave dealer; being of considerable personal beauty,[2] he was forced into prostitution.[3] The occasion on which he was taken prisoner was no doubt the war between Sparta and Elis, 402–401 BCE, in which the Spartans were joined by the Athenians in 401 BCE.[4][5]
Two years would have been available for Phaedo's acquaintance with
That Phaedo was friends with Plato seems likely from the way in which he is introduced in Plato's dialogue Phaedo, which takes its name from him. Athenaeus, though, relates that Phaedo and Plato were enemies, and that Phaedo resolutely denied any of the views which Plato ascribed to him.[1][7]
Phaedo appears to have lived in Athens for a short time after the death of Socrates. He then returned to Elis, where he became the founder of a school of philosophy. His disciples included Anchipylus, Moschus, and Pleistanus, who succeeded him.[8] Subsequently Menedemus and Asclepiades transferred the school to Eretria, where it was known as the Eretrian school and is frequently identified (e.g. by Cicero) with the Megarian school.[1]
Works
The doctrines of Phaedo are not known, nor is it possible to infer them from the
The Suda also mentions the Simmias, Alcibiades, and Critolaus.
Phaedo says: "Certain tiny animals do not leave any pain when they sting us; so subtle is their power, so deceptive for purposes of harm. The bite is disclosed by a swelling, and even in the swelling there is no visible wound". That will also be your experience when dealing with wise people, you will not discover how or when the benefit comes to you, but you will discover that you have received it.
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f Chisholm 1911, p. 341.
- ^ a b Plato, Phaedo, 89a–b
- ^ a b Laërtius 1925, § 105; Suda, "Phaedon"; Aulus Gellius, 18
- ^ Xenophon, Hellenica iii.2.21–31; Diodorus Siculus, xiv.17.4–12, 34
- ^ a b Nails 2002, p. 231
- ^ a b Laërtius 1925, § 105.
- ^ Athenaeus, xi. 505, 507
- ^ Laërtius 1925, § 105, 126.
- ^ Laërtius 1925, § 64.
- ^ Laërtius 1925, § 105; Suda, "Phaedon"
- ^ Hock 1976, pp. 41–53.
- ^ Suda, "Phaedon".
- ^ Seneca, Epistles, xciv. 41.
References
- Gellius, Aulus (n.d.). Noctes Atticae (Attic Nights). Vol. ii. p. 18.
- Hock, R.F. (1976). Simon the Shoemaker as an ideal Cynic. Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies. Vol. 17. pp. 41–53.
- Lives of the Eminent Philosophers. Vol. 1:2. Translated by Hicks, Robert Drew(Two volume ed.). Loeb Classical Library. § 105, 126.
- Nails, Debra (2002). The people of Plato: a prosopography of Plato and other Socratics. Hackett Publishing. p. 231.
- "Phaedon". Suda.
Attribution:
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Phaedo". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 21 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 341. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
Further reading
- Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911. .