Constantine Coumas

Teacher of the Greek Nation (1777 – 1836)

Constantine Coumas was one of the most important literary Greek figures of the 18^th and 19^th century and a chief representative of the Greek Enlightenment. Together with a handful of philosophers and scholars known as the Teachers of the Greek Nation (Διδάσκαλοι τοῦ Γένους), Constantine Coumas paved the way for the spiritual development of the enslaved Greek nation, an effort that ultimately led to the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence.

Coumas taught Greek and mathematics in a school in Larisa and in Ampelakia. In 1804 he moved to Vienna to complete his mathematical studies. There he published translated works of Fontaine’s physics and mathematics as well as Abbe’s conic sections and Adetus’ chemistry. In 1809 he met with Adamantios Korais in Smyrna and founded the Philologic Gymnasium where he taught philology, philosophy, mathematics and physics, for which he also wrote a treatise which was published in Vienna in 1812. Numerous students from Smyrna and the islands came to attend his lessons. Following the patriarch’s invitation, Coumas went to Constantinople where he taught Greek language, philosophy and mathematics in the Great School of the Nation.

After his career in Constantinople, Coumas returned to Smyrna and then to Vienna, together whith Anthimus Gazis, where he published his work. Constitution of Philosophy, consisting of 4 tomes was a massive book on philosophy, psychology, logic, grammar, metaphysics, ethics, law, pedagogic and theology. Furthermore, he published Synopsis of Sciences. This book was aimed for first-year students and contained elements of mathematics, geometry, geography, astronomy, logic and ethics. His deep devotion to humanities and sciences and his intensive efforts to reawaken the Greek nation made him very popular among the philhellenic German community. He became an honorary professor in the University of Leipzig, member of the Royal Academy of Berlin and member of the Royal Academy of Munich.

Years later he returned to Smyrna to become headmaster of the New Public School of Smyrna. Together with him were Constantine Oeconomou and a rich collection of books on mathematics, physics and chemistry, which he had brought from the West to implement on the school’s curriculum. Soon, the Greek War of Independence broke out and this forced Coumas to go back to Vienna and then to settle to Trieste. There he wrote the book Histories of the Human actions from ancient times until 1831, consisting of 12 tomes. Later in his life he translated and published several treatises, including a school grammar which was used in schools during the first years of Greece’s independence. He remained there until his death from cholera in 1836.

Throughout his entire life, Constantine Coumas worked tirelessly to bring the Enlightenment to his country, starting out as a humble teacher and working his way up to the highest academic ranks in the universities of the West. A close friend of Adamantios Korais, Coumas was a pioneer in pedagogic and man of all sciences. Unfortunately, he was a victim of the Church’s vehement opposition toward all the Teachers of the Greek Nation, a price paid for all those who struggled for Greece’s spiritual revival and liberation from the darkness of illiteracy and slavery.

Bibliography

1. “Koumas, Konstantinos”. Helios New Encyclopaedic Dictionary. Passas, I. Athens, 1946. Print.
2. Broutzakis, Xenophon. Κωνσταντίνος Μιχαήλ Κούμας: ένας πρωτοπόρος δάσκαλος. Topontiki.gr. March 24, 2013. Web. Retrieved on December 4, 2016.

Stesichorus

Lyric poet (c.630 BC – 555 BC)

Stesichorus was one of the nine Lyric Poets of antiquity. He descended from Magna Graecia, known today as Sicily. His name, which means “teacher of chorus”, was adopted during his career as a lyric poet. He is commemorated by numerous scholars, namely Lucian and Cicero.

Stesichorus was a highly influential and prolific writer. His works were compiled into a collection of 26 books, which included poems, hymns, elegies, hasmata etc. The themes of his work were borrowed from Ancient Greek mythology. Notable ones include Helen, The Wooden Horse, Oresteia and Homecoming of the Heroes, based on Homer’s Iliad, works based on the Argonauts by the Orphics and the labours of Heracles. They would be instantly recognized by the public and were beloved even centuries after his death, when the tragedians of the Golden Age used his works as an influence for their masterpieces. Like all lyric poets, Stesichorus accompanied his songs with a lyre or kithara and a chorus that danced to the words sang.

Moreover, Stesichorus wrote poems centered on love, virtue and religion. The technique of his poetry was innovative. He is credited with the invention of the triad: three stanza metrical groupings, antistrophic lines of the same meter and an epode. This became so popular that the phrase “He does not even know the three of Stesichorus” was coined to show ones’ ignorance.

Stesichorus was the greatest prodrome of Pindar and one of the most renowned representatives of Ancient Greek lyrical poetry. Simonides of Ceos compared him to Homer in that “…just like Homer, Stesichorus sang for the people” while Antipatrus of Sedona said that Homer had descended to inhabit Stesichorus’ body. His influence on art and sculpture was enormous. After his death at the age of 85, the Himerians minted coins with Stesichorus depicted on them in memory of his glory.

Bibliography

1. “Stesichorus’. Helios New Encyclopaedic Dictionary. Passas, I. Athens, 1946. Print.
2. Stesichorus. In2greece.com. Web. Retrieved on December 3, 2016.
3. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. ”Stesichorus” Encyclopaedia Britannica. Web. 3 December. 2016.

Ioannis Velissariou

Hero of the Balkan Wars (1861 – 1913)

Tagmatarch Ioannis Velissariou was a Major of the Greek army during the Balkan Wars, a man of immense bravery and virtue who fell on the field of battle in July 13, 1913 during the battle of Cresna, the last battle of the Second Balkan War. He used to be known as the “Black Rider” as he usually fought on a black horse and caused massive casualties to the opposing side.

As a polemologist, he had profound knowledge on the principles and tactics of war, combining them with his unparalleled courage. As such, he was distinguished as one of the greatest military figures in the history of Greece.

His first fighting experience was during the Graeco-Turkish war in 1897. He and his battalion were the only ones to retreat from battle only when he received a written request by the field marshal. With the outbreak of the 1^st Balkan War in 1812, Velissariou was appointed major of the 9^th battalion and partook actively in the liberation of the Greek lands from the Ottoman yoke. He played a protagonistic role in the 2-month Battle of Bizani and the siege of Ioannina, which resulted to the surrender of the Ottoman army and the liberation of Ioannina. To achieve this, he and his battalion infiltrated into three surrounding, occupied forts and cut the telephone and telegraph wires, ultimately blocking communication between Ioannina and Bizani. This resulted to the forfeit of the Ottoman forces who believed that the Greek army had occupied the areas outside Ioannina. Velissariou was the one who received the surrender from the Ottoman commander.

During the 2^nd Balkan War, Greece fought against Bulgaria for the lands of Macedonia. Velissariou fought in the Battle of Kilkis-Lachanas and Battle of Doirane. Finally, he fought in the Battle of Cresna, 20 km outside Sofia, which was the most gruelling battle of the 2^nd Balkan War. It was in this battle that Velissariou sacrificed himself in July 13, 1913 and passed down in history in the name of freedom as the “Hero of Heroes”. A hero whose virtues are found only next to those of the great heroes of Homer’s Iliad.

Bibliography

1. ΙΩΑΝΝΗΣ ΒΕΛΙΣΣΑΡΙΟΥ. Sansimera.gr. Web. Retrieved on November 26, 2016.
2. Ταγματάρχης Ιωάννης Βελισσαρίου: Ένας Κουμιώτης ήρωας των Βαλκανικών πολέμων. Eviaportal.gr. November 26, 2013. Web. Retrieved on November 26, 2016.
3. “Velissariou, Ioannis”. Helios New Encyclopaedic Dictionary. Passas, I. Athens, 1946. Print.
4. Retsina-Photinidou, Demetra. ΙΩΑΝΝΗΣ ΒΕΛΙΣΣΑΡΙΟΥ:ΤΑΓΜΑΤΑΡΧΗΣ-ΗΡΩΑΣ ΤΩΝ ΗΡΩΩΝ ΤΩΝ ΒΑΛΚΑΝΙΚΩΝ ΠΟΛΕΜΩΝ (1912-1913). Dynati-ellada.gr. February 25, 2016. Web. Retrieved on November 26, 2016.

Protagoras

Philosopher (480 BC – 415 BC)

One of the most renowned pre-Socratic philosophers and one of the main representatives of the Sophist School of philosophy. Protagoras came from Abdera, the same city-state as Democritus, who served as his teacher. His job, according to his own words was to educate people. Plato, in his homonymous book admits that Protagoras indeed educated people.

Protagoras flourished during the Golden Age of Pericles, a time when philosophy, art and sciences had reached their peak. Protagoras was hired by Pericles as a private tutor of his children and was assigned the drawing up of the laws for the Athenian colony of Thurii in Southern Italy. There he met Herodotus, Hippodamus and Empedocles. His eminence was such that Euripides, a great admirer of Protagoras, had allowed him to give lectures in his house. He eventually made a fortune 10 times larger than that of Pheidias.

Protagoras expressed three main doctrines. The first was that man is the measure of all things. This is the very first phrase of his book Truth. In it, Protagoras lays the foundations of relativism. He writes that man is the only measure that can prove if things that exist truly exist and whether things that do not exist truly do not exist. For Protagoras, truth is relative to the knower; reality is constantly being formed by the relationship between man and the surrounding environment or cosmos and is perceived by man depending on his inner self.

His second doctrine was orthoepeia, the correct use of words. As a great educator and teacher himself, he made great contributions to pedagogic science and laid important foundations of grammar. He divided the three genders, determined the tenses and the moods of verbs. For him, language is an artificial construct made by man as a product of convention. He believed that education should reach the depths of the soul in order to have results. He also believed that teaching required a natural talent and that general education for children was necessary not for acquisition of knowledge but rather for the development of a personality. He accepted the four main divisions of virtue: prudence, phronesis, justice and fortitude. These opinions are expressed in his book Megas Logos.

The third doctrine of Protagoras was agnosticism. Man was not in a position to know whether Gods existed or not as there is no solid proof concerning their existence. His views on agnosticism were documented in On Gods, which was burned in public view by the Athenians after being persecuted and exiled for atheism.

Racial objectivism was another key idea in Protagoras’ philosophy, according to which different races have different points of view than others because people of the same social group have the same customs, traditions, language etc. For example, the same thing could be judged as just by the Persian but unjust by the Greek. Protagoras was a prolific writer. Ancient Greek biographers have attributed a large number of books to him, most of which survive today only by the title of their names. Some of the most notable ones was On the State of Things in the Beginning. In it, Protagoras describes the primitive state of humanity and its necessity to establish civilization. The growth of civilization occurred as a necessity of man to preserve himself and to enjoy a better life.

Protagoras’ works had tremendous influence in the world of philosophy, mainly with the doctrine that man creates his own world and truths based on his subjective view of the world. He was a pioneer in education and rhetoric. Even though he came into conflict with some of Plato’s ideas, he was well respected by him to the point where he wrote a book after his name. Thanks to him, Plato began searching for the transcendent forms, the .theory of ideas. For his radicalism, nevertheless, he was not kindly tolerated by society.

Bibliography

1. Pleures, Konstantinos. The persecution of the best elements of society. Athens: Hilektron publications, 2013. Print.
2. Pleures, Konstantinos. Greek Philosophers. Athens: Hilektron Publications, 2014. Print.
3. Poster, Carol. Protagoras. Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy. Iep.utm.edu. Web. Retrieved on November 23, 2016.
4. “Protagoras”. Helios New Encyclopaedic Dictionary. Passas, I. Athens, 1946. Print.

Petrobey Mavromichalis

Statesman, Prime Minister of Greece, Hero of the Greek War of Independence (1765 – 1848)

Petros Mavromichalis was the last hegemon of Mani. He was one of the most influential figures during the Greek War of Independence. His services to the fatherland long before and after its independence are of considerable importance. Petros Mavromichalis was not only a great military personality but also a skilled statesman and above all a hero.

Following the death of his father in 1800, Petrobey Mavromichalis became leader of the Maniotes and in 1816 established himself as a powerful ruler of the subjugated lands of Mani. At that time, Petrobey had to face against corruption, civil conflicts within Mani and piracy. He had originally sought the help of Napoleon Bonaparte for the liberation of Greece but the results were negative after Napoleon declined.

In 1818 he was initiated into the Society of Friends. He dedicated most of his fortune to the secret society and avidly recruited many Maniotes in order to prepare the ground for the Greek War of Independence. Two days prior to the outbreak of the war, Petrobey Mavromichalis, together with Papaflessas, Theodore Kolokotronis and Niketaras liberated Kalamata. With the outbreak of the war on March 25^th, 1821, Petrobey Mavromichalis assembled the Messenian Assembly of Elders and was elected first president and field marshal of the Greek forces. He addressed Europe for help in the war in favour of Greece. With the help of Adamantios Korais, the declaration was translated into English and was sent to the United States.

Two months later, Petrobey Mavromichalis occupied important political and military positions, most notably Prime Minister of Greece in 1823. He played a decisive role in numerous battles such as in the siege of Tripolitsa, the battle of the Lerna Mills together with his brother Constantine Mavromichalis, Demetrios Hypsilantis, John Makriyannis and the philhellenes and the fall of Argos. In addition, he fought in the 1^st siege of Messolonghi where together with Zaimis and 500 men they managed to halt the Turkish and the Egyptian forces.

After the loss of his brother and his two sons, Petrobey gathered his remaining strength and organized the defences of Mani against the Turks. He did not participate in the civil war but instead he attempted to reconcile the Greeks. With the arrival of Ioannis Kapodistrias as first governor of Greece, Mavromichalis was appointed member of the Assembly of Elders and later member of the Senate during the reign of King Otto. He died in 1848 and he was lamented as one of the purest and most virtuous heroes of the Greek War of Independence, especially by King Otto, whom he wholeheartedly admired.

Bibliography

1. “Mavromichalis, Petrobeis”. Helios New Encyclopaedic Dictionary. Passas, I. Athens, 1946. Print.
2. Πετρόμπεης Μαυρομιχάλης (Μάνη 1765 – Αθήνα 1848). Mani.org.gr. Web. Retrieved on November 18, 2016.

Suidas

Lexicographer (c.900)

The Suda or Suidas lexicon is a 1000 year-old encyclopaedia, the world’s oldest encyclopaedic dictionary as well as one the most valuable and significant spiritual works ever written in the Middle Ages. An ambitious undertaking containing hundreds of thousands of headwords from the Greek language, the Suda lexicon is a golden tool for archaeological and philological enthusiasts as well as for scholars all over the world.

The identity of the man behind the Suda lexicon is shrouded under a veil of mystery and hypotheses. The pseudonym Suidas, as noted by the Archbishop of Thessaloniki Eustathios, is identified as the person who wrote the dictionary; a greedy lover of knowledge who salvaged more than 30.000 lemmata from various different ancient sources which today have been lost. The name Suidas itself is of questioned origin. Some say that its letters represent the initials of a code. Others assert that it comes from the Latin word Guida, which means guide while others believe that it means moat or fortress. The fact that a team of editors known collectively as Suidas worked together to write the book is not excluded.

The encyclopaedia contains information with astounding details, most of which is found only in Suda and which would never have survived until today had it not been written down by the author. Most notably, it contains unique information on many Ancient Greek philosophers and writers, most notably Homer. The book follows an unconventional taxonomy of the lemmata; instead of being arranged alphabetically, they are arranged according to the phthongs with which they begin.

Whoever Suidas was, his contribution is recognized as an immortal consignment to the world of letters, the Greek philology and history. It is believed that Emperor Constantine VII the “Purple-blood”, who reigned during the years this book was written, contributed significantly to its publication.

Bibliography

1. Papagiannidou, Mairi. Lexicon Souida. Protoporia.gr. October 5, 2003. Web. Retrieved from TO BHMA in November 15, 2016.
2. Λεξικό της «Σούδας» ή της «Σουίδας». Vizantinonistorika.blogspot.bg. July 8, 2013. Web. Retrieved on November 15, 2016.

Aristides the Just

Statesman (540 BC – 468 BC)

The most honourable man of Athens according to Herodotus was Aristides of Lysimachus. He was nicknamed “the Just” and was one of the most renowned statesmen and strategists of ancient Athens. He was the founder of the Delian League, which constituted an important part of the Athenian county, was a participant of the Solonian political reform and one of the major commanders of the Battle of Marathon.

Originally a rival of Themistocles, he was ostracized for opposing Themistocles’ plan of building a fleet to confront the Persians in Salamis. Nevertheless, he returned in time and fought bravely in the Battle of Salamis in 480 BC and reclaimed the island Psytallia, ultimately reconciling with Themistocles. One year later, he led the Athenians to victory against the Persians in the Battle of Plateae. After the events of Plateae, Aristides led 30 Athenian ships in the Greek fleet, led by Pausanias, to free the lands of Byzantium and the island of Cyprus from Persian rule. The Delian League’s leadership was entrusted to Aristides, who had proven himself as a skilled and just statesman. He established the fund of the League in Delos, which Pericles later moved to Athens.

Aristides was not a democrat. His political beliefs placed him on the side of the Spartans. He admired mostly Lycurgus, the founder of the Spartan political system. Combined with his immense fame and glory, Aristides was a target of hatred and by the Athenians, especially the politicians, who were very jealous of him. Nonetheless, Aristides did not care what other people believed about him, as long as he did the right thing. He was characterized by a strong sense of justice, morality, prudence and philopatry.

According to tradition, when the Athenians were voting on Aristides’ exile, an illiterate peasant approached Aristides and asked him to write Aristides’ name on the ostracon. Aristides, without revealing his identity asked the peasant the reason why he was voting in favour of his exile. The peasant replied “I don’t even know him, but I am tired of constantly hearing that he is “just””. Without hesitating, Aristides carved his name in the ostracon and gave it to the peasant. In the end, he died in complete poverty with all of Greece’s treasures in his hands.

Bibliography

1. “Aristides”. Helios New Encyclopaedic Dictionary. Passas, I. Athens, 1946. Print.
2. Pleures, Konstantinos. The persecution of the best elements of society. Athens: Hilektron publications, 2013. Print.
3. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. ”Aristides the Just” Encyclopaedia Britannica. Web. 15 November. 2016.

Euclid of Alexandria

Mathematician (c.300 BC)

The most famous and prominent mathematician of antiquity and the Father of Geometry, Euclid lived and flourished in Alexandria during the reign of Ptolemy I. He worked in the Library of Alexandria, which at the time was the world’s most illustrious scientific and cultural center next to the Academy. Euclid compiled all of the then known geometry into one treatise, the Elements, which is considered as the most important book on geometry ever written.

The Elements is considered Euclid’s greatest contribution to humanity. It is an encyclopaedia of geometry consisting of 13 books. Except from containing all of the geometric theorems discovered until the time of Euclid, the treatise completes the works of Theaetetus and Eudoxus and includes many original works by Euclid. The first 6 books are dedicated to elementary geometry. Books 7, 8 and 9 are about arithmetic geometry and the theory of numbers. The tenth is about asymmetry, a major issue in the Ancient Greek mathematics. The last 3 tomes are dedicated to stereometry and to Platonic solids.

The entire treatise is based on 5 axioms, on which geometry was based on for more than 2000 years. There had been other compilations of geometry prior to Euclid’s Elements, such as by Hippocrates of Chios. However, Euclid was the first who succeeded in publishing such a treatise with strict and organized formulations. Euclid’s Elements served as the primary textbook of mathematics, and in particular geometry, worldwide, from the time of its publication until the 20^th century when non-Euclidean geometry emerged.

Other works of Euclid include Data, which contains applications and inclusions of the theories from Elements, On Divisions of Figures, a book that was found during the 16^th century in Latin. In it, Euclid discusses sections of geometric shapes. Porisms consisted of 3 books. It dealt with theories and problems in geometry. On Conic Sections, which also does not survive, contained works on the conic sections, largely inspired from the homonymous work of Apollonius of Perga. Another one of Euclid’s lost books is Pseudaria, which was intended for students regarding errors of mathematical solutions. Other important works include a book on astronomy called Phenomena and multiple books on physics and mechanics such as Optics and Catoptrics, On the Heavy and the Light, Mechanics and Introduction to Harmonics.

Euclid’s profound influence in mathematics, especially geometry, has made his magnum opus Elements one of the most published books in history. During the Renaissance, there had been more than 2000 publications in various European languages and today, it has been translated into all European languages. To date, England is the only country where in gymnasiums geometry is studied completely from the Elements. Euclid indeed, as his name suggests, was glorious.

Bibliography

1. Euclidis o Aleksandreus. Helios New Encyclopaedic Dictionary. Passas, I. Athens, 1946. Print.
2. Georgakopoulos, Konstantinos. Ancient Greek Scientists. Georgiades, Athens: 1995. Print.
3. Koutoulas, Diamantis. The Ancient Greek Religion and the Mathematics. Dion Publications, Thessaloniki: 2001. Print.

Cornelius Castoriadis

Philosopher (1922 – 1997)

Cornelius Castoriadis was one of the most renowned philosophers and psychoanalysts of the 20^th century. He lived and worked primarily in France and was involved not only with philosophy, but also economics, biology, psychology, humanities, social sciences and mathematics. He had been called the “philosopher of autonomy” and was co-founder of the philosophic group known as Socialisme ou Barbarie. He is the author of The Imaginary Institution of Society, a classic which, although few people have read, gained worldwide attention in the philosophic community and is considered today as one of the greatest works of modern philosophy.

The main question that Castoriadis addresses in The Imaginary Institution of Society is where are humanity’s actions that create social and historical institutions based on? In attempt to answer this question, Castoriadis introduced a new concept in philosophy, the concept of creative imagination, according to which society creates the presentation of itself through imagination. He argues that society establishes institutions not by logic but by creating new forms of institutions which have never existed in the past and which are not necessarily compatible with reality. History and society, according to Castoriadis, are creations of imagination not based on historical laws. In this way, society is self-instituted by its own imaginative creations, sometimes created unconsciously by the society itself.

Except from Imagination and Creation, other words such as Imaginaire and Autonomy were central in Castoriadis’ philosophy and psychoanalysis. The social imaginaire (κοινωνικό φαντασιακό) is the source of all meanings that define the values of a society, that is, what is good and was is bad, was is right and what is wrong etc, what is true and what is false. These meanings, he argued, cannot always be products of mental lucidity and, for example, in many religious societies, such values of social imaginaire originate from God. In that case, these values are holy and cannot be doubted by anyone. This brings the philosopher to the idea of autonomy. He supported that in societies governed by their own imaginary institutions, men cannot think freely, they cannot behave correctly and they cannot judge what is good or bad for them. The first society that was able to bring about a radical change in its own social imaginaire was that of Ancient Greece. He envisioned a new such radical change during our times that would establish a true democracy and would grant autonomy to the people, just like it happened in Greece thousands of years ago and during the Renaissance. Castoriades struggled for this change.

Castoriadis’ philosophy proposed a new ontology for man. His goal was for man to break through society’s imaginary social institutions and rethink about what society’s end goals ought to be and what should man’s own purpose as an individual be in that society. Man should have the ability to institute consciously so that he can create an autonomous society for himself.

Bibliography

1. Castoriadis, Cornelius. Οι τέσσερεις Λέξεις του Κ. Καστοριάδη Φαντασία, Φαντασιακό, Δημιουργία, Αυτονομία. Toperiodiko.gr. December 26, 2014. Web. Retrieved on November 8, 2016.
2. John V. Garner. Cornelius Castoriadis (1922 – 1997). Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy. Iep.utm.edu. Web. Retrieved on November 7, 2016.
3. Κορνήλιος Καστοριάδης (1922 -1997). Sansimera.gr. Web. Retrieved on November 6, 2016.
4. Οικονόμου, Γιώργος. Σαράντα χρόνια από την «Φαντασιακή Θέσμιση της Κοινωνίας». Efsyn.gr. May 6, 2015. Web. Retrieved on November 8, 2016

Diogenes Laërtius

Philosopher, Writer (3^rd century)

The most important biographer of the Ancient Greek philosophers was Diogenes Laërtius, who lived and flourished most probably during the 3^rd century AD. His book Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, comprised of 10 books provides some of the most valuable information on the development and history of the philosophy of more than 70 philosophers and is one of the most significant sources worldwide for the study of Greek philosophy. Strangely, he is one of the very few, if not, the only Ancient Greek writer whose work has survived completely.

Diogenes never belonged to any philosophic School. Instead, by working independently he dedicated his research mostly on the philologic part of philosophy, studying the lives of the philosophers, writing down events concerning their lives, personal facts and sayings.

The proemium of the book contains a description on the foundations of philosophy as laid by the Greeks themselves, not by the Persian magi, the Chaldeans, the Druids or the Indians as misconceived. The first book is dedicated to the Seven Sages (which are 11 in number). The second contains Socrates with his predecessors and some of his followers up until Menedemus. The third book is entirely devoted to Plato alone. The fourth features the philosophers who succeeded Plato in the Academy while the fifth contains Aristotle and the Peripatetics. The sixth is about the Cynic School, the seventh about the Stoics and the eighth about the Pythagoreans. The ninth book contains all those philosophers who are uncategorized such as the Eleatics, the Atomists and the Skeptics. The final book is entirely devoted to Epicurus and the Epicurean philosophy.

Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers has been marked for its subjective character and reliability, but also for some of its minor inconsistencies. Except from being a valuable tool for studying not only the lives but also the doctrines and ideas of eminent philosophers, the book is quite entertaining to read because of it being a conglomeration of amusing stories and Diogenes’ own poetic narrative.

Bibliography

1. “Diogenes Laertius”. Helios New Encyclopaedic Dictionary. Passas, I. Athens, 1946. Print.
2. Diogenes Laertius (3rd cn. C.E.). Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy. Iep.utm.edu. Web. Retrieved on November 4, 2016.