Diogenes Laertius, Vitae philosophorum, R. D. Hicks (Translator), 10.1.5

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[5] Furthermore that he extolled Idomeneus, Herodotus, and Timocrates, who had published his esoteric doctrines, and flattered them for that very reason. Also that in his letters he wrote to Leontion, O Lord Apollo, my dear little Leontion, with what tumultuous applause we were inspired as we read your letter. Then again to Themista, the wife of Leonteus: I am quite ready, if you do not come to see me, to spin thrice on my own axis and be propelled to any place that you, including Themista, agree upon; and to the beautiful Pythocles he writes: I will sit down and await thy divine advent, my heart’s desire. And, as Theodorus says in the fourth book of his work, Against Epicurus, in another letter to Themista he thinks he preaches to her.¹

Vitae philosophorum. Diogenes Laertius. R. D. Hicks (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1925.

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Current edition Perseus

Lives of Eminent Philosophers (English) (Diogenes Laertius. Hicks, R. D., editor. Cambridge, MA.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1925.)

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Βίοι καὶ γνῶμαι τῶν ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ εὐδοκιμησάντων Perseus (Diogenes Laertius. Hicks, R. D., editor. Cambridge, MA.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1925.) — 10.1.5 focus

[5] ἀλλὰ καὶ Ἰδομενέα καὶ Ἡρόδοτον καὶ Τιμοκράτην τοὺς ἔκπυστα αὐτοῦ τὰ κρύφια ποιήσαντας ἐγκωμιάζειν καὶ κολακεύειν αὐτὸ τοῦτο. ἔν τε ταῖς ἐπιστολαῖς πρὸς μὲν Λεόντιον Παιὰν ἄναξ, φίλον Λεοντάριον, οἵου κροτοθορύβου ἡμᾶς ἐνέπλησας ἀναγνόντας σου τὸ ἐπιστόλιον· πρὸς δὲ Θεμίσταν τὴν Λεοντέως γυναῖκα Οἷός τε φησίν εἰμί, ἐὰν μὴ ὑμεῖς πρός με ἀφίκησθε, αὐτὸς τρικύλιστος, ὅπου ἂν ὑμεῖς καὶ Θεμίστα παρακαλῆτε, ὠθεῖσθαι. πρὸς δὲ Πυθοκλέα ὡραῖον ὄντα Καθεδοῦμαι φησὶ προσδοκῶν τὴν ἱμερτὴν καὶ ἰσόθεόν σου εἴσοδον. καὶ πάλιν πρὸς Θεμίσταν γράφων νομίζειν αὐτῇ παραινεῖν, καθά φησι Θεόδωρος ἐν τῷ τετάρτῳ τῶν Πρὸς Ἐπίκουρον.

Notes on the current edition

Lives of Eminent Philosophers

1. A perplexing passage. (1) As παραινετική is for the Stoics that branch of ethics which makes personal application of moral principles, the mss. may be right. (2) By changing αὐτῇ to αὐτήν, a little more sting is given to this tame remark: he thinks that she preaches. (3)If this is one of the fifty scandalous letters alluded to in § 3, Froben’s αὐτὴν περαίνειν, which Bignone and Apelt adopt, may be right. (4) If emend we must, a rude remark is quite as probable as a compliment, cf.§ 8. Hence νομίζει αὐτὴν παρακινεῖν, he deems her mad, if she says or thinks so-and-so, would be in the master’s blunt manner, and Themista (to use the language of Phaedrus, 249 d) νουθετεῖται ὡς παρακινοῦσα.

Diogenes Laertius Vitae philosophorum 10.1.5

R. D. Hicks (Translator)

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