Diogenes Laertius, Vitae philosophorum, R. D. Hicks (Translator), 10.1.6

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[6] It is added that he corresponded with many courtesans, and especially with Leontion, of whom Metrodorus also was enamoured. It is observed too that in his treatise On the Ethical End he writes in these terms¹: I know not how to conceive the good, apart from the pleasures of taste, sexual pleasures, the pleasures of sound and the pleasures of beautiful form. And in his letter to Pythocles: Hoist all sail, my dear boy, and steer clear of all culture. Epictetus calls him preacher of effeminacy and showers abuse on him.

Again there was Timocrates, the brother of Metrodorus, who was his disciple and then left the school. He in the book entitled Merriment asserts that Epicurus vomited twice a day from over-indulgence, and goes on to say that he himself had much ado to escape from those notorious midnight philosophizings and the confraternity with all its secrets;

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.) — 10.1.6 focus

[6] καὶ ἄλλαις δὲ πολλαῖς ἑταίραις γράφειν, καὶ μάλιστα Λεοντίῳ, ἧς καὶ Μητρόδωρον ἐρασθῆναι. ἔν τε τῷ Περὶ τέλους γράφειν οὕτως· Οὐ γὰρ ἔγωγε ἔχω τί νοήσω τἀγαθόν, ἀφαιρῶν μὲν τὰς διὰ χυλῶν ἡδονάς, ἀφαιρῶν δὲ τὰς διʼ ἀφροδισίων καὶ τὰς διʼ ἀκροαμάτων καὶ τὰς διὰ μορφῆς. ἔν τε τῇ πρὸς Πυθοκλέα ἐπιστολῇ γράφειν Παιδείαν δὲ πᾶσαν, μακάριε, φεῦγε τἀκάτιον ἀράμενος. Ἐπίκτητός τε κιναιδολόγον αὐτὸν καλεῖ καὶ τὰ μάλιστα λοιδορεῖ.

Καὶ μὴν καὶ Τιμοκράτης ἐν τοῖς ἐπιγραφομένοις Εὐφραντοῖς ὁ Μητροδώρου μὲν ἀδελφός, μαθητὴς δὲ αὐτοῦ τῆς σχολῆς ἐκφοιτήσας φησὶ δὶς αὐτὸν τῆς ἡμέρας ἐμεῖν ἀπὸ τρυφῆς, ἑαυτόν τε διηγεῖται μόγις ἐκφυγεῖν ἰσχῦσαι τὰς νυκτερινὰς ἐκείνας φιλοσοφίας καὶ τὴν μυστικὴν ἐκείνην συνδιαγωγήν.

Notes on the current edition

Lives of Eminent Philosophers

1. Cf. Athen. xii. 546 e, who cites the concluding words more fully thus: καὶ τὰς διὰ μορφῆς κατ’ ὄψιν ἡδείας κινήσεις· also vii. 280 a and, for a shorter version than that of D. L., vii. 278 f. Cf. also Cic. Tusc. Disp. iii. 41. The last words have been taken to refer especially to the pleasures afforded by music and again by painting and the plastic arts. But perhaps Epicurus is merely citing typical examples of intense pleasures under the heads of the four senses: (i.) taste; (ii.) touch; (iii.) hearing; (iv.) seeing. The omission of pleasant odours is curious; cf. Plato, Phil. 51 e θεῖον γένος ἡδονῶν.

Diogenes Laertius Vitae philosophorum 10.1.6

R. D. Hicks (Translator)

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