Diogenes Laertius, Vitae philosophorum, R. D. Hicks (Translator), 2.3.10

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[10] There is a story that he predicted the fall of the meteoric stone at Aegospotami, which he said would fall from the sun.¹ Hence Euripides, who was his pupil, in the Phathon calls the sun itself a golden clod.² Furthermore, when he went to Olympia, he sat down wrapped in a sheep-skin cloak as if it were going to rain; and the rain came. When some one asked him if the hills at Lampsacus would ever become sea, he replied, Yes, it only needs time. Being asked to what end he had been born, he replied, To study sun and moon and heavens. To one who inquired, You miss the society of the Athenians? his reply was, Not I, but they miss mine. When he saw the tomb of Mausolus, he said, A costly tomb is an image of an estate turned into stone.³

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

Funding provided by National Endowment for the Humanities Division of Preservation and Access.

Current edition Perseus

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

Editions (1)

Βίοι καὶ γνῶμαι τῶν ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ εὐδοκιμησάντων Perseus (Diogenes Laertius. Hicks, R. D., editor. Cambridge, MA.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1925.) — 2.3.10 focus

[10] Φασὶ δʼ αὐτὸν προειπεῖν τὴν περὶ Αἰγὸς ποταμοὺς γενομένην τοῦ λίθου πτῶσιν, ὃν εἶπεν ἐκ τοῦ ἡλίου πεσεῖσθαι. ὅθεν καὶ Εὐριπίδην, μαθητὴν ὄντα αὐτοῦ, χρυσέαν βῶλον εἰπεῖν τὸν ἥλιον ἐν τῷ Φαέθοντι. ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰς Ὀλυμπίαν ἐλθόντα ἐν δερματίνῳ καθίσαι, ὡς μέλλοντος ὕσειν· καὶ γενέσθαι. πρός τε τὸν εἰπόντα, εἰ τὰ ἐν Λαμψάκῳ ὄρη ἔσται ποτὲ θάλαττα, φασὶν εἰπεῖν, ἐάν γε ὁ χρόνος μὴ ἐπιλίπῃ. ἐρωτηθείς ποτε εἰς τί γεγέννηται, εἰς θεωρίαν, ἔφη, ἡλίου καὶ σελήνης καὶ οὐρανοῦ. πρὸς τὸν εἰπόντα, ἐστερήθης Ἀθηναίων, οὐ μὲν οὖν, ἔφη, ἀλλʼ ἐκεῖνοι ἐμοῦ. ἰδὼν τὸν Μαυσώλου τάφον ἔφη, τάφος πολυτελὴς λελιθωμένης ἐστὶν οὐσίας εἴδωλον.

Notes on the current edition

Lives of Eminent Philosophers

1. This version agrees with Pliny, Nat. Hist. ii. 149 celebrant Graeci Anaxagoram Clazomenium Olympiadis septuagesimae octavae secundo anno praedixisse caelestium litterarum scientia quibus diebus saxum casurum esset e sole.

2. Nauck, T.G.F. 2, Eur. 783.

3. Anaxagoras, whose death falls in the fifth century, circa 428-425 b.c., could not possibly have seen the famous Mausoleum erected by Artemisia, the widow of Mausolus, not earlier than 350 b.c. Mausolus ruled over Caria, according to Diodorus, from 377 to 353. The apophthegm is therefore either wrongly attributed to Anaxagoras or, if genuine, must have been uttered on some other occasion.

Diogenes Laertius Vitae philosophorum 2.3.10

R. D. Hicks (Translator)

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