Diogenes Laertius, Vitae philosophorum, R. D. Hicks (Translator), 5.6.90

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[90] All this was done. But while the citizens were in the very midst of the procession and were loud in his praise, the snake, hearing the uproar, popped up out of the shroud, creating widespread confusion. Subsequently, however, all was revealed, and they saw Heraclides, not as he appeared, but as he really was.

I have written of him as follows¹:

You wished, Heraclides, to leave to all mankind a reputation that after death you lived as a snake.² But you were deceived, you sophist, for the snake was really a brute beast, and you were detected as more of a beast than a sage.

Hippobotus too has this tale.

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.) — 5.6.90 focus

[90] ἐγένετο δὲ πάντα. καὶ μεταξὺ παραπεμπόντων Ἡρακλείδην τῶν πολιτῶν καὶ εὐφημούντων, ὁ δράκων ἀκούσας τῆς ἐπιβοῆς ἐξέδυ τῶν ἱματίων καὶ διετάραξε τοὺς πλείστους. ὕστερον μέντοι ἐξεκαλύφθη πάντα καὶ ὤφθη Ἡρακλείδης οὐχ οἷος ἐδόκει, ἀλλʼ οἷος ἦν.

Καὶ ἔστιν ἡμῶν εἰς αὐτὸν οὕτως ἔχον·

ἤθελες ἀνθρώποισι λιπεῖν φάτιν, Ἡρακλείδη,

ὥς ῥα θανὼν ἐγένου ζωὸς ἅπασι¹ δράκων.

ἀλλὰ διεψεύσθης, σεσοφισμένε· δὴ γὰρ ὁ μὲν θὴρ

ἦε δράκων, σὺ δὲ θήρ, οὐ σοφὸς ὤν, ἑάλως.

ταῦτα δέ φησι καὶ Ἱππόβοτος.

Notes on the current edition

Lives of Eminent Philosophers

1. Anth. Pal. vii. 104.

2. Or, reading ἄπαρτι for ἄπασι, wished to leave a report behind you that immediately after death you became a living snake.

Diogenes Laertius Vitae philosophorum 5.6.90

R. D. Hicks (Translator)

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