Diogenes Laertius, Vitae philosophorum, R. D. Hicks (Translator), 6.5.85

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[85] Crates, son of Ascondas, was a Theban. He too was amongst the Cynic’s famous pupils. Hippobotus, however, alleges that he was a pupil not of Diogenes, but of Bryson¹ the Achaean. The following playful lines are attributed to him²:

There is a city Pera in the midst of wine-dark vapour,

Fair, fruitful, passing squalid, owning nought,

Into which sails nor fool nor parasite

Nor glutton, slave of sensual appetite,

But thyme it bears, garlic, and figs and loaves,

For which things’ sake men fight not each with other,

Nor stand to arms for money or for fame.

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.) — 6.5.85 focus

[85] Κράτης Ἀσκώνδου Θηβαῖος. καὶ οὗτος τῶν ἐλλογίμων τοῦ κυνὸς μαθητῶν. Ἱππόβοτος δέ φησιν οὐ Διογένους αὐτὸν μαθητὴν γεγονέναι, ἀλλὰ Βρύσωνος τοῦ Ἀχαιοῦ. τούτου Παίγνια φέρεται τάδε·

Πήρη τις πόλις ἐστὶ μέσῳ ἐνὶ οἴνοπι τύφῳ,

καλὴ καὶ πίειρα, περίρρυπος, οὐδὲν ἔχουσα,

εἰς ἣν οὔτε τις εἰσπλεῖ ἀνὴρ μωρὸς παράσιτος,

οὔτε λίχνος πόρνης ἐπαγαλλόμενος πυγῇσιν·

ἀλλὰ θύμον καὶ σκόρδα φέρει καὶ σῦκα καὶ ἄρτους,

ἐξ ὧν οὐ πολεμοῦσι πρὸς ἀλλήλους περὶ τούτων,

οὐχ ὅπλα κέκτηνται περὶ κέρματος, οὐ περὶ δόξης.

Notes on the current edition

Lives of Eminent Philosophers

1. Not the same as Bryson of Heracleia, whom we know from the Platonic Epistles, from Aristotle, and from Athenaeus (xi. p. 508). He may, however, have been the disciple of Pythagoras mentioned by Iamblichus ( Vita Pyth. c. 23).

2. Anth. Plan. v. 13.

Diogenes Laertius Vitae philosophorum 6.5.85

R. D. Hicks (Translator)

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