Greek philosophers Alexander knew

In April 2021, Mark Cartwright published an article in World History with a selection of twenty Greek philosophers. When I looked at the dates, I was amazed to discover that most of these men lived roughly one century before Alexander the Great was born. This means that the young prince and later king was familiar with their works and teaching, which covered many fields. 

Most prominent are Socrates  (c. 469-399 BC), Plato (427 - 348/347 BC), and Aristotle (384-322 BC), who are often mentioned in one breath as pre-Socratic philosophers. But there are many other great names like Pythagoras (c. 571 - c. 497 BC), who juggled with numbers, Democritus (c. 460- c. 370 BC), who wisely stated that nothing comes from nothing, Epicurus (341-270 BC), who focused on the pleasures of life, and the eccentric Diogenes (c. 404-323 BC), the hippy of antiquity. 

The knowledge of these thinkers had a significant influence on the world of antiquity (including Alexander) and still inspires us in modern times. Many of these philosophers never put any of their philosophy down in writing; if they did, their own letters seldom survived. In these cases, their teaching reached us through their pupils or followers. 

The philosophy of Socrates (c. 469-399 BC) was recorded by one of his pupils, Plato. He, in turn, taught Aristotle (384-322 BC), who became the tutor of young Alexander. Thanks to Alexander’s conquests, Greek knowledge and philosophy were spread throughout the ancient world. 

Another remarkable student of Socrates was Xenophon, a favorite author of Alexander, who recounted how he led a large group of Greek mercenaries back to Greece. These soldiers had been hired by Cyrus, who had died at the battle of Cunaxa (near Babylon) in September 401 BC (see: The Persian Expedition by Xenophon). The great merit of Socrates was that he inspired men to think for themselves – a relatively modern concept! Sadly, this great mind was sentenced to death and forced to drink poison after being accused of corrupting the youth of Athens. 

Plato (427-348/347 BC) penned down his philosophical works, which would eventually influence world culture. His thoughts greatly impacted the three monotheistic religions known: as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He was also the founder of the first university in the world named after him, Plato’s Academy in Athens. This happened after Socrates’ death and his own return from traveling to Egypt and Italy. Most of Plato’s works discussed the ideas expressed by Socrates, rightfully so or not. The philosopher was 80 years old when he died. His Academy may have lived on for almost 1,000 years until Emperor Justinian, a zealous new Christian believer, closed it to suppress paganism. 

Aristotle (384-322 BC) was a philosopher in his own right who made considerable contributions to logic, metaphysics, mathematics, ethics, politics, agriculture, medicine, biology, and botany. He has already been treated in previous blogs like Stagira, the Birthplace of Aristotle, and Aristotle’s 2,400th birthday with an appropriate celebration. 

Then there is Pythagoras (c. 571- c. 497 BC), best known for his famous Theorem stating that the square of the hypotenuse of a right triangle equals the sum of the squares of the two other sides. However, he was also the first to concentrate on the transmigration of souls, or, in other words, reincarnation. The details of Pythagoras’ life remain obscure, but apparently, he traveled to Babylon and Egypt. However, this Theorem may not have been his invention but copied from the Babylonians. Also, the idea of reincarnation may have been transmitted to him by the Egyptian priests. In antiquity, he was considered a mystic and not the mathematician we remember nowadays. In any case, he influenced the philosophy and thoughts of both Plato and Aristotle and many later philosophers far into our modern way of thinking. 

In turn, Democritus (c. 460-c. 370 BC) revolutionized the world as he claimed that the universe and everything in it was made of tiny undividable building blocks, which we call atoms. Although he may have written as many as 70 books, none of his work has survived. He touched on various topics like human origins, ethics, geography, astronomy, geometry, medicine, poetry, literature, and even farming. Aristotle, later on, cited parts of his works. Like Pythagoras, Democritus is thought to have spent time in Egypt to study mathematics and in Babylon, where he sought the company of the priests. He seems to have voyaged around the Mediterranean and further East to Persia and India. 

Next on the list is Epicurus (341–270 BC), who taught that “Pleasure is the principle and end to a happy life.” The modern adage may have been translated into “A laughter a day keeps the doctor away.” Epicurus was strongly influenced by Plato, Aristotle, and Democritus. From 307 BC onward, he lived in Athens, where he founded his school, The Garden. Here he welcomed both women and slaves, which clearly was not to the liking of the Athenians. Putting pleasure as his highest goal in life was often misunderstood. For Epicurus, pleasure should be seen as eating and drinking in moderation and leading a life of restful contemplation. He needed to “not spoil what you have desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.” He died from kidney stones at 71, but his school and philosophy would live long after this death. 

Last on this top list is Diogenes (c. 404-323 BC), who became famous for squatting in a barrel on the agora of Athens and living as a beggar from the gifts of his admirers. He was a contemporary of Alexander and died in the same year as the king. Legend has it that they met during Alexander’s visit to Corinth (see: Alexander meeting Diogenes in Corinth). This philosopher believed it was necessary to reject all that was unnecessary in life, not only one’s personal possessions but also one’s social status. The first part of this philosophy was widely accepted by Alexander, who did not care much for personal possessions! What must have shocked Diogenes' contemporaries is that he was very straightforward in his conversations and didn’t care for the rules of etiquette and good manners. Although Diogenes wished that his dead body would be thrown to the dogs, and despite his critics, he was buried with honor. 

There are, of course, many other great names such as Thales of Miletus (625-547 BC), one of the Seven Sages of ancient Greece (see: Miletus, more than a city), Parmenides, founder of the Eleatic School at the beginning of the 5th century (see: Magna Graecia, the forgotten Greek legacy) that was attended by Zeno of Elea (5th century BC) and Melissus of Samos (5th century BC) – maybe even by Xenophanes of Colophon (570-c. 478 BC) but that is not proven. 

Also listed in Mark Cartwright’s article are:

Anaximander of Miletus (c. 610-c. 545 BC), a friend of Thales wrote about astronomy as he apparently was the first to use the gnomon to determine solstices, time, seasons, and equinoxes. He also published a work on geography with the first map of the inhabited world (see: Miletus, more than a city). 

Anaximenes of Miletus was a younger contemporary and pupil of Anaximander. His theory was that the prime substance was pneuma, i.e., breath or air world (see: Miletus, more than a city) 

According to Plato, Antisthenes of Athens (c. 445-365 BC) was a follower of Socrates and may have witnessed his death. He was the founder of the Cynic School and wrote on subjects like physics, literature, and logic. 

Aristippus of Cyrene (c. 435-356 BC) founded the Cyrenaic School of Philosophy. He believed that pleasure and pursuing pleasure was the highest goal in life. That sounds rather odd coming from a pupil of Socrates. He died the year Alexander was born.

Heraclitus of Ephesus, an early Pre-Socratic philosopher who sought to identify the creation of the world (see: Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea. Why the Greeks Matter by Thomas Cahill) 

Protagoras of Abdera (c. 485-415 BC) also stood out. After all, he was the first philosopher to promote subjectivity because everything was relative to individual interpretation. In simple words, man is the measure of all things. He was the greatest among the Sophists, i.e., rhetoric, politics, and logic teachers who made a living as private tutors to the youth of the upper classes, especially in Athens. He taught them how to speak well – hence, our word sophisticated. Unlike Socrates, he was accused of impiety, which, in ancient Greece, meant he was executed. At age 71, Protagoras decided to flee from Athens before he was put on trial. Sadly, he drowned before he reached Sicily. 

Zeno of Citium on the island of Cyprus (336-265 BC). He was born in the year Alexander became king. By chance, he was exposed to the teachings of Socrates through the book, Memorabilia, written by Xenophon. Zeno’s study eventually led him to become a teacher himself as he founded a school on the porches (the Stoa) of Athens’ Agora. That’s how his school got its name, Stoic. Stoicism would become one of the most influential philosophies in the Roman world.

All in all, this is a substantial baggage the young King of Macedonia took with him to the East!

Miletus, more than a city

When writing about Miletus, it is obvious to tackle the remains of that once so great city and to place them in their historical context – in my case, especially around Alexander the Great (see: Miletus, Alexander's first siege in Asia). But Miletus is much more than just a city of stone; it actually produced many of the brightest minds of antiquity.

Miletus greatly surpassed the other cities on the Aegean coastline of Ionia and founded as many as thirty (or ninety, depending on the sources) cities around the Black Sea, the Hellespont, and the Sea of Marmara. The city also possessed a trading post in Naucratis, the Greek settlement on the Nile delta dating from the seventh century BC. This created envy among the Persians, who, after the defeat at Plataea in 479 BC, took their revenge by thoroughly destroying Miletus.

The city bounced back and was flourishing once again by the middle of the fifth century BC. Thanks to its busy and prosperous harbors, Miletus came into contact with older and more advanced civilizations, such as that of Egypt, from which they copied the idea of dividing the year into twelve equal parts. From Mesopotamia, they obtained the gnomon or shadow marker, which led to the first sundials that divided the day into twelve parts as customary in Babylon. Ishtar, the Babylonian goddess of fertility, was recognized by the Greeks as Aphrodite and used to identify the bright Venus star we all know. This means that there was a wealth of knowledge available to Miletus and to the rest of the Greek world, the extent of which we can only guess.

But returning to Miletus, the best-known citizen is probably Hippodamus of Miletus, a town planner but also a physician, mathematician, meteorologist, and philosopher, who lived in the fifth century BC. As opposed to confusing and chaotically built cities like Athens, Hippodamus introduced us to city planning with order and clarity, creating wide and straight streets crossing each other at right angles. Many cities around the Mediterranean were built by him or according to his grid plan, later to be known as the Hippodamian Plan. The harbor of Piraeus was one of his first works, but he was also involved in the new city of Rhodes and the reconstruction of Miletus after the Persian destruction. Examples of later dates are, for instance, the cities of Olynthus and Pella in Greece. Hippodamus’ ideal city would be inhabited by 10,000 male citizens, which would correspond to a total of 50,000 people when including women, children, and slaves. It would typically have a large central area that soon became the Agora, surrounded by neighborhoods of 240 m2 blocks of houses with an upper floor and separated by an outer wall, all facing south. Aristotle tells us that Hippodamus’ cities were meant to be divided into three classes: for the soldiers, artisans, and common citizens, just like the land was divided into sacred, public, and private. Yet Hippodamus must have been the hippie of his time with his long hair (not shown in his picture), and expensive ornaments, yet wearing the same clothes in winter as he did in summer.

Isn’t it amazing that today, 2,500 years later, modern cities like Manhattan or Denver were built based on the same principles of what urban architects meanwhile call the checkerboard plan?

Another great name is Thales of Miletus, one of the Seven Sages of ancient Greece who lived a good century earlier, from ca. 625 to 547 BC. He is considered the father of philosophy and is supposed to have calculated the height of Egypt’s pyramids by pacing off their shadow at the moment when their height was equal to their shadow. Thales is credited with inventing geometry, literally meaning “land measurement,” but actually a branch of abstract mathematics. He was also a philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer, reaching into theology with his concept that all things are full of god. Thales speculated on the nature of matter; he believed there was an arche or fundamental substance that always endured. He claimed that the principle was water simply because the earth rests on water (the general belief was that the earth was surrounded by an ocean).

His friend, Anaximander of Miletus (ca 610-ca 545 BC) declared, however, that the arche could not be water because it could not give rise to its opposite, fire. He even went so far as to state that none of the elements (water, earth, fire, air) could be arche for the same reason. Anaximander seems to have been the first to publish a treatise on nature. He also wrote about astronomy, as apparently he was the first to use the gnomon to determine solstices, time, seasons, and equinoxes; he also published a work on geography with the first map of the inhabited world. According to Anaximander, the earth had a cylindrical form and was at the center of the universe.

Anaximenes of Miletus was a younger contemporary and pupil of Anaximander. His theory was that the prime substance was pneuma, i.e., breath or air, which assumes various forms through its eternal motion. He provided a theory of change that was supported by observation. Rarefied air becomes fire, condensed it becomes first wind, then clouds, and after further condensation water, then earth, and eventually stones. Anaximenes thought that the earth was flat and floated upon the air like a leaf.

These four men by themselves alone prove that Alexander not only took walls and buildings when entering Miletus but many bastions of knowledge, and I am sure that these were not the only ones that were available at that time, for there is still so much of that knowledge that has not come to us.

[Pictures of the personalities are from Wikipedia]
[Click here to see the full picture album of Miletus]

Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea. Why the Greeks Matter by Thomas Cahill.



Quite astonishing what Thomas Cahill has to reveal in Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea. Why the Greeks Matter (ISBN 0385495544). I wish my history lessons at school had looked something like this, but maybe this knowledge is rather reserved for the advanced and intrepid readers – in all modesty! As much as Arrian’s book on the Campaigns of Alexander the Great is the key reading for everybody interested in Alexander, this book by Thomas Cahill is the one to get an overall view of our Western civilization, including an in-depth understanding of Alexander, of course.

This book is, in fact, Part Four of Cahill’s series published under the global name of “The Hinges of History”, comprising:

1. How the Irish saved civilization – The untold story of Ireland’s heroic role from the fall of Rome to the rise of Medieval Europe

2. The gifts of the Jews - How a tribe of desert nomads changed the way everyone thinks and feels

3. Desire of the everlasting hills - The world before and after Jesus

4. Sailing the wine-dark sea - Why the Greeks matter.

5. 6. 7. Are still under construction.

So many aspects of Greek life are being treated here that I can only mention a handful of the most striking or pertinent elements, like, for instance, Herodotus’ remark that “No one is so foolish as to prefer war to peace: in peace children bury their fathers, while in war fathers bury their children”. Nothing new under the sun, you’ll say, as it applies to today’s circumstances as it did thousands of years ago.

One aspect that is being examined is that for the first time in history, the Greeks invented an alphabet containing vowels, meaning that reading was no longer a gamble, as opposed to the old Phoenician, Persian, and even Arab words that had no vowels. This newly written Greek language was so clear that even women (!), children, and slaves could learn to read and write. The “secrecy” of written language suddenly disappears, the curtain is lifted, and suddenly a whole world becomes available to everybody. Consequently, the centuries-old oral communities (not knowing writing) that needed to do things together and required much more imagination are now, thanks to the written text, replaced by individuals able to think for themselves, which in turn leads to rational analysis. All very logical, but I never thought of it …

And then there is the Iliad! Cahill states that it was a very daring enterprise for Homer to write a book that covered only the last four days of a war that lasted ten years! Yes, that is what surprised me too when I first read the Iliad,  but it is even more amazing to find that the feeling of a ten-year-long war is so much alive in the book. After Homer, we must wait several centuries for new books to appear, especially longer works and extensive writings. This is simply because it took a long time to import enough lightweight papyrus from Egypt so that the new texts could be “transported”.

Another aspect that is being highlighted is the Greeks’ thrive for competition, one that is still running through the blood of today’s population, I feel. Their need for competition arose in many different fields and not only during festivals or games. It was a way to catch the attention of the general public. This meant that one potter would take it up against an other, one stone-cutter against the other, and also the one poet against the other. The choruses singing the background tale during a theatre performance needed poets to write their parts. Athletes paid fortunes to have their prowess praised by a good poet. The burial ceremonies of important men needed poets to perform “funeral games” to sing hymns of praise that would surpass any previous ones.

And then there is the subject of music in ancient Greece. It seems they knew something called “moods”, which we in our modern Western world limit to minor (sad) and major (happy). The old Greeks seem to have known five of such moods: Doric was warlike, Phrygian expressed contentedness, Ionic sounded tempting, Eolian, and Lydian. For the ancient Greeks, to live without music meant as much as being dead – that is what Sophocles said anyway. Looking at it from that point of view, it is evident that theatre with its choruses is only a stone’s throw away.

Thomas Cahill also spent time explaining the Greek “symposia”, the event where men with the same interests met in order to philosophize and drink together. [The Greek symposion became the Latin symposium, the plural in both cases being symposia – literally “a joint drinking”]. Clearly, a happening that was not exclusively known in Macedonia, although they may have been or probably were rougher than what happened in civilized Athenian circles… These kinds of banquets were held in someone’s home, in a special room called an andron, literally “men’s room”, while the idea was more that of a men’s club from the upper class. The gentlemen were stretched on comfortable couches, wide enough to accommodate two or three guests together. They wore floral crowns  (Oliver Stone must have had a very close look to portray the banquet held in honor of Philip’s wedding with Cleopatra) ate from tables loaded with all kinds of food and were treated to music while wine was carried around by servants – usually teenage boys or female hetairai, literally “companions” in the style of geisha’s or call-girls. Young girls were generally kept away from these parties, at least in good society.

From the overall stories, one would expect the Greeks to eat lots of meat because meat was always used in the sacrifices to the gods, either sheep, goat, pork, or beef. Yet nothing is further from the truth since the daily meals were simply fish (including shellfish) and bread. In fact, nothing has changed much over the centuries since in ancient Greece cuisine as in those days, they appreciated artichokes fried in olive oil, or spitted fowl, fresh greens, fruit, nuts, and even fat Sicilian cheeses (if they were lucky). It all was washed down with diluted wine – the amount of water to be added was the responsibility of the host. 

On these occasions, besides the contribution of each individual guest, professional entertainers were called in to set the tone for a diverting and enjoyable evening. Soon, the guests would rise from their couches to dance through the night, arm in arm, pounding their feet in a fashion not too remote from Zorba the Greek’s dance. This is described lyrically as if “there was a soul struggling to carry away his flesh and cast itself like a meteor into the darkness”. By the way, the word “lyric” was first used by Homer because this poetry was usually sung to a lyre. 

Well, these are only a few facets of the many that Cahill is treating in his book, which is, in fact, a true and thorough analysis of the Greek way of thinking and being. Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea is composed of seven distinctive Chapters:

The Warrior – How to Fight, examining the “Iliad”

The Wanderer – How to Feel, treating the “Odyssey”

The Poet – How to Party, mainly centered on the poetess Sappho

The Politician and the Playwright – How to Rule, handling politics and theater plays with Solon, Aischylos, Sophocles, Euripides, etc

The Philosopher – How to think, a scientific chapter with geniuses like Thales, Socrates, Pythagoras, Plato, Herodotus, Thucydides, etc

The Artist – How to see, about Greek statues, starting with male figures, to which female figures were added in a later stage

The Way they went – Graeco-Roman Meets Judeo-Christian, which evidently treats religion.

To summarize, this is the ultimate book handling all facets of the Classic Greek world – extremely captivating reading!