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!

Alexander meeting Diogenes in Corinth

Diogenes was a cynic philosopher from Sinope in Ionia on the Black Sea, born in either 404 or 412 BC, and he died the same year as Alexander in 323 BC in Corinth. He had settled in that city where he passed his philosophy to Crates of Thebes (365-280 BC), who in turn taught Zeno of Citium in Cyprus (334-262 BC) and became the founder of the Stoic School. Diogenes’ own writings have not survived, and most of his anecdotes have been recorded by Diogenes Laërtius in the third century AD in his “Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers.”

Legend has it that Alexander visited Diogenes in Corinth when he was about twenty years old, although this cannot be historically confirmed. The story may have been told by Onesicritus, a disciple of Diogenes, who joined Alexander on his eastern campaigns and was retold in an embellished form by Ptolemy from where it could have made its way to the later Alexander Romance. It remains questionable whether there was any ground of truth in the tale.

[Picture from wn.com]

The best-known story about Diogenes is that he lived in a large barrel or jar and made a virtue of poverty. In that frame, he lived a more than simple life and criticized the fashionable social values and institutions, accusing them of corruption. He was reputed for eating and sleeping whenever he felt like it. He certainly was a highly controversial figure and did not shrink back from embarrassing Plato, sabotaging Socrates’ lectures, and even publicly mocking Alexander the Great. Well, this latest statement may not be true and is only a legend. But the story goes that when Alexander found Diogenes lying in the sun, he greeted him and asked him what he could do for him. Diogenes answered with his famous words, “Stand out of my sun.” This response made everyone present laugh, and Alexander may have picked up the humor, adding, “Truly, if I were not Alexander, I would be Diogenes.”

Magna Graecia, the forgotten Greek legacy

Many, many years ago, I traveled to southern Italy off-season to visit Pompeii and Herculaneum. Unfortunately, my lodging address was much further away than what the travel brochure made me believe, and I wound up way south of Salerno. This is how I discovered the existence of sites like Paestum and Velia, once part of Magna Graecia. Until then, I had not heard of Magna Graecia, and I had no idea what it meant. When we talk about Greece, we automatically think of mainland Greece and Athens in particular but not of any colonies or overseas settlements.

[Map taken from Wikipedia]

That trip was my very first encounter with Greek civilization, even if it had been adapted and reshaped by the Romans. In those days, before the internet, color TV, and a few books with colored pictures, my perception of Pompeii and Herculaneum was based on lots of imagination. Still, I was over the moon to investigate these places by myself. It was February when no tourist in his right mind would venture to those parts of Italy, and I remember that only seven cars were parked outside Pompeii. In short, I was not disturbed or hampered by any crowd, meaning that conditions were right to get a true feeling of these antique remains. I found the same emptiness in Herculaneum, where I thought I could inhale the smell of the burnt wooden beam that had survived, much unlike Pompeii. The Archaeological Museum of Naples was nearly empty, making me feel lost till I came face to face with Alexander on the famous mosaic from the Villa of the Faun. It felt like a private audience with Alexander the Great, an unforgettable experience!

On this first “archaeological” trip, I learned many precious lessons for the future. The first lesson was to prepare a trip and inquire locally about what to see and the opening hours. Second lesson: get all the information I can about a museum before going there. I spent several hours in Naples' museum before reaching those rooms with Alexander and other precious objects I wanted to see. Third lesson: do your homework. Since then, I have done all three and never had to regret missing anything significant.

As I said, my lodging address was too far away, a good two-hour drive from Salerno over winding local roads through beautiful landscapes. But there was an advantage to this unfortunate situation since I was close to the ancient sites of Elea (modern Velia) and Poseidona (modern Paestum), my introduction to Magna Graecia. Life takes strange twists at times.

It was here that I heard for the first time how an impressive number of Greek colonies were founded all around the Mediterranean. The reasons often included famine or overpopulation at home and friction and competition between the rising city-states, which induced many Greeks between the 8th and 4th century BC to emigrate in search of new opportunities overseas. After all, the Greeks always sought business opportunities and perfectly understood the advantage of establishing good trade relations with foreign countries. Settlements varied widely from the Black Sea, including Crimea and Asia Minor, to North Africa and the Iberian and Italic peninsulas. One of the most flourishing areas was to become Magna Graecia or Great Greece, i.e., the coastal region of southern Italy, which also includes Sicily, heavily colonized by the Greeks during the 8th and 7th centuries BC.

Two types of colonies existed: one as independent city-states, the other as widely spread trading colonies. We must thank these Greek colonies for spreading Hellenistic culture, as most cities around the Mediterranean somehow have Greek roots.

Paestum was my first city to visit. It looked familiar right away since I discovered it was the setting of the well-known Sissi II movie in which the Empress of Austria, who, according to history, went to Greece to recover from tuberculosis, is walking among these temples! I have not returned there since, but in those days, the only buildings standing were the three temples: the Temple of Ceres, the Temple of Poseidon (Neptune), and the Basilica. Besides that, the main Roman roads had been exposed, with the Decumanus exiting the city at the Porta Marina in the West and the Porta Sirena in the East. At the same time, the Cardo linked the Porta Aura in the North to the Porta Giudizia in the South – all gates still visible in the existing city walls. The central Forum and part of the Amphitheater had been excavated, but that was about all.

I was very impressed by the compact and sturdy Basilica or Temple of Hera, which counted an unusual nine columns in its façade. However, all temples had an even number of columns (another thing I learned). 

The middle temple dedicated to Poseidon (or maybe also to Hera) corresponded time-wise to the construction of the Parthenon in Athens when the purity of proportions reached its peak. No wonder this Temple of Poseidon steals the show in every way! A curious oddity used in only a few temples is the two rows of superposed columns inside the cella, where the god resides. These columns are incredibly slender and elegant, making the temple feel light. Greeks in antiquity would laugh at our admiration for these ruins, which they would have torn down without mercy, but they have not seen how the color of the travertine stone turns to golden as the material aged and hardened over the centuries. Watching the sun and shadows play with the ocher-colored colonnades set against a steel-blue sky is now a beautiful spectacle.

On the other hand, the Temple of Ceres is more austere, probably because, like for the Basilica, the construction material comes from a different quarry than the Temple of Poseidon. Smaller than the two other temples, it stands slightly aside and has the oddity of counting 6x13 columns instead of the usual proportion of 6x12. There are exceptions to every rule, even when it comes to building temples.

Poseidonia was founded early in the 6th century BC by the Achaeans. By the end of the 5th century, the city was conquered by the Lucanians, who more or less followed the customs of the early settlers. In 273 BC, however, after siding with Pyrrhus against Rome and sharing his defeat, it became the Roman city of Paestum. It continued to flourish till the 4th century AD when decline set it, and by the Middle Ages, Paestum was entirely abandoned.

The story of Elea is slightly different. Greeks from Phocaea, who fled Asia Minor around 538-535 BC after a siege by the Persians, founded it. As opposed to Paestum, Elea was not conquered by the Lucanians but fell to Rome at the same time as Paestum. More importantly, it was the home of the Eleatic School founded by the philosopher Parmenides at the beginning of the 5th century BC that included Zeno of Elea and Melissus of Samos – maybe even Xenophanes, but that is not proven.

The location of Velia, as I saw it, was quite striking. Early in spring, the light was gentle, and the skies were pale blue. The landscape was very green, with valleys of olive trees, fig-trees, and vines introduced by the Greeks. The mimosa bloomed, and the small mountain oranges were ripe for the picking. In the distance, the snow-capped mountains of the Apennines watched over these lands, unchanged throughout the centuries. What an excellent spot for founding a city!

High on the Acropolis of Elea stood an Ionic temple of which only the crepidoma and a few column stubs remain as most of the material was reused to build the medieval tower on top of it, commanding the view from afar. To reach the Acropolis, I remember walking over a most beautiful Greek road made of cobblestones with intermittent horizontal slabs to keep them in place and flanked on each side by a deep gutter (4th-3rd century BC). This road ends at the Porta Rosa, a magnificent example of a vaulted gate built by the Greeks and the only one found in Magna Graecia.

In the lower part of Elea, the Porta Marina was the eye-catcher. Elea was an active port that silted up in antiquity and now lies much further inland. The surprise was to find this southern city gate flooded after recent rainfall making it look like a gate to the sea. The five kilometers long city walls were built in the 6th century BC. Two centuries later, they were reinforced with sturdy towers to defend Elea against a possible attack from the Lucanians. There was no further explanation available. I located a Roman Bath, which Emperor Hadrian had built. There was also a vast Roman residence and other unidentified remains. Looking for pictures of Elea online today, I’m surprised that a Roman theater and an Asclepion have been excavated. Still, I find no traces of the aqueduct that I discovered there, partially running underground and covered by two slabs of stones between the cisterns that used to filter the water before reaching the lower city. It is all very intriguing, and I hope to return there one day.

In any case, my visit to Paestum has set my life-long love for and understanding of Greek art in motion. First in the Classical Period but mainly during the following Hellenistic era, when perfection was reached. that was never surpassed. Despite time and repeated wars, we are blessed that many buildings, statues, pots, jewelry, and other remains are still there. The many temples in Magna Graecia tend to give us the impression that the colonizers were even more Greek than the Greeks themselves!