Chrysippus

200
Chrysippus bigraphy, stories - Philosophers

Chrysippus : biography

Chrysippus of Soli (Ancient Greek: , ; c. 279 BC – c. 206 BCHe died according to Apollodorus of Athens (ap. Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 184) at the age of 73 during the 143rd Olympiad (208–204 BC). Thus his date of birth is placed between 281 and 277. The statements in Pseudo-Lucian (Macr. 20) that he died aged 81, and Valerius Maximus that he was still writing at the age of 80 (Val. Max. viii. 7) are considered less credible. Cf. ) was a Greek Stoic philosopher. He was a native of Soli, Cilicia, but moved to Athens as a young man, where he became a pupil of Cleanthes in the Stoic school. When Cleanthes died, around 230 BC, Chrysippus became the third head of the school. A prolific writer, Chrysippus expanded the fundamental doctrines of Zeno of Citium, the founder of the school, which earned him the title of Second Founder of Stoicism.

Chrysippus excelled in logic, the theory of knowledge, ethics and physics. He created an original system of propositional logic in order to better understand the workings of the universe and role of humanity within it. He adhered to a deterministic view of fate, but nevertheless sought a role for personal freedom in thought and action. Ethics, he taught, depended on understanding the nature of the universe, and he taught a therapy of extirpating the unruly passions which depress and crush the soul. He initiated the success of Stoicism as one of the most influential philosophical movements for centuries in the Greek and Roman world.

Life

Chrysippus was the son of Apollonius of Tarsus but was himself born at Soli, Cilicia., citing Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 179; Galen, Protreptic, 7; de Differentia Pulsuum, 10 He was slight in statureDiogenes Laërtius, vii. 182 and is reputed to have trained as a long-distance runner.Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 179 While still young, he lost his substantial inherited property when it was confiscated to the king’s treasury.Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 181. The king is not named, but Cilicia was contested between Ptolemy II Philadelphus and Antiochus I Soter during this period, cf. Chrysippus moved to Athens, where he became the disciple of Cleanthes, who was then the head (scholarch) of the Stoic school.Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 179. The claim that he studied under Zeno is less likely because Zeno died in 262/1. Cf. It is said too that he attended the courses of Arcesilaus and his successor Lacydes, in the Platonic Academy.Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 184

Chrysippus threw himself eagerly into the study of the Stoic system. His reputation for learning among his contemporaries was considerable. He was noted for intellectual audacity and self-confidence and his reliance on his own ability was shown, among other things, in the request he is supposed to have made to Cleanthes: "Give me the principles, and I will find the proofs myself." He succeeded Cleanthes as head of the Stoic school when Cleanthes died, in around 230 BC.

Chrysippus was a prolific writer. He is said to rarely have gone without writing 500 lines a dayDiogenes Laërtius, vii. 181 and he composed more than 705 works.Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 180 His desire to be comprehensive meant that he would take both sides of an argument and his opponents accused him of filling his books with the quotations of others.Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 181, x. 26–7 He was considered diffuse and obscure in his utterances and careless in his style, but his abilities were highly regarded, and he came to be seen as a preeminent authority for the school.

He died during the 143rd Olympiad (208–204 BC) at the age of 73. Diogenes Laërtius gives two different accounts of his death.Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 185 In the first account, Chrysippus was seized with dizziness having drunk undiluted wine at a feast, and died soon after. In the second account, he was watching a donkey eat some figs and cried out: "Now give the donkey a drink of pure wine to wash down the figs", whereupon he died in a fit of laughter. His nephew Aristocreon erected a statue in his honour in the Kerameikos.Plutarch, De Stoicorum Repugnantiis; Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 183 Chrysippus was succeeded as head of the Stoic school by his pupil Zeno of Tarsus.Eusebius, Praeparatio Evangelica, 15. 18; Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 35