ABSTRACT

Ancient Greece was the cradle of philosophy in the Western tradition. Meet the Philosophers of Ancient Greece brings the thoughts and lives of the pioneers of Western philosophy down from their sometimes remote heights and introduces them to a modern audience. Comprising seventy essays, written by internationally distinguished scholars in a lively and accessible style, this book presents the values, ideas, wisdom and arguments of the most significant thinkers from the world of ancient Greece. Commencing with Thales of Miletus and continuing to the end of the Ancient Period of philosophy by way of Heraclitus, Parmenides, Protagoras, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Archimedes, Epictetus this book explores the major contributions of each philosopher as well as looking at archaeological and historical sites where they lived, worked and thought. This book is an outstanding introduction to the world of the philosophers of Ancient Greece.

part I|11 pages

Introductory Essays

chapter Chapter 1|4 pages

Introduction

chapter Chapter 2|2 pages

What is Philosophy?

chapter Chapter 3|3 pages

What Greek Philosophy Means to Us Today

part II|14 pages

The Precursors of Philosophy

chapter Chapter 4|5 pages

Homer

Dates unknown, the Homeric poems were probably written between 725–625 BC

chapter Chapter 5|4 pages

Hesiod

8th–7th Century BC

chapter Chapter 6|2 pages

Aesop

Early 6th century BC–c. 564 BC

part III|94 pages

The Pre-Socratics and Socrates

chapter Chapter 7|3 pages

Thales of Miletus

c. 625 BC–c. 546 BC

chapter Chapter 8|6 pages

Anaximander of Miletus

610 BC–547 BC

chapter Chapter 9|3 pages

Sappho of Lesbos

c. 600 BC

chapter Chapter 10|5 pages

Pythagoras

c. 560 BC–c. 480 BC

chapter Chapter 11|4 pages

Xenophanes

c. 570 BC–c. 470 BC

chapter Chapter 12|5 pages

Aeschylus

c. 525 BC–c. 456 BC

chapter Chapter 13|4 pages

Anaxagoras of Clazomenae

c. 500 BC–428 BC

chapter Chapter 14|4 pages

Heraclitus

c. 544 BC–484 BC

chapter Chapter 15|4 pages

Parmenides

c. 515 BC–c. 450 BC

chapter Chapter 16|5 pages

Empedocles

c. 493 BC – c. 433 BC

chapter Chapter 17|4 pages

Protagoras of Abdera and Plato's Protagoras

Born c. 490–480 BC

chapter Chapter 18|4 pages

The Sophists

5th Century BC

chapter Chapter 19|4 pages

Zeno of Elea

c. 490 BC–??

chapter Chapter 20|4 pages

Sophocles

c. 490 BC–c. 401 BC

chapter Chapter 21|4 pages

Euripides

c. 484 BC–c. 407 BC

chapter Chapter 22|3 pages

Herodotus

c. 490–425/420 BC

chapter Chapter 23|4 pages

Diotima of Mantineia

c. 470 BC–c. 410 BC

chapter Chapter 24|4 pages

Hippocrates of Cos

c. 460 BC–c. 370 BC

chapter Chapter 25|4 pages

Socrates

469 BC–399 BC

chapter Chapter 26|3 pages

Thucydides

c. 460–c. 400 BC

chapter Chapter 27|4 pages

Democritus

c. 460 BC–560? BC

part IV|35 pages

The Classical Period

chapter Chapter 28|4 pages

Aristophanes

c. 449–c. 385 BC

chapter Chapter 29|5 pages

Plato

427 BC–347 BC

chapter Chapter 30|3 pages

Plato's Symposium

c. 380 BC

chapter Chapter 31|2 pages

The Anonymous Iamblichi

chapter Chapter 32|4 pages

Diogenes of Sinope

c. 413 BC–c. 323 BC

chapter Chapter 33|7 pages

Eudoxus of Cnidus

c. 400 BC–c. 347 BC

chapter Chapter 34|5 pages

Aristotle

384 BC–322 BC

part V|44 pages

The Hellenistic Philosophers

chapter Chapter 35|3 pages

Theophrastus of Eresus

c. 372 BC–c. 288 BC

chapter Chapter 36|3 pages

Pyrrho

c. 360 BC–c. 270 BC

chapter Chapter 37|3 pages

Epicurus

341 BC–270 BC

chapter Chapter 38|4 pages

Zeno of Citium

c. 322–262 BC

chapter Chapter 39|4 pages

Archimedes

c. 287 BC–212 BC

chapter Chapter 40|6 pages

Aristarchus of Samos

c. 310 BC–c. 230 BC

chapter Chapter 41|4 pages

Carneades

c. 214 BC–129 BC

chapter Chapter 42|4 pages

Lucretius

c. 99 BC–55 BC

chapter Chapter 43|3 pages

Seneca the Younger

c. 4 BC–65 AD

chapter Chapter 44|4 pages

Apollonius of Tyana

1–10 AD–96 or 98 AD

part VI|49 pages

The Roman Period

chapter Chapter 45|4 pages

Epictetus

c. 55 AD–c. 135 AD

chapter Chapter 46|3 pages

Apuleius of Madauros

c. 125 AD–??

chapter Chapter 47|3 pages

Marcus Aurelius

121 Ad–180 AD

chapter Chapter 48|4 pages

Plotinus

204 Ad–270 AD

chapter Chapter 49|3 pages

Sextus Empiricus

c. 160–210 AD

chapter Chapter 50|4 pages

Iamblichus of Chalcis

c. 245 AD–c. 325 AD

chapter Chapter 51|3 pages

Anthony of Egypt and The Desert Fathers

chapter Chapter 52|3 pages

Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea

260–339 Ad

chapter Chapter 53|4 pages

Hypatia of Alexandria

355 Ad–422 AD

chapter Chapter 54|4 pages

Proclus

411 or 412 AD–485 AD

chapter Chapter 55|4 pages

John Philoponus

c. 490–575 AD

chapter Chapter 56|3 pages

The Closure of the Academy of Athens

part VII|58 pages

Archaeological Sites

chapter Chapter 57|3 pages

The Athenian Acropolis

chapter Chapter 58|3 pages

The Athenian Agora

chapter Chapter 59|4 pages

Corinth

chapter Chapter 60|3 pages

Delphi

chapter Chapter 61|3 pages

Didyma

chapter Chapter 62|4 pages

Eleusis

chapter Chapter 63|3 pages

Epidaurus

chapter Chapter 64|3 pages

Marathon

chapter Chapter 65|3 pages

Miletus

chapter Chapter 67|2 pages

Piraeus

chapter Chapter 68|3 pages

Samos

chapter Chapter 69|4 pages

Syracuse

chapter Chapter 70|4 pages

Troy and Heinrich Schliemann