Antipater of
Tarsus ( el, Ἀντίπατρος ὁ Ταρσεύς; died 130/129 BC) was a
Stoic philosopher
Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium in Athens in the early 3rd century Common Era, BCE. It is a philosophy of personal virtue ethics informed by its system of logic and its views on the natural world, asser ...
. He was the pupil and successor of
Diogenes of Babylon
Diogenes of Babylon (also known as Diogenes of Seleucia; grc-gre, Διογένης Βαβυλώνιος; la, Diogenes Babylonius; c. 230 – c. 150/140 BC) was a Stoic philosopher. He was the head of the Stoic school in Athens, and he was one of ...
as leader of the Stoic school, and was the teacher of
Panaetius
Panaetius (; grc-gre, Παναίτιος, Panaítios; – ) of Rhodes was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek Stoicism, Stoic philosopher. He was a pupil of Diogenes of Babylon and Antipater of Tarsus in Athens, before moving to Rome where he did m ...
. He wrote works on the
gods
A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greater ...
and on
divination
Divination (from Latin ''divinare'', 'to foresee, to foretell, to predict, to prophesy') is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic, standardized process or ritual. Used in various forms throughout histor ...
, and in
ethics
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns m ...
he took a higher moral ground than that of his teacher Diogenes.
Life
Very little is known about Antipater's life, except that he was the disciple and successor of
Diogenes of Babylon
Diogenes of Babylon (also known as Diogenes of Seleucia; grc-gre, Διογένης Βαβυλώνιος; la, Diogenes Babylonius; c. 230 – c. 150/140 BC) was a Stoic philosopher. He was the head of the Stoic school in Athens, and he was one of ...
as leader of the
Stoic
Stoic may refer to:
* An adherent of Stoicism; one whose moral quality is associated with that school of philosophy
*STOIC, a programming language
* ''Stoic'' (film), a 2009 film by Uwe Boll
* ''Stoic'' (mixtape), a 2012 mixtape by rapper T-Pain
*' ...
school in
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
, and he was the teacher of
Panaetius
Panaetius (; grc-gre, Παναίτιος, Panaítios; – ) of Rhodes was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek Stoicism, Stoic philosopher. He was a pupil of Diogenes of Babylon and Antipater of Tarsus in Athens, before moving to Rome where he did m ...
. The few extant accounts of his philosophical opinions would not be sufficient grounds for any great reputation, if it were not for the testimony of ancient authors to his merit.
Plutarch
Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''P ...
speaks of him with
Zeno
Zeno ( grc, Ζήνων) may refer to:
People
* Zeno (name), including a list of people and characters with the name
Philosophers
* Zeno of Elea (), philosopher, follower of Parmenides, known for his paradoxes
* Zeno of Citium (333 – 264 BC), ...
,
Cleanthes
Cleanthes (; grc-gre, Κλεάνθης; c. 330 BC – c. 230 BC), of Assos, was a Greek Stoic philosopher and boxer who was the successor to Zeno of Citium as the second head ('' scholarch'') of the Stoic school in Athens. Originally a boxe ...
, and
Chrysippus
Chrysippus of Soli (; grc-gre, Χρύσιππος ὁ Σολεύς, ; ) 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 the Stoic philosopher Cleanthes. When Clean ...
, as one of the principal Stoic philosophers, and
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...
mentions him as remarkable for acuteness. He seems to have taken the lead during his lifetime in the disputes constantly recurring between his own school and the
Academy
An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...
, although he is said to have felt himself so unequal in argument to his contemporary
Carneades
Carneades (; el, Καρνεάδης, ''Karneadēs'', "of Carnea"; 214/3–129/8 BC) was a Greek philosopher and perhaps the most prominent head of the Skeptical Academy in ancient Greece. He was born in Cyrene. By the year 159 BC, he had begu ...
in public debates, that he confined himself to writing; by which he was called "Pen-noise" ( el, καλαμοβόας).
Philosophical work
Antipater taught belief in
God
In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
as "a Being blessed, incorruptible, and of goodwill to men," and blamed those who ascribed to the gods "generation and corruption," which is said to have been the doctrine of
Chrysippus
Chrysippus of Soli (; grc-gre, Χρύσιππος ὁ Σολεύς, ; ) 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 the Stoic philosopher Cleanthes. When Clean ...
. Besides this treatise on the gods, he also wrote two books on
divination
Divination (from Latin ''divinare'', 'to foresee, to foretell, to predict, to prophesy') is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic, standardized process or ritual. Used in various forms throughout histor ...
, a common topic among the Stoics, in which he proved the truth of the subject from the foreknowledge and benevolence of God, explained dreams to be supernatural intimations of the future, and collected stories of divination attributed to
Socrates
Socrates (; ; –399 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no te ...
. He is said to have believed that
Fate
Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual.
Fate
Although often ...
was a god, though it is not clear what was implied in this expression; and it appears from
Athenaeus
Athenaeus of Naucratis (; grc, Ἀθήναιος ὁ Nαυκρατίτης or Nαυκράτιος, ''Athēnaios Naukratitēs'' or ''Naukratios''; la, Athenaeus Naucratita) was a Greek rhetorician and grammarian, flourishing about the end of th ...
that he wrote a treatise entitled ''On Superstition'' ( el, Περὶ Δεισιδαιμονίας).
Of Antipater's labours in
moral philosophy
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ma ...
nothing remains except a few scattered statements which concern points of detail, and have more to do with the application of moral precepts than with the principles themselves; such as they were, however, he took higher ground in solving them than his master
Diogenes
Diogenes ( ; grc, Διογένης, Diogénēs ), also known as Diogenes the Cynic (, ) or Diogenes of Sinope, was a Greek philosopher and one of the founders of Cynicism (philosophy). He was born in Sinope, an Ionian colony on the Black Sea ...
:
If a wise man should inadvertently accept counterfeit
To counterfeit means to imitate something authentic, with the intent to steal, destroy, or replace the original, for use in illegal transactions, or otherwise to deceive individuals into believing that the fake is of equal or greater value tha ...
money for good, will he offer it as genuine in payment of a debt after he discovers his mistake?" Diogenes says, "Yes," Antipater, "No," and I agree with him. If a man knowingly offers for sale wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...
that is spoiling, ought he to tell his customers? Diogenes thinks that it is not required; Antipater holds that an honest man would do so.
Among other things, his work is known for providing the earlier source of the word
misogyny
Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced fo ...
(μισογυνία, misogunia). In his moral tract known as On Marriage (c. 150 BC) Antipater argues that
marriage
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...
is the foundation of the
state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
, and considers it to be based on divine (polytheistic) decree. He uses the word misogunia to describe the sort of writing the tragedian Euripides eschews, stating that he "reject
the hatred of women in his writing" (ἀποθέμενος τὴν ἐν τῷ γράφειν μισογυνίαν). He then offers an example of this, quoting from a lost play of Euripides in which the merits of a dutiful wife are praised.
[38–43, fr. 63, in von Arnim, J. (ed.). Stoicorum Veterum Fragmenta. Vol. 3. Leipzig: Teubner, 1903]
Notes
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Antipater Of Tarsus
2nd-century BC philosophers
Hellenistic-era philosophers from Anatolia
Stoic philosophers
People from Tarsus, Mersin
Year of birth unknown
130 BC deaths