Anaxarchus (; grc, Ἀνάξαρχος; ) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

of the school of

Democritus Democritus (; el, Δημόκριτος, ''Dēmókritos'', meaning "chosen of the people"; – ) was an Ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosopher from Abdera, primarily remembered today for his formulation of an atomic theory of the universe. No ...

. Together with Pyrrho, he accompanied

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...

into Asia. The reports of his philosophical views suggest that he was a forerunner of

Pyrrhonism Pyrrhonism is a school of philosophical skepticism founded by Pyrrho in the fourth century BCE. It is best known through the surviving works of Sextus Empiricus, writing in the late second century or early third century CE. History Pyrrho of E ...

. Aelian writes that he was called Eudaemonicus or "Happy Man" ( grc, Εὐδαιμονικὸς).Aelian, Varia Historia, 9.37
/ref>

Life

Anaxarchus was born at Abdera in

Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to t ...

. He was the companion and friend of

in his Asiatic campaigns. According to

Diogenes Laërtius Diogenes Laërtius ( ; grc-gre, Διογένης Λαέρτιος, ; ) was a biographer of the Ancient Greece, Greek philosophers. Nothing is definitively known about his life, but his surviving ''Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers'' is a ...

, in response to Alexander's claim to have been the son of Zeus-Ammon, Anaxarchus pointed to his bleeding wound and remarked, "See the blood of a mortal, not

ichor In Greek mythology, ichor () is the ethereal fluid that is the blood of the gods and/or immortals. The Ancient Greek word () is of uncertain etymology, and has been suggested to be a foreign word. In classical myth Ichor originates in Greek my ...

, such as flows from the veins of the immortal gods."Diogenes Laërtius, ''Lives'', ix. 60 Aelian, writes that Anaxarchus laughed at Alexander for making himself a god and said, "The hopes of our god are in a porringer of broth", when the physician prescribed a broth to Alexander.

Arrian Arrian of Nicomedia (; Greek: ''Arrianos''; la, Lucius Flavius Arrianus; ) was a Greek historian, public servant, military commander and philosopher of the Roman period. ''The Anabasis of Alexander'' by Arrian is considered the best ...

tells a story that at

Bactra ), named for its green-tiled ''Gonbad'' ( prs, گُنبَد, dome), in July 2001 , pushpin_map=Afghanistan#Bactria#West Asia , pushpin_relief=yes , pushpin_label_position=bottom , pushpin_mapsize=300 , pushpin_map_caption=Location in Afghanistan ...

, in 327 BC, he advised all to worship Alexander as a god even during his lifetime, as they would surely do it after he died.Arrian, ''Anabasis of Alexander'', 4.10 When Alexander was trying to show that he is divine so that the Macedonians would perform

proskynesis Proskynesis or proscynesis , or proskinesis (Greek , ''proskýnēsis''; Latin adoratio) is a solemn gesture of respect for the gods and people; among the Persians, it referred to a man prostrating himself and kissing the earth, or the limbs ...

to him, Anaxarchus said that Alexander could "more justly be considered a god than

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...

Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive ...

", as Dionysus was Theban while Heracles was Alexander's non-Macedonian ancestor.

says that

Nicocreon Nicocreon (Greek Nικoκρέων; lived 4th century BC) was king of Salamis in Cyprus, at the time of Alexander the Great's (336–323 BC) expedition against Persia. Nicocreon submitted to the conqueror along with the other Cypriot kings, ...

, the tyrant of

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

, commanded him to be pounded to death in a mortar, and that he endured this torture with fortitude.

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 ...

relates the same story.Diogenes Laërtius, ''Lives'', ix. 58

Philosophy

Very little is known about his philosophical views. It is thought that he represents a link between the

atomism Atomism (from Greek , ''atomon'', i.e. "uncuttable, indivisible") is a natural philosophy proposing that the physical universe is composed of fundamental indivisible components known as atoms. References to the concept of atomism and its atoms ...

, and the

skepticism Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the pe ...

of Pyrrho. Anaxarchus is said to have studied under Diogenes of Smyrna, whose teachings were said to be the same as those of Democritus' student

Protagoras Protagoras (; el, Πρωταγόρας; )Guthrie, p. 262–263. was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher and rhetorical theorist. He is numbered as one of the sophists by Plato. In his dialogue '' Protagoras'', Plato credits him with inventing the r ...

. Diogenes studied under

Metrodorus of Chios Metrodorus of Chios ( grc-gre, Μητρόδωρος ὁ Χῖος; fl. 4th century BC) was a Greek philosopher, belonging to the school of Democritus, and an important forerunner of Epicurus. Metrodorus was a pupil of Nessus of Chios, or, as some ...

, who used to declare that he knew nothing, not even the fact that he knew nothing. According to

Sextus Empiricus Sextus Empiricus ( grc-gre, Σέξτος Ἐμπειρικός, ; ) was a Ancient Greece, Greek Pyrrhonism, Pyrrhonist philosopher and Empiric school physician. His philosophical works are the most complete surviving account of ancient Greek and ...

, Anaxarchus "compared existing things to a scene-painting and supposed them to resemble the impressions experienced in sleep or madness." Anaxarchus's student Pyrrho is said to have adopted "a most noble philosophy, … taking the form of agnosticism and suspension of judgement." Anaxarchus is said to have praised Pyrrho's "indifference and sang-froid." Anaxarchus is said to have possessed "fortitude and contentment in life," which earned him the epithet ''eudaimonikos'' ("fortunate"), which may imply that he held the end of life to be ''

eudaimonia Eudaimonia (Greek: εὐδαιμονία ; sometimes anglicized as eudaemonia or eudemonia, ) is a Greek word literally translating to the state or condition of 'good spirit', and which is commonly translated as 'happiness' or 'welfare'. In wor ...

.''

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 ...

reports that he told

that there were an infinite number of worlds, leading Alexander to weep, for he had not yet conquered even one.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Anaxarchus 4th-century BC Greek people 4th-century BC philosophers Abderites Ancient Greek atomist philosophers Ancient Thracian Greeks Hellenistic-era philosophers Philosophers and tutors of Alexander the Great Ancient Skeptic philosophers Executed philosophers Pyrrhonism