Calliphon of Croton ( grc, Καλλιφῶν) (fl. 6th century BC) was a

Pythagorean Pythagorean, meaning of or pertaining to the ancient Ionian mathematician, philosopher, and music theorist Pythagoras, may refer to: Philosophy * Pythagoreanism, the esoteric and metaphysical beliefs purported to have been held by Pythagoras * Ne ...

physician. He was apparently the chief priest at Croton and a man of great importance in civic affairs.

Hermippus Hermippus ( grc-gre, Ἕρμιππος; fl. 5th century BC) was the one-eyed Athenian writer of the Old Comedy, who flourished during the Peloponnesian War. Life He was the son of Lysis, and the brother of the comic poet Myrtilus. He was younger t ...

reports that he was an associate of

Pythagoras Pythagoras of Samos ( grc, Πυθαγόρας ὁ Σάμιος, Pythagóras ho Sámios, Pythagoras the Samian, or simply ; in Ionian Greek; ) was an ancient Ionian Greek philosopher and the eponymous founder of Pythagoreanism. His politi ...

, and he appears in Iamblichus's catalogue of Pythagoreans; thus he is one of the few Pythagoreans who can be dated from the time of Pythagoras.

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly ...

quotes Hermippus as saying that Pythagoras claimed that the soul of Calliphon of Croton used to remain at his side night and day, and that he used to utter the following advice: not to pass over a place where his donkey had stumbled, to drink only of clear

fountain A fountain, from the Latin "fons" (genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. Fountains were ori ...

water, and to speak ill of no man.

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society ...

, in telling the story of the physician Democedes of Croton, reports that Democedes was the son of Calliphon.Herodotus, ii. 125ff

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calliphon Of Croton 6th-century BC Greek physicians 6th-century BC philosophers Ancient Crotonians Pythagoreans of Magna Graecia