Charmadas ( el, Χαρμάδας; also Charmides (Χαρμίδης); 168/7 – 103/91 BC) 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 ...
Academic Skeptic philosopher and a disciple of
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 ...
at 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 ...
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 ...
. He was famous for his elegant style.
Charmadas introduced the teaching of rhetoric into the Academy and is said to have had many students.
He was a pupil of Carneades for seven years (145–138 BC) and later he led his own school in the Ptolemaion, a
gymnasium in Athens. He was from
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
and seems to have lived there, before he went to Athens around 145 BC He was an excellent rhetorician and famous for his outstanding memory and for his ability to memorize whole books and then recite them. Like
Philo of Larissa
Philo of Larissa ( el, Φίλων ὁ Λαρισσαῖος ''Philon ho Larissaios''; 159/8–84/3 BC) was a Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher. He was a pupil of Clitomachus (philosopher), Clitomachus, whom he succeeded as head of the Platonic ...
he seems to have pursued a more moderate
philosophical scepticism
Philosophical skepticism ( UK spelling: scepticism; from Greek σκέψις ''skepsis'', "inquiry") is a family of philosophical views that question the possibility of knowledge. It differs from other forms of skepticism in that it even reject ...
.
Lucius Licinius Crassus
Lucius Licinius Crassus (140–91 BC) was a Roman orator and statesman. He was considered the greatest orator of his day, most notably by his pupil Cicero. Crassus is also famous as one of the main characters in Cicero's work '' De Oratore'', a d ...
and
Marcus Antonius (orator)
Marcus Antonius (143–87 BC) was a Roman politician of the Antonius family and one of the most distinguished Roman orators of his time. He was also the grandfather of the famous general and triumvir, Mark Antony.
Career
His ''cursus honorum'' b ...
were his most prominent pupils. Furthermore,
Philodemus
Philodemus of Gadara ( grc-gre, Φιλόδημος ὁ Γαδαρεύς, ''Philodēmos'', "love of the people"; c. 110 – prob. c. 40 or 35 BC) was an Arabic Epicurean philosopher and poet. He studied under Zeno of Sidon in Athens, before moving ...
preserved us the names of other pupils: Diodorus of
Adramyttion
Adramyttium ( el, Άδραμύττιον ''Adramyttion'', Άδραμύττειον ''Adramytteion'', or Άτραμύττιον ''Atramyttion'') was an ancient city and bishopric in Aeolis, in modern-day Turkey. It was originally located at the he ...
, Apollodor of Tarsus, Heliodorus of Mallos, Phanostratus of Tralles and a certain Apollonius.
[For the list of pupils preserved by Philodemus see .]
Notes
References
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Further reading
* Tiziano Dorandi: ''Charmadas''. In: Richard Goulet (ed.): ''Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques''. vol. 2, CNRS Éditions, Paris 1994, , pp. 297–298.
* Görler, Woldemar (1994). ''Charmadas''. In: ''Grundriss der Geschichte der Philosophie. Die Philosophie der Antike'', vol. 4/2: ''Die hellenistische Philosophie'', ed.
Hellmut Flashar
Hellmut Flashar (; 3 December 1929 – 17 August 2022) was a German classical philologist and translator.
Life and career
Flashar was born in Hamburg on 3 December 1929. As a professor, he taught at the University of Bochum (1965–1982) and ...
., Basel , pp. 906–908.
{{Platonists
160s BC births
90s BC deaths
2nd-century BC Greek people
1st-century BC Greek people
Academic philosophers
Academic skepticism
Hellenistic-era philosophers in Athens
2nd-century BC philosophers