Dionysodorus (

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 ...

: Διονυσόδωρος, ''Dionysódōros'', c. 430 – late 5th century or early 4th century BC) was an

ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

sophistic

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 ...

and teacher of

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

, generalship, and

oration Public speaking, also called oratory or oration, has traditionally meant the act of speaking face to face to a live audience. Today it includes any form of speaking (formally and informally) to an audience, including pre-recorded speech deliver ...

. Closely associated with his brother and fellow sophist Euthydemus, he is depicted in the writing of

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

and

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; grc, wikt:Ξενοφῶν, Ξενοφῶν ; – probably 355 or 354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian, born in Athens. At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Anci ...

Life

Plato's '' Euthydemus'' features Dionysodorus and Euthydemus as prominent interlocutors. According to the dialogue, the brothers were born on the Aegean island of

Chios Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greek island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of mastic ...

before relocating as colonists to

Thurii Thurii (; grc-gre, Θούριοι, Thoúrioi), called also by some Latin writers Thurium (compare grc-gre, Θούριον in Ptolemy), for a time also Copia and Copiae, was a city of Magna Graecia, situated on the Gulf of Taranto, Tarentine gul ...

Magna Graecia Magna Graecia (, ; , , grc, Μεγάλη Ἑλλάς, ', it, Magna Grecia) was the name given by the Romans to the coastal areas of Southern Italy in the present-day Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania and Sicily; these re ...

of modern-day

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. After being exiled from Thurii, perhaps in 413,

Debra Nails Debra Nails (born November 15, 1950) is an American philosophy professor who taught at Michigan State University. Nails earned her M.A. in philosophy and classical Greek from Louisiana State University before going on to earn a Ph.D. in philosophy ...

, ''The People of Plato'', Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2002; pp. 136–137 they came to

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 ...

. According 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 ...

in the ''Euthydemus'', the two taught fighting in armor and legal oration before developing an interest in sophism. Xenophon in the ''

Memorabilia A souvenir (), memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. A souvenir can be any object that can be collected or purchased and transported home by the traveler as a m ...

'' further attributes the teaching of generalship to Dionysodorus specifically.Xenophon, ''Memorabilia'', 3.1 Additionally, an individual named Dionysodorus appears in

Lysias Lysias (; el, Λυσίας; c. 445 – c. 380 BC) was a logographer (speech writer) in Ancient Greece. He was one of the ten Attic orators included in the "Alexandrian Canon" compiled by Aristophanes of Byzantium and Aristarchus of Samothrace i ...

' ''Against Agoratus'' speech, who potentially matches the sophist on several biographical details. This Dionysodorus was a general and ''Taxiarch'' who supported the democracy; if the general and sophist are one and the same, Dionysodorus may have become a naturalized Athenian citizen along with many other foreign residents before the

Battle of Arginusae The naval Battle of Arginusae took place in 406 BC during the Peloponnesian War near the city of Canae in the Arginusae islands, east of the island of Lesbos. In the battle, an Athenian fleet commanded by eight strategoi defeated a Spartan fleet ...

Philosophy

Throughout the ''Euthydemus'', Plato depicts Dionysodorus and his brother employing a string of

logical fallacies In philosophy, a formal fallacy, deductive fallacy, logical fallacy or non sequitur (; Latin for " tdoes not follow") is a pattern of reasoning rendered invalid by a flaw in its logical structure that can neatly be expressed in a standard logic syst ...

to defeat Socrates via his student Clinias (III), son of Axiochus. In doing so, scholars have suggested that Plato here chose the brothers as token sophists worthy of ridicule.S. Morris Engle, ''Fallacies and Pitfalls of Language: The Language Trap'', Toronto: Prentice-Hall, 1994; pp. 13

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

preserves, and refutes, a specific argument of Euthydemus which held that "a man knows that there is a trireme in the

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saronic ...

because he knows each of the two things a trireme' and 'in the Piraeus'separately."Aristotle, ''

Sophistical Refutations ''Sophistical Refutations'' ( el, Σοφιστικοὶ Ἔλεγχοι, Sophistikoi Elenchoi; la, De Sophisticis Elenchis) is a text in Aristotle's ''Organon'' in which he identified thirteen fallacies.Sometimes listed as twelve. According to A ...

'', 177b12 In Xenophon Socrates examines a student of Dionysodorus, from whom it appears Dionysodorus has not taught some of the basic elements of generalship. The implication seems to be either that Dionysodorus has shamelessly taken the student's payments, without giving him his money worth, or that Dionysodorus himself is ignorant of the very art he claims to teach, specifically generalship. This is in keeping with the negative light cast upon Dionysodorus by Plato, although the biographical details are in conflict.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dionysodorus 5th-century BC Greek people Metic philosophers in Classical Athens Sophists Ancient Chians

Life

Philosophy

See also

References