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
A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals ...
of the Stoic 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 a ...
, and he was one of three philosophers sent to
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
in 155 BC. He wrote many works, but
none of his writings survived, except as quotations by later writers.
Life
Born in
Seleucia on the Tigris
Seleucia (; grc-gre, Σελεύκεια), also known as or , was a major Mesopotamian city of the Seleucid empire. It stood on the west bank of the Tigris River, within the present-day Baghdad Governorate in Iraq.
Name
Seleucia ( grc-gre, ...
in
Babylonia
Babylonia (; Akkadian: , ''māt Akkadī'') was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Syria). It emerged as an Amorite-ruled state c ...
, Diogenes was educated at
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 a ...
under the auspices 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 C ...
and succeeded
Zeno of Tarsus
Zeno of Tarsus ( grc-gre, Ζήνων ὁ Ταρσεύς, ''Zenon ho Tarseus''; fl. 200 BC) was a Stoic philosopher and the son of Dioscorides.
Biography
Zeno was a pupil of Chrysippus, and when Chrysippus died c. 206 BC, he succeeded him to be ...
as head (''
scholarch
A scholarch ( grc, σχολάρχης, ''scholarchēs'') was the head of a school in ancient Greece. The term is especially remembered for its use to mean the heads of schools of philosophy, such as the Platonic Academy in ancient Athens. Its fir ...
'') of the Stoic school there in the 2nd century BC. Among his pupils were
Panaetius
Panaetius (; grc-gre, Παναίτιος, Panaítios; – ) of Rhodes was an ancient Greek Stoic philosopher. He was a pupil of Diogenes of Babylon and Antipater of Tarsus in Athens, before moving to Rome where he did much to introduce Stoic ...
and
Antipater of Tarsus
Antipater of Tarsus ( el, Ἀντίπατρος ὁ Ταρσεύς; died 130/129 BC) was a Stoic philosopher. He was the pupil and successor of Diogenes of Babylon as leader of the Stoic school, and was the teacher of Panaetius. He wrote works on ...
who succeeded him as scholarch. He seems to have closely followed the views of Chrysippus, especially on
dialectic
Dialectic ( grc-gre, διαλεκτική, ''dialektikḗ''; related to dialogue; german: Dialektik), also known as the dialectical method, is a discourse between two or more people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing ...
, in which he is said to have instructed
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 be ...
.
Together with Carneades and
Critolaus
Critolaus (; el, Κριτόλαος ''Kritolaos''; c. 200 – c. 118 BC) of Phaselis was a Greek philosopher of the Peripatetic school. He was one of three philosophers sent to Rome in 155 BC (the other two being Carneades and Diogenes of Babylon) ...
, he was sent to
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
to appeal a fine of five hundred
talents imposed on Athens in 155 BC for the sack of
Oropus. They delivered their
epideictic speeches first in numerous private assemblies, then in the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
. Diogenes pleased his audience chiefly by his sober and temperate mode of speaking.
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 esta ...
speaks of him as deceased by 150 BC, and since
Lucian
Lucian of Samosata, '; la, Lucianus Samosatensis ( 125 – after 180) was a Hellenized Syrian satirist, rhetorician and pamphleteer who is best known for his characteristic tongue-in-cheek style, with which he frequently ridiculed supersti ...
claims that he died at the age of 80, he must have been born around 230 BC. There is some evidence, however, that he may have lived to around 140 BC.
Works
Cicero calls Diogenes "a great and important Stoic". In the works of the
Epicurean
Epicureanism is a system of philosophy founded around 307 BC based upon the teachings of the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus. Epicureanism was originally a challenge to Platonism. Later its main opponent became Stoicism.
Few writings by Ep ...
philosopher
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 movin ...
found in carbonized
papyrus
Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, '' Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'') can also refer to ...
rolls recovered from the ruins of the
Villa of the Papyri
The Villa of the Papyri ( it, Villa dei Papiri, also known as ''Villa dei Pisoni'' and in early excavation records as the ''Villa Suburbana'') was an ancient Roman villa in Herculaneum, in what is now Ercolano, southern Italy. It is named afte ...
at
Herculaneum
Herculaneum (; Neapolitan and it, Ercolano) was an ancient town, located in the modern-day ''comune'' of Ercolano, Campania, Italy. Herculaneum was buried under volcanic ash and pumice in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.
Like the n ...
, Diogenes is discussed more frequently than any philosopher besides
Epicurus
Epicurus (; grc-gre, Ἐπίκουρος ; 341–270 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher and sage who founded Epicureanism, a highly influential school of philosophy. He was born on the Greek island of Samos to Athenian parents. Influence ...
himself.
He was the author of several works, of which, however, little more than the titles is known:
* Διαλεκτικὴ τέχνη – ''Dialectic Art''.
* ''On Divination''.
* ''On
Athena
Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of v ...
''.
* Περὶ τοῦ τῆς ψυχῆς ἡγεμονικοῦ – ''On the Ruling Faculty of the Soul''.
* Περὶ φωνῆς – ''On Speaking''.
* Περὶ εὐγενείας – ''Οn Noble Βirth''.
* Περὶ νόμων – ''On Laws''.
In addition, it appears from Philodemus that he wrote extensive works ''On Music'' and ''On Rhetoric''. Some aspects of his views on these two subjects are recoverable from the critical remarks to be found in Philodemus' works on these two subjects. There are several passages in Cicero from which we may infer that Diogenes wrote on other subjects also, such as duty, the highest good, and the like.
[Cicero, ''De Officiis'', iii. 12, 13, 23; ''De Finibus'', iii. 10, 15]
''On Music''
The opinions of Diogenes on music are known through the fragmentary treatise by Philodemus, ''On Music'', which discusses the views of Diogenes.
According to Philodemus, Diogenes held that music not only can calm the emotions, but that listening to music can produce harmony and proportion in the soul.
Diogenes believed that just as diet and exercise can produce a healthy body, so that music can bring health to the mind and can treat psychological illnesses.
Music naturally pushes one to action.
Diogenes uses the example of the trumpet, or similar military instrument, which can stir the soldier to bravery.
Music is thus an art which leads to virtue.
Notes
References
* Brunschwig, J. "Did Diogenes invent the ontological argument?" in id., ed., ''Papers in Hellenistic Philosophy'' (Cambridge 1994) 170–189.
*
*
*
*
*
* Obbink, D., and P. A. Vander Waerdt, “Diogenes of Babylon: the Stoic sage in the city of fools,” ''Greek Roman and Byzantine Studies'' 32 (1991) 355–396.
*
Attribution:
*
{{Authority control
140s BC deaths
2nd-century BC philosophers
Ambassadors to ancient Rome
Hellenistic-era philosophers from Asia
Hellenistic-era philosophers in Athens
Stoic philosophers
Year of birth unknown