Ecphantus or Ecphantos ( grc, Ἔκφαντος) or Ephantus () is a shadowy Greek

pre-Socratic Pre-Socratic philosophy, also known as early Greek philosophy, is ancient Greek philosophy before Socrates. Pre-Socratic philosophers were mostly interested in cosmology, the beginning and the substance of the universe, but the inquiries of thes ...

philosopher. He may not have actually existed. He is identified as 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 ...

of the 4th century BCE, and as a supporter of the

heliocentric theory Heliocentrism (also known as the Heliocentric model) is the astronomical model in which the Earth and planets revolve around the Sun at the center of the universe. Historically, heliocentrism was opposed to geocentrism, which placed the Earth at ...

. Described as from

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

, this may or may not be the same figure as the attested Ecphantus of Croton. Ecphantus accepted the existence of atoms. He accepts the existence of void, empty space. Ecphantus maintained that the Cosmos is made of atoms and there is only one Cosmos (Universe) governed by providence (πρόνοια). He is the first of the Pythagoreans to attribute physical substance to the Pythagorean units (see

Unit-point atomism According to some 20th century philosophy, twentieth-century philosophers,Paul Tannery (1887), ''Pour l'histoire de la science Hellène'' (Paris), and John Raven, J. E. Raven (1948), ''Pythagoreans and Eleatics'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Pr ...

). Ecphantus, like

Heraclides of Pontus Heraclides Ponticus ( grc-gre, Ἡρακλείδης ὁ Ποντικός ''Herakleides''; c. 390 BC – c. 310 BC) was a Greek philosopher and astronomer who was born in Heraclea Pontica, now Karadeniz Ereğli, Turkey, and migrated to Athens. He ...

, believed that the Earth turns around its centre from west to towards east, like a wheel, as if it has an axis, the state.

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian ...

, '' Praeparatio evangelica'', Book 15, chapter 58, section 3, line 1, Ἡρακλείδης ὁ Ποντικὸς καὶ Ἔκφαντος ὁ Πυθαγόρειος κινοῦσι μὲν τὴν γῆν, οὐ μήν γε μεταβατικῶς, ἀλλὰ τρεπτικῶς τροχοῦ δίκην ἐνηξονισμένην, ἀπὸ δυσμῶν ἐπ' ἀνατολὰς περὶ τὸ ἴδιον αὑτῆς κέντρον.

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4th-century BC Greek people 4th-century BC philosophers Ancient Greek astronomers Ancient Syracusans People whose existence is disputed Presocratic philosophers Pythagoreans of Magna Graecia {{Greece-philosopher-stub