Menippus of Gadara (; el, Μένιππος ὁ Γαδαρεύς ''Menippos ho Gadareus''; fl. 3rd century BC) was a Cynic satirist. The Menippean satire genre is named after him. His works, all of which are lost, were an important influence on

Varro Marcus Terentius Varro (; 116–27 BC) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Vergil and Cicero). He is sometimes calle ...

and

Lucian Lucian of Samosata, '; la, Lucianus Samosatensis ( 125 – after 180) was a Hellenized Syrian satirist, rhetorician and pamphleteer Pamphleteer is a historical term for someone who creates or distributes pamphlets, unbound (and therefore ...

, who ranks Menippus with

Antisthenes Antisthenes (; el, Ἀντισθένης; 446 366 BCE) was a Greek philosopher and a pupil of Socrates. Antisthenes first learned rhetoric under Gorgias before becoming an ardent disciple of Socrates. He adopted and developed the ethical side o ...

Diogenes Diogenes ( ; grc, Διογένης, Diogénēs ), also known as Diogenes the Cynic (, ) or Diogenes of Sinope, was a Greek philosopher and one of the founders of Cynicism (philosophy). He was born in Sinope, an Ionian colony on the Black Sea ...

, and Crates as among the most notable of the Cynics.

Life

Little is known about the life of Menippus. He was a Greek, perhaps of Phoenician descent from the Greek city of GadaraBlank, David
"Philodemus"
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2019 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), accessed 3 June 2020. in

Coele-Syria Coele-Syria (, also spelt Coele Syria, Coelesyria, Celesyria) alternatively Coelo-Syria or Coelosyria (; grc-gre, Κοίλη Συρία, ''Koílē Syría'', 'Hollow Syria'; lat, Cœlē Syria or ), was a region of Syria (region), Syria in cl ...

Strabo's Geography The ''Geographica'' (Ancient Greek: Γεωγραφικά ''Geōgraphiká''), or ''Geography'', is an encyclopedia of geographical knowledge, consisting of 17 'books', written in Greek and attributed to Strabo, an educated citizen of the Roman E ...

br>16.2.29
/ref> The ancient sources agree that he was a

slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

. He was in the service of a citizen of Pontus, but in some way obtained his freedom and relocated to Thebes.

Diogenes Laërtius Diogenes Laërtius ( ; grc-gre, Διογένης Λαέρτιος, ; ) was a biographer of the Ancient Greece, Greek philosophers. Nothing is definitively known about his life, but his surviving ''Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers'' is a ...

relates a dubious story that he amassed a fortune as a

money-lender In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that de ...

, lost it, and committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

Writings

His works (written in a mixture of

prose Prose is a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language's ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing. It differs from most traditional poetry, where the f ...

and

verse Verse may refer to: Poetry * Verse, an occasional synonym for poetry * Verse, a metrical structure, a stanza * Blank verse, a type of poetry having regular meter but no rhyme * Free verse, a type of poetry written without the use of strict me ...

) are all lost. He discussed serious subjects in a spirit of ridicule, and especially delighted in attacking the

Epicureans 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 Epi ...

and

Stoics Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium in Athens in the early 3rd century BCE. It is a philosophy of personal virtue ethics informed by its system of logic and its views on the natural world, asserting that th ...

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...

and Stephanus call him the "earnest-jester" ( el, σπουδογέλοιος, '' spoudogeloios''). His writings exercised considerable influence upon later literature, and the Menippean satire genre is named after him. Although the writings of Menippus no longer survive, there are some fragments of

's ''Saturae Menippeae'', which were written in imitation of Menippus. One of the dialogues attributed to

, his avowed imitator, who frequently mentions him, is called ''Menippus'', but since the sub-title ("The Oracle of the Dead") resembles that of a work ascribed to Menippus by Diogenes Laërtius, it has been suggested that it is imitated from his ''Necromancy''. Diogenes Laërtius says the following works were written by Menippus: * Νέκυια – ''Necromancy'' * Διαθῆκαι – ''Wills'' * Ἐπιστολαὶ κεκομψευμέναι ἀπὸ τῶν θεῶν προσώπου – ''Letters artificially composed as if by the Gods'' * Πρὸς τοὺς φυσικοὺς καὶ μαθηματικοὺς καὶ γραμματικοὺς – ''Replies to the Natural Philosophers, and Mathematicians, and Grammarians'' * Γονὰς Ἐπικούρου – ''The Birth of Epicurus'' * Τὰς θρησκευομένας ὑπ' αὐτῶν εἰκάδας – ''The School's reverence of the twentieth day'' (celebrated in the Epicurean school) In addition,

Athenaeus Athenaeus of Naucratis (; grc, Ἀθήναιος ὁ Nαυκρατίτης or Nαυκράτιος, ''Athēnaios Naukratitēs'' or ''Naukratios''; la, Athenaeus Naucratita) was a Greek rhetorician and grammarian, flourishing about the end of th ...

mentions works called ''Symposium'' and '' Arcesilaus'', and Diogenes Laërtius mentions a ''Sale of Diogenes'' ( el, Διογένους Πράσει)Diogenes Laërtius, vi. 29. written by Menippus which seems to be the main source of the story that Diogenes of Sinope was captured by pirates and sold into slavery.

Notes

References

External links

''Lives & Writings on the Cynics''
directory of literary references to Ancient Cynics

– Lucian's dialogue in which Menippus visits

Hades Hades (; grc-gre, ᾍδης, Háidēs; ), in the ancient Greek religion and myth, is the god of the dead and the king of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although this also ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Menippus of Gadara 3rd-century BC philosophers 3rd-century BC writers 3rd-century BC poets Ancient Greek poets Ancient Greek satirists Ancient Greek slaves and freedmen Cynic philosophers Hellenistic-era philosophers from Syria Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown