Cleinias of Tarentum ( grc-gre, Κλεινίας; fl. 4th-century BCE) was a
Pythagorean philosopher,
and a contemporary and friend 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 ...
, as appears from the story (perhaps otherwise worthless) which
Diogenes Laërtius
Diogenes Laërtius ( ; grc-gre, Διογένης Λαέρτιος, ; ) was a biographer of the Greek philosophers. Nothing is definitively known about his life, but his surviving ''Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers'' is a principal sour ...
gives on the authority of
Aristoxenus, to the effect that Plato wished to burn all the writings of
Democritus
Democritus (; el, Δημόκριτος, ''Dēmókritos'', meaning "chosen of the people"; – ) was an Ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosopher from Abdera, primarily remembered today for his formulation of an atomic theory of the universe. No ...
which he could collect, but was prevented by Cleinias and
Amyclus of Heraclea. In his practice, Cleinias was a true Pythagorean. Thus, we hear that he used to assuage his anger by playing on his harp; and, when
Prorus of Cyrene had lost all his fortune through a political revolution, Cleinias, who knew nothing of him except that he was a Pythagorean, took on himself the risk of a voyage to
Cyrene, and supplied him with money to the full extent of his loss.
A text written by Cleinias exists among some other Pythagorean philosophers' at the end of Iamblichus' "Life of Pythagoras" in the referenced edition, where his name is spelled "Clinias".
Notes
References
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4th-century BC Greek people
4th-century BC philosophers
Pythagoreans of Magna Graecia
Ancient Tarantines
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