Hecato or Hecaton of Rhodes ( el, Ἑκάτων; fl. c. 100 BC) was a

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 ...

Stoic Stoic may refer to: * An adherent of Stoicism; one whose moral quality is associated with that school of philosophy * STOIC, a programming language * ''Stoic'' (film), a 2009 film by Uwe Boll * ''Stoic'' (mixtape), a 2012 mixtape by rapper T-Pain * ...

philosopher. He was a native of

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the S ...

, and a disciple of

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 do ...

,Cicero, ''De Officiis'', 3.15. but nothing else is known of his life. It is clear that he was eminent amongst the Stoics of the period. He was a voluminous writer, but nothing remains. Diogenes Laërtius mentions six treatises written by Hecato:Diogenes Laërtius: vi–vii, 4, 26, 32, 87, 90, 95, 101–103, 110, 124–125, 127, 172. * Περὶ ἀγαθῶν – ''On Goods'', in at least nineteen books. * Περὶ ἀρετῶν – ''On Virtues''. * Περὶ παθῶν – ''On Passions''. * Περὶ τελῶν – ''On Ends''. * Περὶ παραδόξων – ''On Paradoxes'', in at least thirteen books. * Χρεῖαι – ''Maxims''. In addition

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 ...

writes that Hecato wrote a work on ''On Duties'', ( la, De Officiis) dedicated to Quintus Tubero. Hecato is also frequently mentioned by

Seneca Seneca may refer to: People and language * Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname * Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America ** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people Places Extrat ...

in his treatise ''

De Beneficiis ''De Beneficiis'' (English: ''On Benefits'') is a first-century work by Seneca the Younger. It forms part of a series of Morality, moral essays (or "Dialogues") composed by Seneca. ''De Beneficiis'' concerns the award and reception of gifts and f ...

''. Seneca also quotes Hecato in his ''

Epistulae morales ad Lucilium The ' (Latin for "Moral Letters to Lucilius"), also known as the ''Moral Epistles'' and ''Letters from a Stoic'', is a collection of 124 letters that Seneca the Younger wrote at the end of his life, during his retirement, after he had worked for ...

''; According to Diogenes, Hecato divided the

virtues Virtue ( la, virtus) is moral excellence. A virtue is a trait or quality that is deemed to be morally good and thus is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being. In other words, it is a behavior that shows high moral standard ...

into two kinds, those founded on scientific intellectual principles (i.e.

wisdom Wisdom, sapience, or sagacity is the ability to contemplate and act using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense and insight. Wisdom is associated with attributes such as unbiased judgment, compassion, experiential self-knowle ...

and

justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

), and those with no such basis (e.g., temperance and the resultant health and vigor). Like the earlier Stoics,

Cleanthes Cleanthes (; grc-gre, Κλεάνθης; c. 330 BC – c. 230 BC), of Assos, was a Greek Stoic philosopher and boxer who was the successor to Zeno of Citium as the second head ('' scholarch'') of the Stoic school in Athens. Originally a boxe ...

and Chrysippus, Hecato also held that virtue may be taught. Cicero shows that he was much interested in casuistical questions, as, for example, whether a good man who received a coin he knew to be bad was justified in passing it on to another. On the whole, he is inclined to regard self-interest as the best criterion. This he modifies by explaining that self-interest is based on the relationships of life; a man needs money for the sake of his children, his friends and the state whose general prosperity depends on the wealth of its citizens:

It is a wise man's duty to take care of his private interests, at the same time doing nothing contrary to the civil customs, laws, and institutions. But that depends on our purpose in seeking prosperity; for we do not aim to be rich for ourselves alone but for our children, relatives, friends, and, above all, for our country. For the private fortunes of individuals are the wealth of the state.

References

* {{Authority control 2nd-century BC Rhodians 1st-century BC Rhodians 2nd-century BC philosophers Roman-era Rhodian philosophers Roman-era Stoic philosophers Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown