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51-621: Pyrrho of Elis is estimated to have lived from around 365/360 until 275/270 BCE. Pyrrho was from Elis , on the Ionian Sea . He was likely a member of the Klytidiai, a clan of seers in Elis who interpreted the oracles of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia where Pyrrho served as a high priest. The Klytidiai were descendants of Klytios, who was the son of Alcmaeon and the grandson of Amphiaraus . In

102-465: A common ground. Ancient Elis Elis ( / ˈ iː l ɪ s / ) or Eleia / ɪ ˈ l aɪ . ə / ( Greek : Ήλιδα , romanized :  Ilida , Attic Greek : Ἦλις , romanized:  Ēlis /ɛ̂ːlis/ ; Elean : Ϝᾶλις /wâːlis/ , ethnonym : Ϝᾱλείοι ) is an ancient district in Greece that corresponds to the modern regional unit of Elis . Elis is in southern Greece on

153-582: A dog and explaining that "it was difficult to strip oneself completely of being human; but one could struggle against circumstances, by means of actions in the first instance, and if they were not successful, by means of reason". The inconsistency of these tales is echoed in the descriptions of his general approach as well. Diogenes himself states that Pyrrho avoided nothing and took no precautions, thereby making his safety dependent on his disciples, this according to Antigonus of Carystus , but he also quotes Aenesidemus as saying: 'Although he practised philosophy on

204-460: A muddy puddle, Pyrrho walked by without offering assistance, an act that was later praised by Anaxarchus himself. As tales of his nonchalance seem to dominate the sources about him, still others relate a degree of sensitivity. One account tells of him being angered on behalf of his sister, justifying himself with the statement that "where a little woman was concerned it was not appropriate to display indifference". Another tells of him being frightened by

255-399: A particularly narrow oligarchy was replaced by a new constitution designed by Phormio of Elis, a student of Plato (Arist. Pol. 1306a12-16; Plut. Mor. 805d, 1126c). The classical democracy at Elis seems to have functioned mainly through a popular Assembly and a Council, the two main institutions of most poleis . The Council initially had 500 members, but grew to 600 members by the end of

306-613: A revival of the philosophy. Pyrrhonism was one of the two major schools of philosophical skepticism that emerged during the Hellenistic period , the other being Academic skepticism . Pyrrhonism flourished among members of the Empiric school of medicine, where it was seen as the philosophic foundation to their approach to medicine, which was opposed to the approach of the Dogmatic school of medicine. Pyrrhonism fell into obscurity in

357-832: Is Against the Physicists , in which he questioned the legitimacy of making hypotheses . The longest surviving quote, preserved by Eusebius in Praeparatio evangelica quoting Aristocles is from his work Python ( Greek : Πύθων ), which contained a long account of a conversation with Pyrrho, during a journey to the Delphic oracle .: 'The things themselves are equally indifferent, and unstable, and indeterminate, and therefore neither our senses nor our opinions are either true or false. For this reason then we must not trust them, but be without opinions, and without bias, and without wavering, saying of every single thing that it no more

408-563: Is evident that they were admirable productions of their kind. Commentaries were written on the Silloi by Apollonides of Nicaea , and also by Sotion of Alexandria . The poem entitled Images ( Greek : Ἰνδαλμοι ) in elegiac verse, appears to have been similar in its subject to the Silloi . Diogenes Laërtius also mentions Timon's iamboi , but perhaps the word is here merely used in the sense of satirical poems in general, without reference to

459-563: Is said to have assisted in the composition of their tragedies; and Aratus , whom he is said to have taught. He died at an age of almost ninety. According to Diogenes Laërtius, Timon composed "lyric and epic poems, and tragedies and satiric dramas, and thirty comedies, and sixty tragedies and the Silloi and amatory poems." The Silloi has not survived intact, but they are mentioned and quoted by several ancient authors. It has been suggested that Pyrrhonism ultimately originated with Timon rather than Pyrrho. The most celebrated of his poems were

510-495: Is said to have been founded in 471 BC by synoecism , however it is unclear what the ancient sources mean by this, the city already existed in the same place before and there were separate communities in the region of Elis before and after. The first excavations in Elis were carried out from 1910 to 1914 by the Austrian Archaeological Institute under the direction of Otto Walter . From 1960 to 1981

561-448: Is than is not, or both is and is not, or neither is nor is not.' In the writings of Cicero and Seneca Pyrrho is listed among those philosophers who left no one to carry on their teachings, though the opposite may be understood from Pliny . And so it is uncertain whether Pyrrhonism was a small but continuous movement in antiquity or whether it died out and was revived. Regardless, several centuries after Pyrrho lived, Aenesidemus led

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612-714: Is the account in Diogenes Laërtius , which claims to be taken from earlier authors such as Apollonides of Nicaea , Antigonus of Carystus , and Sotion , whose works have now been lost. According to Diogenes, Timon was born in Phlius , and was at first a dancer in the theatre, but he abandoned this profession for the study of philosophy, and, having moved to Megara , he spent some time with Stilpo , returned home to marry, and then moved to Elis with his wife, and heard Pyrrho , whose tenets he adopted. Driven again from Elis by straitened circumstances, he spent some time on

663-473: The Archaeological Society of Athens carried out further excavations under the direction of Nikolaos Yalouris with Austrian participation. Some of the finds are exhibited in the local archaeological museum founded in 1981, for which a new building was built in 2003. Nowadays Elis is a small village of 150 citizens located 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) NE of Amaliada , built over the ruins of

714-671: The Battle of Leuctra (371 BC). However, the Arcadian confederacy came to the assistance of the Triphylians. In 366 BC, hostilities broke out between them, and though the Eleans were at first successful, they were soon overpowered; their capital very nearly fell into the hands of the enemy, and the territory of Triphylia was permanently ceded to Arcadia in 369 BC. Unable to make headway against their opponents, they applied for assistance to

765-549: The Hellespont and the Propontis , and taught at Chalcedon as a sophist with such success that he made a fortune. He then moved to Athens , where he lived until his death, with the exception of a short residence at Thebes . According to Diogenes he knew the kings Antigonus and Ptolemy II Philadelphus . The Suda also claims he was linked to several literary figures such as: Alexander Aetolus and Homerus , whom he

816-521: The North-West Doric dialect of Elis is, after the Aeolic dialects, one of the most difficult for the modern reader of epigraphic texts. Timon of Phlius Timon of Phlius ( / ˈ t aɪ m ən / TY -mən ; Ancient Greek : Τίμων ὁ Φλιάσιος , romanized :  Tímōn ho Phliásios , gen. Τίμωνος , Tímōnos ; c.  320 BC – c. 235 BC)

867-515: The Peloponnese , bounded on the north by Achaea , east by Arcadia , south by Messenia , and west by the Ionian Sea . Over the course of the archaic and classical periods, the polis "city-state" of Elis controlled much of the region of Elis, most probably through unequal treaties with other cities; many inhabitants of Elis were Perioeci —autonomous free non-citizens. Perioeci, unlike other Spartans, could travel freely between cities. Thus

918-577: The Python , Pyrrho's student Timon of Phlius describes first meeting Pyrrho on the grounds of an Amphiareion , i.e., a temple of Amphiaraus, while they were both on a pilgrimage to Delphi . Most biographical information on Pyrrho, as well as some information concerning his demeanor and behavior, come from Diogenes Laertius; his work on Pyrrho's life drew primarily from the works of mid-third century BC biographer Antigonus of Carystus . Diogenes Laërtius , quoting from Apollodorus of Athens , says that Pyrrho

969-574: The Great in 323 BC they renounced the Macedonian alliance. At a subsequent period they joined the Aetolian League . When the whole of Greece fell to Rome, the sanctity of Olympia secured for the Eleans a certain amount of indulgence. The games still continued to attract large numbers of visitors, until they were finally ended by Theodosius in 394 AD, two years before the utter destruction of

1020-764: The Great on his Indian campaign , "so that he even went as far as the Gymnosophists in India and the Magi " in Persia . Returning to Elis, he lived in poor circumstances, but was highly honored by the Elians, who made him a high priest, and also by the Athenians, who conferred upon him the rights of citizenship. As for his behavior, Pyrrho is reported to have been very reclusive, appearing only rarely to his household. This

1071-711: The Great 's army on its conquest of India (327 to 325 BCE) and based his philosophy on what he learned there: ...he even went as far as the Gymnosophists, in India, and the Magi. Owing to which circumstance, he seems to have taken a noble line in philosophy, introducing the doctrine of incomprehensibility, and of the necessity of suspending one's judgment.... The sources and the extent of the Indian influences on Pyrrho's philosophy, however, are disputed. Philosophical skepticism

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1122-623: The Pylians. At the close of the 11th century BC the Dorians invaded the Peloponnese , and Elis fell to the share of Oxylus and the Aetolians . These people, amalgamating with the Epeians, formed a powerful kingdom in the north of Elis. After this many changes took place in the political distribution of the country, till at length it came to acknowledge only three tribes, each independent of

1173-683: The Spartans, who invaded Arcadia and forced the Arcadians to recall their troops from Elis. The general result of this war was the restoration of their territory to the Eleans, who were also again invested with the right of holding the Olympic games. During the Macedonian supremacy in Greece they sided with the victors, but refused to fight against their countrymen. After the death of Alexander

1224-410: The ancient town. It has one of the most well-preserved ancient theaters in Greece. Built in the fourth century BC, the theater had a capacity of 8,000 people; below it, Early Helladic , sub-Mycenaean and Protogeometric graves have been found. Athletes In mythology Intellectuals Eleans were labelled as the greatest barbarians barbarotatoi by musician Stratonicus of Athens And when he

1275-487: The arguments have the property of isostheneia (equal strength). This leads the Pyrrhonist to the conclusion that there is an unresolvable disagreement on the topic, and so the appropriate reaction is to suspend judgement. Eventually the Pyrrhonist develops epoché as a habitual response to all matters of dispute, which results in ataraxia. Diogenes Laërtius' biography of Pyrrho reports that Pyrrho traveled with Alexander

1326-400: The author and Xenophanes, in which Timon proposed questions, to which Xenophanes replied at length. The subject was a sarcastic account of the tenets of all philosophers, living and dead; an unbounded field for scepticism and satire. They were in hexameter verse, and, from the way in which they are mentioned by the ancient writers, as well as from the few fragments of them which have survived, it

1377-493: The book Outlines of Pyrrhonism written by Sextus Empiricus over 400 years after Pyrrho's death. Most sources agree that the primary goal of Pyrrho's philosophy was the achievement of a state of ataraxia , or freedom from mental perturbation, and that he observed that ataraxia could be brought about by eschewing beliefs ( dogma ) about thoughts and perceptions. However, Pyrrho's own philosophy may have differed significantly in details from later Pyrrhonism. Most interpretations of

1428-545: The country by the Gothic invasion under Alaric I . Elis was a traditional ally of Sparta , but the city state joined Argos and Athens in an alliance against Sparta around 420 BC during the Peloponnesian War . This was due to Spartan support for the independence of Lepreum . As punishment following the surrender of Athens, Elis was forced to surrender Triphylia in 399 BC Eric W. Robinson has argued that Elis

1479-588: The epic form. It appears probable that his Funeral Banquet of Arcesilaus was also a satirical poem in epic verse. He also wrote parodies on Homer , and some lines from a scepticism-themed poem in elegiac verse have been preserved, as well as one or two fragments which cannot be with certainty assigned to any of his poems. He also wrote in prose, to the quantity, according to Diogenes Laërtius, of twenty thousand lines. These works were no doubt on philosophical subjects, and Diogenes mentions On Sensations , On Inquiries , and Towards Wisdom . Also among his lost works

1530-493: The fifth century (Thuc. 5.47.9). There was also a range of public officials such as the demiourgoi who regularly submitted to public audits. As described by Strabo, Elis was divided into three districts: Koilē Elis, the largest and most northern of the three, was watered by the river Peneus and its tributary, the Ladon. The district was famous during antiquity for its cattle and horses. Pisatis extended south from Koilē Elis to

1581-511: The first recorded games to 776 BC. The Hellanodikai , the judges of the Games, were of Elian origin. The attempts which the Pisatans made to recover their lost privilege, during a period of nearly two hundred years, ended at length in the total destruction of their city by the Eleans. From the time of this event in 572 BC until the Peloponnesian War , the peace of Elis remained undisturbed. In

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1632-421: The ideas presented in this passage, each of which leads to a different conclusion as to what Pyrrho meant: 'The things themselves are equally indifferent, and unstable, and indeterminate, and therefore neither our senses nor our opinions are either true or false. For this reason then we must not trust them, but be without opinions, and without bias, and without wavering, saying of every single thing that it no more

1683-408: The information on Pyrrho's philosophy suggest that he claimed that reality is inherently indeterminate, which, in the view of Pyrrhonism described by Sextus Empiricus , would be considered a negative dogmatic belief. A summary of Pyrrho's philosophy was preserved by Eusebius , quoting Aristocles , quoting Timon , in what is known as the "Aristocles passage." There are conflicting interpretations of

1734-418: The metre. According to Timon, philosophers are "excessively cunning murderers of many wise saws" (v. 96); the only two whom he spares are Xenophanes, "the modest censor of Homer's lies" (v. 29), and Pyrrho, against whom "no other mortal dare contend" (v. 126). No remains of his dramas have survived. Of his epic poems little is known, but it may be presumed that they were chiefly ludicrous or satirical poems in

1785-653: The other buildings were related to the games, including two gymnasia, a palaestra , and the House of the Hellanodikai . The original inhabitants of Elis were called Caucones and Paroreatae. They are mentioned by Homer for the first time in Greek history under the title of Epeians (Epeii), as setting out for the Trojan War, and they are described by him as living in a state of constant hostility with their neighbours

1836-581: The others. These tribes were the Epeians, Minyae and Eleans. Before the end of the 8th century BC, however, the Eleans had vanquished both their rivals, and established their supremacy over the whole country. Among the other advantages which they thus gained was the right of celebrating the Olympic games , which had formerly been the prerogative of the Pisatans . Olympia was in Elian land, and tradition dates

1887-456: The polis of Elis was formed. The local form of the name was Valis, or Valeia, and its meaning, in all probability was, "the lowland" (compare with the word "valley"). In its physical constitution Elis is similar to Achaea and Arcadia; its mountains are mere offshoots of the Arcadian highlands, and its principal rivers are fed by Arcadian springs. According to Strabo , the first settlement

1938-405: The post-Hellenistic period. Pyrrhonists view their philosophy as a way of life, and view Pyrrho as a model for this way of life. Their main goal is to attain ataraxia through achieving a state of epoché (i.e., suspension of judgment ) about beliefs. One method Pyrrhonists use to suspend judgment is to gather arguments on both sides of the disputed issue, continuing to gather arguments such that

1989-573: The principles of suspension of judgement, he did not act carelessly in the details of daily life. He lived to be nearly ninety.' Pyrrho's pupils included Timon of Phlius, Hecataeus of Abdera , and Nausiphanes , who was one of Epicurus ' teachers. Arcesilaus was also a pupil of Pyrrho, and he maintained Pyrrho's philosophy except in name. Upon becoming scholarch of the Platonic Academy , Arcesilaus transformed its teachings to conform with those of Pyrrho. This initiated Academic Skepticism ,

2040-462: The right bank of the river Alpheios , and was divided into eight departments named after as many towns. Triphylia stretched south from the Alpheios to the river Neda. The city of Elis ( Ancient Greek : Ἦλις ) was the capital of the city state of Elis. It was located at the exit of the river Peneios from the mountains into the plain in the area of today's Ilida Municipality north of Kalyvia. It

2091-414: The satiric compositions called Silloi , a word of somewhat uncertain etymology, but which undoubtedly describes metrical compositions, of a character at once ludicrous and sarcastic. The invention of this species of poetry is ascribed to Xenophanes of Colophon . The Silloi of Timon were in three books, in the first of which he spoke in his own person, and the other two are in the form of a dialogue between

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2142-477: The second Hellenistic school of skeptical philosophy. Pyrrho did not produce any written work. Most of the information on Pyrrho's philosophy comes from his student Timon . Only fragments of what Timon wrote have been preserved, mostly by Sextus Empiricus , Diogenes Laertius , and Eusebius . Little is known for certain about the details of Pyrrho's philosophy and how it may have differed from later Pyrrhonism . Most of what we know today as Pyrrhonism comes through

2193-509: The war, Elis sided at first with Sparta . But Sparta, jealous of the increasing prosperity of its ally, availed itself of the first pretext to pick a quarrel. At the Battle of Mantinea (418 BC) , the Eleans fought against the Spartans, who later took vengeance upon them by depriving them of Triphylia and the towns of the Acroreia . The Eleans made no attempt to re-establish their authority over these places until Thebes rose in importance after

2244-427: Was a democracy by around 500 BC, on the basis of early inscriptions which suggest that the people (the dāmos ) could make and change laws. Robinson further believes that literary sources imply that Elis continued to be democratic until 365, when an oligarchic faction seems to have taken control (Xen. Hell. 7.4.16, 26). At some point in the mid-fourth century, democracy may have been restored; at least, we hear that

2295-474: Was already present in Greek philosophy, particularly in the Democritean tradition in which Pyrrho had studied prior to visiting India. On the other hand, by this time Indian philosophy too had developed certain notions of skepticism tied to composure. Richard Bett heavily discounts any substantive Indian influences on Pyrrho, arguing that on the basis of testimony of Onesicritus regarding how difficult it

2346-412: Was an Ancient Greek philosopher from the Hellenistic period , who was the student of Pyrrho . Unlike Pyrrho, who wrote nothing, Timon wrote satirical philosophical poetry called Silloi ( Σίλλοι ) as well as a number of prose writings. These have been lost, but the fragments quoted in later authors allow a rough outline of his philosophy to be reconstructed. The primary source for Timon's biography

2397-503: Was at first a painter, and that pictures by him were exhibited in the gymnasium at Elis. Later he was diverted to philosophy by the works of Democritus , and according to Diogenes Laërtius became acquainted with the Megarian dialectic through Bryson , pupil of Stilpo . Unlike the founders of other Hellenistic philosophies, Pyrrho was not substantively influenced by Socrates . Pyrrho, along with Anaxarchus , travelled with Alexander

2448-470: Was created by Oxylus the Aetolian who invaded there and subjugated the residents. The city of Elis underwent synoecism —as Strabo notes—in 471 BC. Elis held authority over the site of Olympia and the Olympic games . The spirit of the games had influenced the formation of the market: apart from the bouleuterion , the place the boule "citizen's council" met, which was in one of the gymnasia , most of

2499-403: Was due to a reproach given to Anaxarchus which he had overheard, arguing that he would not be able to teach anyone else to be good while he paid court to kings. He is also said to have retained equanimity at all times, even to the extent of completing a conversation after his audience departed and he was left alone. His indifference is further demonstrated by a report that after Anaxarchus fell into

2550-705: Was once asked by some one who were the wickedest people, he said, "That in Pamphylia , the people of Phaselis were the worst; but that the Sidetae were the worst in the whole world." And when he was asked again, according to the account given by Hegesander , which were the greatest barbarians , the Boeotians or the Thessalians he said, "The Eleans." In Hesychius (s.v. βαρβαρόφωνοι ) and other ancient lexica, Eleans are also listed as barbarophones . Indeed,

2601-582: Was to converse with the gymnosophists, as it required three translators, none of whom understood any philosophy, that it is highly improbable that Pyrrho could have been substantively influenced by any of the Indian philosophers. It has also been hypothesized that the gymnosophists were Jains , or Ajnanins , and that these are likely influences on Pyrrho. Authors see probable influence of Indian skepticism not only in Pyrrhonism, but also in Buddhism itself as

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