Seven wise men. Sages of Ancient Greece
The “seven wise men” played a major role in the preparation of ancient philosophy. The words “seven wise men” are put in quotation marks because there were more of these wise men; There were various lists of sages, but in each list there were always seven of them. This suggests that the magic of numbers, characteristic of pre-philosophical consciousness, was manifested here, which we also find in Hesiod, which is why his poem was called “Works and Days,” for at the end of the poem Hesiod talks about which days of the month are favorable or unfavorable for those or other matters.
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They played a major role in the preparation of ancient philosophy " seven wise men"The words “seven sages” are put in quotation marks because there were more of these sages; there were various lists of sages, but in each list there were always seven of them. This suggests that here the magic of numbers characteristic of pre-philosophical consciousness manifested itself, which we We also find it in Hesiod, which is why his poem was called “Works and Days,” for at the end of the poem Hesiod talks about which days of the month are favorable or unfavorable for certain matters.
Different sources define the composition of the “seven wise men” ambiguously. The earliest list that has reached us belongs to Plato. This is already the 4th century. BC e. In Plato’s dialogue “Protagoras” it is said about the sages: “To such people belonged Thales of Milotia, and Pittacus of Mytilene, and Bias of Priene, and our Solon, and Cleobulus of Lindia, and Mison of Chaenea, and the Laconian Chilon was considered the seventh among them.” Later, in Diogenes Laertius, the place of the little-known Myson is rightfully taken by Periander, the Corinthian tyrant. It is believed that Plato removed Periaidrus from the "seven" because of his hatred of tyranny and tyrants. There were other lists as well. But in all sevens there were always four names: Thales, Solon, Biant and Pittacus. Over time, the names of the sages were surrounded by legends. For example, Plutarch in his work “The Feast of the Seven Wise Men” described their clearly fictitious meeting in Corinth with Periander.
The time of activity of the “seven wise men” is the end of the 7th and beginning of the 6th century. BC e. This is the end of the fourth (after the Aegean Neolithic, Cretan and Mikean Greece and “Homeric” Greece) period in the history of the Aegean world - the period of archaic Greece (8th - 7th centuries BC) and the beginning of the fifth period. In the 6th century. BC e. Hellas enters the Iron Age. Based on the separation of crafts from agriculture, it flourishes antique policy- a city-state in which the rural areas included in the polis are economically and politically subordinate to the city. Commodity-money and property relations between people are developing. Coin minting begins. The power of the Eupatrides, the “noble” ones descended from the ancestors of the demigods-heroes, and thereby ideologically justifying their right to rule, is being overthrown in a number of the most advanced policies. In its place is tyranny. A tyrannical anti-aristocratic form of government is established in Megara in the second half of the 7th century. BC e., in Corinth, Miletus and Ephesus - at the end of the 7th century. BC e., in Sikyon and Athens - at the beginning of the 6th century. BC e. At the beginning of the 6th century. BC e. Solon's reform was carried out in Athens. From now on, the basis of social stratification there was not origin, but property status.
Ordinary moral consciousness. The wisdom of the “seven wise men” cannot be attributed to either science or mythology. Here, apparently, the third spiritual source of philosophy appeared, namely, everyday consciousness, especially that which reaches the level of worldly wisdom and which manifests itself in proverbs and sayings, sometimes rising to great generality and depth in the understanding of man and his sociality. This, as we remember, is what particularly distinguished Chinese pre-philosophy and even philosophy. But what was destiny for China was only an episode for Ellala. Of course, the historical-comparative topic “Confucius and the Seven Sages” is possible, but it can only be developed in the general context of ancient Chinese and ancient Indian pre-philosophy and philosophy. Unlike ancient Chinese and ancient Indian philosophy, ancient Greek philosophy arose not as ethics, but as natural philosophy, and better say, "physicophilosophy".
Along with the fall of political power, the aristocracy loses its hegemony and its mythological worldview, whose ideological function in the Bronze Age societies is to justify, as we have already said, the right of the landowning aristocracy to dominate the farmers. Over time, the first still very naive, but still non-mythological systems of views begin to take shape. But at first, the world of gods and heroes is contrasted with the understanding of everyday consciousness in aphorisms in which there is nothing from the supernatural world. This is purely everyday practical wisdom, but it has reached its atomic generalization in concise wise sayings.
Such aphorisms, or gnomes, had the form of generality. Aristotle defines "gnome" as "an utterance of a general nature." Dwarves were very famous. The sayings “nothing in excess” and “know thyself” were even carved above the entrance to the Delphic temple of Apollo. Diogenes Laertius reports that the names of the "seven wise men" were officially proclaimed in Athens under the archon Damasus (582 BC).
Three types of gnomes. In the person of its sages, the ancient worldview consciousness turns from mythological theogonies to man. Already in Gssiod’s “Works and Days,” moral reflection arose, awareness of the mechanism of social prohibitions and regulations, which until then had worked spontaneously. But in the gnomes one can also see the origins of ancient Greek ethics. Of course, ethics is the science of morality, and not morality itself, but moral self-awareness is already the beginning of ethics. Ancient mythology did not differ in either moral level or moralization. It was said above that in Homer everything is morally indifferent, except for courage - this main and only virtue and cowardice - the main and only vice. Odysseus knows no reproaches from his conscience. Meanwhile, conscience is the experience of a discrepancy between what should and what is in human behavior. Of course, it often happens that what should turn out to be imaginary, the fruit of prejudice rather than reason, therefore reproaches of conscience in themselves do not say anything about the authenticity or inauthenticity of what should be. But Odysseus has no idea at all about what should be.
The emerging ethical standards were based on one important principle. It was clearly expressed by Hesiod: “Keep moderation in everything!” Therefore, evil was understood as immensity, and good - as moderation. The Greeks called moral immensity "gyubris" - impudence, insolence, insolence, rudeness, mockery. Hence such gnomes as Solon’s saying “Nothing in excess!” and the saying of Cleobulus: “Measure is best.” In the same vein, there are more specific sayings, for example, the advice of Biant - “Speak appropriately”, Chilo - “Do not let your tongue get ahead of your mind”, Pittaca - “Know your time”, etc. All these gnomes served to preach the harmonization of relations between people through their self-restraint.
Adjacent to these gnomes was the gnomic (edifying) poetry of Phocilides of Miletus, Theognis of Megara and other moral poets. Among them we again find some of the “seven “wise men.” Two hundred verses are attributed to Chilo, six hundred to Pittacus, and three thousand to Cleobulus. An outstanding poet was the sage and legislator Solon.
Generally speaking, ancient pre-philosophical lyric poetry played a role in the preparation of philosophy. In lyric poetry there is an awakening of personal self-awareness, while in epic the personality is absorbed by the race. Mythology is a matter of tribal consciousness, and philosophy is a matter of personal consciousness. Pre-philosophical lyrics in Hellas are mainly the lyrics of Ionian poets of the late 8th - 7th and early 6th centuries BC. e. It is represented by the names of Callinus from Ephesus, Tyrtaeus from Miletus, Archilochus from Paros, Terpandra from Lesbos, the Doric lyricist Alcman of Sparta - a Lydian from Sardis, Alcaeus and Sappho from Lesbos, Stesichorus, Simonides from Amorgos, Mimnermus from Colophon.
The second type of gnome is more than moral guidance. This primarily includes the gnome “Know thyself!” It had not only a moral, but also a worldview and philosophical meaning, which, however, was revealed only by Socrates in the 5th century. before i. e.
The third type of gnome is the gnome of Thales. Thales is the first in the entire list of “seven”. He is the first ancient Greek and ancient Western philosopher. The following wise worldview sayings are attributed to Thales: “Space is greatest, because it contains everything in itself,” “The mind is fastest, because it runs around everything,” “Necessity is strongest, because it has power over everything,” “Time is wisest of all.” , because it opens everything" and some others.
Having Thales in mind, Marx said that “Greek philosophy begins with the “seven wise men” 1 / K. Marx, F. Engels, From early works. M., 1956, p. 131./ It was Thales who disseminated that form of universality, which was achieved in the gnomes, on the worldview. In this, his studies in the sciences also helped him. Thales was not only the first among the sages, but also the first ancient scientist.
IN Ancient Greece The “7 sages” are considered the founders of ancient philosophy. Why in quotes? Because in reality there were more sages. There are several lists where they appear different names. But the quantity is the same everywhere.
The first list that has come down to us belongs to Plato and dates back to the 4th century. BC. According to Plato in list of "Seven Wise Men" are: Thales of Miletus, Biant of Priene, Solon of Athens, Pittacus of Mytilene, Chilon of Sparta, Mison of Cheney, Cleobulus of Lindia.
A later version of the list belongs to Diogenes Laertius (Laertius). No, this is not the Diogenes who lived in a barrel. Diogenes Laertius - late antique historian of philosophy. So on his list, instead of the little-known Mison, there is the name of the tyrant ruler Periander of Corinth. It is believed that Plato specifically removed Periander because of his hatred of despots and tyrants. There are other lists as well. All of them invariably contain 4 names: Thales, Biant, Solon and Pittacus. Over time names of sages overgrown with legends. So ancient Greek philosopher Plutarch, in his work “The Feast of the Seven Wise Men,” described their non-existent meeting in Corinth.
Wisdom of the 7 Sages does not relate to mythology or science. This is rather purely worldly wisdom, expressed in concise wise statements.
Let's take a closer look at the sages and their great sayings.
Thales of Miletus (VII-VI centuries BC)
It is with the name of Thales of Miletus that any list of “7 wise men” begins. He is called the “Father of Philosophy” and is considered the first ancient scientist. In 585 BC. predicted a solar eclipse, after which he became famous. According to legend, Thales determined the height of the pyramids by their shadow, which incredibly surprised the Egyptian pharaoh. And having studied Egyptian geometry and their 365-day calendar, he introduced these innovations in Ancient Greece. There is also a geometric theorem named after Thales. According to the teachings of Thales, everything arose and arises from water, and then turns back into water. Ultimately, everything is water.
Biant of Priene (VII-VI centuries BC)
Biant Priensky – public figure and the ancient Greek sage. His biography is unknown. Only a few descriptions of fragments of Biant's life exist. He was famous for his wise judicial decisions.
Solon of Athens (VII-VI centuries BC)
Solon of Athens was an ancient Greek politician, legislator, philosopher and poet. He was an archon, the highest official, in Athens during a time of social unrest. During his reign, he introduced more democratic laws: he banned debt slavery, canceled all debts, divided citizens into 4 property categories and gave everyone the opportunity to participate in political life. After his archonship, Solon devoted most of his life to travel. There is even a statue of him in the Library of Congress.
Pittacus of Mytilene (VII-VI centuries BC)
Pittacus of Mytilene is an ancient Greek thinker and legislator. Presiding in a high position in the city of Mytilene, he suppressed intra-city riots and revised criminal laws. Among the Greeks he was revered on a par with Lycurgus and Solon.
Chilo Spartan (VI century BC)
Chilo of Sparta - ancient Greek poet and political figure. He was a member of the government board in Sparta. Some researchers believe that many of the norms of the living structure of Sparta belong to Chilon. Although he was not distinguished by his verbosity, the speeches he made aroused respect and honor. They say that in his old age Chilo admitted that he had not committed a single illegal act. Only once did he ask his comrade to justify a friend who had been convicted by law.
Mison of Heney (VII-VI centuries BC)
Mison of Heney is an ancient Greek sage who lived a quiet, modest life in his village. The philosopher Aristoxenus believes that Mison remained unknown precisely because he was not from the city. Mison Heneysky died at the age of 97. His name in Plato's list speaks of the wisdom of his sayings.
The most famous saying sage Mison of Heney.
Cleobulus of Lindia (VI-V centuries BC)
Cleobulus of Lindia is an ancient Greek sage, famous for his riddles, songs and great sayings. He was handsome and strong. He was interested in Egyptian philosophy. Some of his sayings are carved on the Delphic Temple of Apollo.
Periander of Corinth (VII-VI centuries BC)
Periander of Corinth is an ancient Greek statesman and sage. Ruled in Corinth for 40 years. Before communicating with the tyrant of the city of Miletus, Periander was very merciful. And then he became a cruel despot ruler. His policy was directed against the clan nobility. Under him, military units of mercenaries and territorial courts were created. Periander introduced customs duties, state coinage, control over the income of citizens and the law against luxury. Fearing conspiracies, he forbade gatherings in groups in public squares and surrounded himself with bodyguards. Among other things, he was a fan of beautiful architecture, as evidenced by the extensive construction during his reign.
Epigraph:
Three wise men in one basin
We set off across the sea in a thunderstorm.
Be stronger
Old basin,
Longer
It would be my story.
(S.Ya. Marshak)
We all know that on the walls of the now (and long ago) destroyed temple of Apollo in Delphi, in addition to all sorts of nonsense such as war trophies, there were quotes from the “Obligations of those joining the RCP (b)” by the Greek sages.
What remains of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi
How do we know about this? From Plato. In his dialogue "Protagoras" (Plat., Protagor., 343a) "he gives the names of these sages and sayings.
“And that I am telling the truth and the Laconians are really well-educated in philosophy and the art of speech, you can learn from this: if someone wanted to get close to the most worthless of the Laconians, then, at first glance, he would find him rather weak in speech, but suddenly, at any point in the speech, he throws, like a mighty shooter, some precise saying, short and concise, and the interlocutor seems like a small child in front of him. That is why some of the modern, and even the ancient, guessed that to imitate the Laconians means to love wisdom much more than bodily exercises: they understood that the ability to pronounce such sayings is characteristic of a person who is perfectly educated. To such people belonged Thales of Miletus, and Pittacus of Mytilene, and Bias of Priene, and our Solon, and Cleobulus of Lindus, and Mison of Chaenea, and the seventh among them is considered the Laconian Chilo. All of them were zealots, lovers and followers of the Laconian education, and everyone can learn their wisdom, since it is such that it is expressed by each of them in short and memorable sayings. Having come together, they dedicated them as the first fruits of wisdom to Apollo, in his temple at Delphi, writing what everyone glorifies: “Know yourself” and “Nothing in excess.”
But why am I saying this? And because this was the way of philosophizing among the ancients: Laconian laconicism. Among some Laconians this saying of Pittacus, praised by the sages, was in circulation: “It is difficult to be good.”
So we have a list of seven wise men:
Thales of Miletus
Pittacus from Mytilene
Biantes of Priene
Solon of Athens
Cleobulus of Lindus
Mison of Henea
Chilo of Sparta
The author of the anonymous epigram of the Palatine Anthology (IX 366) (can be viewed from Gasparov in "Entertaining Greece") offers a different set of names:
I name the seven wise men: their homeland, name, saying.
“Measure is most important!” - Cleobulus used to say Lindsky;
In Sparta - “Know yourself!” - Chilo preached;
Periander, a native of Corinth, exhorted him to control his anger;
“Nothing to spare,” was the saying of the Mytilenian Pittacus;
“Watch the end of life,” repeated Solon of Athens;
“The worst are the majority everywhere,” said Biant of Priensky;
“Don’t vouch for anyone,” is the word of Thales of Miletus.
Here is a translation by L. Blumenau, so you may not recognize some of the sayings. For example, in Solon the possible options are “Remember death”, “The main thing in life is the end”, in Pittacus – “There is no excess in anything”, in Biant – “There is no good in crowded people”.
Let's go back to the list, add Periander from Corinth, and there are already 8 of them - wise men.
In Plutarch’s “The Feast of the Seven Wise Men,” the place of Periander (in the work he plays the role of the host of the feast) in the “seven” is taken by the son of the Scythian king Gnura Anacharsis.
8 + skif = 9.
And really, why Delphi?
“The ideology of Delphi is associated primarily with those forces of Greek society, in whose activities the legalistic tendency of the era was expressed. These forces, as a rule, are associated with the figures of the seven wise men, who are believed to have enjoyed the ideological support of the Delphic priesthood, and for the second half of the 6th century. - with anti-tyrannical Sparta.
However, the thesis about the ideological similarity of the positions of the Delphic priesthood and the seven wise men is practically not confirmed by anything. The wisdom that was traditionally put into the mouths of the seven has a purely profane, folklore character and could hardly have been inspired by the priesthood. As you know, these are proverbs raised at some historical moment to the authority of Apollo. The canon of the sages itself was initially most likely not connected with Delphi - the first rapprochement between Delphi and the seven wise men is noted only in Plato’s Protagoras (343b). The opinion about the supposed agony of the wise men at the games in honor of Apollo goes back to the story of the Delphic tripod, composed in the Hellenistic era (Diog. Laert. I. 27 sq.). The historicity of this agon is not confirmed in the sources. Most likely, it represents a reminiscence of folklore competitions in wisdom.
It must have been a folk tradition that originally brought together the Greek sages at the court of Croesus. Thus, Herodotus already knows stories about the conversations of the eastern ruler with Solon (I. 29 sqq.), Biant from Priene (according to another version with the Mytilene Pittacus, I. 27) and Thales (I. 75). The role of a hospitable host could be played by a powerful Greek tyrant: The tradition of Periander as one of the seven is well known; but there were also stories about their meetings at Kypsel. Presumably, this is how Pisistratus (Diog. Laert. I. 13; cf. Aristoxenos Fr. 130 Wehrii), whom Attic folklore endowed with the features of an ideal ruler (Arist. Ath. Pol. XVI. 7-8), entered the canon of sages. Finally, the legendary meeting place of the sages could be the sanctuary - Delphi or Panionium. Thus, the stable association of the image of seven with the oracle of Apollo earlier than the first half of the 4th century. it is hardly possible to speak.
The attempt to present these figures as exponents of a single spiritual movement in opposition to tyranny also raises doubts. Firstly, as we have seen, at least one tyrant, Periander, occupies a strong place among them. The image of the Corinthian tyrant-sage and moralizer was widely known. It is found already in Herodotus (III. 53; V. 95). Only Plato, in accordance with the requirements of the Laconian myth he himself created, excludes the Corinthian tyrant from the circle of seven (Prot. 343a), but this version does not find development even in an environment close to the Academy. For Aristotle, Periander is mhte adikoV mhte ubristhV (Arist. Fr. 611. 20 Rose; cf. Diog. Laert. I. 99). In addition, we know that Thales, a constant participant in the Delphic canon, was a close friend of the Milesian tyrant Thrasybulus (Diog. Laert. I. 27). Secondly, invective against tyranny as a deviation from paternal tradition is reliably attributed to only one of them - Solon (fr. 32 West, where tyranny is associated with cruel violence - bihV ameilicou). But let us remember that they were a common place in both didactic elegy (for example, Thegn. 1181) and accusatory iambs from the earliest times (Semonides of Amorg, fr. 7 West v. 63-70) and are a sign of these poetic genres no less degree than a possible expression of an ideological or political position. Finally, this thesis is confirmed by the fact that the opposition tried to discredit another permanent representative of this circle, the Mytilene aesimnet Pittacus, as a tyrant (Ale., fr. 348 Voigt: estasanto turannon; cf. Arist. Pol. 1285a 30). Perhaps the anti-tyrannism and laconicism of the seven wise men was finally entrenched in the rhetoric of the 4th century. - at the same time when they began to embody the ideal of paideia. At the same time, Delphi acquired a reputation as a champion of wisdom and a hater of tyranny. In any case, in Plato we are already dealing with such a picture.
So, the Delphic "ideology", as well as the "ideology" of the seven wise men, is a literary rather than a historical phenomenon, and the thesis of priestly propaganda runs up against the complete silence of tradition."
Let us also join in with the wisdom of the ancients.
“The Sayings of the Seven Wise Men” [from the collection] of Demetrius of Phalerus" // Fragments of early Greek philosophers. M.: "Science", 1989. Part 1.
1. Cleobulus, son of Evager from Lindus, said:
1. Measure is best.
2. The father must be respected.
3. Be healthy in body and soul.
4. Be loving, not verbose.
5. [It is better to be] a scientist than an ignoramus.
6. Be obsessed with your tongue.
7. Virtue is one’s own, vice is someone else’s.
8. Have hatred towards injustice and maintain piety.
9. Advise your fellow citizens the best.
10. Curb your pleasure.
11. Don’t do anything by force.
12. Raise your children.
13. Pray for good luck.
14. Calm down quarrels.
15. Consider an enemy of the people an adversary.
16. Don’t quarrel with your wife and don’t be nice to strangers: the first is a sign of stupidity, the second is extravagance.
17. Do not punish servants for drinking wine, otherwise they will decide that you are acting out while drunk.
18. Take a wife from among your peers, for if you take one from those who are nobler than you, you will not gain relatives, but masters.
19. Do not laugh at the ridicule of a wit, otherwise you will be hated by those at whom they are directed.
20. Be proud in abundance, do not be humbled in need.
2. Solon, son of Exekestidas, an Athenian, said:
1. Nothing too much.
2. Don’t sit as a judge, otherwise you will be the enemy of someone convicted.
3. Avoid pleasure that gives rise to suffering.
4. Observe integrity (kalokagatia) of character more faithfully than an oath.
5. Seal the seal with the seal of silence, and seal the silence with the seal of the right moment (kairos).
6. Don't lie, but tell the truth.
7. Be honest.
8. Parents are always right [finished: “don’t say anything more fair than your parents”].
9. Do not rush to make friends, and do not rush to reject those you have made.
10. Having learned to obey, you will learn to manage.
11. When you demand that others bear responsibility, bear it yourself.
12. Advise your fellow citizens not the most pleasant, but the most useful.
13. Don't be cocky.
14. Don’t mingle with bad people.
15. Honor the gods.
16. Respect your friends.
17. What<не>I saw it, don't say it.
18. You know - so be silent.
19. Be meek towards your own.
20. Guess the secret from the obvious.
3. Chilo, son of Damagetes, a Lacedaemonian, said:
1. Know yourself.
2. While drinking, don’t talk: you’ll miss the mark.
3. Do not threaten the free: there is no right to do so.
4. Do not blaspheme your neighbors, otherwise you will hear something that will make you upset.
5. Go slowly to friends' dinners, and quickly to troubles.
6. Have a cheap wedding.
7. Glorify the deceased.
8. Respect your elders.
9. Have hatred towards those who meddle in other people’s affairs.
10. Prefer loss to shameful profit: the first will upset you once, the second [will upset] always.
11. Don’t laugh at someone in trouble.
12. If you have a tough temper, show calmness so that you will be respected rather than feared.
13. Be a protector of your family.
14. Let your tongue not overtake your mind.
15. Control your anger.
16. Don't wish for the impossible.
17. Take your time on the way.
18. And do not wave your hand, for this is from madness.
19. Obey the laws.
20. If you were harmed, reconcile; if you were insulted, take revenge.
4. Thales, son of Examius, a Milesian, said:
1. Where there is a guarantee, there is trouble.
2. Be mindful of friends present and absent.
3. Don’t show off your appearance, but be beautiful in your deeds.
4. Don't get rich by dishonest means. 5. Let rumors not quarrel you about those who enjoy your trust.
6. Don’t be shy about flattering your parents.
7. Don’t learn bad things from your father.
8. What services you provide to your parents, you yourself expect from your children in old age.
9. [What] is difficult [?] - to know yourself.
10. [What] is the most pleasant [?] - to achieve what you want.
11. [What] is tiring [?] - idleness.
12 [What] is harmful [?] - intemperance.
13. [What] is unbearable [?] - bad manners.
14. Teach and learn the best.
15. Don’t be idle, even if you are rich.
16. Hide bad things in the house.
17. It’s better to evoke envy than pity.
18. Take it in moderation.
19. Don't trust everyone.
20. When in power, govern yourself.
5. Pittacus, son of Girras, a Lesbian, said:
1. Know when to stop.
2. Don’t talk about what you intend to do: if it doesn’t work out, they’ll laugh.
3. Rely on friends.
4. Whatever angers you in your neighbor, do not do it yourself.
5. Do not scold the unfortunate: this is the wrath of the gods.
6. Give back the deposit entrusted to you.
7. If your neighbors cause you a small loss, endure it.
8. Do not blaspheme a friend and do not praise an enemy: this is imprudent.
9. [What] is scary to know [?] - the future, [what] is safe [?] - the past.
10. [What] is reliable [?] - the earth, [what] is unreliable [?] - the sea.
11. [What] is insatiable [?] - greed.
12. Own yours.
13. Cherish piety, education, self-control, reason, truthfulness, fidelity, experience, dexterity, camaraderie, diligence, thriftiness, skill.
6. Bias, son of Teutam, a prince, said:
1. Most people are bad.
2. You need to look at yourself in the mirror, he said, and if you look beautiful, act beautifully, and if you look ugly, then correct your natural deficiency with integrity.
3. Take [things] slowly, and finish what you start.
4. Don’t talk: if you miss, you’ll regret it.
5. Don't be either a fool or an evil person.
6. Do not approve of recklessness.
7. Reasonableness - love.
8. Say about the gods that they exist.
9. Know what you are doing.
10. Listen more.
11. Speak to the point.
12. In the poverty of the rich, do not measles, unless you are very much in debt.
13. An unworthy person Don't praise for wealth.
14. Take with conviction, not force.
15. Consider the gods, not yourself, to be the reason for any luck.
16. Acquire: in youth - prosperity, in old age - wisdom.
17. You will gain: by deed - memory [of yourself], by due measure - caution, by character - nobility, by work - patience, by fear - piety, by wealth - friendship, by word - conviction, by silence - decorum, by decision - justice, by daring - courage, by deed - power, glory - supremacy.
7. Periander, son of Cypselus, a Corinthian, said:
1. Diligence is everything.
2 [What] is beautiful [?] - calm.
3. [What] is dangerous [?] - rashness.
4-5. Dishonest profits expose<бесчестную>in kind.
6. Democracy is better than tyranny.
7. Pleasures are mortal, virtues are immortal.
8. Be moderate in good fortune, reasonable in trouble.
9. It is better to die in stinginess than to live in want.
10. Make yourself worthy of your parents.
11. During life, be praised, after death we will bless.
12. Be the same with your friends in good times and in bad times.
13. I gave my word - keep it: breaking it is mean.
14. Don’t reveal secrets.
15. Scold in such a way that you will soon become a friend.
16. Love old laws and fresh food.
17. Not only punish those who sin, but also stop those who intend to.
18. Hide your failures so as not to please your enemies.
Lyubov Ryzhkova
Aryan sages of antiquity
Necessary explanation for the poem “The Staircase of the Masters”,
or About the times... of Slavic antiquity
It’s hard for me to say what guided me when creating the poem “The Staircase of the Masters.” Apparently, this was the order from above, no matter how pretentious it sounds. But " characters"The poems are great philosophers, encyclopedist scientists, who have long since departed from earthly life, but are still completely living people, whose experience of spiritual knowledge is still important and significant for humanity. This will not be a preface or an afterword in the sense in which we are accustomed to reading them. These are just necessary explanations for you, dear readers, so that you better understand the author’s idea. Since the theme of the poem dates back to antiquity, this seems useful and even appropriate.
We will just remind you of some historical details that seem important and significant for this work.
Seven wise men. The Seven Sages have been known since ancient times, their roots go back to Aryan times. These were prominent historical figures of the 6th century BC, the number of which is indicated differently by different sources (from seven to seventeen). These include: Bias from Preva, Cleobulus from Lindus, Periander from Corinth, Pittacus from Mytilene, Solon of Athens, Thales, Chilo from Lacedaemon. Their sayings have come to us in the form short sayings, whose authorship is very conditional. For example: “Nothing is too much” (Solon), “What angers you in your neighbor, do not do it yourself” (Pittacus), “Bank yourself - and trouble is right there” (Thales), “Measure is best” (Cleobulus), “ Most people are bad” (Biant), “Pleasures are mortal, virtues are immortal” (Periander), “Know yourself” (Chilo or Thales) and so on.
Abarid (Abaris) Scythian. Information about this legendary and mysterious Hyperborean sage of antiquity is extremely scarce. They can be gleaned from very few sources. Herodotus, Plato, Diodorus Siculus, Hecataeus of Abdera, Heraclitus of Pontus, Iamblichus, Celsus, Pindar, Himerius and some others wrote about him. Based on this information, it is possible to create some image of this... either a man or a god. At least he was so strong and skillful that he was generally accepted as a soothsayer and prophet. Contemporaries marveled at his ability to move through the air and the fact that he did not need food at all. He possessed much knowledge that seemed secret to the Greeks, which is why he acquired such fame. Below we present small fragments of the works of some ancient authors who wrote about Abarid.
For us, the main thing is the fact that he came from the country of Hyperborea, therefore, of Aryan blood. In addition, he was called Scythian, this is a direct indication of our relationship with him.
Another surprising thing is that his very name is Abarid. What kind of name is this? Where did it come from? What is its semantic content? At first glance, it sounds to our ears like a foreign name, far from its Slavic-Aryan roots. But this is only at first glance. And if you listen...
So, Abarid (another version of the name Abaris) was a Scythian (ancestor of the Slavs), that is, by blood he belonged to one of the Scythian-Slavic tribes. Which one? Hard to say. But let's think, is there an indication of this in the name itself? It turns out that we have a direct indication of which Scythian-Slavic tribe this legendary hero and wizard belonged to.
Historians know the ancient Slavic tribe Bodrichi, or Obodritov. The “Veles Book” mentions, for example, a certain valiant commander Bodrich. It turns out that the name of Abarid Scythian preserved for descendants a direct indication of his origin. It is quite possible that his name was different, but in the foreign country where he came, he was precisely a native of another country and a representative of another, unfamiliar tribe (nation, in other words) Bodrichi (Obodritov), so they called him. After all, we still sometimes say this, emphasizing someone’s nationality: Russian Ivan, German Goethe, Englishman Maugham, etc.
So who was he, this mysterious Abarid Skif? And what? And why did he remain in the memory of descendants, and not only remained, but became for many ancient authors a mysterious stranger, an alien, almost a god and a kind of symbol of a luminous husband?
Moreover, the teaching of Abarid Scythian became the basis of the wisdom of Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans, then Socrates, Plato, the Platonists, Neoplatonists, Aristotle and many, many other later authors.
It turns out that the basis of world philosophical thought is a certain unified teaching, which has become the basis, the foundation for the creation of various teachings and branches. Yes, this teaching is the same Aryan “Vedas”, which Abarid Scythian owned, since he was from Hyperborea, the homeland of the “Vedas”, a country living according to these divine Vedic laws. The interesting thing is that these are not guesses. And if there are guesses, then I can easily find confirmation for them by analyzing the official scientific sources available to everyone. The same Philosophical Encyclopedic Dictionary indicates: “The very type of “Seven Wise Men” goes back to an ancient mythology that has Indo-European or ancient Eastern roots...” (p. 602) If the academic, encyclopedic dictionary indicates that the “Seven Wise Men” were of Aryan origin, then which Do we still need proof?
And now we will present small fragments of some authors who mentioned Abarid Scythian.
Here is a small fragment from the book of Iamblichus “On Pythagorean life».
“After all, Abarid arrived from the country of the Hyperboreans, where he was a priest of Apollo, the eldest in age and the most experienced in worship, and he was heading from Hellas to his country to put the collected gold for the god in the Hyperborean temple. Driving through Italy and seeing Pythagoras, he carefully compared him with the god he served, and became convinced that in front of him was not a man similar to Apollo, but indeed none other than Apollo himself. Since he saw its greatness and, having priestly experience, discovered signs even earlier, he gave Pythagoras the arrow with which he set off from the temple, hoping that it would be useful in overcoming difficulties during such a long journey. If he rode on it, then he crossed impassable places - rivers, lakes, swamps, mountains and other similar places and, as they say, turning to her, he carried out purifications, drove out the plague and diverted the winds from the cities that turned to him for help. Indeed, we know that Lacedaemon, after the purification he carried out in this land, was no longer infected with the plague, whereas before this disease often struck him due to the fact that it is located in an unfortunate place: the Taygetos Mountains rise above it, and it is worth noting that this creates stuffiness. Abarid also cleared Knossos on Crete. There is also other evidence of Abarid’s ability to perform purifications. Pythagoras, having accepted the arrow, was not surprised and did not ask why he gave it, but behaving as if he were really a god, in a friendly manner he took Abarid aside and showed his golden thigh, giving evidence that he was not mistaken . He listed to him one by one everything that was kept in the temple of Apollo by the Hyperboreans, and thereby provided sufficient confirmation that Abarid had guessed correctly. He added that he came to serve for the benefit of people, and therefore took on human form so that they, embarrassed by his superiority, would not be alienated from him and avoid learning. He ordered Abarid to stay and help him correct the souls of his disciples, and to add the gold that he collected to the property of his disciples, who did this out of consideration that they supported with deeds the principle that says “friends have everything in common.”
Here is a mention of Abarides in Celsus’s work “The Truthful Word”:
“No one considers the Hyperborean Abarid, who had such strength that he could move with the speed of an arrow, to be a god.”
Emphasizing the unusual personality of Abaris, the Greek historian Herodotus (5th century BC) specified that he “carried an arrow all over the earth and did not eat anything.”
The followers of Pythagoras assumed a possible connection between their teacher and Abaris and therefore collected all kinds of information about the latter. The Pythagoreans called Abaris “the air-walker, for with the help of an arrow given to him by Apollo, he moved along rivers and seas and passed through impassable places, somehow floating through the air.”
Abaris was also known to Plato (IV century BC), who considered him a charmer for all diseases. Plato recognized that the homeland of the priest Abaris was the mythical country of the Hyperboreans, “living beyond the north wind.” According to legends, the “radiant” Apollo of Delphi stayed for the winter in the country of the Hyperboreans, for which its inhabitants, as gratitude, every year sent envoys with sacrificial gifts to the sanctuary of the deity on Delos.
Diodorus believed that “opposite the land of the Celts on the Ocean there is an island no smaller than Sicily. This island is inhabited by Hyperboreans. The island is fertile and fruitful, it also differs good air. On this island is the sacred site of Apollo and a magnificent spherical temple."
The last fact is again puzzling - after all, sanctuaries of this form are still not known. However, the Hyperboreans are also credited with unusual abilities. “They knew sorcery, magic, druidism, witchcraft and cunning,” the ancient manuscript characterizes the mysterious northern people. It is not surprising that from such an environment came the priest Abaris, who amazed the imagination of the ancient Greeks with his ability to fly through the air. One of the inhabitants of Hellas, Aristaeus from Proconnesus, who lived at the turn of the 7th-6th centuries. BC e. ventured to travel to the country of the Hyperboreans and even returned home seven years later. He wrote a poem about his adventures, but, unfortunately, it has not reached us. All that remains is the legend about the “airborne” Abaris and his mysterious homeland, the country of Hyperborea.”
Pythagoras - born around 570 BC. e. on the island of Samos. Pythagoras was called the “Hyperborean Apollo”, and he was famous as a wonderworker and sage who owned secret knowledge. It is quite possible that he actually possessed these secrets. The fact is that in his youth he made a trip to the East (but no one knows exactly where he was). It is no coincidence that after this he was nicknamed the “Hyperborean Apollo.” The most important thing is that he studied ancient Eastern mathematics and non-Greek religious and cult traditions.
He then settled in Crotone (Southern Italy), and the Crotonians treated him with reverence. Moreover, he enjoyed such a reputation and influence here that he founded a religious and philosophical brotherhood, which took power into its own hands. Of course, local authorities did not like this. An anti-Pythagorean uprising led by Cylon followed. Pythagoras had to flee to Metapontum, where he settled, and here he later died.
This is the outline of the life of this unique person who developed a belief system. This system included: the doctrine of the immortality of the soul; the doctrine of reincarnation (Pythagoras remembered four previous lives); the kinship of all living beings; the doctrine of catharsis as purification; vegetarianism; the doctrine of the musical-numerical structure of the Cosmos, the so-called Harmony of the Spheres.
Pythagoras developed the doctrine of the musical sound of the Universe, proving that the Sun, Moon and all planets sound and have their own tonality. It was believed that the highest tone of the “astral scale” is in the stars, and the lowest is in the Moon. Aristotle also developed these ideas.
Socrates - born ca. 470, died 399 BC. e. Lived in Athens. Socrates often gave speeches in public squares, having a reputation as a folk sage. It was Socrates who expressed the idea that power in the state should belong to the best people. And he was the first to introduce dialogue into science as a method of finding truth. After him, Plato developed this form in his writings.
“At the end of his life, Socrates was put on trial for introducing new deities and was sentenced to death. He was put in prison, but soon he was offered to escape. The philosopher considered this shameful for himself and, in order not to give himself into the hands of the executioners, drank poison.
Plato of Athens - born in 427 BC. e. in Athens (or Aegina), died in 347 BC. e. Plato came from a noble family, his father was a descendant of the Athenian king Codrus, and his mother was from the family of Solon. Solon is one of the "seven wise men". The philosophy of Cratylus and Socrates had a great influence on him. After the execution of Socrates, he left the country and went to Southern Italy and Sicily, where he became friends with the Pythagoreans. Around 387 he founded his school in Athens, the so-called Academy, where the best minds gathered. Among them, Aristotle was first a student of this school, and then its teacher.
Under the influence of Socrates, he turned to issues of ethics, pedagogy and psychology, and considered the problem of the soul and its immortality. Plato tried to solve the problem of the hierarchy of sciences and arts and believed that a person can be taught mathematics, painting, singing, medicine, playing the zither, and so on, but the art of poetry cannot be taught. But true knowledge is only memory.
Aristotle Stagirite - born in 384 BC. e. in Stagira, died in 322 BC. e., an encyclopedist, was first a student, then a teacher at the Plato Academy, teacher of Alexander the Great. Aristotle was not only an outstanding philosopher, but also a prominent politician. His saying, which has become a catchphrase, is widely known: “Man by nature is a political animal.”
Aristotle believed that the state should be ruled by the aristocracy, that is, the best people in every sense.
Omir (Homer) is the founder of the Greek heroic epic. But the question of the identity of Omir (Homer) is controversial to this day. The question of the homeland of this author, as well as the authorship of the Iliad and Odyssey, is also controversial. For the first time, critical remarks about the authorship of Omir were made by... Herodotus. Aristotle believed that the author of these works was Omir. In addition, he believed him to be the author of such a work as “Margit” - “an epic not preserved for us about the adventures of a fool” (Encyclopedic Dictionary. Brockhaus and Efron. Biographies, vol. 4, p. 223).
It is also said here that the first news about Omir is timed to coincide with the name of Solon. Moreover, “The order of Solon made it desirable to compile a state copy of Homer” (ibid., p. 224). What does it mean for a sage to see how many centuries ahead!
It is interesting to know that the first biographer of Omir was Theagenes of Rhegium. It’s hard to say who Theagenes of Rhegium is. However, as the Brockhaus and Efron Dictionary points out, “these biographies of Homer were the germ of literary history” (p. 224). But this was a very long time ago, and a thorough study of Homer’s work began “only from the time of the founding of large libraries in Alexandria and Pergamon, that is, in the 3rd century BC.” (ibid.).
We use the old Russian transcription - Omir, not Homer. This is exactly what A.S. Pushkin, K.N. Batyushkov and many other authors of the last and the century before last wrote. The point is in the origin of the name, connected with the fact that according to legend Omir was blind.
The etymology of the name Omir is surprising, which some would not like to know. Omir means darkened, that is, blind. This is the clue not only to the name of the great poet of antiquity, but also to his origin. And this is the great secret, revealing to us another mysterious page of our great history. As we have seen, the name is based on a Slavic root. That's enough for the smart one.
Above we said that historical literature mentions such a curious fact as the unexpected discovery of ancient frescoes on the walls of the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, which was the home church of the Russian tsars, during restoration. And, as already mentioned, on the walls of this cathedral were depicted the faces of Russian saints from the Khorsa family, and among them were Plutarch, Aristotle, Virgil and many others.
Here are the Aryan sages of antiquity - all Slavs! And now I think: was it by chance that their faces were revealed to us? Is it not to remind us who we are, what blood flows in our veins. And what truths in the vast Universe are vital at all times...
MOSCOW STATE UNIVERSITY
them. M. V. LOMONOSOV
______________________________________________________
FACULTY OF JOURNALISM
Department of Philosophy
Seven wise men of ancient Greece
Essay
studentII year additional education (gr. 207)
Teacher -
Moscow – 2005
“I name the seven wise men: their homeland, name, saying.
“Measure is most important,” Cleobulus used to say in Linda;
In Sparta "Know thyself!" - Chilo preached;
Periander, a native of Corinth, exhorted him to control his anger;
"Nothing to spare!" - the saying was from the Mytilenian Pittacus;
"Watch the end of life!" - repeated by Solon of Athens;
"The worst are the majority everywhere!" - said Biant Priensky;
"Don't vouch for anyone!" - Thales of Miletus's word."
Ancient Greek epigram
The Greeks believed that there were 7 wise men: Thales,Solon,Pittacus, Biant,Cleobulus,Periander And Chilon. These sages had a lot of intelligence and learning, and they taught the people many sciences and wisdom. But they were considered wise men not because they knew a lot, but for this:
Near the city of Miletus, fishermen were fishing. A rich man came up and bought a tonya (a catch of fish obtained with one cast of a seine). They sold, took the money and promised to give away everything that fell into this sink. They cast a net and instead of a fish they pulled out a golden tripod. The rich man wanted to take the tripod, but the fishermen did not give it to him. They said they sold fish, not gold. They began to argue and sent to ask the oracle who should give the tripod to. Pythia said: the tripod must be given to the wisest of the Greeks. Then all the inhabitants of Miletus said that it should be given to Thales. They sent the tripod to Thales. But Thales said: “I am not wiser than everyone else. There are many people wiser than me.” And he did not take the tripod. Then they sent to Solon, and he refused, and the third refused. And there were 7 such people. All of them did not consider themselves wise, which is why they were called sages.
However, for some writers their number of sages sometimes increased to as much as 17 people. But in all the lists that have reached us, four names invariably appear: Thales, Bias, Pittacus and Solon. Up to two dozen people applied for the remaining three places (if there were seven wise men). But we will stick to the “generally accepted” list and look at the thoughts, sayings and lives of each of the seven separately.
THALES
Thales, founder of Miletus philosophical school, (born approximately 625 died in the middle of the 6th century BC) - the founder of European science and philosophy, in addition, he was a mathematician, astronomer and politician who enjoyed great respect from his fellow citizens, Thales came from a noble Phoenician family, was a contemporary of Solon and Croesus.
Despite the great importance it has, little is known about it.
As a merchant, he used trade trips to expand the scientific knowledge and knowledge that he acquired in Phenicia and Egypt - transferred to Greece.
He was a hydraulic engineer, famous for his work, a versatile scientist and thinker, and an inventor of astronomical instruments. As a scientist, he became widely famous in Greece, having made a successful prediction solar eclipse, observed in Greece in 585 BC. e. For this prediction, Thales used the astronomical information he acquired in Egypt, going back to the observations and generalizations of Babylonian science.
According to the testimony of Herodotus and Diogenes, Thales gained fame for his wisdom, which was very practical. For example, based on his knowledge, he once predicted a bountiful harvest of olives, and by renting an oil mill, he made a big profit.
Thales was also one of the famous seven wise men, whose sayings have survived to this day. The following are attributed to him:
Older than all things is God, for he is unborn.
The most beautiful thing is space, for it is the creation of God.
Most of all is space, because it accommodates everyone.
Time is the wisest thing, for it reveals everything.
The fastest thing is thought, because it runs without stopping.
The strongest thing is necessity, for it overcomes everyone.
Thales's diverse knowledge had a certain influence on the development of his philosophical thinking. For example, geometry at that time was such a developed science that it was a definite basis of scientific abstraction. This is what influenced the views of Thales
He connected his geographical, astronomical and physical knowledge into a coherent philosophical idea of the world, materialistic at its core, despite clear traces of mythological ideas. Thales was the first to try to find a physical beginning without the help of myths. He believed that existing things arose from a certain moist origin, or “water.” Everything is constantly born from this one source. Moisture is actually an omnipresent element; everything comes from water and turns into water. Water, as a natural principle, also turns out to be the carrier of all changes and transformations. This is truly a brilliant conservation idea.
Aristotle's later assumption in Metaphysics is that observations of the moisture content of all food and animal semen forced Thales to recognize water, as a source of moisture, as the original principle. Unfortunately, Thales did not leave any writings, and the writings mentioned by later writers, as well as the teachings of Thales they reported, are considered to be forged. Thales apparently did not explain more precisely how things arise from water; in all likelihood, he imagined that an active force was directly associated with matter, and he thought of this force itself, in the spirit of the ancient religion of nature, as something analogous to the human soul.
Thales, like his successors, stood on the point of view of hylozoism (from the Greek hyle - thing, zoe - life) - the view according to which life is an integral property of matter. Thales believed that the soul is diffused throughout everything that exists. Thales viewed the soul as something spontaneously active.
Thales saw an example and proof of universal animation in the properties of a magnet and amber; since magnet and amber are capable of setting bodies in motion, then, therefore, they have a soul.
The earth, from the philosopher’s point of view, floats on water and is surrounded on all sides by the ocean. She resides on the water, like a disk or board floating on the surface of a reservoir.
Thales made an attempt to understand the structure of the universe surrounding the Earth, to determine in what order the celestial bodies are located in relation to the Earth: the Moon, the Sun, the stars. And in this matter, Thales relied on the results of Babylonian science. But he imagined the order of the luminaries the opposite of that, what exists in reality: he believed that closest to the Earth is the so-called sky of fixed stars, and farthest away is the Sun. This error was corrected by his successors.
Although Thales’s idea of primordial essence seems naive to us now, from a historical point of view it is extremely important: in the position “everything is from water,” the pagan gods and, ultimately, mythological thinking were given up, and the path to a natural explanation of nature was continued.
Thales first came up with the idea of the unity of the universe. This idea, once born, never died: it was communicated to his students and the students of his students.
When asked what was the most amazing thing he saw, Thales replied:
"A tyrant in old age."
SOLON
Solon, the son of Exekestidas, was from an ancient and noble family. From his youth, he devoted himself to trade, to maintain the family fortune, and to travel, to gain experience and knowledge. The fact was that his father overspent a little on charity. Of his actions, the first to be mentioned is the newly raised issue of Salamis in 604 BC. And this is how it happened. After the defeat in the war with Megara over Salamis, a law was passed in Athens that, under penalty of death, forbade citizens from proposing to fight again for Salamis. There were many supporters of such a war in the city, but no one dared to break the law. Then Solon pretended to be crazy and, wearing a wreath, ran to the city square, where there were many people, and read out his famous elegy about Salamis. The Athenians were most inspired by the following verses:
"It would be better for me to forget about Athens, leave my homeland,
It would be better if my homeland was called Folegandr and Sikin,
So that bad rumors don’t follow me:
Here is a coward from Attica, here is a fugitive from Salamis!
And at the end it sounded:
"To Salamis! Let's hurry and fight for the desired island,
To shake off the bitter and grave shame from the homeland".
The inspired Athenians repealed the hateful law, gathered an army and recaptured the desired island. True, after the war, Solon had to prove in arbitration the validity of the Athenians' claims to Salamis, which he did brilliantly.
Then he convinced the Athenians to fight in defense of the Delphic oracle, and later to capture the Thracian Chersonese. These deeds brought him great fame and gave him authority in city affairs. He was even offered to become a tyrant and rule at his own discretion, but Solon refused this offer.
Solon gained his greatest fame as a legislator. He was elected archon in 594 BC, when the city was divided into warring factions and suffered from their clashes.
Many have heard about Solon's laws and think that he completely rebuilt the state machine. Nothing like this! He, of course, introduced many new laws and changed old ones. But where things were going well, or where fierce resistance from citizens could be expected, he did not change anything.
First of all, he introduced a law according to which existing debts were canceled and it was forbidden to continue giving money on “body pledge” (that is, he forbade citizens from selling themselves into slavery); this was the so-called sisakhtiya. All citizens enslaved for debt were freed, and citizens sold abroad were also redeemed at the state expense. He did not touch the existing land holdings. However, there is a version that he simply canceled interest on payments and reduced the amount of payments themselves, changing the value of money. But this version is less popular. At first, this measure, sisakhtia, was not popular in the city, but, on the contrary, only caused new anger. The rich grieved over lost debts, and the poor were indignant because he did not redistribute the land. Solon himself, due to the cancellation of debts, also lost a significant amount of money from his rejection of tyranny, and helped Peisistratus with advice in governing the state.
Land and political reforms were of particular importance. Solon abolished part of the debt bondage. All debt stones were removed from the fields, and debtors sold into slavery were subject to ransom. These reforms were called “Sisakhfiyah”. The debtor's self-mortgage was prohibited. The collection of any debt could not be directed to the identity of the defendant. Many peasants were given back their plots of land. It is believed that Solon established a maximum land allotment. However, he did not dare to redistribute the land. Loan interest was not reduced, which benefited the moneylenders. The abolition of debt bondage caused swipe according to the interests of large landowners from among the nobility. It satisfied the vital interests of medium and small landowners.
For the first time, freedom of will was legalized. Any type of property, including land plots, could be sold, mortgaged, divided between heirs, etc. The clan society did not know such freedom of handling land plots. Solon promoted the development of crafts and trade. He unified the system of weights and measures, carried out a monetary reform, created favorable conditions for the foreign trade of Athens, etc. Parents in old age could not legally receive help from their sons unless they taught them a craft.
The political reform of Solon should include the division of residents according to property qualifications. All free citizens of Athens were divided into 4 categories, as already mentioned above.
At the same time, it was stipulated that only persons from the 1st category could be elected military leaders and archons. From the representatives of the 2nd category a cavalry army (horsemen) was formed, from the rest - a foot army. The militias were obliged to have their own weapons and go on campaigns at their own expense.
Solon significantly increased the authority and importance of the national assembly, which began to be convened more often and at which the most important government issues: laws were passed, officials were elected. Poor citizens also took part in the meeting.
At the same time, the “Council of Four Hundred” was established - 100 people from each phylum. All free people, except farm laborers and beggars, could be elected to its membership. Over time, the Council pushed the Areopagus into the background. His role increased due to the fact that the people's assembly was convened regularly. Drafts of many decisions were prepared by the Council, and in necessary cases acted on behalf of the meeting.
Solon also established a jury trial - “helieia”, and citizens of all ranks were elected to its composition. The participation of poor citizens in the national assembly and in the jury trial contributed to the development of Athenian slave-owning democracy. “Galiea” was not only the main judicial body of Athens, it also controlled the activities of officials.
So, Solon sought to weaken the contradictions between rich and poor citizens and prevent social upheaval. By infringing on the property interests of the eupatrides, he prevented the possibility of mass protests by the ruined community members. He satisfied the demands of the wealthy part of the demos: landowners, merchants, artisans. Solon's reforms influenced the democratization of the Athenian state, the social basis of which became medium and small landowners, the elite of artisans and merchants.
Most sources say that Solon's corpse was burned in Cyprus, and his ashes were scattered in Salamis.
When Solon was mourning his son, someone said to him: “Why are you doing this? It’s useless!”
Solon replied: “That’s why I cry, because it’s useless.”
PITTAK
Pittacus is one of the few historical characters of the archaic period who became quite widely known in ancient literature. True, information about him is somewhat one-sided: Pittacus was primarily of interest to ancient writers as one of the “seven wise men,” that is, as the author of apt and instructive maxims. At the same time, his activities as an esimnet and legislator, which are of particular interest to us, attracted much less attention.
Some later sources indicate the lifespan of Pittacus. According to Diogenes Laertius, Pittacus died under the archon Aristomenes, in the third year of the 52nd Olympiad (570 BC), having lived more than seventy years (Diog. Laert., I, 79). This allows us to assign the date of his birth to the 40s of the 7th century. BC e. The victory of Pittacus over the Athenian commander Phrynon Svida dates back to 612 BC. e. (Suid., s. v. Pittakos). These chronological guidelines are in good agreement with data on the lives of Pittacus’s contemporaries - the poets Alcaeus and Sappho, who, like Pittacus, were participants in the turbulent events that unfolded in Mytilene in the last third of the 7th - early 6th centuries. BC e.
Entering the field political activity, Pittacus was guided primarily by the interests of the upper layer of the demos to which he belonged. These interests consisted, as the events in Mytilene show, in limiting the omnipotence of the old clan aristocracy, as well as in expanding the political rights of the people, primarily its most prosperous part. Of course, the logic of events should have forced Pittacus to make all sorts of compromises in order to gain allies at one or another stage of the political struggle, but in general, he apparently quite clearly and purposefully adhered to his chosen political line, which should have contributed to the growth of his popularity and, as a result, vesting him with extraordinary powers. The period of social unrest that preceded Pittacus’s rise to power lasted for decades (approximately, it covered the time from 620 to 590 BC). By taking an active part in these events, Pittacus was apparently able to earn a certain amount of political capital, which subsequently, after the death of Mirsil, led him to power. The growth of Pittacus's popularity was undoubtedly facilitated by his participation in the military operations that Mytilene had to wage at the end of the 7th century. BC e. We do not know whether Pittacus took part in the war with Erythra, which Alcaeus mentions, but we can confidently speak about his prominent role during the war with Athens for Sigea and Achilleus. One of the famous episodes of this war was the single combat between Pittacus and the Athenian commander Phrynon (Strab., XIII, 1, 38, p. 600; Polyaen., I, 25; Diog. Laert., I, 74; Suid. s. v. Pittakos). As F. Schachermeir rightly notes, the victory won by Pittacus in this battle contributed to the growth of his authority and was an important basis for his further successes in the political field. Unfortunately, the sources tell us very little about the activities of Pittacus during his ten-year reign. According to Strabo, Pittacus used the sole power given to him to weaken the influence of noble families and establish self-government in the city (Strab., XIII, 2, 3, p. 617). Apparently, one of the means used to achieve this goal was legislative activity. The laws of Pittacus were the first written laws in the history of Mytilene. Aristotle, reporting on the legislation of Pittacus, emphasizes that it, like some other early legislation, did not affect the system of public administration.
The few references by ancient authors to Pittacus’s legislation show that it affected the sphere of criminal law, contractual obligations, and also contained norms regulating certain aspects of the lives of citizens. Even the meager remains of this legislation that we have show that it had an anti-aristocratic orientation. It can be said with a reasonable degree of certainty that the laws of Pittacus provided for fixed penalties for different types of offenses. This allows us to attribute Pittacus’s laws to the group of legislation that was created for practical application V judicial practice and were aimed at limiting the judicial arbitrariness of the nobility.
One young man turned to Pittacus for advice: “Wise one! I have two girls in mind. One is from a very rich and noble family. The second comes from my environment. Which one should I choose as a wife?”
Pittacus did not give him a direct answer. He pointed his staff at the boys playing and said, “You will get the best advice if you listen to what these boys are talking about.”
The young man obeyed, went up to the boys and heard one of them say to his comrade: “Don’t bother with your own.”
The young man heeded the warning and took himself a wife from an ordinary family.
PERIANDER
As a result of the reforms he carried out, a powerful power was created, the territory of which extended from the Ionian Sea to the Adriatic.
The tyrant of Corinth, Periander, was the son of Cypselus and Kratea. As the heir to his father's wealth and power, Periander from the very beginning occupied an exceptional position among the rulers of the cities of Isthmus. He married the daughter of the tyrant Proclus of Epidaurus, the granddaughter of the Arcadian king Aristocrat Melissa, who in childhood was called Lysidice.
Warlike, according to Aristotle, Periander constantly sought to increase his possessions on the shores of the Western Sea, where in some places his half-brothers or their descendants already ruled. He was especially attracted to Kerkyra, with its fertile lands and convenient location on the route of ships to Italy and Sicily. He conquered the island and transferred dominion, presumably, to his son Nicholas. Later, at the end of Periander’s life, the Corcyraeans, trying to throw off the hated oppression, killed Nicholas. Then Periander again captured the island and carried out a terrible massacre of prominent families for this, after which he imprisoned his nephew Psammetichus on Kerkyra, and he himself returned to Corinth.
Crafts and trades, which already under Kypselus began to develop rapidly in the very well located Corinth, reached under Periander in full bloom. In ceramic production, this is manifested in the amazing vastness of the potters' region, and in the completeness of the artistic decoration of vessels of the so-called Corinthian style, and in their distribution to remote areas, primarily Italy and Sicily.
While overseas exports increased trade turnover, the volume of port dues also increased, which first of all went to the benefit of the Bacchiads, and then the tyrants. Under Periander it reached such proportions that the son of Cypselus could refuse other taxes.
The ambiguity of the reign of Periander, who showed himself, on the one hand, as a selfish ruler who shamelessly interfered in the life of the community, and on the other, as an excellent, wise statesman, obviously caused conflicting judgments among his contemporaries. Periander had bodyguards. Violent manifestations of hostility terrified him; Obviously, the opposition to him was greater than to Kypsel.
Periander was a contradictory and complex person. Ancient tradition included him among the "Seven Wise Men". He is credited with the saying “Management is everything.” In their dispute over Sigea, the Athenians and Mytileneans elected him as arbitrator. He was in friendly relations with Thrasybulus, the Milesian tyrant.
Already around 650, Corinth adopted the Euboean monetary system, which dominated the Aegean Sea, despite the fact that in all other states of the Peloponnese and in Athens at that time the Argive-Aeginean monetary system, introduced by the Argive king Guidon, was in use. Periander built beautiful harbors on both the Corinthian and Saronic gulfs and created a fleet on both seas.
Periander's construction activities attracted a large number of foreigners to Corinth. Its wealth increased with the expansion of navigation and attracted traveling artists, such as the poet Arion of Methymna, who, while at the court of a tyrant, gave a song of praise in honor of Dionysus the artistic form of a dithyramb.
The government reform carried out by Periander was also most beneficial to the urban class. In Corinth, the aristocracy was grouped in special clan organizations, considering themselves the descendants of purebred Dorians, and the masses - the descendants of the Aeolians. Periander, instead of old generic phyla, introduces new ones - territorial ones.
When Periander died of natural causes at the age of 80 (about 587), none of his five sons were alive.
Periander was the first to get himself bodyguards and establish tyrannical power in the city. When asked why he remained a tyrant, Periander replied: “Because renunciation is dangerous, and deposition is also dangerous.”
HILON
The formation of the Peloponnesian League and the tyrannical struggle of Sparta are phenomena that chronologically coincide and occupy approximately three to four decades around 550. According to legend, the only major politician in Sparta during this period was the ephor Chilon.
Ephor Chilo is the only character with whom the Spartan reforms of the late archaic period can be associated. It was in the middle of the 6th century, i.e., during the period of Chilon’s political activity, that changes on a global scale occurred in Sparta in both foreign and domestic policy.
For Sparta, the main foreign policy event of the 6th century. was the creation of the Peloponnesian League, which she headed. The ultimate success of this long-term military-diplomatic action depended not least on the brilliantly conducted propaganda campaign. The ideologists of Sparta used an excellent move to justify their claims to dominance in the Peloponnese. They declared the Spartans to be direct descendants of the Achaeans and actively began searching for their Achaean ancestors.
The Spartans earned their reputation as tyrant fighters by mainly expelling tyrants from small communities, which they could deal with without any effort. special effort. Chilo's merit rather lies on a different plane. He, apparently, not only himself participated in the expulsion of tyrants, but was also the ideologist of a new direction in Spartan politics, the goal of which was to strengthen the influence of Sparta in Greece, including through the destruction of tyrannical regimes. Gradually, an image of Sparta, attractive to potential members of the Peloponnesian League, began to form as the legitimate heir to the glory of the Achaean ancestors and the defender of the Dorian aristocracy “on the ground” from tyranny. Massive propaganda, apparently, sometimes replaced the real actions of Sparta to expel the tyrants. In any case, Chilo managed to secure for centuries the image of principled tyrant fighters for the Spartans.
Unfortunately, even less is known about Chilon’s domestic political activities than about his foreign policy actions. Here we find ourselves more captive to speculative guesses and assumptions. The main idea of all those researchers who see in Chilo a Spartan legislator, perhaps equal in scale to Lycurgus, is that Chilo was the initiator and main driving force all the transformations that took place in Sparta in the middle of the 6th century. Thus, the name of Chilon is sometimes associated with the publication of three so-called small retras.
“One of the rules said that written laws were not needed. Another, again directed against luxury, demanded that in every house the roof should be made with an ax, and the doors with only a saw, without the use of at least one other tool... The third retra of Lycurgus... prohibits waging war constantly with the same enemy..." (Plut. Lyc. 13).
When Chilon, who was an ephor in Sparta (560-557 BC), was invited to a feast, he asked at length and in detail about everyone who would be at the feast. He said at the same time:
“With whom we have to sail on a ship or serve in war, we inevitably tolerate them both on board and in the tent. But at a feast, no reasonable person will allow himself to get along with just anyone.”
BIANT
Bias, son of Teuthamus, from Priene, whom Satyr considers to be the first of the seven. Some call him a rich man, while Durid, on the contrary, calls him a rich man.
Fanodik reports that he ransomed Messenian girls from captivity, raised them as daughters, gave them a dowry and sent them to Messenia to their fathers. Time passed, and when in Athens, as has already been told, fishermen pulled out of the sea a bronze tripod with the inscription “to the wise,” these girls (so says Satyr) or their father (so say others, including Fanodik) spoke before the people’s assembly. , announced that the wise man was Biant, and told about his fate. The tripod was sent to Bianta; but Bias, seeing the inscription, said that the wise man was Apollo, and did not accept the tripod; and others (including Phanodik) write that he dedicated it to Hercules in Thebes, because he himself was a descendant of those Thebans who once founded Priene.
There is a story that when Aliatt was besieging Priene, Biant fed two mules and drove them to the king’s camp, and the king was amazed, thinking that the well-being of the besiegers was enough for their cattle. He went to negotiations and sent ambassadors - Biant poured heaps of sand, covered it with a layer of grain and showed it to the ambassador. And having learned about this, Aliatt finally made peace with the Prienians. Soon afterwards he invited Biant to his place. “Let Aliatt eat onions” (that is, let him cry), answered Biant.
They say that he spoke irresistibly in court, but used the power of his words only for a good purpose. Demodik of Leros also hints at this in the words:
If you need to sue, sue in the Prien way!
And Hipponact:
Stronger than the Prienian Biant in a dispute.
This is how he died. Already in old age, he appeared before the court in someone's defense; Having finished his speech, he bowed his head on the chest of his grandson; they made a speech on behalf of the opposing side, the judges cast votes in favor of the one for whom Biant spoke; and when the court was dissolved, Biant found himself dead on his grandson’s chest. The citizens gave him a magnificent funeral, and wrote on the tomb:
Born in the glorious fields of the Priene land, he rests Here, under this slab, the torch of the Ionians, Biant.
And we wrote this:
Biant will rest here. The shepherd Hermes brought him peacefully into the canopy of Hades with the whitened snowy gray hair. Having stood up for his good friend with his right speech, He departed on his chest on the road to eternal sleep.
He composed about 200 poems about Ionia and how it could better achieve prosperity. And from his songs the following is known:
Be pleasing to all citizens, wherever you happen to live: In this is true good, but fate sparkles for the daring spirit of Evil.
Strength is given to a person by nature, the ability to speak for the good of the fatherland is given from the soul and understanding, and for many, wealth of means comes from simple chance. He said that the one who is unable to bear misfortune is unhappy; that only a sick soul can be attracted to the impossible and be deaf to the misfortune of others. When asked what was difficult, he replied: “It is noble to endure a change for the worse.”
One day he was sailing on a ship among wicked people; a storm broke out and they began to cry out to the gods. “Hush!” Biant shouted, “so that the gods don’t hear that you’re here!” One wicked man began to ask him what piety is - Biant remained silent. He asked why he was silent. “Because you’re not asking about your business,” Biant told him.
When asked what is sweet to a person, he answered: “Hope.” It is better, he said, to sort out a dispute between your enemies than between friends, because obviously after this one of your friends will become your enemy, and one of your enemies will become your friend. When asked what occupation a person enjoys, he answered: “Getting money.” Life, he said, must be measured as if you had both a little and a lot left to live; and love your friends as if they would answer you with hatred - for most people are evil. He also advised this: don’t rush to get down to business, but once you do, be firm. Speak slowly: haste is a sign of madness. Love understanding. Say about the gods that they exist. Do not praise an unworthy person for his wealth. Take it not by force, but by persuasion. Whatever good happens, consider it to be from the gods. From youth to old age, take wisdom as a reserve, for there is no more reliable asset.
Hipponactus also mentions Biantes, as has already been said: and the dissatisfied Heraclitus gives him the highest praise, writing: “There was Bias in Priene, the son of Teutamus, in whom there was more sense than others.” And in Priene a sacred site was dedicated to him, called Teutamium.
His saying: “The majority are evil.”
CLEOBULUUS
Cleobulus, son of Evagor, from Lindus (and according to Durid, from Caria). Some report that he traced his family back to Hercules, that he was distinguished by his strength and beauty, and that he was familiar with Egyptian philosophy. He had a daughter, Cleobulina, a writer of riddles in hexametric verses, mentioned by Cratinus in the drama named after her in the plural: “Cleobulina.” This same Cleobulus is said to have renovated the temple of Athena, founded by Danaus.
He composed songs and riddles up to 3000 lines long. Some say that the inscription on the tomb of Midas belongs to him:
Copper maiden, I stand here on the tomb of Midas. And I say: while the water flows, while the groves rise, the sun rises in the heavens and the moon shines silver, the rivers flow and the seas rise with noisy waves, - Here, on this tomb, mourned with sorrowful tears, I will tell passers-by that here are the remains of Midas.
As proof, they refer to the song of Simonides, where it is said:
Who, relying on reason, will praise Cleobulus of Lindus? He opposed the eternal streams, the spring flowers, the flames of the sun and the bright moon, the sea surf with the power of a pillar, - But nothing is stronger than the gods, And the stone is not stronger than the crushing hands of mortals; Whoever said such a word is stupid!
This inscription cannot belong to Homer either, because they say he lived long before Midas.
Of his riddles, the following is preserved in the “Notes” of Pamphyla:
There is a father in the world, twelve sons serve him; Each of them gave birth to two thirty daughters: Black sisters and white sisters are not similar to each other; All die one after another, and yet are immortal.
Solution: year.
One of his songs is known as follows:
People devote a small share to the Muses, a lot to idle talk; but there is a measure for everything. Think good thoughts and do not be ungrateful.
He said that daughters should be married off as girls according to their age, but as women according to their intelligence; this means that girls also need education. He said that one must serve friends in order to strengthen their friendship, and enemies in order to gain their friendship, for one must beware of reproach from friends and malice from enemies. Who leaves the house, first ask why; who returns home, ask what. Further, he advised to exercise the body properly; listen more than talk; love knowledge more than ignorance; keep your tongue polite; be your own to virtue, a stranger to vice; Flee from falsehood; Give the best advice to the state; rule with pleasure; Do not do anything by force; raise children; let go of hostility. Do not make out with your wife in front of strangers and do not quarrel: the first is a sign of stupidity, the second is rage. Do not punish a drunken slave: you will appear drunk. Take your wife as an equal, and if you take her above yourself, her relatives will rule over you. Don’t make fun of those who are ridiculed - you will make enemies in them. Don’t be exalted in happiness, don’t be humbled in misfortune. Learn to endure the vicissitudes of fate with nobility.
He died at the old age of seventy. His inscription is:
For the sage Cleobulus, Lind, his homeland, and the city that rose into the sea, mourns with great sorrow.
His saying: “The best is measure.”
He wrote the following letter to Solon:
Cleobulus to Solon. “You have many friends, and your home is everywhere; but truly I say: it is best for Solon to come to Lindus, where the people govern. This is an island in the middle of the sea, and the one who lives there is not afraid of Pisistratus. And you will have friends from everywhere.”
Used materials and literature
1. Diogenes Laertius. About the life, teachings and sayings of great philosophers. Translation from ancient Greek. M.: "Thought", 1986.
2. Pechatnova Chilon and the so-called small retras. Ancient Society - IV: Power and Society in Antiquity // Materials international conference antiquists, held on March 5-7, 2001 at the Faculty of History of St. Petersburg State University. St. Petersburg, 2001.
3. Kirilenko. Student's Handbook - M.: Philological Society "WORD", AST Publishing House, 1999.
