Page:History of Greece Vol IV.djvu/113

THE SEVEN WISE MEN. 95 tury of Grecian history, when philosophy came lo be a master of discussion and argumentation, were spoken of with great eulogy, all the statements are confused, in part even contradictory. Neither the number, nor the names, are given by all authors alike. Dikaearchus numbered ten, Hermippus seventeen : the names of Solon the Athenian, Thales the Milesian, Pittakus the Mitylenean, and Bias the Prienean, were comprised in all the lists, and the remaining names as given by Plato ' were, Kle- obulus of Lindus in Rhodes, Myson of Chence, and Cheilon of Sparta. By others, however, the names are differently stated : nor can we certainly distribute among them the sayings, or mot- toes, upon which in later days the Amphiktyons conferred the honor of inscription in the Delphian temple: Know thyself, Nothing too much, Know thy opportunity, Suretyship is the precursor of ruin. Bias is praised as an excellent judge, and Myson was declared by the Delphian oracle to be the most dis- creet man among the Greeks, according to the testimony of the satirical poet Hipponax. This is the oldest testimony (540 B.C.) which can be produced in favor of any of the seven ; but Kle- obulus of Lindus, far from being universally extolled, is pro- nounced by the poet Simonides to be a fool. 2 Dikoearchus, however, justly observed, that these seven or ten persons were not wise men, or philosophers, in the sense which those words bore in his day, but persons of practical discernment in reference to man and society , n of the same turn of mind as their con- 1 Plato, Protagoras, c. 28, p. 343. 'Hipponax, Fragm. 77, 34, ed. Bergk nal dtKuaaacrdai Biavrof Kal MV<TWV, bv if avdpuv autypovtaraTov TTUVTUV. Simonides, Fr. 6, ed. Bergk fiupov tyurbf u6e (3ov/M. Diogen. Lafirt. J, 6, 2. Simonides treats Pittakus with more respect, though questioning an opinion delivered by him (Fragm. 8, ed. Bergk ; Plato, Protagoras, c. 26, p. 339). 3 Dikaearchus ap. Diogen. LaCrt. i, 40. truvtroiif teat vopodeTiKotoc (Jv> rjyra irol.iTiKT/v KOI. fipatjTTjpiov avveaiv. Plutarch, Themistokles, c. 2. About the story of the tripod, which is said to have gone the round of these Seven Wise Men, see Menage ad Diogen. LaCrt. i, 28, p. 1 7.