Hermogenes (; fl. 5th–4th century BC) was an
ancient Athenian philosopher
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
best remembered as a close friend of
Socrates
Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was a Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and as among the first moral philosophers of the Ethics, ethical tradition ...
as depicted by
Plato
Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...
and
Xenophon
Xenophon of Athens (; ; 355/354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian. At the age of 30, he was elected as one of the leaders of the retreating Ancient Greek mercenaries, Greek mercenaries, the Ten Thousand, who had been ...
.
Life
Hermogenes was the son of
Hipponicus, brother of the wealthy
Callias, and resident of the
Alopece deme
In Ancient Greece, a deme or (, plural: ''demoi'', δήμοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Classical Athens, Athens and other city-states. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside existed in the 6th century BC and earlier, bu ...
alongside Socrates. Although he belonged to the great family of Callias, he is mentioned by
Xenophon
Xenophon of Athens (; ; 355/354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian. At the age of 30, he was elected as one of the leaders of the retreating Ancient Greek mercenaries, Greek mercenaries, the Ten Thousand, who had been ...
as a man of very little property, suggesting that he may have been an illegitimate son of Hipponicus. Plato, on the other hand, suggests that he was unjustly deprived of his property by Callias, his brother.
He is an interlocutor in Plato's ''
Cratylus'' dialogue, where he maintains that all the words of a language were formed by an agreement of people amongst themselves. Xenophon cites Hermogenes as his source on the
trial of Socrates in his ''
Apology
Apology, The Apology, apologize/apologise, apologist, apologetics, or apologetic may refer to:
Common uses
* Apology (act), an expression of remorse or regret
* Apologia, a formal defense of an opinion, position, or action
Arts, entertainment ...
'', and Plato includes Hermogenes in the list of individuals present at Socrates' execution.
Diogenes Laërtius
Diogenes Laërtius ( ; , ; ) was a biographer of the Greek philosophers. Little is definitively known about his life, but his surviving book ''Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers'' is a principal source for the history of ancient Greek ph ...
states that he was one of the teachers of Plato,
[Diogenes Laërtius, iii. 6] but this claim does not appear elsewhere in the surviving literature.
See also
*
List of speakers in Plato's dialogues
Notes
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hermogenes
5th-century BC Athenians
4th-century BC Athenians
Ancient Athenian philosophers