Teles of

Megara Megara (; , ) is a historic town and a municipality in West Attica, Greece. It lies in the northern section of the Isthmus of Corinth opposite the island of Salamis Island, Salamis, which belonged to Megara in archaic times, before being taken ...

(; fl. c. 235 BC), was a

Cynic Cynic or Cynicism may refer to: Modes of thought * Cynicism (philosophy), a school of ancient Greek philosophy * Cynicism (contemporary), modern use of the word for distrust of others' motives Books * ''The Cynic'', an 1875 book by James Gordon ...

philosopher and teacher. He wrote various discourses (

diatribe A diatribe (from the Greek ''διατριβή''), also known less formally as rant, is a lengthy oration, though often reduced to writing, made in criticism of someone or something, often employing humor, sarcasm, and appeals to emotion. Hist ...

s), seven fragments of which were preserved by

Stobaeus Joannes Stobaeus (; ; 5th-century AD), from Stobi in Macedonia (Roman province), Macedonia, was the compiler of a valuable series of extracts from Greek authors. The work was originally divided into two volumes containing two books each. The tw ...

Life

Nothing is known about Teles except for the limited information he reveals in his writings. In his discourse ''On Exile'' he refers to events in the

Chremonidean War The Chremonidean War (267–261 BC) was fought by a coalition of Polis, Greek city-states and Ptolemaic Egypt against Antigonid Macedonia. It ended in a Macedonian victory that confirmed Antigonid dynasty, Antigonid control over Greece. The conf ...

in the 260s BC, and he makes a specific reference to Hippomedon's governorship in

Thrace Thrace (, ; ; ; ) is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe roughly corresponding to the province of Thrace in the Roman Empire. Bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Se ...

under

Ptolemy III Euergetes Ptolemy III Euergetes (, "Ptolemy the Euergetes, Benefactor"; c. 280 – November/December 222 BC) was the third pharaoh of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt from 246 to 222 BC. The Ptolemaic Kingdom reached the height of its military and economic ...

in the years following 241 BC, thus this discourse was written shortly after this date. His native city is uncertain: he makes various indirect references to

which show that he was living and teaching there, but it is possible that he originally came from

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. In Megara, Teles operated a school where he taught Cynicism, selecting teachings from earlier philosophers and dispensing them to his pupils.

Work

Seven extracts of the lectures of Teles, totalling about thirty pages, are preserved by

, although Stobaeus' own selections come from an earlier epitome by an otherwise unknown Theodorus. Thus, what survives is a series of extracts from extracts, and it is quite possible that in between Teles and Theodorus, or Theodorus and Stobaeus, the writings went through a further editing process. The seven extracts are: #Περὶ τοῦ δοκεῖν καὶ τοῦ εἶναι – ''On Seeming and Being'' #Περὶ αὐταρκείας – ''On Self-Sufficiency'' #Περὶ φυγῆς – ''On Exile'' #Σύγκρασις πενίας καὶ πλούτου – ''A Comparison of Poverty and Wealth'' #Περὶ τοῦ μὴ εἶναι τέλος ἡδονήν – ''On Pleasure not being the Goal of Life'' #Περὶ περιστάσεων – ''On Circumstances'' #Περὶ ἀπαθείας – ''On Freedom from Passion'' As a writer Teles has been regarded as being deficient in both literary and logical virtues, but this may reflect the way in which his works have been edited and compressed by Theodorus, Stobaeus, and others. The value of his writings lies in the fact that they are the earliest Cynic discourses (''diatribes'') to survive, and they provide an insight into the

Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

world in which Teles lived. His works make frequent mention 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 ...

and

Diogenes Diogenes the Cynic, also known as Diogenes of Sinope (c. 413/403–c. 324/321 BC), was an ancient Greek philosopher and one of the founders of Cynicism (philosophy), Cynicism. Renowned for his ascetic lifestyle, biting wit, and radical critique ...

, and he preserves important fragments from the works of

Crates of Thebes Crates (; c. 365 – c. 285 BC) of Thebes, Greece, Thebes was a Ancient Greece, Greek Cynicism (philosophy), Cynic philosopher, the principal pupil of Diogenes, Diogenes of Sinope and the husband of Hipparchia of Maroneia who lived in t ...

Metrocles Metrocles (; fl. c. 325 BC) was a Cynic philosopher from Maroneia. He studied in Aristotle’s Lyceum under Theophrastus, and eventually became a follower of Crates of Thebes, who married Metrocles’ sister Hipparchia. Very little survives of ...

Stilpo Stilpo or Stilpon (, ''Stílpōn''; c. 360 – c. 280 BC), in Latin sources also Stilbo or Stilbon, was a Greek philosopher of the Megarian school. He was a contemporary of Theophrastus, Diodorus Cronus, and Crates of Thebes. None of his writi ...

and

Bion of Borysthenes Bion of Borysthenes (, ''gen''.: Βίωνος; BC) was a Greek philosopher. After being sold into slavery, and then released, he moved to Athens, where he studied in almost every school of philosophy. It is, however, for his Cynic-style d ...

. Without him we would know little about the Cynic

in the 3rd-century BC, and we would know much less about Bion.

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Life

Work

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Further reading