Philip (or Philippus) of

Opus ''Opus'' (pl. ''opera'') is a Latin word meaning "work". Italian equivalents are ''opera'' (singular) and ''opere'' (pl.). Opus or OPUS may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Opus number, (abbr. Op.) specifying order of (usually) publicatio ...

( el, Φίλιππος Ὀπούντιος), was a philosopher and a member of the

Academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

during

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

's lifetime. Philip was the editor of

's ''

Laws Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vari ...

''. Philip of Opus is probably identical with the Philip of

Medma Medma or Mesma (Greek: , Steph. B.; , Strabo, Scymn. Ch.; but on coins, and so Apollodorus of Damascus, cited by Steph. B.; Scylax has , evidently a corruption for ), was an ancient Greek city of Southern Italy (Magna Graecia), on the west coas ...

(or Mende), the astronomer, who is also described as a disciple of Plato.

Plato's ''Laws'' and ''Epinomis''

According to

Diogenes Laërtius Diogenes Laërtius ( ; grc-gre, Διογένης Λαέρτιος, ; ) was a biographer of the Greek philosophers. Nothing is definitively known about his life, but his surviving ''Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers'' is a principal sour ...

, Philip of Opus was a disciple of

, who was responsible for transcribing Plato's ''

'' into twelve books, and writing the thirteenth book (the ''

Epinomis The ''Epinomis'' ( Greek: ) is a dialogue attributed to Plato. Some sources in antiquity began attributing its authorship to Philip of Opus, and many modern scholars consider it spurious. The dialogue continues the discussion undertaken in Pl ...

'') himself:

Some say that Philip the Opuntian transcribed his lato'swork, ''Laws'', which was written in wax ooden tablets coated with wax They also say that the ''Epinomis'' he thirteenth book of the ''Laws'' is his.

In the ''

Suda The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; grc-x-medieval, Σοῦδα, Soûda; la, Suidae Lexicon) is a large 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas (Σούδας) or Souida ...

'', Philip is listed anonymously under the heading of ''philosophos'' ("philosopher"), his name being lost from the beginning of the entry:

Philosopher who divided the ''Laws'' of Plato into 12 books; for he himself is said to have added the 13th. And he was a pupil of Socrates and of Plato himself, occupied with the study of the heavens. Living in the time of
Philip of Macedon Philip II of Macedon ( grc-gre, Φίλιππος ; 382 – 21 October 336 BC) was the king (''basileus'') of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia from 359 BC until his death in 336 BC. He was a member of the Argead dynasty, founders of the a ...
, he wrote the following: ''On the distance of the sun and moon''; ''On gods''; ''On time''; ''On myths''; ''On freedom''; ''On anger''; ''On reciprocation''; ''On the Opuntian Lokrians''; ''On pleasure''; ''On passion''; ''On friends and friendship''; ''On writing''; ''On Plato''; ''On eclipse(s) of the moon''; ''On the size of the sun and moon and earth''; ''On lightning''; ''On the planets''; ''Arithmetic''; ''On prolific numbers''; ''Optics''; ''Enoptics''; ''Kykliaka''; ''Means''; etc.

Since the entry is located under the heading ''philosophos'', the defect presumably existed in the source from which the ''Suda'' borrowed. It was not until the 18th century when

Ludolf Küster Ludolf is a Germanic surname or given name. It is derived from two stems: Hlud meaning "fame" and olf meaning "wolf". An alternate spelling of the name is Ludolph. People with the name include: * George Philipp Ludolf von Beckedorff (1778-1858), p ...

, the editor of the ''Suda'', identified this anonymous entry with the Philip of Opus mentioned by Diogenes Laërtius.

Philip the astronomer

Because he is identified in the Suda as an

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...

, it is generally assumed that Philip of Opus is the same person as Philip of

, (also called Philip of Mende) who was an astronomer and

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

and a disciple of Plato. Philip of Medma is mentioned by several ancient writers, such as

Vitruvius Vitruvius (; c. 80–70 BC – after c. 15 BC) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work entitled '' De architectura''. He originated the idea that all buildings should have three attribut ...

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...

, (who states that he demonstrated the figure of the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

Proclus Proclus Lycius (; 8 February 412 – 17 April 485), called Proclus the Successor ( grc-gre, Πρόκλος ὁ Διάδοχος, ''Próklos ho Diádokhos''), was a Greek Neoplatonist philosopher, one of the last major classical philosophe ...

, and

Alexander of Aphrodisias Alexander of Aphrodisias ( grc-gre, Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Ἀφροδισιεύς, translit=Alexandros ho Aphrodisieus; AD) was a Peripatetic philosopher and the most celebrated of the Ancient Greek commentators on the writings of Aristotle ...

. His astronomical observations were made in the

Peloponnese The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridge which ...

and in

Locris Locris (; el, label= Modern Greek, Λοκρίδα, Lokrída; grc, Λοκρίς, Lokrís) was a region of ancient Greece, the homeland of the Locrians, made up of three distinct districts. Locrian tribe The city of Locri in Calabria ( Italy) ...

(where

was a principal city), and were used by the astronomers

Hipparchus Hipparchus (; el, Ἵππαρχος, ''Hipparkhos''; BC) was a Greek astronomer, geographer, and mathematician. He is considered the founder of trigonometry, but is most famous for his incidental discovery of the precession of the e ...

, Geminus of Rhodes, and

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...

. He is said by

Stephanus of Byzantium Stephanus or Stephan of Byzantium ( la, Stephanus Byzantinus; grc-gre, Στέφανος Βυζάντιος, ''Stéphanos Byzántios''; centuryAD), was a Byzantine grammarian and the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled ''Ethn ...

Stephanus, ''De Urbibus s. v. Medme'' to have written a treatise on the winds.

Plato's ''Laws'' and ''Epinomis''

Philip the astronomer

Notes

Further reading