Alexinus (; ; –265 BC) of

Elis Elis also known as Ellis or Ilia (, ''Eleia'') is a historic region in the western part of the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece. It is administered as a regional unit of the modern region of Western Greece. Its capital is Pyrgos. Until 2011 it ...

, was a philosopher of Megarian school and a disciple of Eubulides. From his argumentative nature he was facetiously named ''the wrangler'' (), From

he went to Olympia, hoping to found a sect which was to be called the Olympian, but his disciples soon became disgusted with the unhealthiness of the place and their scanty means of subsistence, and left him with a single attendant. None of his doctrines have been preserved, but from the brief mention made of him by

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

, he seems to have dealt in logical puzzles.

Athenaeus Athenaeus of Naucratis (, or Nαυκράτιος, ''Athēnaios Naukratitēs'' or ''Naukratios''; ) was an ancient Greek rhetorician and Grammarian (Greco-Roman), grammarian, flourishing about the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 3rd century ...

mentions a paean which he wrote in honour of Craterus, the Macedonian, and which was sung at

Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), was an ancient sacred precinct and the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient Classical antiquity, classical world. The A ...

to the sound of the

lyre The lyre () (from Greek λύρα and Latin ''lyra)'' is a string instrument, stringed musical instrument that is classified by Hornbostel–Sachs as a member of the History of lute-family instruments, lute family of instruments. In organology, a ...

. Alexinus also wrote against

Zeno Zeno may refer to: People * Zeno (name), including a list of people and characters with the given name * Zeno (surname) Philosophers * Zeno of Elea (), philosopher, follower of Parmenides, known for his paradoxes * Zeno of Citium (333 – 264 B ...

, and against

Ephorus Ephorus of Cyme (; , ''Ephoros ho Kymaios''; 330 BC) was an ancient Greek historian known for his universal history, now lost. Biography Information on his biography is limited. He was born in Cyme, Aeolia, and together with the historia ...

the historian.

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 ...

has preserved some lines on his death which was caused by his being pierced with a reed while swimming in the Alpheus. In 267–6, Alexinus debated rhetorical questions with Hermarchus the Epicurean.

Philodemus Philodemus of Gadara (, ''Philodēmos'', "love of the people"; – prob. or 35 BC) was an Epicurean philosopher and poet. He studied under Zeno of Sidon in Athens, before moving to Rome, and then to Herculaneum. He was once known chiefly for h ...

in his ''On Rhetoric'' quotes a rebuttal by Hermarchus in which he cites Alexinus.PHerc. 1674 Alexinus criticizes the rhetorical

sophists A sophist () was a teacher in ancient Greece in the fifth and fourth centuries BCE. Sophists specialized in one or more subject areas, such as philosophy, rhetoric, music, athletics and mathematics. They taught ''arete'', "virtue" or "excellen ...

for wasting their time on investigation of useless subjects, such as diction, memory, and the interpretation of obscure passages in the poets.

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Attribution

* 330s BC births 265 BC deaths 3rd-century BC Greek philosophers Ancient Eleans Ancient Greek logicians Megarian philosophers {{AncientGreece-philosopher-stub