Menedemus of Eretria (; 345/44 – 261/60 BC) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

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 ...

and founder of the Eretrian school. He learned philosophy first in

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 ...

, and then, with his friend Asclepiades, he subsequently studied under Stilpo and

Phaedo of Elis Phaedo of Elis (; also, ''Phaedon''; , ''gen''.: Φαίδωνος; fl. 4th century BCE) was a Greek philosopher. A native of Elis, he was captured in war as a boy and sold into slavery. He subsequently came into contact with Socrates at A ...

. Nothing survives of his philosophical views apart from a few scattered remarks recorded by later writers.

Life

Menedemus was born at

Eretria Eretria (; , , , , literally 'city of the rowers') is a town in Euboea, Greece, facing the coast of Attica across the narrow South Euboean Gulf. It was an important Greek polis in the 6th and 5th century BC, mentioned by many famous writers ...

. He was a member of the noble Theopropidai family, which held significant religious authority but had become impoverished by Menedemus's time. Like his father, Cleisthenes, he worked as a builder and tent maker. In the course of military conflicts (probably 323/322 BC, during the

Lamian War The Lamian War or the Hellenic War (323–322 BC), was an unsuccessful attempt by Athens and a large coalition of Greek states to end the hegemony of Macedonia over Greece just after the death of Alexander the Great. It was the last time Athen ...

) he was sent with a military expedition to

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 ...

, from where he traveled to the

Platonic Academy The Academy (), variously known as Plato's Academy, or the Platonic Academy, was founded in Classical Athens, Athens by Plato ''wikt:circa, circa'' 387 BC. The academy is regarded as the first institution of higher education in the west, where ...

and resolved to devote himself to philosophy. At Megara he formed a lifelong friendship with Asclepiades of Phlius, with whom he toiled in the night that he might study philosophy by day. Later, Asclepiades and Menedemus went to Elis and became students of the philosophical descendants of

, namely Anchipylus and Moschus. He was subsequently a pupil first of Stilpo and then of, whose school he transferred to Eretria, by which name it was afterward known. Around 310 BC, Asclepiades and Menedemus visited Salamis in

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

, where they stayed at the court of King Nikocreon. In addition to his philosophical work, he took a leading part in the political affairs of his city from the time of the

Diadochi The Diadochi were the rival generals, families, and friends of Alexander the Great who fought for control over his empire after his death in 323 BC. The Wars of the Diadochi mark the beginning of the Hellenistic period from the Mediterran ...

until his death. By about 300 BC, Menedemus began to assume a prominent position in the political life of his hometown on the island of Euboea. He is said to have campaigned for the independence of Eretria, which had lost much of its former importance at that time, and accompanied numerous embassies to other Greek cities. During this time, Menedemus grew close to

Antigonus II Gonatas Antigonus II Gonatas (, ; – 239 BC) was a Macedonian Greek ruler who solidified the position of the Antigonid dynasty in Macedon after a long period defined by anarchy and chaos and acquired fame for his victory over the Gauls who had inv ...

, the king of Macedonia who dominated Euboea. His friendship with

seems to have roused suspicion as to his loyalty, and he sought safety first in the temple of Amphiaraus at Oropus, and later with Antigonus, at whose court he is said to have died of grief. Other accounts say that he starved himself to death on failing to induce Antigonus to free his native city.

Relationships

According to

Diogenes Laertius 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 phi ...

, Menedemus married the mother of his older friend Asclepiades's wife. When Asclepiades's wife died, he is said to have left his wife to him and married someone richer with whom he had three daughters. His first wife continued to run the household. Menedemus was friends with the poets Aratos of Soloi, Lycophron of Chalcis, and Antagoras of Rhodes.

names

Dionysius of Heraclea Dionysius () was a tyrant of Heraclea Pontica on the Euxine (the Black Sea). He was a son of Clearchus, who had assumed the tyranny in his place of birth. When Clearchus died (353/352 BC), he was first succeeded by his brother Satyrus, who reig ...

and

as possible students of Menedemus.

Philosophy

His philosophical views are known only in part.

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 ...

quotes Epicrates as stating that he was a

Platonist Platonism is the philosophy of Plato and philosophical systems closely derived from it, though contemporary Platonists do not necessarily accept all doctrines of Plato. Platonism has had a profound effect on Western thought. At the most fundam ...

, but other accounts credit him with having preferred Stilpo to Plato. Diogenes Laërtius says that he declined to identify the Good with the Useful and that he denied the value of the negative proposition on the ground that affirmation alone can express truth. In ethics we learn from

Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...

and from

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 ...

Cicero, ''Academica'' ii. 42 that he regarded Virtue as one, by whatever name it be called, and maintained that it is intellectual. Cicero's evidence is less valuable because he always assumed that Menedemus was a follower of the Megarian school. Diogenes says that he left no writings, and the Eretrian school disappeared after a short and unobtrusive existence.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Menedemus 4th-century BC Greek philosophers 3rd-century BC Greek philosophers Ancient Eretrians Eretrian philosophers 340s BC births 260s BC deaths