Sphaerus (, sometimes transliterated as ''Sphaeros''; – ) of BorysthenesPlutarch, ''Cleomenes''
2.2
or the

Bosphorus The Bosporus or Bosphorus Strait ( ; , colloquially ) is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul, Turkey. The Bosporus connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and forms one of the continental bo ...

, was a

Stoic Stoic may refer to: * An adherent of Stoicism Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy that flourished in ancient Greece and Rome. The Stoics believed that the universe operated according to reason, ''i.e.'' by a God which is immersed i ...

philosopher.

Life

Sphaerus studied first under

Zeno of Citium Zeno of Citium (; , ; c. 334 – c. 262 BC) was a Hellenistic philosophy, Hellenistic philosopher from Kition, Citium (, ), Cyprus. He was the founder of the Stoicism, Stoic school of philosophy, which he taught in Athens from about 300 BC. B ...

, and afterwards under

Cleanthes Cleanthes (; ; c. 330 BC – c. 230 BC), of Assos, was a Greek Stoic philosopher and boxer who was the successor to Zeno of Citium as the second head ('' scholarch'') of the Stoic school in Athens. Originally a boxer, he came to Athens where ...

. He taught in

Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...

, where he acted as advisor to

Cleomenes III Cleomenes III () was one of the two kings of Sparta from 235 BC, 235 to 222 BC. He was a member of the Agiad dynasty and succeeded his father, Leonidas II. He is known for his attempts to reform the Spartan state. From 229 to 222 BC, Cleomen ...

. He moved to

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

at some point, (possibly when Cleomenes himself was exiled there in 222 BC) where he lived in the court of

Ptolemy IV Philopator Ptolemy IV Philopator (; "Ptolemy, lover of his Father"; May/June 244 – July/August 204 BC) was the fourth pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt from 221 to 204 BC. Ptolemy IV was the son of Ptolemy III and Berenice II. His succession to the throne was ...

Ideas

Little survives of his works, but Sphaerus had a considerable reputation among the Stoics for the accuracy of his definitions.Cicero
''Tusculan Disputations''
iv. 24.

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 ...

Diogenes Laërtius
vii. 177
/ref> and

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 ...

tell a story of how he once saved himself from admitting that he had been deceived by a trick played upon him by King Ptolemy:

Writings

According to Diogenes Laërtius, Sphaerus wrote the following works:Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 178 * Περὶ κόσμου δύο – ''On the Universe (two books)'' * Περὶ στοιχείων – ''On the Elements'' * �ερὶσπέρματος – '' nSeed'' * Περὶ τύχης – ''On Fortune'' * Περὶ ἐλαχίστων – ''On the Smallest Things'' * Πρὸς τὰς ἀτόμους καὶ τὰ εἴδωλα – ''Against Atoms and Images'' * Περὶ αἰσθητηρίων – ''On the Senses'' * Περὶ Ἡρακλείτου πέντε διατριβῶν – ''On

Heraclitus Heraclitus (; ; ) was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek Pre-Socratic philosophy, pre-Socratic philosopher from the city of Ephesus, which was then part of the Achaemenid Empire, Persian Empire. He exerts a wide influence on Western philosophy, ...

(five lectures)'' * Περὶ τῆς ἠθικῆς διατάξεως – ''On the Arrangement of Ethics'' * Περὶ καθήκοντος – ''On Duty'' * Περὶ ὁρμῆς – ''On Impulse'' * Περὶ παθῶν δύο – ''On Passions (two books)'' * Περὶ βασιλείας – ''On Kingship'' * Περὶ Λακωνικῆς πολιτείας – ''On the

Lacedaemon Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the valley of Evrotas river in Laconia, in southeastern Pe ...

ian Constitution'' * Περὶ Λυκούργου καὶ Σωκράτους τρία – ''On

Lycurgus Lycurgus (; ) was the legendary lawgiver of Sparta, credited with the formation of its (), involving political, economic, and social reforms to produce a military-oriented Spartan society in accordance with the Delphic oracle. The Spartans i ...

and

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 ...

(three books)'' * Περὶ νόμου – ''On Law'' * Περὶ μαντικῆς – ''On Divination'' * Διαλόγους ἐρωτικούς – ''Dialogues on Love'' * Περὶ τῶν Ἐρετριακῶν φιλοσόφων – ''On the Eretrian Philosophers'' * Περὶ ὁμοίων – ''On Things Similar'' * Περὶ ὅρων – ''On Terms'' * Περὶ ἕξεως – ''On Habits'' * Περὶ τῶν ἀντιλεγομένων τρία – ''On Contradictions (three books)'' * Περὶ λόγου – ''On Discourse'' * Περὶ πλούτου – ''On Wealth'' * Περὶ δόξης – ''On Glory'' * Περὶ θανάτου – ''On Death'' * Τέχνης διαλεκτικῆς δύο – ''Art of

Dialectic Dialectic (; ), also known as the dialectical method, refers originally to dialogue between people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing to arrive at the truth through reasoned argument. Dialectic resembles debate, but the ...

s (two books)'' * Περὶ κατηγορημάτων – ''On Predicates'' * Περὶ ἀμφιβολιῶν – ''On Ambiguity'' * Ἐπιστολάς – ''Letters''

Notes

References

* The surviving fragments of Sphaerus' writings are collected in: * {{Authority control Stoic philosophers 3rd-century BC Greek philosophers Ancient Pontic Greeks Ptolemaic court 280s BC births 210s BC deaths