Diogenes Laertius A Tale of Two Zenos
December 18th 2007 15:01
A TALE OF TWO ZENOS
One last philosophy blog then back to the art and poetry for a while!
There are two philosophers called Zeno in Diogenes Laertius ' work
The first is Zeno of Elea a student of Parmenides who lived in the 5th centuryBC.
Aristotle described him as the inventor of dialectic and he was a political activist struggling against a tyrant called Nearchus who tortured him to death apparently in public.
Elea was in the state of Phocaea.
The Second and perhaps better known Zeno was a Stoic from Cyprus who founded the school named after the STOA where he taught. His teachings included logic "physics" and ethics.
About writing and speecha nds tyle he taught that there were five virtues:
Good pure Greek ( using correct grammar and no vulgarity) , clarity (style that presents a thought in a way easily understood) , conciseness (use less not more), appropriateness (style should match subject) and distinction (avoidance of slang).
The remakrs in brackets are Diogenes comments on what those words mean to Zeno.
Whether you're studying Greek or Roman Stoicism you should read Diogenes section on Zeno as he follows the biography with a review of basic Stoic doctrines.
If you're studying Latin literature again you should read this to understand Roman Stoics, such as Seneca and Cicero, when they are writing about Ethics and philosophy.
I hope I've given you some idea of how useful Diogenes is as a reference work?
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