Cleobulus (/ˌklioʊˈbjuːləs,kliˈɒbjələs/;Greek:Κλεόβουλος ὁ Λίνδιος,Kleoboulos ho Lindios; fl. 6th century BC[citation needed]) was aGreek poet and a native ofLindos. He is one of theSeven Sages of Greece.
Cleobulus was the son of Evagoras and a citizen ofLindus in Rhodes.[1]Clement of Alexandria called Cleobulus king of the Lindians,[2] andPlutarch spoke of him as thetyrant.[3] The letter quoted byDiogenes Laërtius, in which Cleobulus invitesSolon to Lindus as a democratic place of refuge from the tyrantPeisistratus inAthens, is undoubtedly a later forgery.[4] Cleobulus is also said to have studied philosophy inEgypt.[5] He had a daughter,Cleobulina, who found fame as a poet, composing riddles in hexameter verse.[5] Cleobulus is said to have lived to the age of seventy,[6] and to have been greatly distinguished for strength and beauty of person.[5]
Cleobulus apparently wrote lyric poems, as well as riddles in verse. Diogenes Laërtius also ascribes to him the inscription on the tomb ofMidas, of whichHomer was considered by others to have been the author:[7]
I am a brazen maiden lying here
Upon the tomb of Midas. And as long
As water flows, as trees are green with leaves,
As the sun shines and eke the silver moon,
As long as rivers flow, and billows roar,
So long will I upon this much wept tomb,
Tell passers by, "Midas lies buried here."
TheSuda mentions him, and farther down, his daughter Cleobulina. An epigram of his is in thePalatine Anthology (VII, 153), and in another place records two epigrams together as "One of Homer, or of Cleobulus", without specifying which is the latter's. French scholar Pierre Waltz analyzed the problem in theAnthologie Grecque[8] Likewise anenigma attributed to him is recorded in the Palatine Anthology (XIV).
Many sayings were attributed to Cleobulus:[9]
There is a stonetumulus on the northern headland of Lindos bay, which is sometimes called the "Tomb of Cleobulus".[10]
Anasteroid,4503 Cleobulus, discovered in 1989, is named for him.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870)."Cleobulus".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
Laërtius, Diogenes."The Seven Sages: Cleobulus" .Lives of the Eminent Philosophers. Vol. 1:1. Translated byHicks, Robert Drew (Two volume ed.). Loeb Classical Library.| International | |
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