Heraclides Ponticus (Ancient Greek:Ἡρακλείδης ὁ ΠοντικόςHerakleides; c. 390 BC – c. 310 BC)[1] was aGreekphilosopher andastronomer who was born inHeraclea Pontica, nowKaradeniz Ereğli,Turkey, and migrated toAthens. He is best remembered for proposing that theEarth rotates on its axis, from west to east, once every 24 hours.[2] He is also hailed as the originator of theheliocentric theory, although this is disputed.[3][4]
Heraclides' father was Euthyphron,[5] a wealthy nobleman who sent his son to study at thePlatonic Academy inAthens under its founderPlato and under his successorSpeusippus. According to theSuda,Plato, on his departure forSicily in 361/360 BC, left the Academy in the charge of Heraclides. Heraclides was nearly elected successor toSpeusippus as head of the academy in 339/338 BC, but narrowly lost toXenocrates.[6]
All of Heraclides' writings have been lost; only a few fragments remain. Like thePythagoreansHicetas andEcphantus, Heraclides proposed that the apparent daily motion of the stars was created by the rotation of the Earth on its axis once a day. This view contradicted the accepted Aristotelian model of the universe, which said that the Earth was fixed and that the stars and planets in their respective spheres might also be fixed.Simplicius says that Heraclides proposed that the irregular movements of the planets can be explained if the Earth moves while the Sun stays still.[7]
Although some historians[8] have proposed that Heraclides taught thatVenus andMercury revolve around the Sun, a detailed investigation of the sources has shown that "nowhere in the ancient literature mentioning Heraclides of Pontus is there a clear reference for his support for any kind of heliocentrical planetary position."[9]
A punning on his name, dubbing him Heraclides "Pompicus," suggests he may have been a rather vain and pompous man and the target of much ridicule.[10]Diogenes Laërtius, citingAristoxenus as his source, states that Heraclides forged plays under the name ofThespis, and further states thatCamaeleon claimed that Heraclides had plagiarised commentaries onHesiod andHomer from him.[11] Laërtius also conveys a story in whichDionysius the Deserter fooled Heraclides by forging a play,Parthenopaeus, under the name ofSophocles. Heraclides was deceived by this easily and cited it as the work of Sophocles.[12] However, Heraclides seems to have been a versatile and prolific writer on philosophy,mathematics,music,grammar,physics,history andrhetoric, notwithstanding doubts about attribution of many of the works. It appears that he composed various works in dialogue form.
Heraclides also seems to have had an interest in the occult. In particular he focused on explaining trances, visions and prophecies in terms of the retribution of the gods, and reincarnation.[2]
A quote of Heraclides, of particular significance to historians, is his statement that fourth century B.C.Rome was a Greek city.[citation needed]
Heraclides Ponticus refers with much admiration that Pythagoras would remember having been Pirro and before Euphorbus and before some other mortal.[citation needed]
Laërtius, Diogenes."The Peripatetics: Heraclides" .Lives of the Eminent Philosophers. Vol. 1:5. Translated byHicks, Robert Drew (Two volume ed.). Loeb Classical Library. § 92.