Crates of Athens | |
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 Crates of Athens, depicted as a medieval scholar in theNuremberg Chronicle |
Crates of Athens (Greek: Κράτης ὁ Ἀθηναῖος; died 268–264 BC)[1] was aPlatonist philosopher and the lastscholarch of theOld Academy.
Crates was the son of Antigenes of the Thriasiandeme, the pupil anderomenos[2] ofPolemo, and his successor as scholarch of thePlatonic Academy,[3] in 270–69 BC. The intimate friendship of Crates and Polemo was celebrated in antiquity, andDiogenes Laërtius has preserved an epigram of the poetAntagoras, according to which the two friends were united after death in one tomb.[3] The epigram, according to him, reads:
"Stranger, who passest by, relate that here
The God-like Crates lies, and Polemo;
Two men of kindred nobleness of mind;
Out of whose holy mouths pure wisdom flowed,
And they with upright lives did well display,
The strength of all their principles and teaching."[4]
The most distinguished of the pupils of Crates were the philosopherArcesilaus, who succeeded him as scholarch,Theodorus the Atheist, andBion of Borysthenes.[5] The writings of Crates are lost. Diogenes Laërtius says that they were onphilosophical subjects, oncomedy, and alsoorations;[5] but the latter were probably written byCrates of Tralles.
Laërtius, Diogenes."The Academics: Crates" .Lives of the Eminent Philosophers. Vol. 1:4. Translated byHicks, Robert Drew (Two volume ed.). Loeb Classical Library.Attribution:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870)."Crates".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Vol. 1. p. 883. | This biography of a philosopher fromancient Greece is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. |