Archippus of Taranto

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Archippos of Taranto ( Greek  Ἄρχιππος Árchippos ) was an ancient Greek Pythagorean . He lived in the 5th and maybe even in the early 4th century BC. Chr.

Archippos came from the Greek colony of Taranto in Apulia (southern Italy). The Pythagorean community to which he belonged, widespread in the Greek cities of southern Italy, was at that time very controversial because of their intervention in politics and exposed to violent attacks in several cities. The philosopher Aristoxenus reports that opponents of the Pythagoreans set their meeting house in Croton (now Crotone in Calabria ) on fire. All of the Pythagoreans gathered there were killed except for two who were young and strong and could therefore break out into the open; these were Archippus and Lysis , both from Taranto. Aristoxenus, who himself came from Taranto, probably wanted to draw attention to the special importance of his hometown for the survival of Pythagoreanism with his reference to the Tarentine origins of Archippus and Lysis. The writer Neanthes of Kyzikos also names Archippos and Lysis as the only survivors of an attack on the Pythagoreans. The details and the chronological classification are unclear. In any case, the Pythagoreans were greatly weakened and could no longer assert themselves as a political force for some time. The Antipythagorean troubles are usually dated around the middle of the 5th century, but late dating (between 440 and 415) is also considered.

Lysis then emigrated to Greece. Archippus returned to his hometown of Taranto, which was not affected by the anti-Pythagorean riots and which subsequently became a center of Pythagoreanism. Nothing is known about his further fate.

Claudianus Mamertus, a church writer of the 5th century, names an Archippus among the Pythagorean authors who advocated the assumption of the incorporeal nature of the soul in their works ; this may mean Archippus of Taranto, but Claudianus certainly did not know any authentic writing by Archippus of Taranto.

swell

  • Holger Thesleff (Ed.): The Pythagorean Texts of the Hellenistic Period . Åbo Akademi, Åbo 1965, p. 2 (compilation of relevant sources)
  • Maria Timpanaro Cardini : Pitagorici. Testimonianze e frammenti . Vol. 2, La Nuova Italia, Firenze 1962, pp. 258–259 (Greek source texts with Italian translation)

literature

  • Bruno Centrone: Archippos de Tarente . In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques , Vol. 1, CNRS, Paris 1989, ISBN 2-222-04042-6 , pp. 338–339

Remarks

  1. ↑ Aristoxenus, Fragment 18 , ed. Fritz Wehrli : Aristoxenos (= The School of Aristotle. Texts and Commentary , Volume 2), 2nd edition, Basel 1967, p. 12f.
  2. ↑ Domenico Musti: Le Rivolte antipitagoriche e la Conception pitagorica del tempo . In: Quaderni Urbinati di Cultura Classica NS 36, 1990, pp. 35-65, here: 48f.
  3. ↑ Quoted by Porphyrios, Vita Pythagorae 55 and 57. Cf. Diogenes Laertios 8:39.
  4. ↑ For the dating see Kurt von Fritz : Pythagoreer, Pythagoreismus . In: Pauly-Wissowa RE 24, Stuttgart 1963, Sp. 209-268, here: 212, 214-216 and Fritz Wehrli: Aristoxenos , 2nd edition, Basel 1967, p. 52f .; Domenico Musti advocates late dating : Le rivolte antipitagoriche e la concezione pitagorica del tempo . In: Quaderni Urbinati di Cultura Classica NS 36, 1990, pp. 35-65, here: pp. 62-65.
  5. ↑ Bruno Centrone: Introduzione ai pitagorici , Rome 1996, pp. 49-52; Christoph Riedweg : Pythagoras: life, teaching, aftermath. An introduction , 2nd edition, Munich 2007, pp. 138f.
  6. ↑ Holger Thesleff: An Introduction to the Pythagorean Writings of the Hellenistic Period , Åbo 1961, pp. 120f.
personal data
SURNAME Archippus of Taranto
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Greek philosopher, Pythagorean
DATE OF BIRTH 5th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 5th century BC BC or 4th century BC Chr.