Lycon of Iasus

Lykon of Iasos ( Greek Λύκων ) was an ancient Greek Pythagorean . He lived in the 4th century BC. Chr.

life and work

Lykon came from the port city of Iasos in Caria , a landscape in the southwest of Asia Minor . He wrote a book "On the Pythagorean Life", which is lost; Only a short quote from Athenaios has survived , in which the moderate diet of Pythagoras is mentioned.

Lycon of Iasus is usually identified in research with a Lycon of whom Aristocles of Messene reports with sharp disapproval that he "pretended to be a Pythagorean" and polemicized against the lavish lifestyle of Aristotle . To this end, Lykon circulated gossip anecdotes from the life of Aristotle, of whom he apparently was a contemporary. According to his portrayal, Aristotle was presumptuous and on the one hand devoted to a luxurious way of life, but on the other hand stingy and thus a chilling example of some vices frowned upon in philosophical circles . For example, he bathed in warm oil, which he then sold. Apparently Lykon belonged to the ascetic Pythagorean tendency, which emphasized the philosophical needlessness, of which Diodorus of Aspendus was the most famous representative . This direction was close to cynicism .

Iamblichus leads a Lycon in a list of Pythagoreans from Taranto . What is probably meant is Lykon of Iasos, who is therefore sometimes also called Lykon of Taranto in the research literature; the indication of Taranto as hometown is probably based on an error or due to the fact that Lykon of Iasos settled there.

Furthermore, Athenaios reports on a Pythagorean who dealt with botany from a medical-pharmacological point of view. According to the handwritten tradition, Athenaios calls this author of a work that has not survived, in which the effects of plant foods and medicinal products, Ibykos, although it is probably a typo. In the authentic text there was probably something else, perhaps "Lykon", because the author of a scholion on the Theriacs of Nicandros mentions an author named Lykon who wrote about botany and is probably identical to that of Athenaeus, referring to the grammarian Antigonos of Alexandria . However, it is uncertain whether the traditional Athenaios text actually needs to be corrected, and if this is the case, other options besides "Lykon" such as "Lykos" or "Ikkos" come into consideration. Even if “Lykon” is correct, it remains uncertain whether this specialist scholar can be equated with Aristotle's opponent. The quote from Athenaios is about the diuretic and sex drive suppressing effect of a lettuce species.

swell

Jan Radicke (ed.): The fragments of the Greek historians . Volume 4A, Fasc. 7: Imperial and undated authors . Brill, Leiden 1999, ISBN 90-04-11304-5 , pp. 432-439 (No. 1110; Greek source texts with English translation and commentary. Radicke attributes the fragments F2, F3 and F4 to other authors)
Holger Thesleff (Ed.): The Pythagorean Texts of the Hellenistic Period . Åbo Akademi, Åbo 1965, pp. 109-110
Maria Timpanaro Cardini : Pitagorici. Testimonianze e frammenti . Volume 2, La Nuova Italia, Firenze 1962, pp. 440–443 (Greek source texts with Italian translation)

literature

Bruno Centrone, Constantinos Macris: Lycon d'Iasos, ou de Tarente . In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques. Volume 4, CNRS Éditions, Paris 2005, ISBN 2-271-06386-8 , pp. 200-203
Christopher N. Polycarpou: Lycon's Evaluation of the Pythagorean Way of Life . In: Philosophia (Athens). Volume 34, 2004, pp. 264-269

Remarks

↑ Maria Lorenza Chiesara (ed.): Aristocles of Messene. Testimonia and Fragments , Oxford 2001, p. 14 f. (Text and English translation) and p. 73 (commentary). Cf. on this and on the contemporary criticism of Aristotle Bruno Centrone, Constantinos Macris: Lycon d'Iasos, ou de Tarente . In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques , Vol. 4, Paris 2005, pp. 200–203, here: 201.
^ Iamblichos, De vita Pythagorica 267.
^ Walter Burkert : Wisdom and Science. Studies on Pythagoras, Philolaos and Plato , Nuremberg 1962, p. 198, note 78.
↑ See Jan Radicke (Ed.): The Fragments of the Greek Historians , Vol. 4A, Fasc. 7, Leiden 1999, p. 437 f. Radicke thinks that the fragment at Athenaios probably comes from the doctor Lykos of Naples (1st century BC); the mention in the Scholion also relates to this.

personal data
SURNAME	Lycon of Iasus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Lykon of Taranto; Λύκων
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Greek philosopher, Pythagorean
DATE OF BIRTH	5th century BC BC or 4th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH	4th century BC BC or 3rd century BC Chr.

[1] Maria Lorenza Chiesara (ed.): Aristocles of Messene. Testimonia and Fragments , Oxford 2001, p. 14 f. (Text and English translation) and p. 73 (commentary). Cf. on this and on the contemporary criticism of Aristotle Bruno Centrone, Constantinos Macris: Lycon d'Iasos, ou de Tarente . In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques , Vol. 4, Paris 2005, pp. 200–203, here: 201.

[2] Iamblichos, De vita Pythagorica 267.

[3] Walter Burkert : Wisdom and Science. Studies on Pythagoras, Philolaos and Plato , Nuremberg 1962, p. 198, note 78.

[4] See Jan Radicke (Ed.): The Fragments of the Greek Historians , Vol. 4A, Fasc. 7, Leiden 1999, p. 437 f. Radicke thinks that the fragment at Athenaios probably comes from the doctor Lykos of Naples (1st century BC); the mention in the Scholion also relates to this.