Peregrinus proteus

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Peregrinus Proteus ( Greek Περεγρῖνος Πρωτεύς Peregrínos Prōteús ; * around 100 in Parion in Mysia ; † 165 in Olympia ) was an ancient Greek philosopher ( Cynic ).

swell

Peregrinus is particularly well-known through a work by his contemporary Lukian on the death of Peregrinus . Further sources are Philostratus Sophistviten , Aulus Gellius ' Attic Nights , Hieronymus ' Chronik des Eusebius and Athenagoras ' Legatio pro Christianis .

Life

Most ancient sources as well as modern literature mention and treat Peregrinus because of his staged fire death at the Olympic Games in 165. Theagenes, his advocate in Lucian's script, refers to the Cynical tradition of suicide ( Herakles , Kalanos ) and praises Peregrinus as honorable man and superhuman figure. The other speaker, who reproduces Lukian's own position, suggests that he is “addicted to fame” in his intention to throw himself into the fire in public at the Olympic Games. This counterparty accuses Peregrinus of numerous offenses, such as the murder of his father, imposture, adultery and pederasty . However, in this case one can assume that Lukian is gossiping maliciously. On the other hand, Peregrinus' temporary membership in a Christian community in Palestine , his criticism of the emperor and subsequent banishment from Rome and his inflammatory speeches against Roman rule over Greece are undisputed historically .

As a Cynic, Peregrinus learned from Agathoboulos in Egypt. Events in the life of Peregrinus that can be permanently dated are his appearances at the Olympic Games. In the year 153 AD he criticized the construction of an exedra with a final nymphaeum by the Greco-Roman benefactor couple Herodes Atticus and Annia Regilla . He claimed that Olympia was doomed to decline by the construction of this aqueduct: Anyone who went to Olympia earlier was aware of the danger of dying of thirst there. In fact, many visitors died because of the lack of water; and whoever does not survive the Olympics, it is not a shame either. The aqueduct now leads to the fact that one becomes softened in an unnatural way. While he was giving this speech, according to Lukian, he drank from the vilified well to top it all off. After harsh criticism of the speech, which almost ended in his stoning, he had to flee from the games. In 157 he returned and praised the building, a confirmation of Lukian's accusations that it was fickle and weather-agile.

In 165 he then mounted the stake at the Olympic Games to testify to his philosophical contempt for life, whereas Lukian, who was an eyewitness, saw in it nothing more than vanity, hubris and staging, since Peregrinus was only concerned with his fame. He had previously gathered a group of disciples around him to spread his supposedly divinely inspired teaching after his death; one of them later claimed to have seen Peregrinus after he rose from the dead.

reception

As a literary figure Peregrinus Proteus immersed in Christoph Martin Wieland 's novel (1787/88) and again today with Peter Sloterdijk in his Critique of Cynical Reason (1983).

literature

Web links

Wikisource: Peregrinus Proteus  - Sources and full texts

Remarks

  1. Ulrich Sinn: Olympia - Kult, Sport und Fest in der Antike in Olympia , Munich 1996, p. 94 ff.
  2. Peter Pilhofer , Manuel Baumbach , Jens Gerlach, Dirk Uwe Hansen (eds., Translator): Lukian, Der Tod des Peregrinos. A charlatan at the stake , Darmstadt 2005; Hans Lietzmann: History of the Old Church , 1999 .