Seven Wise Men from Greece

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The Seven Wise Men ( Greek  οἱ ἑπτὰ σοφοί hoi heptá sophói ) are a group of public figures in Greek antiquity (late 7th and 6th centuries BC) so designated by posterity .

The surviving lists sometimes name different people. The seven wise men were especially known for their wisdom sayings. Most of them were statesmen; as such they were held in high regard. They belonged to the era of pre-Socratic philosophy , but were largely not or not primarily philosophers in the narrower sense of the term. Because they were considered contemporaries, meetings were assigned to them.

Affiliation

For Plato the Seven Sages first time explicitly mentioned. In his dialogue Protagoras (343a) he lists them:

It is debatable whether the idea of ​​such a list of seven came from Plato himself or whether he was based on a popular tradition of the sixth or early fifth century. The individual names also appear in older sources, most of them already in Herodotus , but they do not appear there as a group.

Most prominent were Thales as a natural philosopher and mathematician and Solon as a legislator. All lists mention Thales, Solon, Bias and Pittakos, most also Cleobulus and Chilon. Myson was a pale figure to posterity and came from an unknown village. Presumably for this reason it was replaced by Periandros of Corinth in a list that appears for the first time in Demetrios of Phaleron , a student of Aristotle . Conversely, according to another hypothesis, already represented in antiquity, Plato replaced the original version of Periander, which was politically unpopular because of his tyrannical rule, with Myson. The list of Demetrios, consisting of Thales, Pittakos, Bias, Solon, Cleobulus, Chilon and Periandros, was the most widespread in antiquity and is still common today.

In addition, other lists were circulating which contained other names instead of Myson or Periandros and sometimes instead of Chilon and Cleobulus. Sometimes the following personalities were counted among the Seven Wise Men:

Occasionally other names were also mentioned.

Maxims and sayings

Temple of Apollo in Delphi

In addition to their political services to their hometowns, the maxims and sayings of wisdom that were ascribed to them contributed to the wise men’s fame. Speakers quoted her in politics and in court. Plato already praised the succinct and artfully formulated sayings, the gnomes , as the outstanding fruits of the wisdom of the seven men.

According to the prologue of the Ludus Septem Sapientum ( The Game of the Seven Wise Men ) by the Roman poet Ausonius , a Ludius (a "funny person") appears who lists the famous sayings of the Seven Wise Men:

Delphis Solonem scripse fama est Atticum:
γνῶθι σεαυτόν , quod Latinum est: nosce te .
multi hoc Laconis eat Chilonis putant.
Spartane Chilon, sit tuum necne ambigunt,
quod iuxta fertur: ὅρα τέλος μακροῦ βίου ,

finem intueri longae vitae qui iubes.
multi hoc Solonem dixe Croeso existimant.

et Pittacum dixisse fama est Lesbium:
γίγνωσκε καιρόν ; tempus ut noris iubet.
sed καιρός iste tempestivum tempus est.
Bias Prieneus dixit: οἱ πλεῖστοι κακοί ,
quod est Latinum: plures hominum sunt mali :
sed inperitos scito, quos dixit malos.
μελέτη τὸ πᾶν , Periandri id est Corinthii:
meditationem posse totum qui putat.
ἄριστον μέτρον esse dicit Lindius
Cleobulus; hoc est: optimus cunctis mode .
Thales sed ἐγγύα, πάρα δ 'ἄτα protulit.
Special qui nos, noxa quia praes est , vetat.
hoc nos monere faeneratis non placet.
dixi, recedam, legifer venit Solon.

In Delphi, it is said, Solon of Athens wrote
γνῶθι σεαυτόν , in German: know yourself.
But some think this is Chilon's word.
Spartan Chilon, it is also argued
whether yours is the other saying: ὅρα τέλος μακροῦ βίου ,
which is attributed to you because you
command to wait for the end of a long life
first. Many also believe
that Solon once said this to Kroisos.
But Pittakos of Lesbos, it is said, said
: γίγνωσκε καιρόν and admonishes:
Recognize the time - καιρός is 'right time'.
And Bias von Priene said: οἱ πλεῖστοι κακοί ,
that means in German: Most people
are bad; - understand, he calls the fools bad. -
And Periander from Corinth: μελέτη τὸ πᾶν ;
Carefully, he thinks, can do anything.
ἄριστον μέτρον taught Cleobulus
From Lindas, - German: the best is the measure.
And Thales said: ἐγγύα, πάρα δ 'ἄτα ;
He warns against bail, as it brings harm.
The one who borrows does not like this admonition.
I have spoken, resign; and Solon,
Who Gave the Laws, appears.

Among other things, the following sayings were often quoted in the domestic as well as in the public sector:

Thales

  • Ἐγγύα πάρα δ 'ἄτα. Engýa pára d 'áta.
"Guarantee - there is already disaster."
  • Do not decorate your appearance, but be beautiful in what you do.
  • What you do good to parents, expect from your children even at an old age.
  • Don't be lazy even if you have money.
  • Better to be envied than pityed.

Solon

  • Μηδὲν ἄγαν. Mēdén ágan.
"Nothing in excess!"
  • Do not sit in court or you will be an enemy to the condemned.
  • Flee lust, which gives birth to displeasure.
  • I am no more right than your parents.
  • Learn to obey and you will know how to rule.

Chilon

"Recognize yourself!"
  • Go slowly to friends' parties, but quickly to their misfortune.
  • Don't let your tongue run ahead of your mind.
  • Do not move your hand while talking; that looks like you're crazy.
  • If you are wrong, reconcile yourself, if you are cheeky, defend yourself.

Pittacos

  • Γίγνωσκε καιρόν. Gígnōske kairón.
"Know the right time!"
  • Do not say what you intend to do; because if you don't succeed, you will be laughed at.
  • What you think of your neighbor do not do yourself.
  • Do not speak ill of your friend and do not speak well of your enemy, because that would be illogical.
  • The land is reliable, the sea unreliable.

Bias

  • Οἱ πλεῖστοι κακοί. Hoi pléistoi kakói.
"Most of them are bad."
  • Look in the mirror: if you look beautiful, you have to do beautiful too; if ugly, you must make up for the lack of nature by being noble.
  • Go slowly to work; but what you started, persevere.
  • Gain through persuasion, not violence.
  • What you have good, ascribe to the gods, not you.

Cleobulus

  • Μέτρον ἄριστον. Métron áriston.
"Moderation is the best."
  • Hear a lot and don't talk a lot.
  • See the opponent of the people as an enemy.
  • To marry on equal terms; if you are in a better position you will gain masters, not relatives.
  • Don't be proud in happiness, don't be low in misery.

Periandros

  • Μελέτη τὸ πᾶν. Melétē to pan.
"Have the whole thing in mind!"
  • Everything is practice.
  • The lusts are ephemeral, the virtues immortal.
  • Scold so that you can quickly become friends again.
  • Stick to old laws, but to fresh food.

Plutarch's feast of the seven wise men

The wisdom of the Seven Wise Men played a role in philosophical discussions about the best state. Plutarch addresses this in his dialogue The Banquet of the Seven Wise Men :

When asked about the best state, the Seven Wise Men answered differently:

  1. Solon: "The state in which a criminal is accused and punished by everyone he did nothing to as well as by the one he did something to."
  2. Bias: "In which all fear the law like a tyrant."
  3. Thales: "Who has neither too rich nor too poor."
  4. Anacharsis: "In which one respects everything else equally, but assesses the advantage according to virtue and the disadvantage according to badness."
  5. Cleobulus: "Where the citizens fear a rebuke more than the law."
  6. Pittakos: "Where it is neither possible that the bad rule nor that the good do not rule."
  7. Chilon: "Who listens most to laws, least to speakers."

When asked about the best house, six of the Seven Wise Men answered:

  1. Solon: "Where the acquisition of money brings no injustice, its guarding no mistrust, its spending brings no remorse."
  2. Bias: "Where the Lord is by himself as he is outside because of the laws."
  3. Thales: "Where the Lord can have the most leisure."
  4. Cleobulus: "Where the Lord has more who love him than those who fear him."
  5. Pittakos: "That desires nothing superfluous and does not lack anything necessary."
  6. Chilon: "That is most like a state ruled by a king."

reception

The conviction that optimal state governance requires the council of wise men has persisted up to our time. The term The (Seven) Wise Men is used for advisory bodies of various kinds. For example, until recently there was the annual economic report of the "Seven Wise Men". In an Expo.02 project, “The Seven Wise Men”, a group of seven scientists, artists and representatives of political bodies was given the task of researching how Swiss citizens think, feel and act.

Source collections

  • Jochen Althoff , Dieter Zeller (ed.): The words of the seven wise men , Greek / German, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2006 [Compilation and translation of the sayings with commentary and research]
  • Herwig Görgemanns : The Greek Literature in Text and Presentation , Vol. 1: Archaic Period , ed. Joachim Latacz , 2nd edition, Stuttgart 1998
  • Bruno Snell : Lives and Opinions of the Seven Wise Men. Greek and Latin sources , Heimeran-Verlag, Munich 1952
  • Maria Tziatzi-Papagianni: The Proverbs of the Seven Wise Men: two Byzantine collections; Introduction, text, testimony and commentary (contributions to antiquity 51), Teubner, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-519-07600-4 , (Diss., Univ. Hamburg 1992)

literature

  • Detlev Fehling: The Seven Wise Men and the Early Greek Chronology , Bern 1985. ISBN 3-261-04061-0 [extremely skeptical about the credibility of the tradition]

Web links

Commons : Seven Ways of Greece  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ So Fehling, pp. 9-18.
  2. ↑ Otto Barkowski : Sieben Weise , in: Pauly-Wissowa RE 2 A / 2, Stuttgart 1923, Sp. 2243.
  3. ↑ Quoted from Snell (1952).
  4. ↑ This saying was also attributed to Chilon.
  5. ↑ This saying was also attributed to Thales, Solon or Bias.