Theodoros of Soloi
Theodoros von Soloi was a 4th century BC Greek mathematician and Platonist. According to the name he came from Soloi (Cilicia) . He also belonged to the school of Aristotle .
What is known about him comes from Plutarch's dialogue De defectu oraculorum . A comment by Theodoros on a passage by Timaeus of Plato is dealt with there. It is about the structure of the elements from the analogue to the Platonic solids. It is possible that Plutarch did not know Theodoros in the original, but through the commentary of Timaeus von Krantor von Soloi . Theodoros von Soloi pursues Plato's conjecture that there could be five universes, each corresponding to one of the Platonic solids, and considered a universe built on the simplest regular polyhedron made up of triangles, the tetrahedron, to be the simplest (the others are the octahedron and icosahedron, he leaves out the cube, likewise the dodecahedron). With the composition of these three Platonic solids from triangles, he also wanted to explain the transformation of the elements (which, according to Platonic doctrine, are assigned to one of the four elements and one - the dodecahedron - to the entire universe).
literature
- Heinrich Dörrie , Matthias Baltes : Platonism in antiquity, Volume 1. The historical roots of Platonism, frommann-Holzboog, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt 1987, pp. 344-350
- Matthias Baltes: The emergence of the world of the Platonic Timaeus according to the ancient interpreters, Brill 1976
- Kurt von Fritz in: Pauly-Wissowa, 2nd row, 10th half volume 1934, column 1811 (Theodoros No. 30)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Baltes, The world emergence of the Platonic Timaeus according to the ancient interpreters, Brill 1976, p. 24
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Theodoros of Soloi |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Greek mathematician and philosopher |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 4th century BC Chr. |
| DATE OF DEATH | 4th century BC BC or 3rd century BC Chr. |