Democrates
Encyclopedia
Democrates a Pythagorean
philosopher, concerning whom little is known. A collection of moral maxims
, called the Golden Sentences has come down to us under his name. They are written in the Ionic
dialect, from which some writers have inferred, that they were written at a very early period, whereas others think it more probable that they are the production of the age of Julius Caesar. But nothing can be said with certainty, for want of both external and internal evidence. Some of these sentences are quoted by Stobaeus
, and are found in some manuscripts under the name of Democritus
. Apollonius of Tyana
wrote at least one letter to a Democrates, Epistle 88.
It is possible that the sayings of Democrates all came from an original collection of sayings of Democritus, but other scholars believe that there was a different unknown Democrates whose name became confused with the better-known Democritus: the Democrates sayings show little sign of Democritean technical vocabulary.
Pythagoreanism
Pythagoreanism was the system of esoteric and metaphysical beliefs held by Pythagoras and his followers, the Pythagoreans, who were considerably influenced by mathematics. Pythagoreanism originated in the 5th century BCE and greatly influenced Platonism...
philosopher, concerning whom little is known. A collection of moral maxims
Maxim (philosophy)
A maxim is a ground rule or subjective principle of action; in that sense, a maxim is a thought that can motivate individuals.- Deontological ethics :...
, called the Golden Sentences has come down to us under his name. They are written in the Ionic
Ionic Greek
Ionic Greek was a subdialect of the Attic–Ionic dialect group of Ancient Greek .-History:Ionic dialect appears to have spread originally from the Greek mainland across the Aegean at the time of the Dorian invasions, around the 11th Century B.C.By the end of the Greek Dark Ages in the 5th Century...
dialect, from which some writers have inferred, that they were written at a very early period, whereas others think it more probable that they are the production of the age of Julius Caesar. But nothing can be said with certainty, for want of both external and internal evidence. Some of these sentences are quoted by Stobaeus
Stobaeus
Joannes Stobaeus , from Stobi in Macedonia, was the compiler of a valuable series of extracts from Greek authors. The work was originally divided into two volumes containing two books each...
, and are found in some manuscripts under the name of Democritus
Democritus
Democritus was an Ancient Greek philosopher born in Abdera, Thrace, Greece. He was an influential pre-Socratic philosopher and pupil of Leucippus, who formulated an atomic theory for the cosmos....
. Apollonius of Tyana
Apollonius of Tyana
Apollonius of Tyana was a Greek Neopythagorean philosopher from the town of Tyana in the Roman province of Cappadocia in Asia Minor. Little is certainly known about him...
wrote at least one letter to a Democrates, Epistle 88.
It is possible that the sayings of Democrates all came from an original collection of sayings of Democritus, but other scholars believe that there was a different unknown Democrates whose name became confused with the better-known Democritus: the Democrates sayings show little sign of Democritean technical vocabulary.