Eustathius of Cappadocia

Cappadocia

Cappadocia is a historical region in Central Anatolia, largely in Nevşehir Province.In the time of Herodotus, the Cappadocians were reported as occupying the whole region from Mount Taurus to the vicinity of the Euxine...

, was a Neoplatonist and Sophist, and a pupil of Iamblichus

Iamblichus of Chalcis

Iamblichus, also known as Iamblichus Chalcidensis, was an Assyrian Neoplatonist philosopher who determined the direction taken by later Neoplatonic philosophy...

 and Aedesius

Aedesius

Aedesius was a Neoplatonist philosopher and mystic born of a noble Cappadocian family.-Career:He migrated to Syria, attracted by the lectures of Iamblichus, of whom he became a follower. According to Eunapius, he differed from Iamblichus on certain points connected with theurgy and magic...

, who lived at the beginning of the 4th century. When Aedesius was obliged to quit Cappadocia, Eustathius was left behind in his place. Eunapius

Eunapius

Eunapius was a Greek sophist and historian of the 4th century. His principal surviving work is the Lives of the Sophists, a collection of the biographies of twenty-three philosophers and sophists.-Life:He was born at Sardis, AD 347...

, to whom alone we are indebted for our knowledge of Eustathius, declares that he was the best man and a great orator, whose speech in sweetness equalled the songs of the Siren

Siren

In Greek mythology, the Sirens were three dangerous mermaid like creatures, portrayed as seductresses who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. Roman poets placed them on an island called Sirenum scopuli...

s. His reputation was so great, that when the Persians

Sassanid Empire

The Sassanid Empire , known to its inhabitants as Ērānshahr and Ērān in Middle Persian and resulting in the New Persian terms Iranshahr and Iran , was the last pre-Islamic Persian Empire, ruled by the Sasanian Dynasty from 224 to 651...

 besieged Antioch

Antioch

Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the...

, and the empire was threatened with a war, the emperor Constantius II

Constantius II

Constantius II , was Roman Emperor from 337 to 361. The second son of Constantine I and Fausta, he ascended to the throne with his brothers Constantine II and Constans upon their father's death....

 was prevailed upon to send Eustathius, although he was a pagan, as ambassador to king Shapur II

Shapur II

Shapur II the Great was the ninth King of the Persian Sassanid Empire from 309 to 379 and son of Hormizd II. During his long reign, the Sassanid Empire saw its first golden era since the reign of Shapur I...

, in 358, who is said to have been quite enchanted by his oratory. His countrymen and friends who longed for his return, sent deputies to him, but he refused to come back to his country on account of certain signs and omens. His wife Sosipatra

Sosipatra

Sosipatra of Ephesus was a Neoplatonist philosopher and mystic who lived in the first half of the 4th century. The story of her life is told in Eunapius' Lives of the Sophists.-Life and education:...

 is said to have even excelled her husband in talent and learning. They had three sons, one of which, Antoninus

Antoninus (philosopher)

Antoninus was a Neoplatonist philosopher who lived in the 4th century. He was a son of Eustathius and Sosipatra, and had a school at Canopus, Egypt. He was an older contemporary of Hypatia who lived and worked nearby in Alexandria...

, also became a philosopher.