Hermogenes (philosopher)
Encyclopedia
Hermogenes was a son of Hipponicus
, and a brother of the wealthy Callias
. He is introduced by Plato
in his dialogue Cratylus
as one of the interlocutors, and maintains that all the words of a language
were formed by an agreement of people among themselves. Diogenes Laërtius
states that he was one of the teachers of Plato, but no other writer mentions this, and it is further clear from the Cratylus, that Hermogenes was not a man either of talent or learning, and that he scarcely knew the elements of philosophy.
Although he belonged to the great family of Callias, he is mentioned by Xenophon
as a man of very little property; this might mean that Hermogenes was an illegitimate son of Hipponicus. Plato, on the other hand, suggests that he was unjustly deprived of his property by Callias, his brother.
Hipponicus
Hipponicus was an Athenian military commander and son of Callias II and father of Callias III and Hipparete, who later married Alcibiades. Together with Eurymedon he commanded the Athenian forces in the incursion into Boeotian territory and was slain at the Battle of Delium ....
, and a brother of the wealthy Callias
Callias III
Callias , son of Hipponicus by the former wife of Pericles, an Alcmaeonid and the third member of one of the most distinguished Athenian families to bear the name of Callias...
. He is introduced by Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
in his dialogue Cratylus
Cratylus (dialogue)
Cratylus is the name of a dialogue by Plato. Most modern scholars agree that it was written mostly during Plato's so-called middle period...
as one of the interlocutors, and maintains that all the words of a language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
were formed by an agreement of people among themselves. Diogenes Laërtius
Diogenes Laertius
Diogenes Laertius was a biographer of the Greek philosophers. Nothing is known about his life, but his surviving Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers is one of the principal surviving sources for the history of Greek philosophy.-Life:Nothing is definitively known about his life...
states that he was one of the teachers of Plato, but no other writer mentions this, and it is further clear from the Cratylus, that Hermogenes was not a man either of talent or learning, and that he scarcely knew the elements of philosophy.
Although he belonged to the great family of Callias, he is mentioned by Xenophon
Xenophon
Xenophon , son of Gryllus, of the deme Erchia of Athens, also known as Xenophon of Athens, was a Greek historian, soldier, mercenary, philosopher and a contemporary and admirer of Socrates...
as a man of very little property; this might mean that Hermogenes was an illegitimate son of Hipponicus. Plato, on the other hand, suggests that he was unjustly deprived of his property by Callias, his brother.