- Source
- Diogenes Laertius. Hicks, R. D., editor. Cambridge, MA.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1925.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.8-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0004.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.4.166-7.4.167
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-09-28
The account relates the life of Dionysius of Heraclea, who turned to hedonism due to the pain of an eye affliction, his lifestyle and catalog of works, concluding with the transition to Zeno's successor Cleanthes.
Διονύσιος δʼ ὁ Μεταθέμενος τέλος εἶπε τὴν ἡδονὴν διὰ περίστασιν ὀφθαλμίας· ἀλγήσας γὰρ ἐπιπόνως ὤκνησεν εἰπεῖν1 τὸν πόνον ἀδιάφορον. Ἦν δὲ παῖς μὲν Θεοφάντου, πόλεως δʼ Ἡρακλείας. ἤκουσε δέ, καθά φησι Διοκλῆς, πρῶτον μὲν Ἡρακλείδου τοῦ πολίτου, ἔπειτʼ Ἀλεξίνου καὶ Μενεδήμου, τελευταῖον δὲ Ζήνωνος.
Dionysius the Renegade declared pleasure to be the end because of an affliction of ophthalmia; for having suffered grievous pain, he shrank from calling pain an indifferent thing. He was the son of Theophantus and a native of the city of Heraclea. As Diocles says, he was a hearer first of his fellow-citizen Heraclides, then of Alexinus and Menedemus, and finally of Zeno.
Καὶ κατʼ ἀρχὰς μὲν φιλογράμματος ὢν παντοδαποῖς ἐπεχείρει ποιήμασιν, ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ Ἄρατον ἀπεδέχετο, ζηλῶν αὐτόν. ἀποστὰς δὲ τοῦ Ζήνωνος πρὸς τοὺς Κυρηναϊκοὺς ἀπετράπη καὶ εἴς τε τὰ χαμαιτυπεῖα εἰσῄει καὶ τἄλλʼ ἀπαρακαλύπτως ἡδυπάθει. βιοὺς δὲ πρὸς τὰ ὀγδοήκοντʼ ἀσιτίᾳ κατέστρεψε2. Βιβλία δʼ αὐτοῦ φέρεται τάδε· Περὶ ἀπαθείας β′. Περὶ ἀσκήσεως β′. Περὶ ἡδονῆς δ′. Περὶ πλούτου καὶ χάριτος καὶ τιμωρίας. Περὶ ἀνθρώπων χρήσεως. Περὶ εὐτυχίας. Περὶ ἀρχαίων βασιλέων. Περὶ τῶν ἐπαινουμένων. Περὶ βαρβαρικῶν ἐθῶν. Καὶ οὗτοι μὲν οἱ διενεχθέντες. διεδέξατο δὲ τὸν Ζήνωνα Κλεάνθης, περὶ οὗ λεκτέον.
At first, being a lover of literature, he attempted all kinds of poetry, and later he also welcomed Aratus, emulating him. But having fallen away from Zeno, he turned to the Cyrenaics, went into brothels, and indulged in pleasure in other ways without concealment. Having lived to around eighty, he ended his life by starvation. The following books of his are extant: On Freedom from Passion, in two books On Training, in two books On Pleasure, in four books On Wealth, Favor, and Punishment On the Employment of Men On Good Fortune On Ancient Kings On Things That Are Praised On Barbarian Customs These, then, are those who diverged from him. And Cleanthes succeeded Zeno, of whom we must speak next.
- 7.4.166ὤκνησεν εἰπεῖν
The verb ὀκνέω ("to hesitate, shrink from") followed by the infinitive εἰπεῖν. In this context, it signifies not mere psychological hesitation, but a decisive refusal or reluctance to assert that pain is an "indifferent" thing (ἀδιάφορον) in the face of his own acute physical suffering.
- 7.4.167ἀσιτίᾳ κατέστρεψε
καταστρέφω is used either intransitively in the sense of "died / passed away" or with τὸν βίον understood as its object ("ended his life"). ἀσιτίᾳ is a dative of means or cause denoting "by abstaining from food / through starvation."