Hippo (philosopher)
Hippo(/ˈhɪpoʊ/;Greek:Ἵππων,Hippon;fl. 5th century BC) was aPre-SocraticGreek philosopher. He is variously described as coming fromRhegium,[1]Metapontum,[2]Samos,[3]andCroton,[4]and it is possible that there was more than one philosopher with this name.
Although he was anatural philosopher,Aristotlerefused to place him among the other greatPre-Socratic philosophers"because of the paltriness of his thought."[5]At some point Hippo was accused ofatheism,[6]but since his works have perished, we cannot be certain why. He was accused ofimpietyby the comic poetCratinusin hisPanoptae,[7]and, according toClement of Alexandria,Hippo supposedly ordered the following couplet to be inscribed on his tomb:[8]
Behold the tomb of Hippo, whom in death
Fate made an equal of the immortal gods.
According toHippolytus,Hippo heldwaterandfireto be theprimary elements,with fire originating from water, and then developing itself by generating theuniverse.Simplicius,too, says that Hippo thought that water was the principle of all things.[9]Most of the accounts of his philosophy suggest that he was interested inbiologicalmatters. He thought that there is an appropriate level of moisture in all living things, anddiseaseis caused when the moisture is out of balance.[4]He also viewed thesoulas arising from both mind and water.[1]A medievalscholiumonAristophanes'The Cloudsattributes to Hippo the view that theheavenswere like the dome (πνιγεύς) of anovencovering theEarth.[10]
Notes
[edit]- ^abHippolytus, i.16
- ^Censorinus; Claudius Mamertinus
- ^Iamblichus[full citation needed]
- ^abMedical Writings,London Papyrus 137,col. xi. 22–42
- ^Aristotle,Metaphys.i.3.984a3
- ^Simplicius,in Physics,23.21–29: "Hippo, who is actually thought to have been an atheist"
- ^PCGF 167 Kassel–Austin =DK38 A 2
- ^Clement of Alexandria,Exhortation to the Greeks,iv. 55 (DK 38 B 2)
- ^Simplicius,in Physics,23.21–29
- ^Douglas M. MacDowell,(1995),Aristophanes and Athens: An Introduction to the Plays,page 120. Oxford University Press.
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