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Zeno of Citium (; (ギリシア語:Ζήνων ὁ Κιτιεύς), ''Zēnōn ho Kitieus''; c. 334 – c. 262 BC) was a Greek thinker〔(Zeno-Of-Citium Britannica )〕 from Citium (, ''Kition''), Cyprus. He was possibly of Phoenician descent.〔Edwyn Bevan, ''(Stoics and Sceptics )''〕 Zeno was the founder of the Stoic school of philosophy, which he taught in Athens from about 300 BC. Based on the moral ideas of the Cynics, Stoicism laid great emphasis on goodness and peace of mind gained from living a life of Virtue in accordance with Nature. It proved very successful, and flourished as the dominant philosophy from the Hellenistic period through to the Roman era. ==Life== Zeno was born c. 334 BC, in Citium in Cyprus. Most of the details known about his life come from the anecdotes preserved by Diogenes Laërtius in his ''Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers''. Diogenes relates a legend that Zeno was a merchant; after surviving a shipwreck, Zeno wandered into a bookshop in Athens and was attracted to some writings about Socrates.〔Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 2,28,31-32〕 He asked the librarian how to find such a man. In response, the librarian pointed to Crates of Thebes, the most famous Cynic living at that time in Greece.〔Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 2-3〕 Zeno is described as a haggard, tanned person,〔Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 1〕 living a spare, ascetic life.〔Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 26-27〕 This coincides with the influences of Cynic teaching, and was, at least in part, continued in his Stoic philosophy. From the day Zeno became Crates’s pupil, he showed a strong bent for philosophy, though with too much native modesty to assimilate Cynic shamelessness. Hence Crates, desirous of curing this defect in him, gave him a potful of lentil-soup to carry through the Ceramicus; and when he saw that Zeno was ashamed and tried to keep it out of sight, Crates broke the pot with a blow of his staff. As Zeno began to run off in embarrassment with the lentil-soup flowing down his legs, Crates chided “Why run away, my little Phoenician?”, “nothing terrible has befallen you.”〔Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 3〕 Apart from Crates, Zeno studied under the philosophers of the Megarian school, including Stilpo,〔Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 2, 24〕 and the dialecticians Diodorus Cronus,〔Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 16, 25〕 and Philo.〔Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 16〕 He is also said to have studied Platonist philosophy under the direction of Xenocrates,〔Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 2; but note that Xenocrates died 314/13 BC〕 and Polemo.〔Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 2, 25〕 Zeno began teaching in the colonnade in the Agora of Athens known as the Stoa Poikile (Greek Στοὰ Ποικίλη) in 301 BC. His disciples were initially called Zenonians, but eventually they came to be known as Stoics, a name previously applied to poets who congregated in the Stoa Poikile.〔Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 5〕 Among the admirers of Zeno was king Antigonus II Gonatas of Macedonia,〔Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 6-9, 13-15, 36; Epictetus, ''Discourses'', ii. 13. 14-15; Simplicius, ''in Epictetus Enchiridion'', 51; Aelian, ''Varia Historia'', ix. 26〕 who, whenever he came to Athens, would visit Zeno. Zeno is said to have declined an invitation to visit Antigonus in Macedonia, although their supposed correspondence preserved by Laërtius〔Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 6-9〕 is undoubtedly the invention of a later rhetorician. Zeno instead sent his friend and disciple Persaeus,〔 who had lived with Zeno in his house.〔Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 13, comp. 36〕 Among Zeno's other pupils there were Aristo of Chios, Sphaerus, and Cleanthes who succeeded Zeno as the head (''scholarch'') of the Stoic school in Athens.〔Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 37〕 Zeno is said to have declined Athenian citizenship when it was offered to him, fearing that he would appear unfaithful to his native land,〔Plutarch, ''de Stoicor. repugn'', p. 1034; comp. Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 12〕 where he was highly esteemed.〔Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 6〕 We are also told that Zeno was of an earnest, if not gloomy disposition;〔Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 16, comp. 26; Sidonius Apollinaris, ''Epistles'', ix. 9〕 that he preferred the company of the few to the many;〔Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 14〕 that he was fond of burying himself in investigations;〔Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 15〕 and that he had a dislike to verbose and elaborate speeches.〔Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 18, 22〕 Diogenes Laërtius has preserved many clever and witty remarks by Zeno,〔Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 18-25〕 the veracity of which cannot be ascertained. Zeno died around 262 BC. Laërtius reports about his death: :As he was leaving the school he tripped and fell, breaking his toe. Striking the ground with his fist, he quoted the line from the ''Niobe'': ::"I come, I come, why dost thou call for me?" :and died on the spot through holding his breath.〔Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 28〕 During his lifetime, Zeno received appreciation for his philosophical and pedagogical teachings. Among other things, Zeno was honored with the golden crown,〔Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 6, 11〕 and a tomb was built in honor of his moral influence on the youth of his era.〔Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 10-12〕 The crater Zeno on the Moon is named in his honor. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Zeno of Citium」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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