Pherecydes

• A celebrated philosopher from Syros, an instructor of Pythagoras, Cic. Tusc. 1, 16, 38; id. Div. 1, 50, 112; reputed to be the inventor of prose, Plin. 7, 56, 57, § 205.—Hence,
• • B Phĕrĕcȳdēus, a, um, adj., of or belonging to Pherecydes, Pherecydean: Pherecydeum illud, that saying of Pherecydes, Cic. Div. 2, 13, 31.—
• II An Athenian chronicler, about 480 B.C., Cic. de Or. 2, 12, 53.

(Φερεκύδης), the name of two Greek writers, one a philosopher of Syros, and another a logographer of Athens, who are frequently confounded with one another. Suidas, indeed, mentions a third Pherecydes of Leros, but he is the same person as the Athenian, as is shown below.

1. Of Syros, one of the Cyclades, was a son of Babys. The name of his birthplace, coupled with the traditions respecting the Eastern origin of his philosophical opinions, led many writers to state that he was born in Syria or Assyria. There is some difference respecting his date. Suidas places him in the time of Alyattes, king of Lydia, Diogenes Laertius (1.121) in the 59th Olympiad B. C. 544. Now as Alyattes died in the 54th Olympiad, both these statements cannot be correct, and the attempt of Mr. Clinton to reconcile them (F. H. ad ann. 544), cannot be admitted, as Miller has shown (Fragm. Hist. Graec. p. xxxiv.). The date of Diogenes is the more probable one, and is supported by the authority of Cicero, who makes Pherecydes a contemporary of Servius Tullius (Tusc. 1.16).

According to the concurrent testimony of antiquity, Pherecydes was the teacher of Pythagoras. It is further stated by many later writers, such as Clemens Alexandrinus, Philo Byblius, &c., the references to whom are all given in the work of Sturtz quoted below, that Pherecydes did not receive instruction in philosophy from any master, but obtained his knowledge from the secret books of the Phoenicians. Diogenes Laertius relates (1.116, 2.46) that Pherecydes heard Pittacus, and was a rival of Thales; which latter statement also occurs in Suidas. It is further related, that, like Thales and Pythagoras, Pherecydes was a disciple of the Egyptians and Chaldaeans, and that he travelled in Egypt. (Joseph. c. Apion. p. 1034e.; Cedrenus, i. p. 94b.; Theodorus Meliteniota, Prooem. in Astron. 100.12.) But all such statements cannot, from the nature of the case, rest on any certain foundation. The other particulars related of Pherecvdes are not worth recording here : those who are curious in such matters will find some details in the sections devoted to him in Diogenes Laertius (1.116-122). It may just be mentioned that, according to a favourite tradition in antiquity, Pherecydes died of the lousy disease or Morbus Pediculosus; though others tell us that he put an end to his life by throwing himself down from a rock at Delphi, and others again give other accounts of his death. Works

Pherecydes was, properly speaking, not a philosopher. He lived at the time at which men began to speculate on cosmogony and the nature of the gods, but had hardly yet commenced the study of true philosophy. Hence he is referred to by Aristotle (Aristot. Met. 13.4) as partly a mythological writer; and Plutarch (Plut. Sull. 36) as well as many other writers give him the title of Theologus. Ἑπτάμυχος

The most important subject which he is said to have taught was the doctrine of the Metempsychosis, or, as it is put by other writers, the doctrine of the immortality of the soul (Suidas ; Cic. Tusc. 1.16). He gave an account of his views in a work, which was extant in the Alexandrian period. It was written in prose, which he is said to have been the first to employ in the explanation of philosophical questions: others go even so far as to state that he was the first who wrote any thing in prose, but this honour, however, must be reserved for Cadmus of Miletus. The title, which Pherecydes himself gave to his work, seems to have been Ἑπτάμυχος, though others called it Θεοκρασία, and others again Θεογονία or Θεολογία. Suidas says that it was in two books; and there is no reason.for rejecting this statement on account of its title Ἑπτάμυχος, since this title has evident reference to the nature of its contents.

He maintained that there were three principia (Zeus or Aether, Chthona or Chaos, and Cronos or Time), and four elements (fire, earth, air, and water), from which were formed every thing that exists.

2. Of Athens, was one of the most celebrated of the early logographers. Suidas speaks of a Pherecydes of Leros, who was likewise an historian or logographer; but Vossius (De Hist. Graecis, p. 24, ed. Westermann) has shown that this Pherecydes is the same as the Athenian. He is called a Lerian from having been born in the island of Leros, and an Athenian from having spent the greater part of his life at Athens; and it may be added that, except in Suidas, we find mention of only one historical writer of this name. (Comp. D. L. 1.119; Strab. x. p.487b.) Suidas also makes a mistake in calling him older than his namesake of Syros; but the exact time at which he lived is differently stated. Suidas places him before the 75th Olympiad, B. C. 480 ; but Eusebius and the Chronicon Paschale in the 81st Olympiad, B. C. 456, and Isidorus (Orig. 1.41) in the 80th Olympiad. There can be no doubt that he lived in the former half of the fifth century B. C., and was a contemporary of Hellanicus and Herodotus. He is mentioned by Lucian as one of the instances of longevity, and is said to have attained the age of 85 years. (Lucian, de Macrob. 22, where he is erroneously called ὁ Σύριος instead of ὁ Λέριος.) Works Works known from Suidas

Suidas ascribes several works to the Athenian or Lerian Pherecydes. This lexicographer relates that some looked upon Pherecydes as the collector of the Orphic writings; but this statement has reference to the philosopher. He also mentiona a work of his entitled Παραινέσεις διʼ ἐπῶν, which, however, does not belong to the Athenian. The other works spoken of by Suidas, Περὶ Λέρου, Περὶ Ἰφιγενείας, Περὶ τῶν Διονύσου ἑορτῶν, may have been written by the historian, but not a fragment of them has been preserved. Mythological History

His great work, which is frequently referred to by the Scholiasts and Apollodorus, was a mythological history in ten books, which is quoted by various titles, in consequence of the diversified nature of its contents. It is sometimes called Ἱστορίαι ; at other times Αὐτόχθονες, and sometimes Ἀρχαιολογίαι ; and from the numerous extracts which are made from it, we are enabled to make out pretty well the subject of each book. It began with a theogony, and then proceeded to give an account of the heroic age and of the great families of that time, with which the pride and religious feeling of the later Greeks so closely identified themselves. Editions

The fragments of Pherecydes have been collected by Sturtz, Pherecydis Fragmenta, Lips. 1824, 2nd ed.; and by Car. and Theod. Müller in Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum, p. xxxiv., &c., p. 70, &c.

(Φερεκύδης). (1) A Greek philosopher, of the isle of Syros, about B.C. 600-550; said to have been the first writer of prose. He wrote in the Ionic dialect of the origin of the world and the gods (Cosmogonia and Theogonia). The poetic element seems to have held a predominant place in his prose. He is also said to have been the first to maintain the doctrine of the transmigration of souls, which his pupil Pythagoras borrowed from him.

(2) One of the best known of the Greek logographi (q.v.), and a contemporary of Hellanicus and Herodotus. His chief work was a mythological history in ten books, beginning with the genealogy of the gods, and passing on to an account of the Heroic Age and of the origins of the great families of his own time. Fragments edited by Sturz (Leipzig, 1824), and Müller (Paris, 1850).

• dies of disease: Paus. 1.20.7
• on Orion: Apollod. 1.4.2
• on Triptolemus: Apollod. 1.5.2
• on the homicide of Tydeus: Apollod. 1.8.5
• on Herakles and the Argo: Apollod. 1.9.18
• on Argus: Apollod. 2.1.3
• on the serpents killed by the infant Herakles: Apollod. 2.4.8
• on the horn of Amalthea: Apollod. 2.7.4
• on Thasus: Apollod. 3.1.1, Apollod. 3.1.1
• on Cadmus and the Sparti: Apollod. 3.4.1
• on the necklace of Harmonia: Apollod. 3.4.2
• on the blindness of Tiresias: Apollod. 3.6.7
• on Callisto: Apollod. 3.8.1
• on the father of Telamon: Apollod. 3.12.6