Thales of Miletus, Part 1 of 3
Thales of Miletus also known as Thales the Milesian (Θαλῆς ὁ Μιλήσιος, ca. 624 BC–ca. 546 BC), was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher and one of the Seven Sages of Greece. Many regard him as the first philosopher in the Greek tradition as well as the father of science.
Life
Thales lived and was born in the city of Miletus (Greek: Μίλητος transliterated Miletos, Turkish: Milet) an ancient city on the western coast of Anatolia (in what is now the Aydin Province of Turkey), near the mouth of the Maeander River.
Background
The dates of Thales' life are not known precisely. There are two traditions: one that he lived to be about 90, and the other, about 80. The time of his life is roughly established by a few dateable events mentioned in the sources and an estimate of his length of life. According to Herodotus Thales predicted a solar eclipse, which has been determined by modern methods to have been on May 28, 585 BC. Pliny places it in 584.
According to Diogenes Laërtius, the chronicle of Apollodorus says that Thales died at 78 in the 58th Olympiad. Diogenes Laërtius says that Sosicrates said he was 90. The year of his birth was the first year of the 35th Olympiad, or 640 BC. Thales would have been about 40 during the eclipse.
Diogenes Laërtius and others say that Thales was the son of Examyas and Cleobulina and that they were of the Thelidae family (hence Thales), who were of noble Phoenician descent from Cadmus of ancient Thebes. After repeating a story that Thales had been naturalized, or recently enrolled as a citizen, Diogenes Laërtius asserts that he was "a right-born Milesian".
When the Greeks settled Miletus it included a Carian population. Families on monuments have both Greek and Carian names. Thales' father's name is of the Carian type, like Cheramyes and Panamyes.
According to Diogenes Laërtius there are two stories about Thales' family life, one that he married and had a son, Cybisthus or Cybisthon, or adopted his nephew of the same name. The second is that he never married, telling his mother as a young man that it was too early to marry, and as an older man that it was too late.
The well-traveled Ionians had many dealings with Egypt and Babylon, and Thales may have studied in Egypt as a young man. In any event, Thales almost certainly had exposure to Egyptian mythology, astronomy, and mathematics, as well as to other traditions alien to the Homeric traditions of Greece. Perhaps because of this his inquiries into the nature of things took him beyond traditional mythology.
Thales involved himself in many activities, taking the role of an innovator. Some say that he left no writings, others that he wrote "On the Solstice" and "On the Equinox". Neither have survived. Diogenes Laërtius quotes letters of Thales to Pherecydes and Solon, offering to review the book of the former on religion, and offering to keep company with the latter on his sojourn from Athens. Thales identifies the Milesians as Athenians.
Business
Several anecdotes suggest that Thales was not solely a thinker; he was involved in business and politics. One story recounts that he bought options to use all of the olive presses in Miletus after predicting the weather and a good harvest for a particular year. Another version of this same story states that he bought the presses not to become wealthy, but merely to demonstrate to his fellow Milesians that he could use his intelligence to enrich himself.
Politics
Thales’ political life had mainly to do with the involvement of the Ionians in the defense of Anatolia against the growing power of the Iranians, who were then new to the region. A king had come to power in neighboring Lydia, Croesus, who was somewhat too aggressive for the size of his army. He had conquered most of the states of coastal Anatolia, including the cities of the Ionians. The story is told in Herodotus.
The Lydians were at war with the Medes, a remnant of the first wave of Iranians in the region, over the issue of refuge the Lydians had given to some Scythian soldiers of fortune inimical to the Medes. The war endured for five years, but in the sixth an eclipse of the sun (mentioned above) spontaneously halted a battle in progress (the Battle of Halys).
It seems that Thales had predicted this eclipse. The Seven Sages were most likely already in existence, as Croesus was also heavily influenced by Solon of Athens, another sage. Whether Thales was present at the battle is not known, nor are the exact terms of the prediction, but based on it the Lydians and Medes made peace immediately, swearing a blood oath.
The Medes were dependencies of the Persians under Cyrus. Croesus now sided with the Medes against the Persians and marched in the direction of Iran (with far fewer men than he needed). He was stopped by the river Halys, then unbridged. This time he had Thales with him, perhaps by invitation. Whatever his status, the king gave the problem to him, and he got the army across by digging a diversion upstream so as to reduce the flow, making it possible to ford the river. The channels ran around both sides of the camp.
The two armies engaged at Pteria in Cappadocia. As the battle was indecisive but paralyzing to both sides, Croesus marched home, dismissed his mercenaries and sent emissaries to his dependents and allies to ask them to dispatch fresh troops to Sardis. The issue became more pressing when the Persian army showed up at Sardis. Diogenes Laertius tells us that Thales gained fame as a counsellor when he advised the Milesians not to engage in a symmachia, a “fighting together”, with the Lydians. This has sometimes been interpreted as an alliance, but you do not ally with your subjects.
Croesus was defeated before the city of Sardis by Cyrus, who subsequently spared Miletus because it had taken no action. The Great King was something of a philosopher himself. He was so impressed by Croesus’ wisdom and his connection with the sages that he spared him and took his advice on various matters.
The Ionians were now free. Herodotus says that Thales advised them to form an Ionian state; that is, a bouleuterion (“deliberative body”) to be located at Teos in the center of Ionia. The Ionian cities should be demoi, or “districts.” Miletus, however, received favorable terms from Cyrus. The others remained in an Ionian League of 12 cities (excluding Miletus now), and were subjugated by the Persians.
Ethics
The ethics of Thales can be estimated from the sayings attributed to him, reported in Diogenes Laertius. First, he recognizes a transcendental God, who has neither beginning nor end. He believes that God is just and expects men to behave justly. Neither men being unjust (ἄδικος) nor thinking injustice escape the notice of the Gods (θεοί). In this form of polytheism the transcendental god expresses himself through gods, so that a man can say θεοί and mean God.
Thales’ idea of justice includes both the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. Concerning the former, he advises that adultery and perjury about it in court are equally bad. His value of civic law is supplemented by some practical advice. Expect the same support from your children that you give to your parents. Don’t let talk influence you against those whom you have come to trust. Be rich, yes, for success is sweet. However, don’t be rich badly (κακῶς).
As to the spirit of the law, we find Thales expressing a rather well known principle for leading the best (ἄριστα) and most just (δικαιότατα) life:
ἃ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἐπιτιμῶμεν, αὐτοὶ μὴ δρῶμεν
“That for which we blame others, let us not do ourselves”
This rejection of hypocrisy resembles the foundational principle of Jewish law, “Do not unto thy neighbor what is hateful to thyself.” It is quite unlikely that Thales was Jewish, but some have emphasized his supposed “Semitic” ancestry. After all, Hebrew and Phoenician are closely related, coming from a common ancestor about the time of Cadmus. There is no known connection between Thales and any Hebrew speakers, however.
His view of enemies is somewhat more severe than the Old Testament, which supports an equal exchange of penalties: an eye for an eye, etc. According to Thales, a man can better bear adversity if he sees that his enemies are worse off.
Thales' view was that men are better than women and Greeks are better than barbarians. (He stated this despite the fact that his proudest ancestor was dethroned in Thebes for being a barbarian.)
Thales was not Democratic. One story has him living with Thrasybulus, tyrant of Miletus. In his letter to Solon he offers to live elsewhere with him, seeing that Solon finds tyranny so offensive. Ancient philosophers in general tended to support benign tyranny, such as Plato’s ideal philosopher-king. Unquestionably, sages were more at home with absolutism than with democratic forms of government. They could not resist undertaking to reform the morals of the citizens, with well-known results. Philosphers' support of tyrants generally had poor results; the outcome was generally the expulsion or murder of the tyrant and the massacre of the philosophers.
According to Thales, a happy man is defined as one
ὁ τὸ μὲν σῶμα ὑγιής, τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν εὔπορος, τὴν δὲ φύσιν εὐπαίδευτος
“Who is healthy in body, resourceful in soul and of a readily teachable nature”
which is similar to the Roman “Mens sana in corpore sano”, our “sane mind in a healthy body.” Perhaps Thales did exercise, but he did not cultivate the body, as he preached not beautifying the appearance (ὄψις) but practicing the good, not the bad.
Sagacity
Diogenes Laertius tells us that the Seven Sages were created in the archonship of Damasius at Athens about 582 BC and that Thales was the first sage. The same story, however, asserts that Thales emigrated to Miletus. There is also a report that he did not become a student of nature until after his political career. Much as we would like to have a date on the seven sages, we must reject these stories and the tempting date if we are to believe that Thales was a native of Miletus, predicted the eclipse, and was with Croesus in the campaign against Cyrus.
Thales had no instruction but that of Egyptian priests, we are told. Whether we should believe that story is a different matter. It was fairly certain that he came from a wealthy and established family, and the wealthy customarily educated their children. Moreover, the ordinary citizen, unless he was a seafaring man or a merchant, could not afford the grand tour in Egypt, and in any case did not consort with noble lawmakers such as Solon. Perhaps the source only meant that Thales had not been instructed in philosophy before proposing his theories about nature.
He did participate in some games, most likely Panhellenic, at which he won a bowl twice. He dedicated it to Apollo at Delphi. As he was not known to have been athletic, his event was probably declamation, and it may have been victory in some specific phase of this event that led to his being designated sage.
Another trophy, a tripod, is said to have been bestowed upon him and was given by him to another sage, going the rounds until it came back to him, at which time he dedicated it to Apollo. The oracle given to the Koans, in obedience to which the tripod was given to Thales (in this story), said that it should go to
ὃς σοφὸς ᾖ τὰ ἐόντα τὰ τ'ἐσσόμενα πρό τ'ἐόντα
”Who is wise in the things that are, the things that will be, and the things that were”
which is delivered in dactylic hexameter, the verse form of the Iliad, and contains a formula said of Calchas, a Homeric mantis, or “seer”. Thales did predict an eclipse. Perhaps it was on that basis that he was pronounced sage. One of the verses attributed to him proclaims that
σοφώτατον χρόνος: ἀνευρίσκει γὰρ πάντα
”Time is the wisest because it discovers everything”
The ability to predict also is a hallmark of good science, but not all the sages were known for their ability to predict.
The time, place and reasons for Thales being declared officially sage remain obscure, although the sources made some good guesses, one or more of which were probably right. The essence of his wisdom seems to have been simplicity of theory with emphasis on insight and inspiration, as these words of a song attributed to him by Laertius indicate:
οὔ τι τὰ πολλὰ ἔπη φρονίμην ἀπεφήνατο δόξαν:
ἕν τι μάτευε σοφόν,
ἕν τι κεδνὸν αἱροῦ:
”Never did many words declare a mindful teaching: strive after a single wise thing, pick one thing you can depend on:”
It is ironic that a man with this principle had many and various achievements.
Death
Thales is said to have died in his seat, while watching an athletic contest.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Thales".
Thales lived and was born in the city of Miletus (Greek: Μίλητος transliterated Miletos, Turkish: Milet) an ancient city on the western coast of Anatolia (in what is now the Aydin Province of Turkey), near the mouth of the Maeander River.
The dates of Thales' life are not known precisely. There are two traditions: one that he lived to be about 90, and the other, about 80. The time of his life is roughly established by a few dateable events mentioned in the sources and an estimate of his length of life. According to Herodotus Thales predicted a solar eclipse, which has been determined by modern methods to have been on May 28, 585 BC. Pliny places it in 584.
According to Diogenes Laërtius, the chronicle of Apollodorus says that Thales died at 78 in the 58th Olympiad. Diogenes Laërtius says that Sosicrates said he was 90. The year of his birth was the first year of the 35th Olympiad, or 640 BC. Thales would have been about 40 during the eclipse.
Diogenes Laërtius and others say that Thales was the son of Examyas and Cleobulina and that they were of the Thelidae family (hence Thales), who were of noble Phoenician descent from Cadmus of ancient Thebes. After repeating a story that Thales had been naturalized, or recently enrolled as a citizen, Diogenes Laërtius asserts that he was "a right-born Milesian".
When the Greeks settled Miletus it included a Carian population. Families on monuments have both Greek and Carian names. Thales' father's name is of the Carian type, like Cheramyes and Panamyes.
According to Diogenes Laërtius there are two stories about Thales' family life, one that he married and had a son, Cybisthus or Cybisthon, or adopted his nephew of the same name. The second is that he never married, telling his mother as a young man that it was too early to marry, and as an older man that it was too late.
The well-traveled Ionians had many dealings with Egypt and Babylon, and Thales may have studied in Egypt as a young man. In any event, Thales almost certainly had exposure to Egyptian mythology, astronomy, and mathematics, as well as to other traditions alien to the Homeric traditions of Greece. Perhaps because of this his inquiries into the nature of things took him beyond traditional mythology.
Thales involved himself in many activities, taking the role of an innovator. Some say that he left no writings, others that he wrote "On the Solstice" and "On the Equinox". Neither have survived. Diogenes Laërtius quotes letters of Thales to Pherecydes and Solon, offering to review the book of the former on religion, and offering to keep company with the latter on his sojourn from Athens. Thales identifies the Milesians as Athenians.
Several anecdotes suggest that Thales was not solely a thinker; he was involved in business and politics. One story recounts that he bought options to use all of the olive presses in Miletus after predicting the weather and a good harvest for a particular year. Another version of this same story states that he bought the presses not to become wealthy, but merely to demonstrate to his fellow Milesians that he could use his intelligence to enrich himself.
Thales’ political life had mainly to do with the involvement of the Ionians in the defense of Anatolia against the growing power of the Iranians, who were then new to the region. A king had come to power in neighboring Lydia, Croesus, who was somewhat too aggressive for the size of his army. He had conquered most of the states of coastal Anatolia, including the cities of the Ionians. The story is told in Herodotus.
The Lydians were at war with the Medes, a remnant of the first wave of Iranians in the region, over the issue of refuge the Lydians had given to some Scythian soldiers of fortune inimical to the Medes. The war endured for five years, but in the sixth an eclipse of the sun (mentioned above) spontaneously halted a battle in progress (the Battle of Halys).
It seems that Thales had predicted this eclipse. The Seven Sages were most likely already in existence, as Croesus was also heavily influenced by Solon of Athens, another sage. Whether Thales was present at the battle is not known, nor are the exact terms of the prediction, but based on it the Lydians and Medes made peace immediately, swearing a blood oath.
The Medes were dependencies of the Persians under Cyrus. Croesus now sided with the Medes against the Persians and marched in the direction of Iran (with far fewer men than he needed). He was stopped by the river Halys, then unbridged. This time he had Thales with him, perhaps by invitation. Whatever his status, the king gave the problem to him, and he got the army across by digging a diversion upstream so as to reduce the flow, making it possible to ford the river. The channels ran around both sides of the camp.
The two armies engaged at Pteria in Cappadocia. As the battle was indecisive but paralyzing to both sides, Croesus marched home, dismissed his mercenaries and sent emissaries to his dependents and allies to ask them to dispatch fresh troops to Sardis. The issue became more pressing when the Persian army showed up at Sardis. Diogenes Laertius tells us that Thales gained fame as a counsellor when he advised the Milesians not to engage in a symmachia, a “fighting together”, with the Lydians. This has sometimes been interpreted as an alliance, but you do not ally with your subjects.
Croesus was defeated before the city of Sardis by Cyrus, who subsequently spared Miletus because it had taken no action. The Great King was something of a philosopher himself. He was so impressed by Croesus’ wisdom and his connection with the sages that he spared him and took his advice on various matters.
The Ionians were now free. Herodotus says that Thales advised them to form an Ionian state; that is, a bouleuterion (“deliberative body”) to be located at Teos in the center of Ionia. The Ionian cities should be demoi, or “districts.” Miletus, however, received favorable terms from Cyrus. The others remained in an Ionian League of 12 cities (excluding Miletus now), and were subjugated by the Persians.
The ethics of Thales can be estimated from the sayings attributed to him, reported in Diogenes Laertius. First, he recognizes a transcendental God, who has neither beginning nor end. He believes that God is just and expects men to behave justly. Neither men being unjust (ἄδικος) nor thinking injustice escape the notice of the Gods (θεοί). In this form of polytheism the transcendental god expresses himself through gods, so that a man can say θεοί and mean God.
Thales’ idea of justice includes both the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. Concerning the former, he advises that adultery and perjury about it in court are equally bad. His value of civic law is supplemented by some practical advice. Expect the same support from your children that you give to your parents. Don’t let talk influence you against those whom you have come to trust. Be rich, yes, for success is sweet. However, don’t be rich badly (κακῶς).
As to the spirit of the law, we find Thales expressing a rather well known principle for leading the best (ἄριστα) and most just (δικαιότατα) life:
ἃ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἐπιτιμῶμεν, αὐτοὶ μὴ δρῶμεν
“That for which we blame others, let us not do ourselves”
This rejection of hypocrisy resembles the foundational principle of Jewish law, “Do not unto thy neighbor what is hateful to thyself.” It is quite unlikely that Thales was Jewish, but some have emphasized his supposed “Semitic” ancestry. After all, Hebrew and Phoenician are closely related, coming from a common ancestor about the time of Cadmus. There is no known connection between Thales and any Hebrew speakers, however.
His view of enemies is somewhat more severe than the Old Testament, which supports an equal exchange of penalties: an eye for an eye, etc. According to Thales, a man can better bear adversity if he sees that his enemies are worse off.
Thales' view was that men are better than women and Greeks are better than barbarians. (He stated this despite the fact that his proudest ancestor was dethroned in Thebes for being a barbarian.)
Thales was not Democratic. One story has him living with Thrasybulus, tyrant of Miletus. In his letter to Solon he offers to live elsewhere with him, seeing that Solon finds tyranny so offensive. Ancient philosophers in general tended to support benign tyranny, such as Plato’s ideal philosopher-king. Unquestionably, sages were more at home with absolutism than with democratic forms of government. They could not resist undertaking to reform the morals of the citizens, with well-known results. Philosphers' support of tyrants generally had poor results; the outcome was generally the expulsion or murder of the tyrant and the massacre of the philosophers.
According to Thales, a happy man is defined as one
ὁ τὸ μὲν σῶμα ὑγιής, τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν εὔπορος, τὴν δὲ φύσιν εὐπαίδευτος
“Who is healthy in body, resourceful in soul and of a readily teachable nature”
which is similar to the Roman “Mens sana in corpore sano”, our “sane mind in a healthy body.” Perhaps Thales did exercise, but he did not cultivate the body, as he preached not beautifying the appearance (ὄψις) but practicing the good, not the bad.
Diogenes Laertius tells us that the Seven Sages were created in the archonship of Damasius at Athens about 582 BC and that Thales was the first sage. The same story, however, asserts that Thales emigrated to Miletus. There is also a report that he did not become a student of nature until after his political career. Much as we would like to have a date on the seven sages, we must reject these stories and the tempting date if we are to believe that Thales was a native of Miletus, predicted the eclipse, and was with Croesus in the campaign against Cyrus.
Thales had no instruction but that of Egyptian priests, we are told. Whether we should believe that story is a different matter. It was fairly certain that he came from a wealthy and established family, and the wealthy customarily educated their children. Moreover, the ordinary citizen, unless he was a seafaring man or a merchant, could not afford the grand tour in Egypt, and in any case did not consort with noble lawmakers such as Solon. Perhaps the source only meant that Thales had not been instructed in philosophy before proposing his theories about nature.
He did participate in some games, most likely Panhellenic, at which he won a bowl twice. He dedicated it to Apollo at Delphi. As he was not known to have been athletic, his event was probably declamation, and it may have been victory in some specific phase of this event that led to his being designated sage.
Another trophy, a tripod, is said to have been bestowed upon him and was given by him to another sage, going the rounds until it came back to him, at which time he dedicated it to Apollo. The oracle given to the Koans, in obedience to which the tripod was given to Thales (in this story), said that it should go to
ὃς σοφὸς ᾖ τὰ ἐόντα τὰ τ'ἐσσόμενα πρό τ'ἐόντα
”Who is wise in the things that are, the things that will be, and the things that were”
which is delivered in dactylic hexameter, the verse form of the Iliad, and contains a formula said of Calchas, a Homeric mantis, or “seer”. Thales did predict an eclipse. Perhaps it was on that basis that he was pronounced sage. One of the verses attributed to him proclaims that
σοφώτατον χρόνος: ἀνευρίσκει γὰρ πάντα
”Time is the wisest because it discovers everything”
The ability to predict also is a hallmark of good science, but not all the sages were known for their ability to predict.
The time, place and reasons for Thales being declared officially sage remain obscure, although the sources made some good guesses, one or more of which were probably right. The essence of his wisdom seems to have been simplicity of theory with emphasis on insight and inspiration, as these words of a song attributed to him by Laertius indicate:
οὔ τι τὰ πολλὰ ἔπη φρονίμην ἀπεφήνατο δόξαν:
ἕν τι μάτευε σοφόν,
ἕν τι κεδνὸν αἱροῦ:
”Never did many words declare a mindful teaching: strive after a single wise thing, pick one thing you can depend on:”
It is ironic that a man with this principle had many and various achievements.
Thales is said to have died in his seat, while watching an athletic contest.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Thales".
Labels: biography, history, Milesian School, Milesians, philosopher, philosophy, Pre-Socratics, Thales
| 
