Miscellanies 1.14.64

Summary: The Stoic and Eleatic successions are traced to Epicurus; next Clement will give their dates to prove that Hebrew philosophy is many generations older.

Textual problem in this passage: the printed text is uncertain or disputed here. See the notes.

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Greek text · Stählin 2:40–41

εἶτα Καρνεάδης διαδέχεται Ἡγησίνουν καὶ οἱ ἐφεξῆς· Κράτητος δὲ Ζήνων ὁ Κιτιεὺς ὁ τῆς Στωικῆς ἄρξας αἱρέσεως γίνεται μαθητής. τοῦτον διαδέχεται Κλεάνθης, ὃν Χρύσιππος καὶ οἱ μετʼ αὐτόν. τῆς δὲ Ἐλεατικῆς ἀγωγῆς Ξενοφάνης ὁ Κολοφώνιος κατάρχει, ὃν φησι Τίμαιος κατὰ Ἱέρωνα τὸν Σικελίας δυνάστην καὶ Ἐπίχαρμον τὸν ποιητὴν γεγονέναι, Ἀπολλόδωρος δὲ κατὰ τὴν † τεσσαρακοστὴν ὀλυμπιάδα γενόμενον παρατετακέναι ἄχρι τῶν Δαρείου τε καὶ Κύρου χρόνων. Παρμενίδης τοίνυν Ξενοφάνους ἀκουστὴς γίνεται, τούτου δὲ Ζήνων, εἶτα Λεύκιππος, εἶτα Δημόκριτος. Δημοκρίτου δὲ ἀκουσταὶ Πρωταγόρας ὁ Ἀβδηρίτης καὶ Μητρόδωρος ὁ Χῖος, οὗ Διογένης ὁ Σμυρναῖος, οὗ Ἀνάξαρχος, τούτου δὲ Πύρρων, οὗ Ναυσιφάνης. τούτου φασὶν ἔνιοι μαθητὴν Ἐπίκουρον γενέσθαι. Καὶ ἡ μὲν διαδοχὴ τῶν παρʼ Ἕλλησι φιλοσόφων ὡς ἐν ἐπιτομῇ ἥδε, οἱ χρόνοι δὲ τῶν προκαταρξάντων τῆς φιλοσοφίας αὐτῶν ἑπομένως λεκτέοι, ἵνα δὴ ἐν συγκρίσει ἀποδείξωμεν πολλαῖς γενεαῖς πρεσβυτέραν τὴν κατὰ Ἑβραίους φιλοσοφίαν.

English · Claude translation

Then Carneades succeeded Hegesinus, and those after him. Zeno of Citium, the founder of the Stoic school, became a pupil of Crates. Cleanthes succeeded him, then Chrysippus and those after him. Xenophanes of Colophon founded the Eleatic school; Timaeus says he lived in the time of Hiero, the ruler of Sicily, and of Epicharmus the poet, while Apollodorus says that, born about the … fortieth Olympiad, he lived on to the times of Darius and Cyrus. Parmenides was a hearer of Xenophanes, Zeno of him, then Leucippus, then Democritus. The hearers of Democritus were Protagoras of Abdera and Metrodorus of Chios, whose pupil was Diogenes of Smyrna; his was Anaxarchus, and his Pyrrho, and his Nausiphanes. Some say that Epicurus was his pupil. This, then, is the succession of the philosophers among the Greeks in summary; the dates of the founders of their philosophy must be given next, so that we may show by comparison that the philosophy of the Hebrews is many generations older.

About this passage

Source
Stählin 2:40–41 · Otto Stählin, ed., Clemens Alexandrinus, vol. 2, Stromata Buch I–VI, GCS 15 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1906); vol. 3, Stromata Buch VII und VIII, GCS 17 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1909) · Greek text: Otto Stählin, Clemens Alexandrinus 2–3 (GCS 15, 17, 1906–1909), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA 4.0
Text
As printed in Stählin, GCS 15, 17. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; the problem in this passage is discussed in the notes.
Translation
Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Stählin (1906–1909); made independently of existing English translations.
Compare
Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 2 (1885) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made) · Book 3 is left partly untranslated (in Latin) there.
Topics
Scripture and canon

Notes

Translation notes

  • The number of the Olympiad is corrupt (dagger).

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (wrong accent on the relative ὃν): Κλεάνθης, ὅν Χρύσιππος → Κλεάνθης, ὃν Χρύσιππος; ὅν φησι Τίμαιος → ὃν φησι Τίμαιος.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 1.14.64 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/1/14/64/).

Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 1.14.64 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/1/14/64/).

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