Chrysippus

Chrȳsippus, i, m., = Χρύσιππος.

• One of the most distinguished of the Stoic philosophers, from Soli, in Cilicia, a pupil of Cleanthes and Zeno, Cic. Ac. 2 (Luc.), 23, 73; 2, 24, 75; 2, 27, 87 al.; id. de Or. 1, 11, 50; id. Fat. 4, 7; Hor. S. 2, 3, 44; id. Ep. 1, 2, 4; Sen. Ep. 113, 18; Lact. 3, 18, 15; Pers. 6, 80. —Hence,
• • B Chrȳsippēus, a, um, adj., of Chrysippus, Cic. Ac. 2 (Luc.), 30, 96: sophisma, Hier. Ep. 69, 2.—
• II A physician of Cnidus, in the time of Alexander the Great, Plin. 20, 3, 8, § 17; 20, 10, 43, § 111.
• —Hence, chrȳ-sippēa, ae, f. (sc. herba), a plant named after him, Plin. 26, 9, 60, § 93.—
• III A freedman of Cicero, Cic. Att. 7, 2, 8 al.—
• IV Chrysippus Vettius, an architect, Cic. Fam. 7, 14, 1; id. Att. 13, 29, 2 al.

Chrȳsippus, ī, m. (Χρύσιππος), I) aus Tarsus od. Soli in Cilicien (dah. ὁ Σολεύς), geb. um 282 v. Chr., ein berühmter stoischer Philosoph, Schüler des Zeno u. Kleanthes, Cic. Acad. 2, 75 u. 87. Sen. ep. 113, 18 sq. Lact. 3, 18, 15: Erfinder des Sorites (Haufenschlusses), Pers. 6, 80. – Plur., omnes Zenones et Chrysippi, alle Z. u. Chr. (= alle Anhänger des Z. u. Chr., d.i. alle Stoiker), Sen. ep. 22, 11. – II) ein gelehrter Freigelassener des Cicero, der sich mehrerer Vergehen schuldig machte, weshalb Cicero seine Freilassung für ungültig erklärte, Cic. ad Q. fr. 3, 4, 5; ad Att. 7, 2, 8 u. 5, 3. – III) ein Freigelassener des Architekten Cyrus, selbst Architekt, Cic. ep. 7, 14, 1 sq.; ad Att. 13, 29, 2; 14, 9, 1. – Dav. Chrȳsippēus, a, um, chrysippëisch, des Chrysippus, haec Chrysippea sunt, Cic.: sophisma Chr., Hieron. – subst. Chrȳsippēa, ae, f. (sc. herba), eine nach einem Chrysippus (ihrem Entdecker) benannte Pflanze, Plin. 26, 93.

Chrȳsippus, (11) ī, m. , Chrysippe : philosophe stoïcien : Cic. Fin. 2, 43 || affranchi de Cicéron : Cic. Att. 7, 2, 8 || -ēus, a, um, de Chrysippe [le philosophe] : Cic. Ac. 2, 96.

Chrysippus

(Χρύσιππος), a son of Pelops by the nymph Axioche or by Danaus (Plut. Parall. Hist. Gr. et Rom. 33), and accordingly a stepbrother of Alcathous, Atreus, and Thyestes. While still a boy, he was carried off by king Laius of Thebes, who instructed him in driving a chariot. (Apollod. 3.5.5.) According to others, he was carried off by Theseus during the contests celebrated by Pelops (Hygin. Feb. 271); but Pelops recovered him by force of arms. His step-mother Hippodamieia hated him, and induced her solns Atreus and Thyestes to kill him; whereas, according to another tradition, Chrysippus was killed by his either Pelops himself. (Paus. 6.20.4; Hygin. Flb. 85; Schol. ad Thuc. 1.9.) A second mythical Chrysippus is mentioned by Apollodorus (2.1.5). [L.S]

Chrysippus

(Χρύσιππος).

1. Of Tyana, a learned writer on the art of cookery, or more properly speaking, on the art of making bread or sweetmeats, is called by Athenaeus σοφὸς πεμματολόψος, and seems to have been little known before the time of the latter author. One of his works treated specially of the art of bread-making, and was entitled Ἀρτοκοπικός. (Athen. 3.113, xiv. pp. 647, c., 648, a. c.)

Chrysippus

2. The author of a work entitled Ἰταλικά. (Plut. Parall. Min. 28.)

Chrysippus

a learned freedman of Cicero, who ordered him to attend upon his son ill B. C. 52; but as he left young Marcus without the knowledge of his patron, Cicero determined to declare his manumission void. As, however, we find Chrysippus in the confidence of Cicero again in B. C. 48, he probably did not carry his threat into effect. (Cic. ad Q. Fr. 3.4, 5, ad Att. 7.2, 5,11.)

Chrysippus , Ve'ttius

a freedman of the architect Cyrus, and himself also an architect. (Cic. Fam. 7.14, ad Att. 13.29, 14.9.)

Chrysippus

(Χρύσιππος), a Stoic philosopher, son of Apollonius of Tarsus, but born himself at Soli in Cilicia. When young, he lost his paternal property, for some reason unknown to us, and went to Athens, where he became the disciple of Cleanthes, who was then at the head of the Stoical school. Some say that he even heard Zeno, a possible but not probable statement, as Zeno died B. C. 264, and Chrysippus was born B. C. 280. He does not appear to have embraced the doctrines of the Stoics without considerable hesitation, as we hear that he studied the Academic philosophy, and for some time openly dissented from Cleanthes. Disliking the Academic scepticism, he became one of the most strenuous supporters of the principle, that knowledge is attainable and may be established on certain foundations. Hence, though not the founder of the Stoic school, he was the first person who based its doctrines on a plausible system of reasoning, so that it was said, "if Chrysippus had not existed, the Porch could not have been" (D. L. 7.183), and along the later Stoics his opinions had more weight than those of either Zeno or Cleanthes, and he was considered an authority from which there was no appeal. He died B. C. 207, aged 73 (Laert. l.c.), though Valerins Maximus (8.7.10) says, that he lived till past 80. Various stories are handed down by tradition to account for his death--as that he died from a fit of laughter on seeing a donkey eat figs, or that he fell sick at a sacrificial feast, and died five days after.

With regard to the worth of Chrysippus as a philosopher, it is the opinion of Ritter that, in spite of the common statement that he differed ill some points from Zeno and Cleanthes (Cic. Aced. 2.47), he was not in truth so much the author of any new doctrines as the successful opponent of those who dissented from the existing Stoic system, and the inventor of new arguments in its support. With the reasoning of his predecessors he appears to have been dissatisfied, from the story of his telling Cleanthes that he only wished to learn the principles of his school, and would himself provide arguments to defend them. Besides his struggles against the Academy, he felt very strongly the dangerous influence of the Epicurean system; and in order to counterbalance the seductive influence of their moral theory, he seems to have wished in some degree to popularize the Stoic doctrine, and to give to the study of ethics a more prominent place than was consistent with his statement, that physics (under which he included the whole science of theology, or investigations into the nature of God) was the highest branch of philosophy. This is one of the contradictions for which he is reproached by Plutarch, whose work De Stoicoruma Repugneantiis is written chiefly against his inconsistencies, some of which are important, some merely verbal. The third of the ancient divisions of philosophy, logic (or the theory of the sources of human knowledge), was not considered by Chrysippus of the same importance as it had appeared to Plato and Aristotle; and he followed the Epicureans in calling it rather the organum of philosophy than a part of philosophy itself. He was also strongly opposed to another opinion of Aristotle, viz. that a life of contemplative solitude is best suited to the wise man--considering this a mere pretext for selfish enjoyment, and extolling a life of energy and activity. (Plut. de Stoic. Rep. ii.)

Chrysippus is pronounced by Cicero (de Nat. Deor. 3.10) "homo sine dubio versutus, et callidus," and the same character of quickness and sagacity was generally attributed to him by the ancients. Works

Chrysippus' industry was so great, that he is said to have seldom written less than 500 lines a-day, and to have left behind him 705 works.

These however seem to have consisted very largely of quotations, and to have been undistinguished for elegance of style. Though none of them are extant, yet his fragments are much more numerous than those of his two predecessors. His erudition was profound, he is called by Cicero (Tusc. 1.45) "in omni historia curiosus," and he appears to have overlooked no branch of study except mathematics and natural philosophy, which were neglected by the Stoics till the time of Posidonius. His taste for analysing and refuting fallacies and sophistical subtleties was derived from the Megarians (Plut. Stoic. Rep. x.) : in the whole of this branch of reasoning he was very successful, and has left numerous treatises on the subject, e.g. περὶ τῶν πέντε πτωσέων, περὶ λεξέων, κ. τ. λ. (D. L. 7.192, 193.) He was the inventor of the kind of argument called Sorites. (Chrysippi acervus, Pers. Sat. 6.80.) Physical Appearence

In person he was so slight, that his statue in the Cerameicus was hidden by a neighbouring figure of a horse; whence Carneades, who, as head of the Academy, bore him no great goodwill, gave him the soubriquet of Κρύψιππος. Further Information

Orelli, Onom. Tull. ii. p. 144; Ritter, Geschichte der Phil. 11.5, 1; Brucker, Hist. Crit. Phil. Ii. 2.9, 2; Baguet, de Chrysippi vita, doctrina et reliquiis Comment. Lovan. 1822; Petersen, Philosophiae Chrysippeae Fundamenta, Alton. 1827.

The general account of the doctrine of the Stoics is given under Zeno. [G.E.L.C]

Chrysippus

(Χρύσιππος), the name of several physicians, who have been frequently confounded together, and whom it is sometimes difficult to distinguish with certainty.

Chrysippus

1. Of Cnidos, has sometimes been confounded with the celebrated Stoic philosopher of the same name, who, however, lived about a century later. He was the son of Erineus (D. L. 8.89), and must have lived in the fourth century B. C., as he was a contemporary of Praxagoras (Cels. De Med. Praef. lib. i. p. 5; Plin. Nat. 26.6), a pupil of Eudoxus of Cnidos and Philistion (Diog. Laert. l.c.), father of Chrysippus the physician to Ptolemy Soter (id. 7.186), and tutor to Erasistratus (id. l.c. ; Plin. Nat. 29.3; Galen, De Ven. Sect. adv Erasistr. 100.7, vol. xi. p. 171), Aristogenes (id. De Ven. sect. adv. Erasistr. Rom. Deg. 100.2, et De Cur. Rat. per Ven. Sect. 100.2, vol. xi. pp. 197, 252), Medius (id. ibid.), and Metrodorus. (Sext. Empir. cont. Mathem. 1.12, p. 271, ed. Fabric.) He accompanied his tutor Eudoxus into Egypt (D. L. 8.87), but nothing more is known of the events of his life. He wrote several works, which are not now extant, and Galen says (De Vcn. Sect. adv. Ertisislr. Rom. Deg. 100.5, vol. xi. p. 221), that even in his time they were in danger of being lost. Several of his medical opinions are, however, preserved by Galen, by whom he is frequently quoted and referred to. (De Ven. Sect. adv. Erasistr., &c., vol. xi. pp. 149, &c., 171, &c., 197, 221, &c.)

Chrysippus

2. The son of the preceding, was a physician to Ptolemy Soter, king of Egypt, B. C. 323-283, and was falsely accused, scourged, and put to death, but on what charge is not mentioned. (D. L. 7.186.)

Chrysippus

3. A pupil of Erasistratus (D. L. 7.186), who must have lived therefore in the third century B. C. Some persons think he was the author of the work De Brassica, "On the Cabbage," mentioned by Pliny (Plin. Nat. 20.33) and Plinius Valerianus (De Med. 4.29), but this is quite uncertain.

Chrysippus

4. A writer on Agriculture, Γεωρψικά, mentioned by Diogenes Laertius (7.186), and distinguished by him from the pupil of Erasistratus.

Chrysippus

5. A follower of Asclepiades, who must therefore (if Asclepiades of Bithynia be the person meant) have lived in the first century B. C. One of his works is quoted by Caelius Aurelianus (De Morb. Chron. 4.8, p. 537), and a physician of the same name is mentioned by him, in several other passages (pp. 99, 107, 323, 376), but whether the same person be meant in each passage is uncertain.

Chrysippus

6. A native of Cilicia, who may perhaps have been the tutor of Athenaeus (who was also born in Cilicia), as Galen calls him the great-grandfather of the sect of the Pneumatici. (De Diff. Puls. 2.10, vol. viii. p. 631.) He lived probably about the beginning of the Christian aera. [W.A.G]

Chrysippus

(Χρύσιππος), a native of Cappadocia, was a celebrated ecclesiastical writer, who lived during the middle of the fifth century of the Christian aera. Chrysippus had two brothers, Cosmas and Gabriel, all of whom received a learned education in Syria, and were afterwards intrusted to the care of the abbot Euthymius at Jerusalem. There Chrysippus took orders, and became Oeconomus in the "Monasterium Laurae," praefect of the church of the Holy Resurrection, and custos of the church of the Holy Cross, an office which he held during ten years. He wrote many works on ecclesiastical matters, and his style is at once elegant and concise; but his productions are lost except a treatise entitled "Homilia de Sancta Deipara," which is contained with a Latin translation in the second volume of "Auctuarius Duceanus," and some fragments of a small work entitled "Encomium Theodori Martyris," which are extant in Eustathius Constantinopolitanus " Liber de Statu Vitae Functorum." (Cave, Hist. Liter. vol. i. p. 357.) [W.P]

Chrysippus

(Χρύσιππος). (1) A son of Pelops, carried off by Laius (Apollod.iii.5.6). This circumstance became a theme with many ancient writers, and hence the story assumed different shapes, according to the fancy of those who handled it. The death of Chrysippus was also related in different ways. According to the common account, he was slain by Atreus, at the instigation of his step-mother, Hippodamia. (Gonsult Heyne ad loc.).

(2) A Stoic philosopher of Soli in Cilicia Campestris. He fixed his residence at Athens, and became a disciple of Cleanthes, the successor of Zeno. He was equally distinguished for natural abilities and industry, seldom suffering a day to elapse without writing 500 lines. He wrote several hundred volumes, of which three hundred were on logical subjects, but in all he borrowed largely from others. He maintained, with the Stoics in general, that the world was God, or a universal effusion of his spirit, and that the superior part of this spirit, which consisted in mind and reason, was the common nature of things, containing the whole and every part. Sometimes he speaks of God as the power of fate and the necessary chain of events; sometimes he calls him fire; and sometimes he deifies the fluid parts of nature, as water and air; and again, the earth, sun, moon, and stars, and the universe in which these are comprehended, and even those men who have obtained immortality. He was very fond of the figure sorites in arguing, which is hence called by Persius “the heap of Chrysippus.” His discourses abounded more in curious subtleties and nice distinctions than in solid arguments. In disputation, in which he spent the greatest part of his life, he discovered a degree of promptitude and confidence which approached towards audacity. He often said to his preceptor, “Give me doctrines, and I will find arguments to support them.” It was a singular proof of his haughty spirit that when a certain person asked him what preceptor he would advise him to choose for his son, he said, “Me; for if I thought any philosopher excelled me, I would myself become his pupil.” With so much contempt did he look down upon the distinctions of rank that he would never, as other philosophers did, pay his court to princes or great men, by dedicating to them any of his writings. The vehemence and arrogance with which he supported his tenets created him many adversaries, particularly in the Academic and Epicurean sects. Even his friends of the Stoic School complained that, in the warmth of dispute, while he was attempting to load his adversary with the reproach of obscurity and absurdity, his own ingenuity often failed him, and he adopted such unusual and illogical modes of reasoning as gave his opponents great advantages over him. It was also a common practice with Chrysippus, at different times, to take the opposite sides of the same question, and thus furnish his antagonists with weapons which might easily be turned, as occasion offered, against himself. Carneades, who was one of his most able and skilful adversaries, frequently availed himself of this circumstance, and refuted Chrysippus by convicting him of inconsistency. Of his writings (he is said to have published 700 works in all) nothing remains, except a few extracts which are preserved in the works of Cicero, Plutarch, Seneca, and Aulus Gellius. These fragments were collected and edited by Petersen in 1827. He died in the 143d Olympiad, B.C. 208, at the age of eighty-three. A statue was erected to his memory by Ptolemy. See the account in Zeller's Stoics, Epicureans, and Sceptics (Eng. trans. London, 1870).