Of the various qualities attributed to Empedocles, humility was not one of them. He is quoted as saying: “I am among you as an immortal god, no longer mortal, honored by you all, wreathed in garlands and crowns.” As a physician, he earned this reputation by performing some noteworthy feats, such as saving the Sicilian […]
Monthly Archives: November 2021
47. Anaxagoras – Mind as the Origin of the Universe
According to the Roman historian Valerius Maximus, when Anaxagoras returned to his hometown of Clazomenae, Ionia after an extended journey abroad, he saw that his estate had been abandoned. Rather than become despondent as many people would, he simply said, “Unless they had perished, I would not have been saved.”1 As the story goes, after […]