# Anaxarchus — The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers character guide

> Anaxarchus in The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers by Diogenes Laërtius.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0090-anaxarchus

## Snapshot

A Democritean philosopher whose legendary composure under torture made him a byword for equanimity in the face of tyranny.

## Who they are

Anaxarchus belonged to the school of Democritus and traveled with Alexander's circle, where his calm indifference to fortune became the stuff of anecdote. His most famous moment comes when a tyrant orders him pounded in a mortar, and he reportedly tells his tormentor to pound the sack that holds Anaxarchus, not Anaxarchus himself. That defiant detachment, paired with his association with the conqueror's court, makes him a vivid early example of how Greek philosophers negotiated the line between political power and personal freedom.

## Relationships

### [Pyrrho](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_lives_and_opinions_of_eminent_philosophers_se/characters/pyrrho)

_professional_

Anaxarchus was a teacher of Pyrrho, influencing his skeptical philosophy.

## In the story

### [Anaxarchus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_lives_and_opinions_of_eminent_philosophers_se/chapters/anaxarchus)

Protagonist of the chapter; a philosopher of Abdera, pupil of Diogenes of Smyrna or Metrodorus of Chios, intimate of Alexander, known for his calmness and famous death by pounding.

### [Pyrrho](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_lives_and_opinions_of_eminent_philosophers_se/chapters/pyrrho)

Pyrrho's teacher and companion; Pyrrho accompanied him to India and learned from the Gymnosophists and Magi.

## Links

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