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

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

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0016-anaximander

## Snapshot

The first philosopher to write in prose and to call the boundless the source of all things, opening the door to a cosmos without gods.

## Who they are

Anaximander of Miletus was a pupil of Thales who refused to name a familiar element as the first principle, positing instead the apeiron — the boundless, indefinite stuff from which all worlds emerge and to which they return. He drew the first map of the known world and speculated on the origins of life, but his real importance lies in his method: he wrote in prose, argued from evidence, and left the gods out of the story of creation. He is the hinge on which Greek thought turns from myth to philosophy.

## In the story

### [Anaximander](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_lives_and_opinions_of_eminent_philosophers_se/chapters/anaximander)

Main subject of the chapter; Milesian philosopher who proposed the Infinite as the first principle, invented the gnomon and sundials, and created early maps and a globe.

### [Anaximenes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_lives_and_opinions_of_eminent_philosophers_se/chapters/anaximenes)

Teacher of Anaximenes; mentioned as his philosophical predecessor.

### [Xenophanes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_lives_and_opinions_of_eminent_philosophers_se/chapters/xenophanes)

Mentioned as a contemporary of Xenophanes according to Sotion.

### [Parmenides](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_lives_and_opinions_of_eminent_philosophers_se/chapters/parmenides)

Listed by Theophrastus as another teacher of Parmenides.

## Links

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- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_lives_and_opinions_of_eminent_philosophers_se/characters