# Ariston of Chios — The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers character guide

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

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Ariston, Chios

**First appearance:** 0065-ariston

## Snapshot

Ariston of Chios, a Stoic pupil of Zeno, appears here mostly as a name in the chain of succession that runs from Thales through the early philosophers.

## Who they are

Ariston of Chios studies under Zeno and belongs to the first generation of Stoics, but in Diogenes Laërtius he surfaces chiefly in the roll-call of thinkers — Pherecydes, Anaximander, Thales — whose lives and doctrines form the book's opening sweep. The surrounding passages dwell on Pherecydes eaten by lice, on Anaximander's infinity and gnomon, on the fragile, human texture of early philosophy. Ariston matters as one of the many successors whose names anchor the Stoic lineage in the larger story of Greek thought.

## In the story

### [Book VI: The Cynics and the Rise of Stoicism](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_lives_and_opinions_of_eminent_philosophers_se/chapters/book-vi)

Stoic philosopher; mentioned as rejecting logic and natural philosophy, focusing only on ethics; his views aligned with Cynic doctrines.

### [Menedemus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_lives_and_opinions_of_eminent_philosophers_se/chapters/menedemus)

Mentioned as a philosopher who, like the Cynics, rejected logic and natural philosophy in favor of ethics.

### [Ariston](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_lives_and_opinions_of_eminent_philosophers_se/chapters/ariston)

The main subject of the chapter; a Stoic philosopher who advocated indifference to intermediate things, rejected physics and logic, and defined virtue as behavior in a certain manner.

## Links

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