The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers · Character
Heraclides Ponticus
A voluminous Platonic writer and astronomer, nicknamed 'Pompicus' for his elegant dress, who reportedly proposed that the earth rotates.
supporting
Also known as Heraclides, Ponticus
First appearance: Heraclides
As a supporting figure in The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, Heraclides Ponticus is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.
Referenced for his account of Periander's family and the story of his wife's death.
Heraclides Ponticus was a wealthy native of Heraclea who studied under Speusippus, Aristotle, and the Pythagoreans, and wrote an astonishing range of dialogues on everything from justice to the heavenly bodies. The Athenians called him Pompicus because of his fine clothes and imposing size, yet he was known for quiet manners and noble bearing. He also, according to one tradition, freed his city from tyrants by killing the monarch, and his reported deathbed scheme involving a hidden serpent shows how thin the line between philosopher and legend could become in the Lives.
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- Other
Character groups
- Pre-Socratics and Skeptics
- Protagonist
- Major Philosophers and Biographers
- Pre-Socratic and Eleatic Thinkers
- Socratic Circle and Historian
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Monimus’s feigned madness and destruction of the money is the emotional and psychological peak because it dram…
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See Heraclides Ponticus in Heraclides