ODES TO THE GREATS:
A Philosophy Lesson In Verse:
The Pre-Socratics
by Valerie Lynn Stephens
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or introduced into a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means (including electronic, photocopying, mechanical, manual or otherwise) without the prior express and written consent of the owner of the copyright of this book. ©2017 Valerie Lynn Stephens.
ISBN #: 978-1-329-29330-4
ODE TO ABROTELIA
Iamblichus gave me mention, one of fifteen,
In 'Life of Pythagoras' the ladies were keen,
B.C.E. 5th century Tarentum.
Abroteles was my father,
Who thought me no bother,
As I gained Pythagorean momentum.
ODE TO ACRION
Known from Valerius Maximus' 'Cicero' mention,
Lived in mind-space of Pythagorean dimension,
A shapely realm of configurations precise.
Rhetorical studies also embraced,
The art of persuasion thereby aced,
Employed in an intellective paradise.
ODE TO AEDESIA
With Neoplatonic School for a spell,
Studied in Athens, & was received well,
After husband Hermias' death.
Damascius presided, to fancifully converse,
My funeral oration in hexameter verse,
Legacy lived on, after last breath.
ODE TO AESARA
'On Human Nature' writ in Doric prose,
Law & Justice are innate, I presuppose,
A premise & insight, far from jejunal.
A human soul in three parts: Mind, Spirit, & Desire,
Providing guide to Morality, & aspirations higher,
In realms private, familial & communal.
ODE TO ALCMAEON OF CROTON
'Sapheneia' belongs to the gods alone,
Contraries are, first principles known,
All subordinate to Soul & 'Dunameis'.
'Isonomia' required for good health & joy,
Sense organs link to brain through 'poroi',
'Sperma' via 'encephalogenetic' device.
ODE TO ALEXINUS
Successor of Euclides' Megarian school,
Dialectical pursuits were the class rule,
'Parabole' gainfully employed.
Sensorial knowledge is most unreliable,
Sophistic paradox deemed more viable,
A willful entry, into the void.
ODE TO ANACHARSIS
Wise men speak, & fools decide,
'Tis 'Scythian discourse' true & tried,
These & other “Eluesinian Mysteries' took rise.
Simplicity of living, & three grapes on a vine,
Pleasure, drunkenness, repentance 'tis Life's wine,
'Tho laws like spider webs, catch only smaller flies.
ODE TO ANAXAGORAS
'Matter' is separate from 'Mind',
Caught in 'anima mundi' bind,
Including all forms, which are discrete.
'Nous' is the mind-force behind all matter,
'Free source of all movement', former & latter,
From causative vortex, elements accrete.
ODE TO ANAXILAUS
Misunderstandings cause banishment from Rome,
“Magical” properties of Nature's bounty down home,
A discovery posed before its time brings resistance.
Pythagorean interests were also pursued,
While intellective dividends richly accrued,
A legacy left thanks to successors' persistence.
ODE TO ANAXIMANDER OF MILETUS
The sun lights the moon, he found,
And the earth may also be round,
Birthed from first elements, hot and cold.
All is 'living mass' filling up space,
Granted motion of creational grace,
By 'Apeiron', for destinational manifold.
ODE TO ANAXIMENES
Air is the Creator & the Sustainer,
And Soul is the glue of the human container,
Whilst celestial bodies form Earth's revolving halo.
The seven formative elements are thus,
Fire-Air-Wind-Cloud-Water-Earth-Stone, plus,
A self-sustaining system, in naturam utero.
ODE TO ANDROCYDES
'Symbola', 'Akousmata', & 'Enigmata',
Grasp of things Divine, were desiderata,
Via 'ephesia grammata', just say the 'magic words'.
Dietary habits, of wine & meat, deprived,
'On Pythagorean Symbols' in fragments, survived,
Composed of allegories, thus obscured for nerds.
ODE TO ANTIMOERUS
Sophistry was my pursuit,
A Pythagorean recruit,
With intent to be sophist & not politician.
A native of Mende in Thrace of Greece,
Lent to Pythagoras' disciple increase,
According to scholarly tradition.
ODE TO ANTIPHON THE SOPHIST
Between 'physis' & 'nomos', of which, to take heed?
Nature, in most cases, should primarily proceed,
To achieve authentic health & self-restraint.
Phenomenal Perception may not bring true knowledge,
Nor may the kind they can teach you at college,
As a sinner is so easily deemed a saint.
ODE TO ARCHELAUS
Not to be confused with the Macedonian King,
Natural philosophy was my main thing,
'Air' & 'Infinity' deemed, first principle forces.
Will of material Mind causes concomitant motion,
Cold-warm, water-fire, posits passive-active notion,
Other theories culled, from Anaxagorean sources.
ODE TO ARCHYTAS
Duplication of cube & tetrachordal division,
'Logismos' exalted as highest provision,
Along with 'Quadrivium', the sister sciences.
Geometry & mechanics, elegantly synthesized,
Universe as infinite, affirmatively apprised,
All these & more, form invaluable alliances.
ODE TO ARIGNOTE
Explored mysteries of Demeter in 'Bacchica' salute,
Ascribed 'eternal essence of number' as provident root,
Entitled 'Sacred Narrative', so the 'Suda' reports.
Other writings extant in Porphyry's day,
Made Pythagorean sense in each their own way,
Fodder for cleverly crafted, numerological retorts.
ODE TO ARISTEAS OF PROCONNESUS
Poem 'Arimaspea' told mythic tales of far North travails,
With 'Arimaspi' & 'Hyperboreans', the stuff of folktales,
As Herodotus in 'The Histories', ascribed legendary esteem.
Became sacred raven 250 years after earthly end,
To travel with Apollo, whose altar I sought to amend,
Also acting as counsel to the 'Endless', known as Dream.
ODE TO ASPASIA
'Clever with words'-a paragon of wisdom & wit,
Spoke 'Suda' & 'Lucien' & into the annals was I writ,
Mistress of Pericles & counsel of Socrates also noted.
Plutarch thought me, the catalyst for war,
Others speculate 'hetaera' was my lore,
Works of Art & Lit were, to my legend, devoted.
ODE TO BIAS OF PRIENE
One of the Seven Sages, held in very high regard,
Wisdom & virtue abounded, like words from a Bard,
'Omnia mea mecum porto', inside my heart & mind.
Bust in Vatican Hall of Philosophers is maxim-clad,
With one oft quoted, “Most men are bad”,
'Tho most agreed in my day, I was of no such kind.
ODE TO BOLUS OF MENDES
'Natural medical remedies', in 'Medical Art' are cited,
'Resources from nature' can also cure the blighted,
These things pondered in Egypt, later deemed sound.
School of Democritus, thought to be main root,
'Inquiry' also penned, on subjects less than moot,
A Pythagorean bent to notions, also to be found.
ODE TO BRONTINUS
'Transcending all Essence, Reason, Dignity & Power',
Abideth the 'Monad', in its imponderable tower,
A Neo-platonian premise, & Syrianic sequitur.
A friend of Pythagoras himself, circa 6th century, B.C.E.,
A dedication by Alcmaeon was also attributed to me,
And some Orphic poems, 'tho authorship is unsure.
ODE TO CALLICLES
Excess & license, to Happiness & Virtue lead,
'Tween 'nomos' & 'physis', one should take heed:
The 'naturally superior' should hold most power.
And concerning the issue of my historicity,
Plato says so in 'Gorgias', & thus must it be,
As the annals of historical claim, grow by the hour.
ODE TO CALLIPHON OF CROTON
Chief priest at Croton, & Pythagoras' main man,
Dabbled in civic affairs as well, within my land,
As Hermippas gave me most mention.
Pythagoras claimed my soul nary left his side,
'Never speak ill of any man', also should abide,
Noted by Josephus, with honorable intention.
ODE TO CEBES OF THEBES
Appeared in Plato's 'Phaedo' forsooth,
An earnest seeker of Virtue & Truth,
Full of eloquence & circumspection.
Among Socrates' inner circle of mates,
Who frequented hetaeras for dates,
So as to avoid disaffection.
ODE TO CERCOPS
'Tho my historicity remains unsure,
As Aristotle & others did abjure,
I am said to have been a fine Orphic poet.
Epigenes was one who taught,
Not wanting me to come to naught,
Assigning to me the 'ἱερος λογός, to show it.'
ODE TO CHILON OF SPARTA
Elected 'ephor' in Sparta, later declared 'Sage' of the 7,
A coup over tyranny in Sicyon, made of Hell a Heaven,
And establishment of 'Peloponnesian League.'
Advised on pertinent matters for Soul's defense,
Such as 'not letting one's tongue outrun one's sense',
Which may only bring on, a blitzkrieg.
ODE TO CLEINIAS OF TARENTUM
Whenever stressed, I played on my harp,
Pythagorean octaves thus struck sharp,
And Democritus' writings saved from Plato's pyre.
To my fellows, I lent many a helping hand,
Like Prorus who dwelled in Cyrenean land,
Whose misfortune was quelled along with his ire.
ODE TO CLEOBULUS OF RHODES
A poet, '7 Sage' & native of Lindos, Greece,
Deemed 'Tyrant' by Plutarch, 'tho I sought peace,
As many others found my counsel, quite fulfilling.
Cleobulina, a daughter of hexameter riddle,
Tried her best, to meet life in the middle,
Proving 'fond of learning, rather than unwilling'.
ODE TO CRATYLUS
'Tho all things are in, constant, total flux,
So each thing is named, exactly what it must,
A radical Heraclitean, loyal to the end.
Plato thought to have been inspired,
By some of the thoughts thus transpired,
'Tho everything is still, dust in the wind.
ODE TO DAMON
'Tho my story, mere legend might be,
Indeed I had, friends of at least three,
Dionysius the Tyrant, and Phintias my friend-his foe.
The former condemned the latter to die,
'Tho granting him, a final goodbye,
That if he fail return, would I then go, quid pro quo.
ODE TO DEMOCRITUS
The macroscopic is merely 'subjective',
And subatomic reality is no elective,
Each atom's weight, in proportion to its size.
Multiverses flourish, formed in vortical fashion,
'Euthumia' is found, when one strays from passion,
As 'nothing can be fully known', in our current guise.
ODE TO DIOGENES OF APOLLONIA
The 'polytropy' of air giveth rise,
To all things seen & unseen, I surmise,
Circulating in labyrinth of earthly vesicles & 'semeia'.
Intellect is immanent to substance of aerial root,
A refutation of Empedoclean pluralism to boot,
As no change can be without foundational stria.
ODE TO DIOTIMA OF MANTINEA
'Philosophy of love' in 'Symposium' by Plato, was mine,
Wooing Socrates & others with such distinctions Divine,
'Eros' described as 'son of resource & need'.
'Platonic' love for another's loveliness & inward beauty,
Leads to love of its Source, & a sense of spiritual duty,
As one's earthly troubles shall soon recede.
ODE TO ECHECRATES
Met with Phaedo to discuss Socrates' last,
A passing which left many mourners aghast,
As Plato payed homage in his own scholarly way.
Also a Pythagorean, 'tho not much more is known,
Yet my love for Socrates in 'Phaedo', was clearly shown,
Philolaus & Eurytus, an apt pupil in me, had they.
ODE TO EPICHARMUS OF KOS
'Muthos' was my dramaturgical forte you see,
Socrates crowning me 'The Prince of Comedy',
'Tho raised by my father in the Asclepiad tradition.
I thought us not doomed according to heredity,
Each person can become what they want to be,
As 'Judgment, not Passion, prevails', with erudition.
ODE TO EUENUS
Thought a son always a terror for his father,
I kicked up, quite a respectable pother,
As both Aristotle & Plato held me in high esteem.
Quoted by Montaigne that 'fire is the spice of life',
'Tho such passion brings, its own brand of strife,
As each life plays out, a dream within a dream.
ODE TO EURYTUS
A teacher of the Pythagoreans' last generation,
Honoured complexity in beings, with veneration,
Each 'whole' unit made up of irreducible parts.
Also taught Echecrates & Plato-yet another perk ,
'Tho this be contested, as well as one surviving work,
I nevertheless live on, in some academicians' hearts.
ODE TO EUTHYDEMUS
'Eristic' arguments reductio ad absurdum,
Mindful speech taught, from oratorical dirdum,
At colony of Thurii, founded 443.
All has every property, at the same time,
Even the words, composing this here rhyme,
'Tho knowledge is limited, but thinking is free.
ODE TO GORGIAS
Master rhetorician & an apt ponderer,
Of the 'Logos', was well-travelled wanderer,
To conclude a rift 'tween 'being', thinking & speech.
'Dikaia apate' found to be a literary loss & gain ,
A 'justified deception' leading us to a higher plane,
'Tho realm 'tween Being & Non, we cannot breach.
ODE TO HERACLITUS
“All things are one”, as guided by the Logos,
Fire, the element of things in the Cosmos,
As well as 'strife', and its attendant impunity.
'Reason' over 'Passion' was mostly stressed,
Reliance on the 'Nomos', is our true test,
As beyond 'Good and Evil', lies perfect unity.
ODE TO HICETAS
A thinker of the Pythagorean praxis,
Sensed the earth moved 'round its axis,
Causing the stars to appear to shift overhead.
'De revolutionibus orbium coelestium' was the work,
In which Copernicus cited me-with one quirk,
When he called me 'Nicetus of Syracuse' instead.
ODE TO HIPPASAS
Credited to me, was the irrational number,
'Tho many would deign, steal my thunder,
Seeing in them being, both odd & even, no logic.
Said to have authored 'The Mystic Discourse',
Whilst dabbling in music theory & its source,
No doubt inducing states, quite hypnogogic.
ODE TO HIPPIAS
First doxography of Pre-Socratics, 'Sunagoge', penned,
'Tho minor fragments are what remained in the end,
And an appearance in Plato's 'Protagoras', as figure of awe.
Proclus credited me with 'quadratrix' invention,
'Tho my term 'Tertragonizousa' also gets mention,
And sentiment that men are equal by nature & not by law.
ODE TO HIPPO
Soul, sensation, semen & Embryology,
These, my main interests of cosmogony,
Water thought the element from whence all came.
Appeared in Censorinus' 'Anonymus Londinensis',
A work of medical literature of ancient consensus,
Many called me 'The Atheist' alongside my name.
ODE TO HIPPOCRATES OF CHIOS
After calling a circle a square,
Many 'Quadratures' lingered there,
Right alongside their Euclidean propositions.
'Tho many deemed,
Such things ill-esteemed,
'Least they weren't built on mere superstitions.
ODE TO ICCUS OF TARANTO
A sportsman of status, 'Magna Grecia' sent,
And an 'LXXVII' victor, of Pythagorean bent,
Deemed father of athletic 'dietology' in my nation.
I abstained from sex & ate a frugal diet,
Before Olympic games-you should try it,
Also included by Plato in 'Sophist' classification.
ODE TO ION OF CHIOS
Contemporary of Aeschylus, & member of Cimon society,
Penned 'Triagmos' and many other works of notoriety,
Eventually earning myself, a dithyrambic & tragic prize.
Titles & fragments remain, of eleven of my plays,
Alongside comedies & poems, writ in my days,
As my elegies in 'Greek Anthology' honour man's demise.
ODE TO LEUCIPPUS
'The Father of Atomism', teaching of 'infinite void',
From atomic collisions come beast & anthropoid,
An 'infinite plurality of indivisible bodies and worlds'.
'On Mind' the sole surviving fragment, 'DK67B2',
'Nothing exists at random', an irreducible brew,
As flag of the 'Great-World-order' endlessly unfurls.
ODE TO LYCO OF IASOS
Wrote polemic on Aristotle's lavish lifestyle,
Suggesting instead, an ascetic self-denial,
In accordance with Pythagorean moderation, you see.
'On the Pythagorean Life', cites this here,
In which I laud Pythagoras' habits austere,
Most likely writ during second half of 4th century B.C.E.
ODE TO LYCOPHRON
The State was established to hold men in toll,
Knowledge is a communion of Body & Soul,
Society & morality being constructs, not innate.
Both the part & the whole may have disparate worth,
Like 'the many-visaged sky of the mighty-peaked earth',
As 'nobility of birth' determines not merit, but Fate.
ODE TO LYSIS OF TARAS
A work of mine was accredited to him,
Pythagoras, my teacher & my friend,
We held another in high esteem, as for Truth we sought.
In Metapontum & Croton, Pythagoreans faced trials,
With crosses-to-bear worn, in indecorous styles,
Thus I escaped to Thebes, where I lived and taught.
ODE TO MELISSA
My name derives from the Greek 'melli', for 'honey',
With eloquence equally mellifluous & on the money,
Member of Pythagoreans, who were later spurned.
Cleareta was my pen pal, in letters of Doric Greek,
I spoke of modesty & virtue, as vows to take & keep,
And obeying one's spouse, with due deference returned.
ODE TO MELISSUS OF SAMOS
An admiral who defeated Athenian fleet under Pericles,
Posed infinitude of being, in 'things' of earth, sky & seas,
A fine contribution made, to the realms of the ontologist.
What is, always was & always will be 'the One',
'Eternal, unlimited, one & all alike' & never none,
'Tho Plato & Aristotle saw me as a Parmenidean apologist.
ODE TO METRODORUS OF CHIOS
'All things which one conceives, must somewhere, exist',
We should therefore presume, diversity to persist,
An infinitude of worlds, all come from atoms & void.
'No-one knows anything, even whether or not we know',
The mind cannot think outside of itself, this, its main woe,
As Skepticism & Atomism remain, suspended in colloid.
ODE TO METRODORUS OF COS
Epicharmus was my friend & dear old Dad,
We kept in the family, the Pythagorean fad,
Whilst I immersed myself within medical science.
On Epicharmus' works, I penned a treatise,
Scholars were born, from this ideational fetus,
Doric declared, Delphic hymns' dialect of poetic giants.
ODE TO METRODORUS OF LAMPSACAS (THE ELDER)
Anaxagoras was a contemporary & friend,
And the works of Homer, my means to an end,
Identifying me, in my dissections, a staunch allegorist.
I was also given mention in Plato's dialogue 'Ion',
Lending many starving Intellects, a shoulder to cry on,
Leaving behind in 464 B.C., fodder for the folklorist.
ODE TO MYIA
My spouse had athletic prowess galore,
Being Milo of Croton, such title he bore,
As a girl I led my local church choir.
And my sires, of renowned academic acclaim,
Were Pythagoras & Theano, you know the name,
I saw moderation, as innermost desire.
ODE TO OCELLUS LUCANUS
In the 5th century, B.C.E., I was born in Lucania,
Of Pythagorean bent, cites encyclopedia Britannica,
A dubious work of mine, did Stobaeus preserve.
Universe is eternal, with divisions of three,
Gods, men & daemons, a familiar trinity,
As asceticism reigns with noble reserve.
ODE TO ONATAS
Earthy mixture of body, defiles purity of soul,
And more than one deity, makes nature flow,
Thus preserved by Stobaeus, from 'On God & the Divine'.
I dwelled in Croton, circa 5th century B.C.E.,
A Pythagorean, dwelling contemplatively,
'Tho the one work cited, is thought not to be mine.
ODE TO PARMENIDES OF ELEA
Without forethought there can, no 'phenomena', be,
'Ex nihilo nihil fit', deduced metaphysically,
In didactic poem, 'Doxai' & 'Truth', & its two tones.
The 'Real' cannot be deduced from that which 'is-not',
Arising from 'Morphai' & 'Dunameis', a 'Monistic' apparat,
A cosmic drama on spherical stage of earth's 'five zones'.
ODE TO PERIANDER
Named the Tyrant of Corinth in history's pages,
Yet claimed by others as one of the 'Seven Sages',
Who invented the 'Diolkos' as a commercial tactic.
The Arts were patronized with Corinth's trading fare,
As the poet Arion came from Lesbos to festivals there,
Leaving my literary mark in a form rather didactic.
ODE TO PERICTIONE
Life to famed Plato, did I birth & deliver,
And descendant of Solon, Athenian lawgiver,
After death of first spouse, was incestuously wed.
Work 'On Wisdom' expounded a philosophical definition,
As 'On The Harmony of Women', displayed my erudition,
Surely this family line, kept minds well-fed.
ODE TO PHERECYDES
Credited with the invention of prose,
Gods and nature, the subjects I chose,
With Zas & Kronos co-eternally existent.
Aristotle thought me, a Theologian keen,
With cosmological views on invisible & seen,
And unsated curiosities, ever insistent.
ODE TO PHANTO OF PHLIUS
As the Pre-Socratic Era came to an end,
This Pythagorean was on the mend,
'Tho Philolaus & Eurytus thought me copacetic.
Aristoxenus was another contemporary,
With tendencies quite extemporary,
'Tho he roamed mindscapes more Peripatetic.
ODE TO PHILOLAUS
'Tween the 'limiters' & 'unlimited' Harmonia lies,
Through numbers things are known, order in disguise,
Defined by their 'archai', a minimum phenomenal set.
Perfect ten of celestial bodies, circle a central fire,
And mind-body correlates, take the Soul higher,
A more Parmenidean Pythagorean, they had never met.
ODE TO PHINTYS
In Stobaeus' 'Eclogae', I am Callicrates progeny & kin,
Advocate of courage & intelligence, in both women & men,
As well as a sense of justice, in times of peace & strife.
Dialected in Doric, are two extracts of work vaulted,
Chastity & modesty, both womanly virtues exalted,
'Tho a dame as well as a gent, should pursue a good life.
ODE TO PITTACUS OF MYTILENE
A Mytilenaen general & a Seven Sage,
I left many marks upon Bartlett's page,
And “Whatever I did, I did it well.”
Socrates thought I spoke barbarian,
Another class-war with root of Valerian,
'Tho omnia mors aequat, as time will tell.
ODE TO POLUS
Pupil of Gorgias & teacher of oratory,
My studies were rhetorically exploratory,
Seeing it as the highest of all human arts.
Yet the darker underbelly of rhetoric's beast,
Is the imminent evil that is unleashed,
By hunger for injustice in the inmost parts.
ODE TO POLEMARCHUS
By the Thirty Tyrants, I was singled out,
For being a wealthy metic with clout,
My execution hence forced, of hemlock to drink.
My family forbade, to hold my funeral at home,
'Tho Plato, in his 'Republic', let my spirit roam,
In Piraeus next to, Shield Manufacturer's, Inc.
ODE TO PYTHAGORAS
The 'Quadrivium' was set, teaching key subjects of Four,
Arithmetic, Geometry, Astronomy & Music, to explore,
As Pythagoreans ruled over Croton, fancy-free.
Last but not least, those Numerological raves,
And a mystical journey of ratios & octaves,
To reach 'metempsychosis' around 490 B.C.E.
ODE TO SIMMIAS OF THEBES
My attunement analogy was deemed imprecise,
Declaring the body ruler of soul, virtue & vice,
For lesser & greater souls, cannot preserve the whole.
If a thing is visible, composite & mortal,
It cannot enter, into Heaven's portal,
Unless 'harmonia' is sought, beyond body & soul.
ODE TO SOLON
“Count no man happy until he be dead”,
These words to Croesus, I sardonically said,
Being an Athenian, statesman, lawmaker & Poet.
I strove to bring equality to society,
Thus bringing me, some notoriety,
Sought economic reform, but couldn't overthrow it.
ODE TO THALES
Philosophy's foundation is laid,
From water all came & is made,
His first but not last cognation.
“Know thyself” & be amazed,
By Creation in its infinite ways,
Of unitary transformation.
ODE TO THEANO
Explored the principle of 'Golden Mean',
That ratio in nature often seen,
In a universe of ten concentric spheres.
Stars are fixed 'round a central fire,
In perfect proportion to sonancies higher,
Numbers the only music one hears.
ODE TO THEMISTOCLEA
Delphic priestess presiding at Delphi,
My pupil Pythagoras would oft stop by,
Where many ideas were exchanged & discussed.
Thought to have been Pythagoras' mentor,
I kept him balanced in his moral center,
Earning from many, respect & trust.
ODE TO THRASYMACHUS
In 'Republic of Plato' thought Socrates wrong,
Justice is 'an advantage of the strong',
Thus when unheeded the highest human good.
Oratories invented of the 'middle style',
With power to persuade & to beguile,
Helping one to be, well-understood.
ODE TO THUCYDIDES
Peloponnesian War in 'Histories' was writ in part,
Before untimely passing-an arrow in my heart,
'Round late 5th century, B.C.E.
“Interests of the many & the few,”
A nice synergy to pursue,
With moderation applied, all can be free.
ODE TO TIMAEUS OF LOCRI
'Tho my historicity flouts the norm,
Plato gave me life in literary form,
A scholar of natural philosophy & astronomy.
'On the Nature of the World & Soul',
My 'cliff-notes' on 'Timaeus' by Plato,
Merging Platonist & Pythagorean autonomy.
ODE TO TIMYCHA
When Syracusian soldiers came to attack,
My unborn child saved my back,
And sacred bean field remained untrodden.
When Dionysius demanded my compliance,
I spat out my tongue in staunch defiance,
Steeped in legend, 'tis this story sodden.
ODE TO XENOPHANES
Monotheism, given its due course,
'The One & All', is the only source,
'Not at all like mortals in body and thought.'
The Eleatic School was thus founded,
With a worldview, quite well-rounded,
And intellective offerings many had long sought.
ODE TO XENOPHILUS
Blessed with earthly tenure of 105,
A 'well-governed state' kept me alive,
One of last Pythagoreans of Athens, 4th century B.C..
Taught Aristoxenes & composed musical score,
Versed in two languages, universally swore,
Achieved Renaissance fame, due to longevity.
ODE TO ZENO OF ELEA
'The Father of Dialectic', thought Aristotle,
All paradox & antinomy, at full-throttle,
Potentials of motion found finite.
Whilst space-time continuity,
And infinite divisibility,
Are determined to be recondite.
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