ODES TO THE GREATS:
A Philosophy Lesson In Verse:
The Socratic & Hellenistic Eras
by Valerie Lynn Stephens
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©2024 Valerie Lynn Stephens
ISBN #: 978-1-304-82265-9
ODE TO ADRASTUS OF APHRODISIAS
A Peripatetic in my own right,
Wrote on works of Aristotelian might,
Of both scientific & philosophical import.
Upon 'Timeaus' by Plato I gave my critique,
Theon & Porphyry thought these unique,
Aristotle's 'Categories' also of report.
ODE TO AEDESIUS
Theurgical Neoplatonist & Iamblichus' student,
Recorded by Eunapius, as deemed prudent,
Polytheism at Pergamon was soon to be revived.
Maximus & Julian, by myself were taught,
Tho' soon-to-be Emperor, would make me distraught,
As Chrysanthius & Eusebius in my place, thrived.
ODE TO AENEAS OF GAZA
Neo-Platonist of Rhetorical School,
Abba Isaiah was main mystical mule,
Ascetically presiding within monastic array.
Didn't believe in Soul's pre-existence,
A body is needed to offer resistance,
Form revives matter upon last day.
ODE TO AENESIDEMUS
Pyrrhonist of 'tropai', or ten skeptical modes,
Sense-data occupies mere ephemeral abodes,
As subjectivity reigns infinite & supreme.
'Pyrrhonian Discourses' explored epistemology,
And its limitations of psychology,
Tho' even Skeptics continue to dream.
ODE TO AESCHINES OF NEAPOLIS
'Paidika' was I first, of Melanthius of Rhodes,
Charmadas & Clitomachus made our abodes,
At Academy of Athens, circa one-ten B.C..
A Peripatetic & a Skeptic,
My thoughts were antiseptic,
Battling infections of unsound ideology.
ODE TO AESCHINES OF SPHETTUS
Witnessed mentor defamed at execution,
Paid homage with Socratic elocution,
Recorded by Laertius to be dialogues of seven.
Noted forbearance of poverty to be,
A better measure of virtuous degree,
And optimal entrance into Heaven.
ODE TO AETIUS
'De Placita Philosophorum' contrasted & viewed,
Natural philosophies Pre-Socratically pursued,
An indispensable doxography of continuity .
Eclectic thought was my preference,
Only the truth received deference,
Seeking a synthesis of philosophical ingenuity.
ODE TO AETIUS OF ANTIOCH
Surnamed 'The Atheist' by many a Trinitarian,
'Anomoeanism' deemed heretical & contrarian,
Worked as theologian, doctor & goldsmith.
Banished by Constantius II then by Julian recalled,
Granted estate in Lesbos, as Arianism enthralled,
'Homoousia' in work 'De Fide' contested as myth.
ODE TO AGAPIUS OF ATHENS
A Neoplatonist in Athens, Greece,
Preaching monism in peace,
As 'Demiurge' & 'Ergon' seek 'Anima Mundi' perfection.
An admired philologist & tough mind,
For Ideal forms, I ever-pined,
Inspiring Christodorus' praise in Proclus collection.
ODE TO AGAPIUS THE MANICHEAN
One of twelve of Mani of Iran,
Hymns & 'Heptalogus' soon spawned,
Dedicated to Urania of scholarly relation.
Apocryphal literature captured my time,
The body is evil but the soul, divine.
Perfected for God through reincarnation.
ODE TO AGATHOBULUS
Cynic dwelling in Alexandria main,
Flourished during Hadrian's reign,
Embracing asceticism in all of its glory.
Demonax & Proteus were pupils,
I schooled them in unworldly scruples,
Not much more known, of my story.
ODE TO AGATHOSTHENES
'Asiatica Carmina' is mentioned of me,
Various explorations in geography,
May have a work on Naxos also attributed.
Tzetzes the poet also noted me in his works,
Quite the paradoxographer with many quirks,
In due fashion, evenly distributed.
ODE TO AGRIPPA THE SKEPTIC
Established the 'five modes' of reason,
In epistemically Pyrrhonic season,
Nothing is deduced except from assumption.
'Diaphonia' then 'Epoche' brings tranquility,
Lest circular logic abound with virility,
Infecting the Intellect with nonsensical consumption.
ODE TO ALBINUS
A mentor of Galen in Platonic bliss ,
Gaius taught me prior to this,
I treated Plato's dialogues in Neoplatonist spirit.
My 'Prologos' divided Plato et. al into classes,
All 'Tetralogies' & their thematic caches,
Teaching these to be read in a series or near it.
ODE TO ALCAEUS & PHILISCUS
With Postumius as our Consul in Rome,
Relegatio was nigh from our home,
Tho' Epicureanism remained staunch.
Charges thought to have been brought,
Corrupting the youth all for naught,
With 'unknown pleasures' & assorted 'raunch.'
ODE TO ALCINOUS
'De Doctrina Platonis', my Middle-Platonist tome,
Explored 36 subjects for pedagogues in Greco-Rome,
In the esoteric 'Corpus Aristotelicum' tradition.
Anima Mundi held to be eternal & Divine,
Ideas proceed from God, in His heavenly clime,
As 'daimones' guide the Soul to transmigratory erudition.
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 AMYNOMACHUS
Son of Philocrates from Attic deme of Bate,
Flourished third century B.C. at a steady rate,
Timocrates & I, soon offered a bargain.
Epicurus left us will-full notoriety,
Bequeathing to Hermarchus & his society,
All effects & benefits of 'The Garden'.
ODE TO ANAXARCHUS
'The Laughing Thinker' was my man,
A Skeptic's schooling according to plan,
Accompanied Alex the Great on Asiatic expeditions.
Called 'Eudaimonikos' by my peers in tow,
Penned 'About the Monarchs' to be in-the-know,
Explored multiverse in theory & metaphysical definitions.
ODE TO ANAXIMENES OF LAMPSACAS
Isocrates my rival in realms rhetorical,
Both 'Logographers' legalistic & historical,
Plutarch was critic of Theopompus piece.
Historian & Cynic, pupil of Diogenes,
Tricked Alex the Great with reverse psychology,
In 12 books, compiled history of Greece.
ODE TO ANDRONICUS OF RHODES
Scholarch of Peripatetic model,
Compiled pinakes of Aristotle,
Taught Boethus of Sidon in Rome.
Human soul a mix of bodily elements,
Emotion bearing illogical relevance,
Where rhetoric & truth find home.
ODE TO (LUCIUS) ANNAEUS CORNUTUS
Stoic flourishing in the time of Nero,
Persius considered me a hero,
Dedicating to me, his fifth satire.
Compiled 'Compendium of Greek Theology' for use,
On Logos, Ocean, Tethys, & Zeus,
Banished when Nero thought me to conspire.
ODE TO ANTIOCHUS OF ASCALON
Taught 'Middle Platonism' at the 'Old Academy,'
Believed in 'katalepsis', of Stoic anatomy,
And living according to nature in human particularity.
'Bios praktikos' & 'theoretikos' should work in tandem,
Matter & 'efficient cause' not separate or random,
Both Spirit & Body bring Eudaimonia & hilarity.
ODE TO ANTIPATER OF CYRENE
Aristippus' Cyrenaic school,
Was for me, a deft tool,
To compensate for blind eyes.
Pleasure & pain,
One in the same,
Are not blessings in disguise.
ODE TO ANTIPATER OF TARSUS
Scho-lleagues called me “Pen-noise” the Great,
Wrote on Stoicism, divination & Fate,
As well as Marriage & Superstition.
Departed from theology of Chrysippus back then,
Saw God as incorruptible & of goodwill to men,
Granting mortals dreams & a priori intuition.
ODE TO ANTIPATER OF TYRE
Preached an orthopraxis of morality,
Due to life's temporality,
As Stoicism remained in season.
'On the Cosmos' duly explored,
'Aether' as primum mobile overlord,
Endowing all with Soul & Reason.
ODE TO APOLLODORUS OF ATHENS
My father gave sound medical advice,
Called 'Pharmacion' by Galen the nice,
Adhered to 'De Medicina' in tripartite division.
Diet, pharmacology & surgery was the rigour,
I embraced them all with vigour,
Exploring bodies of internal & external precision.
ODE TO APOLLODORUS THE EPICUREAN
Prolific penulis I was said to have been,
Epicurean Scholarch of Athenian scene,
I ruled in the 'Garden' with an ironclad mind.
Pupil Zeno of Sidon succeeded me,
His 'Collection of Doctrines' so seated me,
Above even Chrysippus' scholarly grind.
APOLLODORUS OF SELEUCIA
Time is infinite, like the whole number,
Past, present & future unencumbered,
Stobaeus recorded, of my worldview.
Cynicism is the 'short path to virtue',
Some critical thinking surely won't hurt you,
When a fusion of Stoic & Cynic is due.
ODE TO APOLLONIDES
Plutarch recorded in 'Parallel Lives',
Cato the Younger thus arrives,
At Thapsus in Utica battle.
Assigned his ecumenical priest,
When a will for life had ceased,
And he took a suicidal straddle.
ODE TO APOLLONIUS OF CHALCEDON
Guided Marcus Aurelius in matters of life,
Taught Stoic values in lieu of strife,
He thanked the gods for my embrace.
Maintaining my reason,
Was always in season,
I persevered with dignity & grace.
ODE TO APOLLONIUS OF TYANA
Neopythagorean & mystic of early age,
With Damis, was wandering sage,
With wonders & miracles to show.
Summarily executed for my magic,
A life lived, both keen & tragic,
Extrasensory perceptions in tow.
ODE TO APOLLOPHANES OF ANTIOCH
Aristo inspired one of my works,
'Fysiki' was writ during my lurks,
Providing shelter during many an ideational storm.
The human soul has parts, as many as nine,
Prudence, the virtue, keeps Soul refined,
Mundi amores a vacuo, around finite, spherical form.
ODE TO ARCESILAUS
Scholarch of 'New Academy' of Academic Skeptics,
Mere senses cannot decipher esoteric dialectics,
Resisted Zeno's 'katalêptikê phantasia' assertion.
Radical Pyrrhonism had me beguiled,
'Episteme' & 'Doxa', could not be reconciled,
Thus I became, dogmatic in my exertions.
ODE TO ARCHEDEMUS OF TARSUS
Founded Stoic school in Babylon,
By Athenian roads did I travel on,
Settling to pen opera, two of which are known.
'On the Voice' was the first,
'On Elements' none-the-worse,
As more Stoic seedlings were sown.
ODE TO ARCHIMEDES
A venerated polymath in my day,
Many contributions would hold sway,
In physics & the engineering game.
Mathematics & various marvels & inventions,
Would make their way into modern intentions,
Including a lunary crater & range in my name.
ODE TO ARISTOCREON
Schooled by my uncle in the ways of Stoicism,
I ascended to various titles of heroicism,
As Proxenos in Athens, I mainly served.
In honour of Chrysippus, whose life was brave,
A bronze homage whereupon was engraved,
Citing a cerebral prowess unnerved.
ODE TO ARISTO OF CEOS
A pupil of Lyco the Peripatetic,
Cicero thought me anything but pathetic,
My works denounced arrogance unbridled.
Said to have been, a man of taste & elegance,
'Tho my fame barely received relevance,
As my mien is said to have sidled.
ODE TO ARISTO OF CHIOS
Logic, physics & ethics were my focus,
A stringent Cynic of dialectical hocus,
Dubbed 'The Siren' due to eloquence stun.
At the Cynosarges gymnasium temple,
All were invited-this was simple,
'Tho 'Phalanthus' died from too much sun .
ODE TO ARISTOTLE OF CYRENE
Contemporary of Stilpo of Cyrenaic school,
With Cleitarchus & Simmias, I had some pull,
Recorded to have written on the poetic arts.
Aelian recounted, in one of his works,
I advised not to accept favours from jerks,
Lest they bind up, human minds & hearts.
ODE TO ARISTOTLE THE DIALECTITIAN
Within the Dialectical School I thrived ,
A later plot with Deinias was contrived,
To overthrow tyrannical reign within our city.
Abantidas was spared by acts of his father,
Deinias escaped, with hardly a bother,
And my own fate might not have been pretty.
ARISTOTLE OF STAGIRA
A staunch empiricist with a Polymath's heart,
My logistical prowess was keen from the start,
Andronicus of Rhodes could attest in his 'Organon.'
'Dianoia' is practical, poetic or theory,
Although no subject was beyond my query,
Like zoology & phenomena of forthwith & woebegone.
ODE TO ARISTOXENUS OF CYRENE
A Peripatetic of humble note,
On Pythagoras & Plato I wrote,
Was said to indulge in various sensual delights.
'Kolein' was a name given to me,
Due to corpulence born of gluttony,
As 'Aristoxenus-the-ham', also endured many bites.
ODE TO ARISTOXENUS OF TARENTUM
'Elements of Harmony' preserved what I held dear,
I thought the musicians should 'play it by ear',
With the Soul keeping score of all four elements.
Wished to follow after tenure of Aristotle,
'Tho Theophrastus was favoured, full throttle,
I synthesized Pythagoras' notes with Peripatetic elegance.
ODE TO ARISTUS OF ASCALON
Waning in my brother's shadow,
My reputation did lay fallow,
As I floundered at the Platonic School.
After Antiochus' death,
I had waited with bated breath,
To rise above-yet still thought a fool.
ODE TO ARIUS DIDYMUS
A Stoic esteemed by pupil Augustus,
Sparing Alexandria did him justice,
'Tho towards Caesarion, I gave murderous advice.
Also taught in the rhetorical realms,
With a hylozoic view at the helms,
God alone is good, & irrationality, the cardinal vice.
ODE TO ATHENODORUS CANANITES
Was haunted by a ghost of a man in chains,
Interrupting my works, of various strains,
Regaled his bones & now he rests.
In Tarsus I redrafted a new constitution,
Causing an oligarchical revolution,
Held in my honour were posthumous fests.
ODE TO ATHENODORUS OF SOLI
A Stoic & disciple of Zeno,
Born in Soli, Cilicia, you know,
Dwelling during the third century, BC.
Aratus the poet was my brother,
He penned 'Phaenomena' like no other,
We both followed Zeno with glee.
ODE TO ATHENODORUS CORDYLION
Keeper of the library at Pergamon encased,
Some Stoic remnants were deliberately defaced,
When the pages' sentiments did not blend.
Born in Tarsus, Turkey,
The details of my life are murky,
Lived with Cato the Younger until my end.
ODE TO ATTALUS
A Stoic who preached on purity & moderation,
My students revered me, in the Roman nation,
Seneca mentioned a work on lightning.
Of property fraud, I was a victim,
Sejanus the culprit, or goes the dictum,
I resigned myself later to a life less frightening.
ODE TO (GAIUS) AURELIUS COTTA
Statesman, priest, orator & Skeptic,
With elocutionary skills, quite cataleptic,
A style which avoided all irrelevant digressions.
Prosecuted under 'Lex Varia' but chose exile,
Seized province of Gaul, after awhile,
As uncle of Caesar, made many concessions.
ODE TO (QUINTUS LUCILIUS) BALBUS
Panaetius pupil where Stoicism was home ,
Cicero wrote of me in his polytheistic tome,
His 'Hortensius' fragments also paid me respect.
Believed that the gods do, in fact, care,
'Tho the Skeptics didn't agree with me there,
Saw divine beauty of the universe as theistic effect.
ODE TO BASILIDES THE EPICUREAN
Dionysius of Lamptrai was succeeded,
By this Scholarch unheeded,
Circa 205, C.E.
And as Epicureanism was taught,
'Ataraxia' & 'aponia' were sought,
An epic challenge for humanity.
ODE TO BATIS OF LAMPSACAS
Metrodorus was my brother in strife,
Idomeneus, my partner in life,
We all shared, an uncommon bond.
Followed the Epicurean way,
Lending my insights until such day,
As death waved its indiscriminate wand.
ODE TO BION OF BORYSTHENES
As a slave I endured & was set free,
Due to father's smuggling jubilee,
Mother was known as a lady of the night.
Burned my patron rhetorician's books,
Then immersing myself in scholarly looks,
Penning diatribes of satire & plight.
ODE TO BOETHUS THE PERIPATETIC
A Peripatetic solipsistically-inclined,
Thought individual form was reality defined,
Was a student of Andronicus of Rhodes.
Saw the 'proton oikeion' as self-centered,
And altruism a state that is rarely entered,
'Cept when burdened under heavy loads.
ODE TO BOETHUS THE STOIC
Diogenes of Babylon was my mentor,
He kept me stoically in center,
Wrote on nature, fate & Aratus' works in volume of four.
'Ekpyrosis' departed from usual view,
Of cosmos as animate & askew,
Viewing as eternal & divine, ether & firmament's core.
ODE TO BRYSON OF ACHAEA
Student of the Megarian School,
Where logic & ethics were the rule,
Laertius recorded that I left no writings.
Theodorus the Atheist, Pyrrho & Crates,
Were students of mine of sophistic debates,
I left in my wake, good Socratic tidings.
ODE TO BRYSON OF HERACLEA
Squaring the circle & calculating pi,
Were my forte, by & by,
'Tho Aristotle critiqued my methodology.
Along with Antiphon, was the first known,
To inscribe polygons inside circles shown,
Inspiring a mathematical doxology.
ODE TO CALLICLES
'Realpolitik' was my method & approach,
The 'weak' upon the strong should not encroach,
I argued in 'Gorgias', a dialogue Platonian.
Thought 'nature' to be a better judge of men,
And that oligarchical amoralism should win,
Making for a system, rather Draconian.
ODE TO CALLIPHON THE PERIPATETIC
Perhaps the first 'noble savage',
Body & spirit should not ravage,
Instead cohabiting in a blissful union.
Between 'honestas' & 'voluptas',
Sought not to corrupt us,
'Tho Cicero frowned upon this communion.
ODE TO CALLISTRATUS
A Grecian sophist & rhetorician,
Full of strife & erudition,
In the third or fourth century, C.E. I dwelled.
'Ekphraseis' chronicled brass & stone,
Of artful creations statuesque prone,
Which Philostratus' 'Eikones' also beheld.
ODE TO CARNEADES
Neither 'logos', nor 'aisthesis', nor 'phantasia,'
Fulfill criterion of Truth-rendering aphasia,
'Tho expediency often to Justice, lends itself.
Clitomachus tried his friendly best,
To put my staunch Skepticism to the test,
As I tested my wits with hellebore in health.
ODE TO CARNEISCUS
Student of Epicurus, circa 300 B.C.E.,
Opposed Praxiphanes' views on how to be free,
Viewing friendship & pleasure as life's reason.
Philista was an admired friend,
I honoured her at her end,
With an essay found at Herculaneum region.
ODE TO CASSIUS LONGINUS
Platonism was my preference,
To Queen Zenobia I gave deference,
'Tho I would later pay for such an association.
'On First Principles' & 'Philological Discourse',
Were two of my works, with Porphyry as source,
Aurelian had me slain for near freeing his nation.
ODE TO CAVALCANTE DE' CAVALCANTE
Wealthy member of the Guelph faction,
Reveled in usury of papal contraption,
Served as 'Podesta', then to Lucca in Tuscany I fled.
Denounced as a heretic by Holy Roman Empire,
Featured in Alighieri's tenth canto of hell-fire,
Was a staunch Epicurean when all was done & said.
ODE TO CELSUS
Critiqued Christianity in 'The True Word',
The 'archaios logos' instead preferred,
Named a 'henotheist' of eclectic chats .
Thought Christians promoted disunity,
And were vulgar with impunity,
They were to me like frogs, ants & bats.
ODE TO CERCIDAS
A Cynic Poet & 'nomothetes' of Megalopolis times,
Enshrined Diogenes within Meliambic lines,
Philosophy, History, Music & Poetry were a rave.
Denounced debauchery & inequity in society,
And in all of my leagues, gained notoriety,
Asked Homer's 'Iliad' to be buried in my grave.
ODE TO CHAEREMON OF ALEXANDRIA
A Stoic purveyor of Egyptian mythology,
The 'Museion' benefited from my psychology,
'Hieroglyphika' & 'On Comets' were a known tract.
Of the Alexandrian grammarians' school,
Ambassador to Claudius & Nero's fool,
Martialis' 'Epigrams' regaled me without tact.
ODE TO CHAEREPHON
A close companion of Socrates in the day,
A notable character who held a lot of sway,
In the Agora & other social circles intellectual.
Aristophanes, Xenophon & Plato were inspired,
To seed literary progeny that were sired,
And plays of jeu d'esprit quite effectual.
ODE TO CHAMAELEON
A Peripatetic who was rarely bored,
Ancient Greek poets were explored,
A disciple of that Aristotle of Stagira so revered.
Accused Ponticus of plagiaristic pursuits,
On Homer & Hesiod & their fruits,
Just two poets whose legacy I commandeered.
ODE TO CHARMADAS
Apt pupil of Carneades for seven years,
An Academic Skeptic with discerning ears,
Known for elegance of rhetorical style.
Led own school in Ptolemaion gym,
Took eidetic knack for a daily swim,
Reciting whole books to beguile.
ODE TO CHRYSANTHIUS
A mystical Neoplatonist under Iamblichus,
One of Aedesius' mindly perambulists,
I declined Julian's request of my counsel at court.
As high-priest of Lydia, I resisted reforms,
Remaining moderate despite waspy swarms,
Wife's kin Eunapius tended to me until my mort.
ODE TO CHRYSIPPUS
Third Stoic Scholarch & deemed second founder,
Epistemology, ethics & physics were a grounder,
Extirpating the weights, upon the Soul incurred.
'Tho sleight in stature I trained as a runner,
Prolific propositions were a stunner,
Died during Olympiad, hundred and forty-third.
ODE TO CICERO
Ciceronian rhetoric was much admired,
The Latin language & I conspired,
To extol the perfect beauty of logic & prose.
A 'righteous Pagan' thought the early Church,
'Tho also a Republican besmirched,
For all my fame-my return of woes.
ODE TO CLEANTHES
An Athenian Stoic & pugilistic Scholarch,
Materialism & pantheism were my spark,
As expressed in my 'Hymn to Zeus.'
Called the 'well-water-collector' in my day,
Earning my drachmae in this humble way,
As Reason freed from Passion's noose.
ODE TO CLEARCHUS OF SOLI
On Israel, Persia & India I wrote,
Finding their cultures to be of note,
Thought the 'gymnosophists to be of the Magi.'
Treatises were on Art, Friendship & Anatomy,
The city of Ai-Khanoum was my Academy,
My 'Heroon' to Kineas drew many nigh.
ODE TO CLEOMENES THE CYNIC
Cynic pupil of Crates of Thebes,
Pondering both aristos & plebes,
Wrote on 'Pedagogues' & Diogenes of Sinope.
In accordance with Nature, Virtue is sought,
Free from social constraints one ought,
Achieve nobler aims of Life & cope.
ODE TO CLITOMACHUS
Cicero made use of my Skeptic writings,
In which I bid Carneades good tidings,
And Stoic, Peripatetic views of the nation.
Hometown of Carthage was cherished,
And when it had almost perished,
Philosophy again brought us consolation.
ODE TO PUBLIUS CLODIUS THRASEA PAETUS
A staunch Stoic of the Opposition,
With quindecim sacris ammunition,
I guarded Sybilline texts.
Plagued Nero with senatorial besting,
A liberum mortis arbitrium testing-
To Jupiter a sanguinary vex.
ODE TO COLOTES
Epicurean pupil of philomathean devotion,
Resisted the pull of sophistical notion,
Said Plutarch in 'Against Colotes.'
Thought the pedagogic use of fables,
Scholarly unsoundness, enables,
Or so Cicero quotes.
ODE TO CRANTOR
First commentator on the famed Plato,
Scholarch of the 'Old Academy' mansueto,
Classed by Horace, a moral philosopher of note.
Theaetetus crowned me a 'friend of the Muses,'
Whom virtue, health & pleasure infuses,
My friends consulted 'On Grief', I wrote.
ODE TO CRATES OF ATHENS
Last Scholarch of the 'Old Academy',
Polemo's 'philei' was all he had of me,
And by Antagoras in tombstone was immortalized .
Succeeded by Arcesilaus, pupil most distinguished,
My fire for learning would not be extinguished,
As my comedy, wisdom & orations were organized.
ODE TO CRATES OF MALLUS
A Stoic grammarian at Pergamum,
I headed the school & library some,
And conducted some critical studies on Homer.
Wrote on 'Iliad' & 'Odyssey' in nine books,
Exegeses that delved into crannies & nooks,
'Oceanus' was globed, so that we could zone her.
ODE TO CRATES OF THEBES
Cynic teacher of Stoicism's founder,
My vow of poverty made me sounder,
A 'Door-Opener' well-received into other abodes.
Sexually controversial yet eschewing venality,
'Spoudaiogeloion' in writs, skirted banality,
Of my epistles, etc. thirty-six or more were sowed.
ODE TO CRATIPPUS OF PERGAMON
Cicero thought me a Peripatetic fine,
Whose heart & mind were perfectly aligned,
With my lectures attended by many great men.
Thought reaches apex in mind/body separation,
Enabling dreams, furor & divination,
As a human soul is graced with heavenly zen.
ODE TO CRATYLUS
'Tho all things are in constant flux,
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 CRESCENES THE CYNIC
Called Christians 'atheotatous' in spite,
As they worshiped no gods in sight,
'Tho Justin Martyr in dissent interrogated.
Tatian, of 'paiderastia' accused me,
And a love of money not refused me,
And thus was I duly derogated.
ODE TO CRINIS
A Stoic penulis of 'Dialectic Art',
And adept logician of three part-
'Lemma', major premise & conclusion.
Epictetus mentioned in his 'Discourses',
Of teacher Archedemus' sources,
And of how I died of dread's contusion.
ODE TO CRITOLAUS
An eloquent moralist & Peripatetic,
With world eternity was copacetic,
Pleasure is evil & the soul made of aether.
Statesman of 500 talents procured,
For Oropus' siege a fine ensured,
'Tho Cato was banishment bequeather.
ODE TO CRONIUS
A Neopythagorean hetairos of Numenius,
Both were contemporaries of genius,
In second & third century, A.D.
Only work known, 'On Reincarnation',
And perhaps some Homeric expostulation,
Nemesius & Origen record, respectively.
ODE TO DAMASCIUS
Last Scholarch of Athens' Neoplatonist school,
To Justinian oppression I was no fool,
Forging on to broader horizons of thought.
'First Principles' explored the human soul,
Concluding God infinite, logical & whole,
More Truth wars, valiantly fought.
ODE TO DAMO
Pythagoras' & Theano's beloved daughter,
A well-fed family of philosophical fodder,
Two sisters & brother joined Father's sect.
Pythagorean 'hypomnemata' were passed,
To daughters & maternal uncle at last,
Esoterica which many would cathect.
ODE TO DARDANUS OF ATHENS
Pondered the 'Logos' as a good Stoic,
All to become, ethically heroic,
Crafting a will aligned with natural couth .
Time, place, void & sayable,
Subsisting yet still playable,
'Phantasiai' to 'katalepsis' gets to the Truth.
ODE TO DEMETRIUS LACON
An Epicurean of many a treasure,
Pursued simplicity as a means to pleasure,
'Ataraxia' & 'aponia' through knowledge & constraint.
Finite atomic shapes & infinite void,
Contained by 'cosmoi' as they're deployed,
While 'aisthesis', 'prolepsis' & 'pathe' acquaint.
ODE TO DEMETRIUS OF AMPHIPOLIS
An executor of Plato's will,
This gave me, a morbid thrill,
'Tho my apt pedagogue I would miss.
For all Reason, Spirit & Appetite,
Wisdom, Courage, Moderation's might,
Bring exo/esoteric bliss.
ODE TO DEMETRIUS PHALEREUS
Athenian governor & Peripatetic orator,
And an oligarchic implorator,
Which earned me exile to Thebes.
History, rhetoric & literary criticism,
Were subjects of writerly witticism,
I preserved tragedy for plebes.
ODE TO DEMETRIUS THE CYNIC
Banished by Tigellinus for being outspoken,
Monarchical tyranny had been awoken,
'Tho Nero did not condemn in haste.
With sesterces Caligula failed to corrupt,
A refusal dignified & abrupt,
As I wore only a girdle 'round my waist.
ODE TO DEMONAX
Such a master of dispute,
A ceremonial of repute,
Was held upon my passing.
Lucian was my keeper,
Of peace was I a seeker,
And inward worth surpassing.
ODE TO DEXIPPUS
Sought unity of Aristotelian & Platonic,
Commentaries were anything but laconic,
Thanks to Simplicius a legacy survived.
The ontological status of 'Categories,
'Rapt me within abstract glories,
'Til more Neoplatonics arrived.
ODE TO DIAGORAS OF MELOS
Roasting my lentils with Heraclesian wood,
Accused of 'asebeia' & banished for good,
'Tho this inspired a lyricism poetic.
Rejected the worship of Athenian gods,
My 'atheism' spared not, many rods,
'Tho my 'encomia' honoured the noetic.
ODE TO DICAEARCHUS OF MESSANA
Measured mountains at monarch's behest,
A polymath on an historian's quest,
'Life of Greece' was most eminent work.
Reveled in Greek culture galore,
From music to geography, I kept score,
As Soul does not exist beyond bodily moor.
ODE TO DIO CHRYSOSTUM
A golden-mouthed orator of sophistic leanings,
Who gleaned from life, many meanings,
Writing on politics & morality.
Argued against prostitution,
And all soul pollution,
Finding virtue in banality.
ODE TO DIOCLES OF CNIDUS
Engaged in many Skeptic 'Discussions',
Drumming out epoche percussions,
With a goal of 'ataraxia' achievement.
Mentioned Arcesilaus in my tome,
That old Scholarch of home,
Who put all dogma to bereavement.
ODE TO DIODORUS CRONUS
A Megarian dialectition,
Devoid of superstition,
Who formulated upon future contingent.
While sorites paradoxes abounded,
And determinism confounded,
'Ho kurieuon logos' remained astringent.
ODE DIODORUS OF ADRAMYTTIUM
Lived during rule of Mithridates,
A rhetorician of ruffian traits,
Commanding an army with savage skill.
Gathered much blood on my hands,
Pleasing the King of Anatolian lands,
Escaping charge of death with anorexic will.
ODE TO DIODORUS OF ASPENDUS
A reluctant Pythagorean who grew out my beard,
A budding Cynic was soon revered,
Despite uncleanliness & bare feet incidents.
Stratonicus the musician,
Provided erudition,
Of my 'beast-robed madness & insolence.'
ODE TO DIODORUS OF TYRE
A Peripatetic seeking greater good,
Virtue absent pain misunderstood,
When Cicero, of fakery, accused me.
Succeeded Critolaus at Athens school,
Where inductive methods were the rule,
Testing ideas which recused me.
ODE TO DIODOTUS
Housemate of Cicero there in Rome,
Taught Stoicism & Logic in his home,
'Tho he remained, philosophically unswayed.
Went blind in later life & still taught,
Geometrical forms, with Pythagorean aught,
Lyre played until, Grim Reaper's scythe was laid.
ODE TO DIOGENES OF BABYLON
A Stoic revered in my day,
Epideictic speeches were my sway,
Composed with eloquence & spoken with grace.
Music is medicine for the Soul,
With Virtue & Health as its goal,
And a transcendent dialectic, forged into place.
ODE TO DIOGENES OF OENOANDA
All are citizens of this globe,
No one a foreigner, by jove,
Many thought me, a cosmopolitan man.
Physics, ethics & epistemology,
Were subjects of interest to me,
And a tomb of Epicurean inscriptions.
ODE TO DIOGENES OF SINOPE
Challenger of the status quo,
Its inanity brought me woe,
So I showed my virtue bested in action.
Plucked a chicken to publicly mock,
A “featherless biped” to Plato's shock,
Another revolt of much satisfaction.
ODE TO DIOGENES OF TARSUS
In absence of pain & fear,
An Epicurean who sought to adhere,
To 'aponia' & ataraxic stasis.
Gifted in tragedy, ethics & essays,
And the Homerian poetic maze,
Joy was felt on a daily basis.
ODE TO DIONYSIUS OF CHALCEDON
Coined 'dialectitians' to describe,
The answer/question diatribe,
All apt Megarians we were.
Student Theo was model,
Yet criticism from Aristotle,
A life definition-he didn't concur.
ODE TO DIONYSIUS OF CYRENE
Stoicism & maths were fun,
'Tho my views on the sun,
Made Philodemus disparage.
Pupil of Diogenes of Babylon,
Antipater of Tarsus prattled on,
Vows of scholastic marriage.
ODE TO DIONYSIUS OF LAMPTRAI
Successor of Polystratus at Athens school,
Epicurean sensibilities were the rule,
With aisthesis, prolepsis & pathe in measure.
An empirical approach was preferred,
Whilst overindulgence was deferred,
Balancing 'katastematic' & 'kinetic' pleasure.
ODE TO DIONYSIUS THE RENEGADE
Abandoned Stoicism due to ocular pain,
Hedonism for me, had more to gain,
Hence was given, the moniker 'Renegade.'
From one end of moderation,
To sensually indulgent pervasion,
'Tho willful starvation drew Grim's blade .
ODE TO DIO OF ALEXANDRIA
With Chronos as godly idol,
Attended a Roman recital,
To chasten King Auletes.
Secret agents gave poison,
And political ire in foison,
Then 'Pro Caelio' conceits.
ODE TO DIOTIMA OF MANTINEA
Expounded on love platonic,
Viewing Eros as ersatz tonic,
Preached 'thusia', 'mantike' & 'katharsis.'
In Plato's 'Symposium' my character spoke,
With wisdom I awed in one fell stroke,
Discourse of dialectical daimonic.
ODE TO DIOTIMUS
Thought Epicurus depraved,
Forged letters engraved,
Led to a conviction & execution.
Thought happiness to consist,
Of blessings & their bliss,
A more Aristotelian solution.
ODE TO DOMNINUS OF LARISSA
A Syrianic mathematician & Neo-Platonic,
Pedantic obsessions were ego syntonic,
'Tho resented for doctrinal dilutions.
Orphistic 'katabasis' was preferred,
Thus Proclus took over the herd,
And I returned to Euclidean solutions.
ODE TO ECHECRATIDES
From Methymna of Lesbos, a Peripatetic,
Walky-talks of Lyceum were copacetic,
Known from 'Greek Anthology.'
Stephanus of Byzantium gave me mention,
With Aristotle I was not in dissension,
Guided by a keen philology.
ODE TO (PUBLIUS) EGNATIUS CELER
Delator who informed for Nero,
Bringing my life up from zero,
When Barea Soranus was tried for treason.
Fared not well in Vespasian's reign,
Musonius Rufus was my bane,
Was put to death with no rhyme or reason.
ODE TO EPICTETUS
Enslaved Stoic Phrygian born,
'Prohairesis' is a welcome thorn,
Upon the stamen of Life's rose.
After banishment by Domition,
Sought adequate erudition,
As Arrian surely knows.
ODE TO EPICURUS
A Peripatetic of 'The Garden',
Versed in ataraxic jargon,
Saw fear of death the root of all ills.
My Cosmology was atomistic,
Of eternal & infinite characteristic,
'Free will' found through 'atomic swerve.'
ODE TO ERYMNEUS
I succeeded Diodorus of Tyre,
As 'Lyceum' Scholarch for hire,
Another Peripatetic to savor.
Athenion was a pupil,
Of pedagogic scruple,
'Tho our school fell out of favor.
ODE TO EUBULIDES
A Megarian fond of paradoxes,
Which Seneca thought mental boxes,
And Gellius, Saturnalian entertainment.
'Psuedomenos' was a mind-twister,
As the 'masked-man' played his trickster,
Bearing grain of sand & horns of derangement.
ODE TO EUCLID OF MEGARA
Founder of Megarian school,
And mentee of Socratic rule,
I denied the substantiality of Evil.
Donned my feminine wiles,
To hear Socrates' beguile,
'Reductio ad absurdum' was my weevil.
ODE TO EUDEMUS OF RHODES
Editor for Aristotle & science historian,
A pedagogical finesse many would glory in,
Along with my anthropomorphic surmisings.
Writing on mathematics & astronomy,
Helped maintain my autonomy,
And equipped for more didactic devisings.
ODE TO EUDORUS OF ALEXANDRIA
A Middle-Platonist who tried to reconcile,
Stoic, Platonic & Pythagorean style,
Ethics, physics & logic in that order resolute.
Involved in a plagiaristic controversy,
Aristo & I wrote on the Nile with glee,
And I sought “the One”, not relative but absolute.
ODE TO EUDOXUS OF CNIDUS
Mapping the stars & the known world,
Theology & meteorology also unfurled,
Establishing a school in Asia Minor.
Ascribed 27 spheres to planetary system,
Lent problem of irrational length wisdom,
Along with many calculations finer.
ODE TO EUENUS
With Plato's 'Phaedo' & Socrates' 'Apology',
And Aristotle's mention, my philology,
Was admired & made plain for all to read.
Taught some of the Masters poetic style,
Assuring their words would soon beguile,
In 'gnomic' form I filtered what got said.
ODE TO EUPHANTUS
A poetic Megarian of Olythus, Greece,
My pen flowed, as tragedies did not cease,
Whilst instructing a Macedonian King.
'On Kingship' was highly esteemed,
As historians toiled & dreamed,
Was spared for fair time, that mortal sting.
ODE TO EUPHRAEUS
A political Platonian of mention,
'Tho my biography was of contention,
Amongst Demosthenes' & Carystius' anecdotes.
Led the fight in Oreus of Philip II's reign,
Charging loyals with treason, I did gain,
'Disturber of peace' claim & suicidal wane.
ODE TO EUPHRATES THE STOIC
A comely, long-haired Stoic with a white beard,
Whose eloquence of persuasion was much revered,
Amongst plebeians & the learned, lady & gent.
I chastened the sin & not the sinner,
Softening minds & hearts, to Hope's glimmer,
'Tho hemlock later drunk, upon Hadrian's assent.
ODE TO EUSEBIUS OF MYNDUS
A link in the Neoplatonic 'Golden Chain,'
Renounced theurgy to Julian's ill gain,
As Eunapius of Sardis recalled.
Saw Reason as the portal to Heaven,
A Gnostic approach would then leaven,
The Soul for flight enthralled.
ODE TO EUSTATHIUS OF CAPPADOCIA
My orations recalled songs of the Sirens,
Sung within Neoplatonic environs,
As sophistry composed its deafening score.
Invited to ambassador for King Shapur,
'Tho omens I saw made me abjure,
Thinking it best to cautiously explore.
ODE TO EVANDER
Telecles & I, duties of Athens Academy did fill,
As Lacydes had suddenly struck ill,
To claim mortality ten years thence.
I continued at school a few more years,
Giving Hegesinus the gears,
Keeping my Skepticism keen & dense.
ODE TO GEMINUS
Maths of two: the Mental & Observable,
My figurings were imperturbable,
As 'Isagoge' bore astronomical introduction.
Advised against weather reading via Zodiac,
Studying celestial spheres was my knack,
Inspiring naming of lunar crater.
ODE TO HECATAEUS OF ABDERA
'Aegyptica' was a subject of fascination,
And 'Hyperboreans' of Northern acclimation,
Deemed a 'critic grammarian' by my peers.
The Jews had first Greek lit mention,
And 'gymnosophists' of ascetic abstention,
Was culturally rounded in many spheres.
ODE TO HEGASIAS OF CYRENE
Life goal should steer from pain & sorrow,
'Eudaimonia' is impossible, today or tomorrow,
My nihilism was stringent, according to plan.
Scarcity & Satiety determine the mind-state,
'Peisithanatos' was name given to berate,
'Death by Starvation' got me Alexandrian ban.
ODE TO HERACLIDES LEMBUS
An Egyptian civil servant,
Historically observant,
Of philological oddities & proems.
My Asiatic style was critiqued,
As my fame waned & peaked,
I contributed Greaco-Roman epitomes.
ODE TO HERMARCHUS
Successor of Epicurean school,
Where I strove to make a fool,
Of Plato, Aristotle & Empedocles.
The gods breathed & conversed,
Like mere mortals who dispersed,
Laws to educate on morality pleas.
ODE TO HIERONYMUS OF RHODES
With Arcesilaus & Lyco I contended,
A Peripatetic view extended,
Seeking freedom from pain & trouble.
Pleasure for its own sake,
I tried not to wake,
Ensconced within my own bubble.
ODE TO HIPPARCHIA OF MARONEIA
A staunch Cynic & wife of Crates,
He thought we made 'cynogamous' mates,
Pursued 'anaideia' & sex in public dominions.
Only philosopher of female kind,
To be granted own entry in bind,
Of Diogenes Laertius' 'Lives & Opinions.'
ODE TO HAGNON OF TARSUS
Told tales of judicious pachyderms,
Living a life of Skeptic terms,
Denying that rhetoric was ever an Art.
Carneades, my pedagogic sider,
And Quintilian my chider,
I bode well & ill in equal part.
ODE TO HECATO OF RHODES
A prolific pupil of Panaetius in Rhodes,
Composed 'Maxims' in my Stoic abodes,
'On Goods, Passions, Ends, Virtues & Paradoxes.'
Progress is learning to befriend oneself,
Love is found by loving, in good stealth,
Wisdom, Justice & Temperance are bottomless boxes.
ODE TO HEGESINUS OF PERGAMON
A Skeptic first half of second century,
Successor of Evander-after him would follow me,
Carneades of 'The Academy' at Athens.
Knowledge & truth can somewhat be found,
Unlike Pyrrhonists who think it sound,
To suspend all judgment & passions.
ODE TO HELVIDIUS PRISCUS
A republican praetor with courage admired,
Which offended my enviers who conspired,
As I brought Armenia to mend.
Brutus/Cassius affinity got me banished,
Ordered again later so I vanished,
Until Vespasian put me to my end.
ODE TO HERACLEODORUS
A 'euphonistic' anti-genre critic,
Whose views many found acidic,
With Philodemus & Aristocritus in the mix.
Clarity not required for comprehension,
Of poetic renderings & ascension,
A boat unmoored up the river Styx.
ODE TO HERILLUS
Between 'oikeiôsis' & 'hypoteles'
Life is not lived as you please,
Knowledge should be principle guide.
By ignorance be not misled,
Mundanity should not be head,
Of ethical sense true & tried.
ODE TO HERMAGORAS OF AMPHIPOLIS
Stoic student of Cypriot Persaeus,
Antigonas Gonatas held court's dais,
As my dialogues were penned.
Work 'On Misfortunes' was one,
And 'Misokyōn' which stunned,
'On Sophistry' was Academic blend.
ODE TO HERMARCHUS
Successor of Epicurean school,
Where I strove to make a fool,
Of Plato, Aristotle & Empedocles.
The gods breathed & conversed,
Like mere mortals who dispersed,
Laws to educate on morality pleas.
ODE TO HERMIPPAS OF SMYRNA
A Peripatetic grammarian 'Callimachian' named,
Wrote first known bio of Aristotle's fame,
Under the title of 'Lives.'
From the 'Magi' to Zoroaster in stages,
And the 'peri nomothetōn ' & Seven Sages,
I lent to 'pinakes' archives.
ODE TO HIPPARCHIA OF MARONEIA
A staunch Cynic & wife of Crates,
He thought we made 'cynogamous' mates,
Pursued 'anaideia' & sex in public dominions.
Only philosopher of female kind,
To be granted own entry in bind,
Of Diogenes Laertius' 'Lives & Opinions.'
ODE TO HERENNIUS SENECIO
The Stoic Opposition was my tribe,
In Hispania under Roman vibe,
Penning bio of Helvidius Priscus.
Mettius Caras was amongst my enemies,
Due to Domitian's hegemonies,
Fell prey to the Flavian listless.
ODE TO HIEROCLES
Thought a 'grave & holy man,'
'Oikeiôsis' was well in hand,
In my 'Elements of Ethics' so described.
The root of Justice is self-governance,
The collective benefits from 'otherness,'
A Cosmopolitanism circumscribed.
ODE TO HIERONYMUS OF RHODES
With Arcesilaus & Lyco I contended,
A Peripatetic view extended,
Seeking freedom from pain & trouble.
Pleasure for its own sake,
I tried not to wake,
Ensconced within my own bubble.
ODE TO IDOMENEUS OF LAMPSACAS
Hubby of Metrodorus' sister Batis,
A court dignitary non gratis,
Writing on notable figures of Greece.
'History of Samothrace' was one,
'On The Socratics' also spun,
Weavings of both war & peace.
ODE TO JASON OF NYSA
Stoic son of Menecrates,
Posidonius' grandson never waits,
For Virtue to go unheeded.
Successor of school of Rhodes,
I floated ideas in abodes,
As 'Famous Lives' was seeded.
ODE TO JUNIUS ARULENUS RUSTICUS
Member of the Stoic Opposition,
Displaying no contrition,
Tribune of the Plebs was stemmed.
Praetor after Nero's death,
A man of dignity 'til last breath,
By Thracean panegyric condemned.
ODE TO KALANOS
A limber gymnosophist & sage,
I dwelled in Brahmanic cage,
Sought by Alexander the Great.
Ptolemy constructed my pyre,
Self-immolation took me higher,
Rather than suffer ignoble fate.
ODE TO LACYDES OF CYRENE
Scholarch of Platonic Academy,
Roamed Lacydeum's anatomy,
Until falling on ill health.
Wrote treatises 'On Nature',
In Arcesilaus' nomenclature,
Living moderation & stealth.
ODE TO LYCO OF TROAS
In modesty & rivalry my boys trained,
Body & Mind nary waned,
As Good & Evil were soon defined.
'On Characters' one of my creations,
And animalian observations,
Succumbing to gout in my decline.
ODE TO LEONTION
Not a 'mere hetaera', but an apt scholar,
I bore heavy yoke, of misogyny's collar,
Praised by Epicurus my mate.
Painted by Aristedes of Thebes,
Critiqued Theophrastus in leagues,
Garnering much gall & hate.
ODE TO LEONTEUS OF LAMPSACAS
Epicurean pupil of century third,
I was indeed, a noble nerd,
Who named our son after my idol.
Strabo found me an “able man”,
All was going according to plan,
As wife, Themista shared my title.
ODE TO LYSIMACHUS OF ACARNANIA
A tutor of Alexander the Great,
Master of how to ingratiate,
Aligning myself with royal favour.
Named myself 'Phoenix' to fool,
All to siphon narcissistic fuel,
So my status, I could savour.
ODE TO MARINUS OF NEAPOLIS
A Neoplatonic mathematician,
As well as a rhetorician,
Proclus' bio due to me, is known.
Made commentary on Euclid's 'Data,'
'Tho those on Aristotle considered beta,
As I studied the Milky Way alone.
ODE TO MAXIMUS OF EPHESUS
An affluent Neoplatonist who ended tragic,
Emperor Julian sought my magic,
On 'Insoluble Contradictions' & 'Numbers.'
Garnered many enemies whilst at court,
With many a spell would I consort,
'Til Festus induced executionary slumbers.
ODE TO MELEAGER OF GADARA
A sensual poet & epigrammatic sayer,
And a proud cosmopolitan player,
'All men equal & compatriots' were.
'The Garland' was my main work,
Poets in bloom amongst the murk,
Of my wit, many would concur.
ODE TO MENEDEMUS
Founder of the Eritrean school,
Theopropidal's were the rule,
Worked as a builder like my father.
Dabbled some in political affairs,
Sending up independence flares,
Dying from grief after the pother.
ODE TO MENEDEMUS OF PYRRHA
Plato's Academy member,
From January to December,
Sought out Scholarch position.
Lost to Xenocrates, so I set up,
My own place to study & sup,
Proud would be, Mother & Father.
ODE TO MENEDEMUS THE CYNIC
Cynic & Epicurean Colotes' pupil,
Conducted myself with Furious scruple,
Others thought me, a spy from Hades.
Dissented with Colotes on poetry,
Achieving a more mystical floetry,
That was cool with the ladies.
ODE TO MENIPPUS
Cynic satirist of Gadaran enclave,
I served Pontus as a slave,
Then to Thebes, where Freedom trods.
My style was mostly prose & verse,
An 'earnest jester' well-rehearsed,
On Necromancy & the wills of gods.
ODE TO METRODORUS OF ATHENS
An Athenian philosopher & painter,
Paulus' praise did not grow fainter,
Employing me to immortalize him.
Aemilius' children I schooled,
Whilst their father's ego ruled,
After victory over Perseus renewed vim.
ODE TO METRODORUS OF LAMPSACAS (The Younger)
Epicurus & I were joined at the knee,
Where I learned & served with glee,
As brother Timocrates spread slander.
A sound body is test & measure,
Of gained happiness & pleasure,
Good for goose is good for gander.
ODE TO METRODORUS OF STRATONICEA
Epicureanism was tried,
Then Carneades' pride,
Finding it a sounder skepticism.
Cicero thought me, a fiery orator,
Beyond Truth nothing was greater,
Where Reason & Sense bore no schizm.
ODE TO MNESARCHUS OF ATHENS
'Principes Stoicorum' until,
After Panaetius' last will,
Where I kept Stoic flames stoked.
Eloquence is a virtue in itself,
Bearing wisdom & all health,
Wherein true joy is yoked.
ODE TO MODERATUS OF GADES
Neopythagorean of 1st century, A.D.,
I critiqued Pythagorean phraseology,
Seeing stale ideas merely repackaged.
Wrote on theory of numbers,
For which our kind hungers,
'Triad' & 'Decad' bearing no lackage.
ODE TO MONIMUS
Played crazy to gain my freedom,
A thinker of Cynical credum,
Pining to be Diogenes' pupil.
Reality is mere 'impressions',
Subjectivistic confessions,
And vainglorious scruple.
ODE TO NAUSIPHANES
Physics was the foundation,
Of my method of education,
Aiding mindly atoms in rearrangement.
For 'eudaimonia', 'akataplexia' is key,
Dialectics & facts persuade & free,
Unto immovability & skeptic estrangement.
ODE TO NICARETE OF MEGARA
A hetaera & disciple of Stilpo,
A learned lady on the go,
Engaging in dialectical banter.
A fusion of Eleatic & Socratic,
Was never problematic,
For a mind-body wish granter.
ODE TO NICOLAUS OF DAMASCUS
An historian of Augustan empire,
Whether Jew or Greek, I did sire,
A synthesis of monotheist & Monad.
Quality, not quantity defines a Soul,
Tragedy & Comedy is the goal,
Of a life for which one was glad.
ODE TO NICOMACHUS OF GERASA
A Neopythagorean who wrote,
On mystical primes of note,
Placing mathematics at the helm.
Saw both Demiurge & Nous,
As Monad on wondrous loose,
Manifesting phenomena of realm.
ODE TO NICOMACHUS OF STAGEIRA
Theophrastus' pupil & lover full throttle,
Son of Herpyllis & Aristotle,
Whose care, to tutors was commended.
After grandfather was I named,
My patriotism soon tamed,
When during battle my life was ended.
ODE TO NUMENIUS OF APAMEA
A Neopythagorean who saw no division,
Between Platonist & mystical vision,
While steering clear of skeptic dissector.
All being in perpetual transition,
Nous must be, the prime condition,
With second god as demiurgic director.
ODE TO NYMPHIDIANUS OF SMYRNA
A Neoplatonist sophist who thrived,
And many tasks contrived,
As Julius' interpreter chosen.
Survived Maximus my brother,
As Eunapius admired the colour,
Of sophistic tapestries woven.
ODE TO OENOMAUS OF GADARA
Detected deceivers of the land,
When the oracles got out of hand,
Not excluding Apollo for debate.
Emperor Julian accused of impiety,
Making spectacle of my dubiety,
As I challenged free will & fate.
ODE TO OLYMPIODORUS THE ELDER
A fast-talking expounder & teacher,
Of Neoplatonist feature,
I repeated for slow-processing pupils.
'Tho Proclus didn't marry my daughter,
I would never send him to slaughter,
Being of profundity & scruples.
ODE TO OLYMPIODORUS THE YOUNGER
A Byzantine Neoplatonist of erudition,
Last pagan to maintain Platonist tradition,
After 'Academy' fell to Justinian decree.
Evading the persecution of my peers,
Penned commentaries through the years,
On Plato, Aristotle & astrology.
ODE TO ONASANDER
My 'Strategikos' was dedicated to,
Quintus Veranius who I knew,
And later consulted by military leagues.
I believed a general's conduct & mien,
Should, from cruelty, refrain,
An exemplar of morale in fatigues.
ODE TO ORIGEN ADAMANTIUS
A hermeneutical homiletic of Biblical proportions,
I sought to clarify exegetical distortions,
An ascetic genius of the early Christian church.
Tortured for my faith during Decian persecution,
'Tho this would not cause a writerly dilution,
As Apologeticists later, my wisdom would search.
ODE TO ORIGEN THE PAGAN
A student of Ammonius Sacas,
Engaging in Platonic fracas,
Through free will & daemonic dream.
In Porphyry's 'Life of Plotinus,'
Respected along with Longinus,
And first principle of Intellect Supreme.
ODE TO PANAETIUS
Eclectic Stoic of Scipionic Circle,
Remaining thus, mentally furcal,
Placing Physics before Logic.
A bifurcate virtue was my theory,
Postulate & practicality for the weary,
And beyond the hypnogogic.
ODE TO PANCRATES OF ATHENS
Saved sophist Lollianus from a stoning,
A strategus who was condoning,
Regulation of provisional daily bread.
When I yelled out to the crowd,
That words were dealt proud,
All retreated from killing him dead.
ODE TO PANTHOIDES
A Megarian dialectician,
Of stunning erudition,
And stringent logical couth.
'On Ambiguities' explored,
'Master Arguments' implored,
To find the necessary truth.
ODE TO PASICLES OF THEBES
Brother of Cynic Crates of Thebes,
'Tho joined to Megarian leagues,
Seeing all as good, even the bad.
Taught Stilpo who soon became,
Scholarch of sound fame,
Another Megarian lad.
ODE TO PATRO THE EPICUREAN
Gaius Memmius & Atticus were friends,
As we rounded Epicurean bends,
Where I succeeded Phaedrus as head.
Cicero intervened with Areopagus,
To save the rocky Metropolis,
Upon my urging which I pled.
ODE TO PEREGRINUS PROTEUS
A Cynic by many masses expelled,
By mine own hand was I felled,
On a funeral pyre at Olympic games.
Parricide condemned me to roam,
Thereupon unwelcoming loam,
As Lucian witnessed last flames.
ODE TO PERSAEUS
To Zeno was studious right-hand,
With whom hearth was manned,
As I wrote upon kingship, ethics & impiety.
Antigonas as 'Archon' had me assigned,
Although at first I wasn't inclined,
As senescence gained abiding notoriety.
ODE TO PHAEDO OF ELIS
My youth with trauma, was fraught,
Unjustly was I sold & bought,
Due to my considerable beauty.
Freed by Socrates or his friend,
Founded school around the bend,
As Plato's pen served with duty.
ODE TO PHAEDRUS
Of 'Eleusinian mysteries' stood accused,
I fled to Athens to be recused,
Wherein Socratic circles I ran.
Studied mythology & natural science,
A pretty boy of aristocratic alliance,
Of whom Plato was a fan.
ODE TO PHAENIAS OF ERESUS
Born on Lesbos' isle,
I was Peripatetic for awhile,
In famed Athenian city.
As an historian was respected,
Botany & Logic were perfected,
As I critiqued many a ditty.
ODE TO PHILIP OF OPUS
Edited Plato's 'Laws' into 12 books,
My 13th added to nannies & crooks,
Following up with 'Epinomis' & others.
Astronomy & maths, also my game,
Bringing a modest but adequate fame,
Amongst learned sisters & brothers.
ODE TO PHILISCUS OF AEGINA
My father, brother & I were charmed,
By Diogenes' Cynical disarm,
Whilst in Athens we wandered about.
'Codrus' sealed my literary fate,
While advising Alexander The Great,
'Strive for peace & health when in doubt.'
ODE TO PHILISCUS OF THESSALY
A faithful of the Julia Domna league,
A geometrician without fatigue,
In sophistical shapes, bending myself.
Virtue & excellence were always sought,
And the things that couldn't be bought,
Seeking wisdom in good faith & health.
ODE TO PHILO
A fine mediator of Jews & Greeks,
And Septuagint & Torah tweaks,
Elegantly bridging literalism & allegory.
'De genere sacerdotum' I came,
Seeking truth & not fame,
God is 'Logos' in transcendent glory.
ODE TO PHILO OF LARISSA
An Academic Skeptic who explored,
How 'kataleptike phantasia' were scored,
The-thing-in-itself partially comprehensible.
Phenomena can be perceived but not known,
Though their properties are reality prone,
Rendering belief without certainty defensible.
ODE TO PHILO THE DIALECTITIAN
A Megarian ponderer who thought,
Criterion of truth need not,
Cause antecedent & consequent abatements.
Diodorus & I challenged with erudition,
Many truth-functional definitions,
About possible & conditional statements.
ODE TO PHILODEMUS
A poet & Epicurean “lover of the people,”
With 'head' the cathedral & 'heart' the steeple,
As my 'elegans lascivia' by Cicero, was praised.
Poetics, rhetoric & music were covered,
In works, at Herculaneum discovered,
As issues of inductive reasoning were raised.
ODE TO PHILONIDES OF LAODICEA
An Epicurean & mathematician,
Honoured in courtly stone rendition,
I sought Antiochus, to convert.
Mentioned by Apollonius of Perga,
Who extended my legacy, a virga,
Not unlike my don, Epicurus.
ODE TO PHILOSTRATUS
A sophist called, “The Athenian” who wrote,
On Olympiads, Eros & Sophists of note,
Thanks to Empress Julia's aid.
'Heroicus' was another work,
Of Homerian quirk,
Where heroes & gods played.
ODE TO PLATO (Aristocles)
In a series of Socratic rehearsals,
My theory of forms & problem of universals,
Soon considered, an intellectual giant.
Most of my works were transmitted,
In oral form as truths remitted,
Of Wisdom & Logos, eternally reliant.
ODE TO PLOTINUS
Founder of Neoplatonism as termed later,
My 'Enneads' were metaphysically greater,
Than ideas that materialistically reduce.
The One, The Intellect & The Soul,
Were pondered with Unitarian goal,
'Henosis' via 'Anima Mundi' & 'Nous.'
ODE TO PLUTARCH
A Middle Platonist historian & Delphic priest,
My mindly smorgasbord was quite a feast,
'Tween 'Dyad', 'daemons' & evil world-soul delections.
In works 'Parallel Lives' & 'Moralia' I recorded,
Lives of autocrats & trapped souls hoarded,
Seeking their return unto otherworldly defections.
ODE TO PLUTARCH OF ATHENS
Plato's Academy was reestablished in,
Neoplatonist forms that would begin,
Idealism & Materialism continuing the dialectic.
Believed in medium of theurgic rites,
Reason is Divine as the soul alights,
Upon wings of imaginal sensation cataleptic.
ODE TO POLEMON OF ATHENS
A Stoic geographer who travelled,
Upon Grecian roads well-graveled,
Collecting various columnic inscriptions.
My contributions earned me a nickname,
'Stelokopas' due to my 'monumental' game,
For later historians to utilize descriptions.
ODE TO POLEMON OF ATHENS (Scholarch)
Philosophy should adhere to orthopraxis,
Revolving 'round nature's axis,
In lieu of Xenocrates, my temperance tamer.
I, the 'erastes' of 'eromenos' Crates,
Taught on 'summum bonum' & its traits,
'Tho expectations should bear a disclaimer.
ODE TO POLEMON OF LAODICEA
A master of rhetoric of the Second Sophistic,
Applying to inquiries, a sound heuristic,
Granted by Emperors, freedom to roam.
Strategos, agonothetes & Dionysian priest,
Penning epitaphs for the deceased,
'Tho stricken by arthritis upon cursed loam.
ODE TO POLUS
Rhetoric is mere, nefarious tool,
For tyrants to be, unchecked in their rule,
'Tho the experienced can, make of it an art.
Featured throughout various dialogues,
My views on life, were well-catalogued,
As my mentor Gorgias, took part.
ODE TO POLYAENUS OF LAMPSACAS
With Epicurus, our school was founded,
In ataraxia, well-grounded,
He, the 'hegemon', & we, the 'kathegemones'.
Mathematical 'Puzzles' were explored,
The eudaimonic was implored,
As was discouraged, unnatural hegemonies.
ODE TO POLYSTRATUS
Succeeded Hermarchus as head,
Of school Epicurean led,
A pleasure sought in simpler things.
Wrote 'On Irrational Contempt,'
Of whom the Cynics were not exempt,
From polemical arrows & slings.
ODE TO PORPHYRY
Broke down substance into five,
To keep Neoplatonist spirit alive,
From my 'Isagoge' sprouted a 'Porphyrian Tree.'
An anti-Christian advocate & defender,
Of vegetarianism & pagan splendour,
Now known from works of apologists' decree.
ODE TO POSIDONIUS
A Stoic, polymath & most learned man,
Scientific research was my plan,
As I taught & travelled to Spain & beyond.
Even pride & passion to wisdom give way,
For Celts & all, 'sympatheia' holds sway,
Especially for a well-measured vagabond.
ODE TO POTAMO OF ALEXANDRIA
An eclectic thinker who worked,
To synthesize views that were shirked,
Hoping to achieve conceptual unity.
In all virtue is life perfected,
As natural laws are dissected,
In universal principles of triunity .
ODE TO PRAXIPHANES
A Peripatetic grammarian,
With mindly strength Valerian,
Pupils like Epicurus took root.
Interests historical & poetic,
With undercurrents noetic,
Flowered works apt & astute.
ODE TO PRISCIAN OF LYDIA
Last of the Neoplatonists at the Academy,
Writing 'On Sense Perception' anatomy,
As cosmology & natural history inspire.
Forced to seek asylum in Chosroes' court,
A Justinian peace treaty would soon abort,
Philosophers' exile from Byzantine Empire.
ODE TO PRISCUS OF EPIRUS
A theurgic Neoplatonist scholar,
Emperor Julian had me by the collar,
And I him, by the frontal lobe.
Travelled with Augustus on campaign,
Until mortality ceased his reign,
Was arrested then freed to probe.
ODE TO PROCLUS
Crafting Neoplatonism into a high art,
Many thought me, exceptionally smart,
As I bridged antiquity to the modern age.
Henads are both, one & all,
Keeping the body, from venial thrall,
As Philosophy frees it from its material cage.
ODE TO PROCLUS OF LAODICEA
A heirophantic interpreter of the arcane,
Seeking to bridge the mystical & mundane,
Also dabbling in geometrical matters.
Son of a doctor 'tho I tended the esoteric,
Seeking the sublime & not the generic,
So that my soul would not be in tatters.
ODE TO PROCLUS MALLOTES
A Stoic native of Mallus in Cilicia,
Much evolved from a paramecia,
As upon Diogenic sophisms I expounded.
Against Epicurus was my treatise directed,
Advocating instead, passions defected,
In Reason & Moderation, be grounded.
ODE TO PTOLEMY-EL-GARIB
A Peripatetic pinacographer who compiled,
'Life of Aristotle' which beguiled,
Many a native & foreigner like myself.
My work survived in Istanbul,
Written in style of Arabic jewel,
A pinax presaging Dewey decimal shelf.
ODE TO PYRRHO
On Indian campaign with Alex the Great,
High priesthood was granted by Elians' fête,
,And Athenian citizenship was also gained.
A radical agnostic who skirted dogma's sting,
So that epoché could make ataraxia sing,
In the face of 'isostheneia' attained.
ODE TO SALLUSTIUS
'On The Gods & The Cosmos' was written,
As Emperor Julian became smitten,
'Tho his posthumous position I declined.
Gods are eternal & the world is myth,
Although both seek, to soul-smith,
As Good & Evil are equally inclined.
ODE TO SALLUSTIUS OF EMESA
Jurisprudence & oratory were taken up,
Until I drank from the Cynic's cup,
Thenceforth imbibed with baited breath.
Dissuaded young men from teaching,
Truths unsearchable & far-reaching,
While I presaged by others' eyes their death.
ODE TO SATYRUS
An historian & biographer Peripatetic,
With eminent figures was copacetic,
While exploring Alexandrian population.
'On Characters' is one of my titles,
And dramatist Euripides' recitals,
Were of import throughout the nation.
ODE TO SECUNDUS THE SILENT
My misogynistic antics I soon regretted,
As Mother's demise, I unwittingly abetted,
Binding chastening noose 'round my tongue.
God is an intelligible unknown sought,
A necessary Good, with vagary fraught,
Like canticles reveled in, but yet unsung.
ODE TO SEXTUS OF CHAERONEA
Employed as Marcus Aurelius' teacher,
Respected more than any preacher,
As my systematic approach was admired.
A natural life & dignity, kindness, enables,
Preventing the spread of fallacious fables,
So one could remain Stoically inspired.
ODE TO SEXTUS EMPIRICUS
A Pyrrhonist & Empiric School physician,
Bringing Hellenistic disciplines to their fruition,
In surviving works of skeptical motif.
Epoché over agnosia was advocated,
And axiomatic approach thus placated,
As one lives by habit & not belief.
ODE TO SIMON THE SHOEMAKER
Working philosopher's mind never halted ,
My techne by Socrates was exalted,
As knowledge of genuine form.
Pericles offered me residence,
I declined with no hesitance,
My autonomy could not conform.
ODE TO SIMPLICIUS OF CILICIA
A Neoplatonic pagan & one of the last,
Whom Justinian from empire, cast,
Whilst I contributed Aristotelian additions.
Preferred reasoning to be deductive,
'Tho other methods are quite constructive,
Of both natural philosophers & mathematicians.
ODE TO SIRO
An Epicurean who taught Virgil in Naples,
Reason & Restraint were main staples,
Aiding in aponic & ataraxic state.
In sixth 'Eclogue' Virgil paid respect,
Making Silenus wise & circumspect,
Dwelling within sagely estate.
ODE TO SOCRATES
Elenchi leading to aporia is useful,
To keep one's mind apt & youthful,
And intellectual integrity intact.
Goodness brings wealth & blessing,
State & Individual, addressing,
As knowledge cannot be exact.
ODE TO SOPATER OF APAMEA
Wrote on Providence & fickle fate,
Discipled by Iamblichus the late,
Leading to a 'Division of Questions.'
Friend of Constantine the first,
Until Ablabius the worst,
Made condemning suggestions.
ODE TO SOSIGENES OF ALEXANDRIA
Julius Caesar sought me to devise,
Keeper of days & of skies,
Egyptian-based with leap years.
Calendrical treatises sadly lost,
'Tho they were of little cost,
To current Gregorian gears.
ODE TO SOSIPATRA
A Neoplatonist & mystic,
Applying Chaldean heuristic,
To forums for inner circle, reserved.
Thanks to Eunapius' 'Lives',
Damnatio memoriae did not thrive,
And respect was well-deserved.
ODE TO SPEUSIPPUS
Rejected avuncular's 'Theory of Forms',
'Tho Dialectics, Ethics & Physics were still norms,
Absolute One from many is divergent.
Genera & species are distinct yet connected,
True knowledge is senses deflected,
Substance & virtue are properties emergent.
ODE TO SPHAERUS
A Stoic known for accuracy of definition,
My ponderances were acts of attrition,
Against Ptolemy's waxy tricks.
My works were varied & profound,
All to quell the unsound,
And burn both candlesticks.
ODE TO STILPO
Separated genus from the individual,
Essence through predicates not residual,
'Tho Megarian, I thought like a Cynic.
Goods of Soul, Body & the external,
Even in exile, remain diurnal,
Finding panacea within Virtue's clinic.
ODE TO STRATO OF LAMPSACAS
Nature negates God, by element & design,
An unconscious force, towards motion to incline,
'Tho Cicero didn't like, an atheistic abscond.
Soul moved by 'pneuma', extended from head,
A hylozoic hodgepodge of materialistic dread,
Pondering its mortality, with no hope of life beyond.
ODE TO SYRIANUS
A Neoplatonic-schooled exegete,
Of commentaries replete,
Monad & Dyad from One supreme.
Platonic forms aren't evil or base,
But dyadic pluralities of time & space,
Creating macabre, schismatic dream.
ODE TO TELECLES OF PHOCIS
A Skeptic & untitled scholarch,
Along with Evander the spark,
Where we reveled in the rhyme of Reason.
Our predecessor Lacydes grew ill,
And so his legacy wouldn't be nil,
We shadowed through many a season.
ODE TO TELES THE CYNIC
Wrote on wars & freedom from passion,
As Hellenistic verve was in fashion,
Much to be & more to see.
Stobaeus preserved my diatribes,
Some of the earliest Cynic guides,
Circa 3rd century, B.C.E.
ODE TO THEAGENES OF PATRAS
A Cynic & Peregrinus Proteus' friend,
I lit the pyre which aided his end,
Praising him his lack of vain-glory.
In Trajan's Forum I lectured,
And playfully conjectured,
'Til indisposed liver ended my story.
ODE TO THEMISTA OF LAMPSACAS
Much more than Leonteus' wife,
I lived an Epicurean life,
As pleasures immaterial were cultivated.
Epicurus gave me high praise,
'Tho Cicero prejudicially raised,
Objectional critique not credibly rated.
ODE TO THEMISTIUS
Called Euphrades for my eloquence,
My presence bore relevance,
In philosophical & political realms.
Along with Senatorial orations,
I indulged metaphysical ablations,
With syncretism at the helms.
ODE TO THEODORUS OF ASINE
Neoplatonist & Iamblichus' pupil,
Counting with numerological scruple,
Proclean praise for my nobility.
First cause is Triadic One unbroken,
Emanating from 'hen' spoken,
Movements of cosmic virility.
ODE TO THEODORUS THE ATHEIST
Obtaining joy & avoiding grief,
For a Cyrenaic was chief,
Dispelling ignorance with verve & flair.
Banished from Cyrene for impiety,
Charges based in dubiety,
Whether I rot on ground or in air.
ODE TO THEON OF SMYRNA
Engaged in Pythagorean mathematics,
And other Platonian schematics,
Fine-tuning the music of the spheres.
Integrated numbers irrational,
Dismissed on scale national,
Making lunary impact in later years.
ODE TO THEOPHRASTUS (Tyrtamus)
Peripatetic successor of Aristotle,
And the father of botany, at full throttle,
My intellect grew where it was planted.
Also studied in logic & grammar,
While sparing animals carnivorous hammer,
As all continued in motion granted.
ODE TO THRASYMACHUS OF CHALCEDON
My prosody & emotive gesticulation,
Were felt throughout the nation,
As I strove never be, a sufferer of fools.
Bearing a name like “fierce fighter”,
Capped my words with stiff mitre,
In the face of injustice which rules.
ODE TO THRASYMACHUS OF CORINTH
A Corinthian of the Megarian school,
Ichthyus & I employed as a tool,
Dialectical valence within our minds.
Teacher of Stilpo who nary rebelled,
And later in sophistry, amiably excelled,
As I sought freedom that truly unbinds.
ODE TO TIMAEUS THE SOPHIST
Compiled a 'Lexicon' of Plato's work,
To suss out phrases of Attican quirk,
'Tho little of this is extant today.
Without a place to hang my hat,
A happy sojourner, at that,
Of mindscapes along my way.
ODE TO TIMON
'Silloi' being my ploy,
I poeticised with verve & joy,
Penned with satirical flair.
'Tween tragedy & comedy-love,
Gripped by Pyrrhonic glove,
In hexameter verse guerre.
ODE TO TISIAS
Teacher of rhetoric & Corax' student,
I dealt in things, logically prudent,
'Tho the 'Crow' in court, his fee, demanded.
One must concede, to probability,
Thus maintaining flexibility,
Of mind & matters, as change is handed.
ODE TO XENARCHUS OF SELEUCIA
A Peripatetic & apt grammarian,
My methods were not antiquarian,
An early bloomer, I left my home.
Pedagogy was my passion,
I continued in scholarly fashion,
Reputing 'Fifth Element' tome.
ODE TO XENIADES
A Skeptic of extremes,
Declaring nothing as what it seems,
Nothing true found in mere perception.
Diogenes' freedom buyer,
Becoming sons' teacher for hire,
“A good spirit” of homely reception.
ODE TO XENOCRATES
Platonic scholarch of mathematical element,
Made sense, intellect & opinion relevant,
Ruled by gods of Unity & Duality.
Soul is a self-moving number,
Daemonical powers run asunder,
As joy is found in Virtue & Venality.
ODE TO XENOPHON
A military memoirist & pioneer,
Of literary genres with biographical veneer,
Esteemed for my down-to-earth style.
Upbringing as equestrian-classed,
Would serve 'Anabasis' army left aghast,
Until later 'Memorabilia' beguile.
ODE TO ZENOBIUS
A grammarian & literary critic,
Offering insights both witty & acidic,
As Alexandrian library was superintended.
As first metadata system was developed,
And Homerian epics, editorially enveloped,
Ptolemaic appointments were extended.
ODE TO ZENODOTUS
Greek sophist during Hadrian's time,
Whose birthday I greeted in rhyme,
Placing me thus, at the Imperial-table.
Also penning Proverbs in three books,
And Greek translations of author Sallust,
Whose posthumous fame I would enable.
ODE TO ZENO OF CITIUM
Stoicism’s founder & father,
Put the debauch in quite a bother,
As virtue became the only true pleasure.
Embracing my ascetic life,
I resisted pathos’ attendant strife,
Adhering to Logos, in staunch measure.
ODE TO ZENO OF SIDON
Seen as the “leading Epicurean”,
Admired by many a Centurion,
For placing primacy on experiential knowledge.
Explored philosophy of maths,
Taking Euclid a bit to task,
On fundamental principles who never left college.
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