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 & 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.
The 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 health & joy,
Sense organs to brain through 'poroi',
And 'sperma' through '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,
As “Eluesinian Mysteries' took rise.
Simple living & three grapes on a vine,
Pleasure & repentance 'tis Life's wine,
Laws like spider webs, catch small flies.
ODE TO ANAXAGORAS
'Matter' is separate from 'Mind',
Caught in 'anima mundi' bind,
Including all forms, which are discrete.
'Nous' is mind-force behind matter,
Free source of movement, former & latter,
From causative vortex, elements accrete.
ODE TO ANAXILAUS
Disputes cause banishment from Rome,
“Magical” properties from down home,
Things before their time bring resistance.
Pythagorean interests also pursued,
And intellective dividends richly accrued,
A legacy left by successors' persistence.
ODE TO ANAXIMANDER OF MILETUS
The sun lights the moon, I 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 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 'tis not true knowledge,
Nor may the kind be they teach 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 thing,
'Air' & 'Infinity' deemed principle forces.
Will of Mind causes concomitant motion,
Cold/warm, water/fire posit passive/active notion,
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
'Arimaspea' told mythic tales,
Of Arimaspi & Hyperboreans' travails,
Herodotus in 'The Histories', ascribed esteem.
Became sacred raven after earthly end,
To travel with Apollo, whose altar I would amend,
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 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 high regard,
Wisdom abounded, like words from a Bard,
'Omnia mea mecum porto', in heart & mind.
Bust in Vatican Hall is maxim-clad,
With one oft quoted, “Most men are bad”,
'Tho most thought me, 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 in Egypt, later deemed sound.
School of Democritus, thought to be main,
'Inquiry' also penned, on subjects not mundane,
A Pythagorean bent, 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, circa 6th century, B.C.E.,
A dedication by Alcmaeon 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 cites in 'Gorgias', & thus must it be,
As annals of historic 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 said my soul never 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, 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,
Many 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 DAMON
'Tho my story, mere legend might be,
Indeed I had, friends at least three,
Dionysius the Tyrant & 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 'tis no elective,
Each atom's weight, in proportion to its size.
Multiverses flourish, formed in vortical fashion,
'Euthumia' is found, when straying from passion,
And 'nothing can be known', in our current guise.
ODE TO DIOGENES OF APOLLONIA
The 'polytropy' of air giveth rise,
To all things, I surmise,
A labyrinth of earthly vesicles & 'semeia'.
Intellect immanent to substance of aerial root,
An elenchus of Empedoclean pluralism to boot-
No change without foundational stria.
ODE TO DIOTIMA OF MANTINEA
'Philosophy of love' in 'Symposium' was mine,
Wooing Socrates with distinctions Divine,
'Eros' described as 'son of resource & need'.
'Platonic' love for another's inward beauty,
Leads to a sense of spiritual duty,
Causing earthly troubles to soon recede.
ODE TO ECHECRATES
Met with Phaedo to discuss Socrates' last,
A passing which left many mourners aghast,
Plato payed homage in his scholarly way.
Also a Pythagorean, 'tho not much is known,
My devotion in 'Phaedo', was clearly shown,
Philolaus & Eurytus, were teachers of sway.
ODE TO EPICHARMUS OF KOS
'Muthos' was a 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
'Tho a son quite a terror for his father,
I kicked up, quite a respectable pother,
As Aristotle & Plato held me in high esteem.
Quoted by Montaigne that 'fire is the spice of life',
'Tho passion brings, its own brand of strife,
As each life plays out, a dream within a dream.
ODE TO EURYTUS
A teacher of Pythagoreans' last generation,
Honoured complexity in beings, with veneration,
Each 'whole' made up of irreducible parts.
Taught Echecrates & Plato-another perk ,
Also was contested, my one surviving work,
'Tho I 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 words composing this here rhyme,
'Tho knowledge is limited, thinking is free.
ODE TO GORGIAS
Master rhetorician & an apt ponderer,
Of the 'Logos', was well-heeled wanderer,
To conclude a rift 'tween 'being', thinking & speech.
'Dikaia apate' was a literary loss & gain ,
A 'justified deception' to a higher plane,
'Tho realm 'tween Being & Non, we cannot breach.
ODE TO HERACLITUS
“All things are one”, by Logos guided,
Fire, the element of union & divided,
As is 'strife', and its attendant impunity.
'Reason' over 'Passion' mostly stressed,
Reliance on the 'Nomos'-our true test,
Beyond 'Good and Evil', lies Triunity.
ODE TO HICETAS
A thinker of the Pythagorean praxis,
Sensed the earth moved 'round its axis,
Causing the stars to shift overhead.
'De revolutionibus orbium coelestium'-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 their 'odd & even', no logic.
Said to have authored 'The Mystic Discourse',
Whilst dabbling in music theory & source,
No doubt inducing states, quite hypnogogic.
ODE TO HIPPIAS
First doxography-'Sunagoge' penned,
Minor fragments remained in the end,
'Tho writ into 'Protagoras', as a figure of awe.
Proclus recalled my 'quadratrix' invention,
'Tho 'Tertragonizousa' also gets mention,
I thought men equal by nature & not law.
ODE TO HIPPO
Soul, sensation, semen & Embryology,
These, my main interests of cosmogony,
Water thought the element from whence all came.
Was in Censorinus' 'Anonymus Londinensis',
Medical literature of ancient consensus,
Also called 'The Atheist' alongside given 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 superstitions.
ODE TO ICCUS OF TARANTO
A sportsman of status, 'Magna Grecia' sent,
And an 'LXXVII' victor, of Pythagorean bent,
Deemed 'Father of dietology' in my nation.
I abstained from sex & ate a frugal diet,
Before Olympic games-you should try it,
Was included by Plato in 'Sophist' classification.
ODE TO ION OF CHIOS
Contemp' of Aeschylus, & member of Cimon society,
Penned 'Triagmos' and 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,
And elegies in 'Greek Anthology' on human 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.
'On the Pythagorean Life' cites this here,
I laud Pythagoras' life austere,
'Tis hard to embrace abnegation.
ODE TO LYCOPHRON
The State is set to hold men in toll,
Knowledge is a communion of Body & Soul,
Morality being a construct, not innate.
Both part & whole 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,
Held in highest regard for the Truth we sought.
In Metapontum & Croton, Pythagoreans faced trials,
With crosses-to-bear worn with indecorous styles,
I escaped to Thebes, where I lived and taught.
ODE TO MELISSA
Name from the Greek 'melli', for honey,
With eloquence so smooth & on the money,
Member of Pythagoreans, later spurned.
Cleareta was a pal, in letters of Doric Greek,
And we both agreed, on daily self-critique,
And marital due deference returned.
ODE TO MELISSUS OF SAMOS
An admiral who defeated Athenian fleet under Pericles,
Posed infinitude of being, in earth, sky & seas,
A fine contribution made, by a natural ontologist.
What is, was & always will be 'the One',
'Eternal, unlimited, all alike' & never none,
Plato & Aristotle thought me, a Parmenidean apologist.
ODE TO METRODORUS OF CHIOS
'All things conceived must somewhere exist',
We should therefore support, diversity persist,
An infinitude of worlds, come from atoms & void.
'No-one knows even whether or not we know',
This, the mind's epistemological woe,
As Skepticism & Atomism are 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 ideational fetus,
Doric declared, Delphic hymns dialect of 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, a staunch allegorist.
Given mention in Plato's dialogue 'Ion',
Lending many Intellects, a shoulder to cry on,
Seeding 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,
Only moderation, I wished to acquire.
ODE TO OCELLUS LUCANUS
In century six was I born in Lucania,
Soon to experience, Pythagorean mania,
Only one work, did Stobaeus preserve.
Universe is eternal, with divisions of three,
Gods, men & daemons, an apt trinity,
As asceticism strives with noble reserve.
ODE TO ONATAS
Earthy mixture of body, defiles purity of soul,
And more than one deity, makes nature flow,
Recorded 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 no 'phenomena' can be,
'Ex nihilo nihil fit', deduced metaphysically,
In didactic poem, 'Doxai' & 'Truth', & its two tones.
The 'Real' cannot be preened from that which 'is-not',
'Morphai' & 'Dunameis' are 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 '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 us 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 definition,
'On The Harmony of Women', displayed erudition,
As 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 'limiters' & 'unlimited' Harmonia lies,
Through numbers things are known, order in disguise,
Defined by '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', 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, two extracts of work vaulted,
Chastity & modesty, both womanly virtues exalted,
'Tho a gent as well as a dame, 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 human arts.
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 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 galore,
As Pythagoreans ruled over Croton, fancy-free.
Last but not least, those Numerological raves,
And a mystical journey of ratios & octaves,
Reaching '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,
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,
My 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' writ in part,
Before untimely passing-an arrow in 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 wrenched 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 Athens' last Pythagoreans, 4th century B.C.E.
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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