In 1684, a book titled Aristotle’s Masterpiece was published in England. Despite its title, it was a sex manual that also included advice on midwifery. The book proved widely popular in England from the early modern period through the 19th...
Greek philosopher Theophrastus (c. 372 BC, Eresus, Lesbos — c. 287) was a Greek philosopher and pupil of Aristotle and perhaps the first weather forecaster in the world.
His book On Signs, written in the fourth century BC, was the...
The last words of Socrates have puzzled readers for centuries—and they’re far stranger than you might expect from a man calmly debating the soul’s immortality. Moments before his execution, he doesn’t deliver a grand philosophical conclusion. Instead, he makes...
On May 28, 585 B.C., a rare celestial event turned a battlefield into a place of peace. As the armies of King Alyattes II of Lydia and King Cyaxares of the Medes prepared for yet another clash, the midday...
Researchers have identified 30 unpublished verses by Empedocles in a papyrus fragment housed in Cairo, Egypt, offering direct access to the ancient Greek philosopher's writing for the first time. The fragment is roughly 2,000 years old and was held...
Greek philosopher Plato laid the foundation for gender equality by proposing that women could participate fully in the political and military life of society alongside men, marking one of the earliest arguments for equality in history. His argument appears...
Pherecydes of Syros is one of the most enigmatic figures of early Greek philosophy and the tutor of the Greek philosopher Pythagoras. Often overshadowed by his famous pupil, Pherecydes was a thinker whose ideas bridged the mythological worldview of...
Over 2,000 years ago, a Greek philosopher named Chrysippus of Soli became the subject of one of history’s most peculiar death stories. Widely regarded as a key figure in Stoicism, Greek philosopher Chrysippus reportedly died laughing at his own...
Among ancient philosophers, Plato stands out for the boldness of his educational vision. In discussions of education, many modern thinkers claim originality for humane and progressive methods. Yet, classical antiquity already articulated principles that resonate strongly today.
In The Republic,...
Leucippus, the ancient Greek philosopher and father of atomic theory, astonishingly formulated the concept of the great cosmogenic explosion, now known as the Big Bang. Among other things, he stated: "Everything is infinite and changes into each other."
Leucippus: A...
