After engaging in politics he became a student of nature. According to some he left nothing in writing; for the Cf. Simplicius, i. 23, 29-33 d. attributed to him is said to be by Phocus of Samos. Callimachus knows him as the discoverer of the Ursa Minor; for he says in his : Who first of men the course made plain Of those small stars we call the Wain, Whereby Phoenicians sail the main.Greek mariners steered by the Great Bear, the Phoenicians by the Little Bear, as Ovid states, , iv. 3. 1, 2.. But according to others he wrote nothing but two treatises, one and one , regarding all other matters as incognizable. He seems by some accounts to have been the first to study astronomy,See Sir T. L. Heath, , pp. 12-23., the first to predict eclipses of the sun and to fix the solstices; so Eudemus in his It was this which gained for him the admiration of Xenophanes and Herodotus and the notice of Heraclitus and Democritus.

And some, including Choerilus the poet, declare that he was the first to maintain the immortality of the soul. He was the first to determine the sun’s course from solstice to solstice, and according to some the first to declare the size of the sun to be one seven hundred and twentieth part of the solar circle, and the size of the moon to be the same fraction of the lunar circle. He was the first to give the last day of the month the name of Thirtieth, and the first, some say, to discuss physical problems.

Aristotle, A 2, 405 a 19. and Hippias affirm that, arguing from the magnet and from amber, he attributed a soul or life even to inanimate objects. Pamphila states that, having learnt geometry from the Egyptians, he was the first to inscribe a right-angled triangle in a circle, whereupon he sacrificed an ox.

Others tell this tale of Pythagoras, amongst them Apollodorus the arithmetician. (It was Pythagoras who developed to their furthest extent the discoveries attributed by Callimachus in his to Euphorbus the Phrygian, I mean scalene triangles and whatever else has to do with theoretical geometry.i.e. a theory concerned with lines, γραμμαί, which of course include curves as well as straight lines.)

Thales is also credited with having given excellent advice on political matters. For instance, when Croesus sent to Miletus offering terms of alliance, he frustrated the plan; and this proved the salvation of the city when Cyrus obtained the victory. Heraclides makes Thales himselfNamely, in a dialogue. Cf. viii. 4. say that he had always lived in solitude as a private individual and kept aloof from State affairs.

Some authorities say that he married and had a son Cybisthus; others that he remained unmarried and adopted his sister’s son, and that when he was asked why he had no children of his own he replied because he loved children. The story is told that, when his mother tried to force him to marry, he replied it was too soon, and when she pressed him again later in life, he replied that it was too late. Hieronymus of Rhodes in the second book of his relates that, in order to show how easy it is to grow rich, Thales, foreseeing that it would be a good season for olives, rented all the oil-mills and thus amassed a fortune.Because, having created a monopoly, he could charge what he pleased. See Aristotle’s version of the story, i. 11, 1259 a 6-18.

His doctrine was that water is the universal primary substance, and that the world is animate and full of divinities. He is said to have discovered the seasons of the year and divided it into 365 days.

He had no instructor, except that he went to Egypt and spent some time with the priests there. Hieronymus informs us that he measured the height of the pyramids by the shadow they cast, taking the observation at the hour when our shadow is of the same length as ourselves. He lived, as Minyas relates, with Thrasybulus, the tyrant of Miletus.

The well-known story of the tripod found by the fishermen and sent by the people of Miletus to all the Wise Men in succession runs as follows.

Certain Ionian youths having purchased of the Milesian fishermen their catch of fish, a dispute arose over the tripod which had formed part of the catch. Finally the Milesians referred the question to Delphi, and the god gave an oracle in this form vi. 51.: Who shall possess the tripod? Thus replies Apollo: Whosoever is most wise.Or in prose: Offspring of Miletus, do you ask Phoebus concerning the tripod? Whoso in wisdom is of all the first, to him the tripod I adjudge. Accordingly they give it to Thales, and he to another, and so on till it comes to Solon, who, with the remark that the god was the most wise, sent it off to Delphi. Callimachus in his has a different version of the story, which he took from Maeandrius of Miletus.Although disguised as Leandrius, the writer meant is Maeandrius, who is known ( no. 2905) to have written a local history of Miletus. Such histories, etg. of Sicyon, Megara, Samos, Naxos, Argolis, Epirus, Thessaly, abounded in the Alexandrian age. It is that Bathycles, an Arcadian, left at his death a bowl with the solemn injunction that it should be given to him who had done most good by his wisdom. So it was given to Thales, went the round of all the sages, and came back to Thales again.

And he sent it to Apollo at Didyma, with this dedication, according to Callimachus: Lord of the folk of Neleus’ line, Thales, of Greeks adjudged most wise, Brings to thy Didymaean shrine His offering, a twice-won prize. But the prose inscription is: Thales the Milesian, son of Examyas [dedicates this] to Delphinian Apollo after twice winning the prize from all the Greeks. The bowl was carried from place to place by the son of Bathycles, whose name was Thyrion, so it is stated by Eleusis in his work and Alexo the Myndian in the ninth book of his

But Eudoxus of Cnidos and Euanthes of Miletus agree that a certain man who was a friend of Croesus received from the king a golden goblet in order to bestow it upon the wisest of the Greeks; this man gave it to Thales, and from him it passed to others and so to Chilon.

Chilon laid the question Who is a wiser man than I? before the Pythian Apollo, and the god replied Myson. Of him we shall have more to say presently. (In the list of the Seven Sages given by Eudoxus, Myson takes the place of Cleobulus; Plato also includes him by omitting Periander.) The answer of the oracle respecting him was as follows vi. 40.: Myson of Chen in Oeta; this is he Who for wiseheartedness surpasseth thee; and it was given in reply to a question put by Anacharsis. Daimachus the Platonist and Clearchus allege that a bowl was sent by Croesus to Pittacus and began the round of the Wise Men from him.

Aristodemus is mentioned by Alcaeus thusFr. 49 Bergk; cf. Pindar, ii. 17.: Surely no witless word was this of the Spartan, I deem, Wealth is the worth of a man; and poverty void of esteem. Some relate that a vessel with its freight was sent by Periander to Thrasybulus, tyrant of Miletus, and that, when it was wrecked in Coan waters, the tripod was afterwards found by certain fishermen. However, Phanodicus declares it to have been found in Athenian waters and thence brought to Athens. An assembly was held and it was sent to Bias;

for what reason shall be explained in the life of Bias.

There is yet another version, that it was the work of Hephaestus presented by the god to Pelops on his marriage. Thence it passed to Menelaus and was carried off by Paris along with Helen and was thrown by her into the Coan sea, for she said it would be a cause of strife. In process of time certain people of Lebedus, having purchased a catch of fish thereabouts, obtained possession of the tripod, and, quarrelling with the fishermen about it, put in to Cos, and, when they could not settle the dispute, reported the fact to Miletus, their mother-city. The Milesians, when their embassies were disregarded, made war upon Cos; many fell on both sides, and an oracle pronounced that the tripod should be given to the wisest; both parties to the dispute agreed upon Thales. After it had gone the round of the sages, Thales dedicated it to Apollo of Didyma.

The oracle which the Coans received was on this wise: Hephaestus cast the tripod in the sea; Until it quit the city there will be No end to strife, until it reach the seer Whose wisdom makes past, present, future clear. That of the Milesians beginning Who shall possess the tripod? has been quoted above. So much for this version of the story.

Hermippus in his refers to Thales the story which is told by some of Socrates, namely, that he used to say there were three blessings for which he was grateful to Fortune: first, that I was born a human being and not one of the brutes; next, that I was born a man and not a woman; thirdly, a Greek and not a barbarian.

It is said that once, when he was taken out of doors by an old woman in order that he might observe the stars, he fell into a ditch, and his cry for help drew from the old woman the retort, How can you expect to know all about the heavens, Thales, when you cannot even see what is just before your feet? Timon too knows him as an astronomer, and praises him in the where he saysFr. 23 Diels.: Thales among the Seven the sage astronomer.

His writings are said by Lobon of Argos to have run to some two hundred lines. His statue is said to bear this inscription vii. 83.: Pride of Miletus and Ionian lands, Wisest astronomer, here Thales stands.

Of songs still sung these verses belong to him: Many words do not declare an understanding heart. Seek one sole wisdom. Choose one sole good. For thou wilt check the tongues of chatterers prating without end.

Here too are certain current apophthegms assigned to him: Of all things that are, the most ancient is God, for he is uncreated. The most beautiful is the universe, for it is God’s workmanship. The greatest is space, for it holds all things. The swiftest is mind, for it speeds everywhere. The strongest, necessity, for it masters all. The wisest, time, for it brings everything to light. He held there was no difference between life and death. Why then, said one, do you not die? Because, said he, there is no difference.

To the question which is older, day or night, he replied: Night is the older by one day. Some one asked him whether a man could hide an evil deed from the gods: No, he replied, nor yet an evil thought. To the adulterer who inquired if he should deny the charge upon oath he replied that perjury was no worse than adultery. Being asked what is difficult, he replied, To know oneself. What is easy? To give advice to another. What is most pleasant? Success. What is the divine? That which has neither beginning nor end. To the question what was the strangest thing he had ever seen, his answer was, An aged tyrant. How can one best bear adversity? If he should see his enemies in worse plight. How shall we lead the best and most righteous life? By refraining from doing what we blame in others.

What man is happy?He who has a healthy body, a resourceful mind and a docile nature. He tells us to remember friends, whether present or absent; not to pride ourselves upon outward appearance, but to study to be beautiful in character. Shun ill-gotten gains, he says. Let not idle words prejudice thee against those who have shared thy confidence. Whatever provision thou hast made for thy parents, the same must thou expect from thy children. He explained the overflow of the Nile as due to the etesian winds which, blowing in the contrary direction, drove the waters upstream.

Apollodorus in his places his birth in the first year of the 35th Olympiad [640 B.C.].

He died at the age of 78 (or, according to Sosicrates, of 90 years); for he died in the 58th Olympiad, being contemporary with Croesus, whom he undertook to take across the Halys without building a bridge, by diverting the river.

There have lived five other men who bore the name of Thales, as enumerated by Demetrius of Magnesia in his 1. A rhetorician of Callatia, with an affected style. 2. A painter of Sicyon, of great gifts. 3. A contemporary of Hesiod, Homer and Lycurgus, in very early times. 4. A person mentioned by Duris in his work 5. An obscure person in more recent times who is mentioned by Dionysius in his

Thales the Sage died as he was watching an athletic contest from heat, thirst, and the weakness incident to advanced age. And the inscription on his tomb is vii. 84.: Here in a narrow tomb great Thales lies; Yet his renown for wisdom reached the skies. I may also cite one of my own, from my first book, vii. 85.: As Thales watched the games one festal day The fierce sun smote him, and he passed away; Zeus, thou didst well to raise him; his dim eyes Could not from earth behold the starry skies.In plain prose: As the wise Thales was one day watching the contest of the racers, thou, O Sun-god, O Zeus, didst snatch him from the stadium. I praise thee for removing him to be near thee; for verily the old man could no more discern the stars from earth.

To him belongs the proverb Know thyself, which Antisthenes in his attributes to Phemonoë, though admitting that it was appropriated by Chilon.

This seems the proper place for a general notice of the Seven Sages, of whom we have such accounts as the following. Damon of Cyrene in his carps at all sages, but especially the Seven. Anaximenes remarks that they all applied themselves to poetry; Dicaearchus that they were neither sages nor philosophers, but merely shrewd men with a turn for legislation.The opinion of Dicaearchus thus expressed is correct. With the exception of Thales, no one whose life is contained in Book I. has any claim to be styled a philosopher. The tradition of the Seven Wise Men and of their meeting at some court, whether of a native tyrant like Periander or of a foreign prince like Croesus, was used by Plato ( 343 A) and, largely through his influence, grew into a romantic legend, the result being late biographies, collections of apophthegms, and letters attributed to various authors, e.g. the apophthegms of Demetrius of Phalerum. Diogenes Laertius swallows all this as true; modern criticism rejects it all as forgery. Archetimus of Syracuse describes their meeting at the court of Cypselus, on which occasion he himself happened to be present; for which Ephorus substitutes a meeting without Thales at the court of Croesus. Some make them meet at the Pan-Ionian festival, at Corinth, and at Delphi.