A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology

Smith, William

A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. William Smith, LLD, ed. 1890

(Ἡρακλείδης), son of Euthyphron or Euphron, born at Heracleia, in Pontus, and said by Suidas to have been descended from Damis, one of those who originally led the colony from Thebes to Heracleia. He was a person of considerable wealth, and migrated to Athens, where he became a pupil of Plato, and Suidas says that, during Plato's absence in Sicily, his school was left under the care of Heracleides. He paid attention also to the Pythagorean system, and afterwards attended the instructions of Speusippus, and finally of Aristotle. He appears to have been a vain and luxurious man, and so fat, that the Athenians punned on his surname, Ποντικός, and turned it into Πομπικός.

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