1. Of SYROS, one of the Cyclades, was a son of Babys. The name of his birthplace, coupled with the traditions respecting the Eastern origin of his philosophical opinions, led many writers to state that he was born in Syria or Assyria. There is some difference respecting his date. Suidas places him in the time of Alyattes, king of Lydia, Diogenes Laertius (1.121) in the 59th Olympiad B. C. 544. Now as Alyattes died in the 54th Olympiad, both these statements cannot be correct, and the attempt of Mr. Clinton to reconcile them (F. H. ad ann. 544), cannot be admitted, as Miller has shown (Fragm. Hist. Graec. p. xxxiv.). The date of Diogenes is the more probable one, and is supported by the authority of Cicero, who makes Pherecydes a contemporary of Servius Tullius (Tusc. 1.16).
According to the concurrent testimony of antiquity, Pherecydes was the teacher of Pythagoras. It is further stated by many later writers, such as Clemens Alexandrinus, Philo Byblius, &c., the references to whom are all given in the work of Sturtz quoted below, that Pherecydes did not receive instruction in philosophy from any master, but obtained his knowledge from the secret books of the Phoenicians. Diogenes Laertius relates (1.116, 2.46) that Pherecydes heard Pittacus, and was a rival of Thales; which latter statement also occurs in Suidas. It is further related, that, like Thales and Pythagoras, Pherecydes was a disciple of the Egyptians and Chaldaeans, and that he travelled in Egypt. (Joseph. c. Apion. p. 1034e.; Cedrenus, i. p. 94b.; Theodorus Meliteniota, Prooem. in Astron. 100.12.) But all such statements cannot, from the nature of the case, rest on any certain foundation. The other particulars related of Pherecvdes are not worth recording here : those who are curious in such matters will find some details in the sections devoted to him in Diogenes Laertius (1.116-122). It may just be mentioned that, according to a favourite tradition in antiquity, Pherecydes died of the lousy disease or Morbus Pediculosus; though others tell us that he put an end to his life by throwing himself down from a rock at Delphi, and others again give other accounts of his death.