who is hippias of ellis

What is hippias of Elis known for?

Hippias Of Elis, (flourished 5th century bc, Elis, in the Peloponnese, Greece), Sophist philosopher who contributed significantly to mathematics by discovering the quadratrix, a special curve he may have used to trisect an angle.

What is hippias of Elis known for writing?

Natural law. Hippias is credited with originating the idea of natural law. This ideal began at first during the fifth century B.C. According to Hippias, natural law was never to be superseded as it was universal.

Who is hippias of Elis what does he do according to Socrates?

According to Socrates, Hippias of Ellis is a Greek sophist, who, along with other Sophists, charge a pretty penny for their rhetoric services. Socrates can't help but note that rhetoric is taught elsewhere free of cost.

Are sophists philosophers?

Sophists could be described both as teachers and philosophers, having travelled about in Greece teaching their students various life skills, particularly rhetoric and public speaking.

What did Hippias do?

From Elis on the Greek mainland, Hippias made his living as a traveling philosopher, perhaps a member of the Sophists. Among the areas on which he lectured were poetry, grammar, history, politics, and archaeology, as well as mathematics and related fields. The latter included calculation, geometry, astronomy, and the application of math to music as pioneered by the Pythagorean school.

Who taught Hippias?

Hippias was taught by an otherwise unknown Aegesidamus, and he emerged as a polymath who wrote and lectured over a wide range of disciplines: rhetoric, politics, poetry, music, painting, sculpture, and astronomy, as well as the philosophy and mathematics on which his fame chiefly rests. 9 The secret of his wide knowledge appears to have neen an exceptional memory. According to Philostratus, he hand a system of mnemonics ushc that if he once heard a sting of fifty names, he could repeat them in correct order. 10 Most of what is kown about Hippias’ life and character comes from a dialogue between Socrates ad Hippias recorded by Xenophon 11 and from the two Platonic dialogues that bear hsi name, the Hippias Major and Hippias Minor Their authenticity has been disputed, but even if not genuine they still correctly reflect Plato’s attitude; in these dialogues Hippias is represented as a naive and humorless boaster who cannot stand up to the remorseless logic of Socrates. xenophon’s portrait is not so ruthless, but there also Hippias is reduced to silence by Socrates’ arguments. Hippias was a second-generation Sophist, and Plato had no love or the Sophists as a class. Apart from more fundamental diferences, Plato’s aristocratic soul was offended by their professional teaching; and Hippias was especially successful in negotiating lecture fees, particularly in Sicily, Although he recevived none in Sparta, where the law forbade a oreign education. 12

What did Hippias write?

The Suda Lexicon tersely records that Hippias “wrote many things.” None of his voluminous works has survived, but some of the titles and hints of the contents are known. His Synagoge, known through Athenaeus, has usually been thought, on the strength of a passage in Clement of Alexandria which seems to refer to it, to have been merely a miscellany in which he put together sayings of poets and prose writers, both Greek and foreign. 19 But Bruno Snell has advanced the theory that through this work Aristotle derived his knowledge of Thales; that the views of Thales about the All being water and about the souls of inanimate objects are thereby shown to be derived from earlier mythological speculations; and that the Synagoge is to be looked upon as the earliest work in both the history of Greek philosophy and the history of Greek literature. 20 If this is so, it encourages the thought that Hippias’ Nomenclature of Tribes21 may not have been a mere catalog but an expression of his belief in the fundamental unity of all mankind. His Register of Olympic Victors was no doubt a piece of Elian patriotism. It was the first such list to be drawn up; and Plutarch notes that, since it came so late after the enents recorded, too much authority should not be attached to it. 22 Among his epideictic or set speeches, the one known as The Trojan may have been in dialogue form; in it Nestor suggests to Neoptolemus many lawful and beautiful pursuits by which he might win fame. 23 Hippias wrote an elegiac inscription for the statues made by Calon at Olympia in memory of a boys’ choir from Messina drowned in crossing to Rhegium. 24 More important in its ultimate significance than any of these compositions is a work on the properties of the geometrical curve he discovered, since known as the quadratrix.

How many minas did Hippias make?

In the former passage Hippias boasts that although Protagoras was in Sicily at the time, he made more than 150 minas—at one small place, Inycus, taking in more than 20 minas.

What was Hippias's most important discovery?

It is clear from Plato’s raillery that Hippias claimed proficiency in arithmetic, geometry and astronomy, 29 and one important discovery is attributed to him: the transcendental curve known as the quadratrix.

What is the core of Hippias's teaching?

The core of it would appear to be a distinction between νόμος and ϕύσις, 27 that is, betwen positive law and nature, with a corresponding belief in the existence of unwritten natural laws which are the same for all men in all places and at all times. Reverence for the gods and honor for parents are among such natural laws. 28 It was one of Hippias’ fundamental beliefs that like is kin to like by nature, and he extended it to mean that men are neighbors and kinsmen. Positive law is a matter of human agreement and can be altered; it can be a great tyrant doing violence to human nature. It is a pity that Hippias’ teaching has to be seen through the distorting mirrors of Plato and Xenophon, for he would appear to have been a progenitor of the doctrine of natural law, of the social-contract theory of the state, and of the essential unity of all mankind —in fact, no mean thinker.

Did Hippias have a theory of reality?

Whether he had any general theory of the nature of reality is not certain, but it is probable that he did. In the Hippias Major, Plato attributes to him a "continuous doctrine of being," which implies that some particular doctrine was regularly attributed to him. This doctrine dealt with "continuous physical objects that spring from being" (301b), and was opposed to Socrates's attempt to distinguish "the beautiful" from "beautiful objects." While the details of the doctrine are not given, it seems clear that Hippias objected to attempts to explain phenomena in terms of qualities or entities whose existence does not lie wholly within the phenomena that exemplify them. If this is so, then he held to the standard sophistic rejection of the position of Parmenides — for Hippias, phenomenal reality was the whole of reality. If Plato presents the matter correctly, Hippias regarded reality as composed of concrete physical objects such that all qualities applicable to any group will also apply individually to each member of the group, and all qualities found in each of the individual objects will also apply to the group as a whole.

Who was Hippias of Elis?

Hippias of Elis ( / ˈhɪpiəs /; Greek: Ἱππίας ὁ Ἠλεῖος; late 5th century BC) was a Greek sophist, and a contemporary of Socrates. With an assurance characteristic of the later sophists, he claimed to be regarded as an authority on all subjects, and lectured on poetry, grammar, history, politics, ...

Who was Hippias' disciple?

460 BC) and was thus a younger contemporary of Protagoras and Socrates. He lived at least as late as Socrates (399 BC). He was a disciple of Hegesidamus.

What did Hippias do?

Hippias was a man of very extensive knowledge, and he occupied himself not only with rhetorical, philosophical, and political studies, but was also well versed in poetry, music, mathematics, painting and sculpture, and he claimed some practical skill in the ordinary arts of life , for he used to boast of wearing on his body nothing that he had not made himself with his own hands, such as his seal-ring, his cloak, and shoes. On the other hand, his knowledge always appears superficial, he does not enter into the details of any particular art or science, and is satisfied with certain generalities, which enabled him to speak on everything without a thorough knowledge of any. This arrogance, combined with ignorance, is the main cause which provoked Plato to his severe criticism of Hippias, as the sophist enjoyed a very extensive reputation, and thus had a large influence upon the education of the youths of the higher classes. A mathematical discovery ascribed to Hippias is sometimes called the quadratrix of Hippias.

Why did Hippias write about self-sufficiency?

Along with natural law, Hippias also wrote about self-sufficiency as a binding principle.

Who was Hippias born in?

Hippias was born around 460BC in the town of Elis on the Peloponnesian peninsula and is believed to have studied under a thinker called Hegesidamus, whose antecedents are obscure. Hippias arrived in Athens around the same time as Socrates was gaining popularity in the Grecian capital as an eccentric yet erudite teacher. The two thinkers apparently never met because their teachings differed widely. One basic difference being Sophists charged for their teachings while Socratics taught free.

How had Hippias mastered so many subjects in few years?

How had Hippias mastered so many subjects in few years? The answer lay in a technique called Mnemonics - or, the science of improving and developing the human memory. Hippias is thus credited by several modern day psychologists as the ‘Father of Mnemonics” – a science that is used to date to help people perform better at academics and work.

What did the Stoics use Hippias' teachings for?

The Stoics however found a better use for Hippias teachings: They trained jurists and lawmakers in the concept of an intrinsic common good among people of all races which unites people worldwide while man-made conventions separate them. The jurists promulgated laws based on racial psychology, making the Roman law, a proper legislation for the empire’s citizens, thus according everyone, an equal status regardless of their ethnic backgrounds.

What did Hippias say about natural law?

Hippias said, the virtuous and educated citizens of all countries cherish and uphold the same values, due to their intrinsic character, which is driven by the nature around them. Hence, such persons should be considered as nationals of a single country. He believed that conventions, laws and traditions were foisted upon humans and compliance was coerced.

Biography

Hippias, son of Diopeithes, was a philosopher-sophist born in the city of Elis around the fifth century B.C., a contemporary of Protagoras and Socrates, and the youngest of the sophists. Most of what is known about the life and thought of Hippias is thanks to Plato, who, in his Dialogues, places him as an interlocutor of Socrates.

Works

None of his writings have survived, but there are ancient accounts that he is said to have written:

Hippias and the mnemotechnic

Among his diverse knowledge, Hippias was also well known for having taught the art of memory (mnemotechnics). However, we have no accounts of the methods and techniques he developed for this art.

Laws of nature and positive laws

The interest of the sophist, Hippias of Elis, was mainly in mathematics and the natural sciences, because he believed that knowledge of nature was the way to good conduct in life.

The Cosmopolitan Ideal

From this, Hippias draws some interesting ideas. For example, by stating that, based on the law of nature, one could not create laws that would divide the citizens of one city from the citizens of another. It is known that in ancient Greece, there were certain prejudices against individuals from other peoples.

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Overview

Hippias of Elis was a Greek sophist, and a contemporary of Socrates. With an assurance characteristic of the later sophists, he claimed to be regarded as an authority on all subjects, and lectured on poetry, grammar, history, politics, mathematics, and much else. Most of our knowledge of him is derived from Plato, who characterizes him as vain and arrogant.

Life

Work

Natural law

See also

Notes

External links