Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers

DIOG. LAERT.

...strampsuchos original: "Astrampsuchos," a legendary Persian Magus. and Gobryas and Pazatas, until the de-
struction of the Persians by Alexander. But those who at-
tribute the achievements of the Greeks to barbarians—
the very people from whom not only philosophy but the
human race itself took its start—fail to notice their own
errors. For behold, among the Athenians there was Musae-
us, and among the Thebans, Linus. They say Musaeus, the
son of Eumolpus, was the first to compose a "Theogony"
Theogony: a poem describing the origins and genealogy of the gods and a "Sphere" An early astronomical model of the heavens..
He said that all things come from one and are resolved in-
to the same. He died at Phalerum A coastal port of ancient Athens., and this
elegaic couplet was inscribed upon his tomb:

The soil of Phalerum holds Eumolpus's dear son,
Musaeus, whose mortal body lies beneath this tomb.

It is from the father of Musaeus that the Eumolpidae
Eumolpidae: a prominent Athenian family who held the hereditary priesthood of the Eleusinian Mysteries are
named among the Athenians. As for Linus, they say he
was the son of Hermes and the Muse Urania. He com-
posed a "Cosmogony" Cosmogony: an account of the origin of the physical universe, describing the paths
of the sun and moon, and the origins of animals and
fruits. The beginning of his poems is as follows:

There was once a time when all things grew together.

From this source, Anaxagoras A later pre-Socratic philosopher (c. 500–428 BC). took his idea,
stating that all things were together, and that Mind
original: "nous" came and set them in order. Linus
died in Euboea, shot by the arrows of Apollo; and
his epitaph reads:

Here the earth received the Theban Linus in death,
the son of the well-crowned Muse Urania.

And thus philosophy began with the Greeks, whose
very name shuns any barbarian designation. But those
who attribute its discovery to foreigners also bring
forward Orpheus the Thracian, saying he was a
philosopher and the most ancient of all. For my part,
I do not know if one should call a man a philosopher
who has uttered such things about the gods. For what
should we call one who unsparingly attributes every
human passion to the gods, including those shameful
deeds rarely committed by even the worst of men...