DIOGENES LAERTIUS

The tripod was said to have been thrown into the sea of Cos by Alexander original: "Ἀλεξάνδρου" — this likely refers to the Trojan prince Paris, also known as Alexander because of a Spartan woman who predicted it would be a cause of great strife. Much later, when certain men from Lebedus purchased a "cast" bolon the total catch of a single throw of a fishing net at that spot, the tripod was caught in the net. A fight broke out with the fishermen, and the dispute reached as far as the city of Cos. When they could achieve no resolution, they reported the matter to the Milesians, who were their mother city. After the Milesians' ambassadors were treated with contempt, Miletus went to war against the Coans. After many had fallen on both sides, an oracle was delivered declaring that the tripod must be given to the wisest man. Both sides agreed to give it to Thales. After he had completed his turn with the prize, he dedicated it to Apollo of Didyma the site of a famous temple and oracle near Miletus. The oracle given to the Coans was delivered in this manner:

Strife shall not cease between the mortals of Ionia,
Until you send from your city that golden tripod,
Which Hephaestus the god of fire and craftsmanship cast into the sea;
Let it reach the house of the man
Who understands the things that are, that shall be, and that were before.

The oracle given to the Milesians was:

Offspring of Miletus, do you ask Phoebus a title for Apollo meaning "the Bright One" about the tripod?

This is the account as it has been told. However, Hermippus a biographer from the 3rd century BCE, in his Lives, attributes to Thales the saying which some others attribute to Socrates. For he says that Thales used to say he was grateful to Fortune for three things: first, that I was born a human and not a beast; second, that I was born a man and not a woman; and third, that I was born a Greek and not a barbarian.

It is also said that while he was being led out of his house by an old woman to observe the stars, he fell into a ditch. When he cried out in pain, the old woman said: "How, Thales, do you think you will know what is in the heavens when you are not even able to see what is right at your feet?" Timon the Skeptic philosopher and satirist also knew of his work in astronomy. In his Silli a work of satirical poetry, he praises him, saying:

Such a one among the Seven Sages was Thales, wise in his astronomical study.

Lobon of Argos an ancient author who wrote about poets says that the writings of Thales reached two hundred verses. He also reports that the following was inscribed upon the philosopher's statue: