Fragments of the Philosophical Poets

Some say he married and had a son named Cybisthus, while others say he remained unmarried and adopted his sister's son. When asked why he did not have children of his own, he is said to have replied, "Because of my love for children." They also say that when his mother tried to force him to marry, he said, "It is not yet time," and later, when he was past his prime, he said, "It is no longer the time." Hieronymus of Rhodes says in his second book of Scattered Memorabilia [fr. 8 Hiller] that, wishing to demonstrate how easy it is to grow rich, he foresaw a large olive harvest, rented the oil presses, and gathered a great deal of wealth.

He posited water as the beginning of all things, and that the world is ensouled and full of spirits. They say he discovered the seasons of the year and divided them into three hundred and sixty-five days.

No one taught him, except that he went to Egypt and spent time with the priests. Hieronymus [fr. 21 Hiller] also says he measured the pyramids by observing their shadow when it was equal in size to ourselves. He lived together with Thrasybulus, the tyrant of the Milesians, as Minyas says [FHG II 335, 3]. The story of the tripod is well-known, which was found by fishermen and sent to the Sages by the people of Miletus. For they say:

Some Ionian youths bought a catch from the Milesian fishermen. When the tripod was pulled up, there was a dispute, until the Milesians sent to Delphi. And the god gave this oracle:

Offspring of Miletus, you ask Phoebus about the tripod,
To the one who is first in wisdom among all, I say to give the tripod.

So they gave it to Thales; he gave it to another, and he to another, until it reached Solon. Solon said that God is first in wisdom and sent it back to Delphi. Callimachus relates these events differently in his Iambics, having taken the account from Maeandrius the Milesian. For he says a certain Arcadian named Bathycles left a cup and charged them to "give it to the most beneficial of the wise." It was given to Thales and...