Cleanthes, Chrysippus and the Pythagorean Golden Verses
Date
2001
Authors
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Publisher
Classical Association of South Africa
Abstract
This article re-examines the literary relationship between the Stoics Cleanthes and Chrysippus and the Pythagorean Golden Verses. Contrary to scholarly consensus, I shall argue that the two Stoics show literary dependence on the Pythagorean poem, and not vice versa. Previous scholars have dated the Golden Verses sometime in the Imperial period and they consequently either argue for direct dependence of the Golden Verses on the Stoic authors, or for a shared dependence on a hypothetical third text. If one examines the literary relationships between the various texts critically, while bracketing the chronological problem, it becomes evident that the far more traditional Pythagorean poem must have been used by the more sophisticated Stoic authors, instead of the author of the former having simplified his Stoic sources. This conclusion has important implications for the value of the Golden Verses within the Pythagorean tradition.
Description
CITATION: Thom, J. C. 2001. Cleanthes, Chrysippus and the Pythagorean Golden Verses. Acta Classica, 44(1).
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Citation
Thom, J. C. 2001. Cleanthes, Chrysippus and the Pythagorean Golden Verses. Acta Classica, 44(1).