Polyaenus of Lampsacus

Short description: Ancient Greek mathematician (c. 340–285 BC)

Polyaenus of Lampsacus (/ˌpɒliːˈiːnəs/ POL-ee-EE-nəs; Ancient Greek: Πoλύαινoς Λαμψακηνός, Polyainos Lampsakēnos; c. 340 – c. 285 BCE), also spelled Polyenus, was an ancient Greek mathematician and a friend of Epicurus.

## Contents

* 1 Life
* 2 Writings
* 3 Notes
* 4 References

## Life

He was the son of Athenodorus. His friendship with Epicurus started after the latter's escape from Mytilene in 307 or 306 BC when he opened a philosophical school at Lampsacus associating himself with other citizens of the town, like Pythocles, Colotes, and Idomeneus. With these fellow citizens he moved to Athens, where they founded a school of philosophy with Epicurus as head, or hegemon, while Polyaenus, Hermarchus and Metrodorus were kathegemones.

A man of mild and friendly manners, as Philodemus refers, he adopted fully the philosophical system of his friend, and, although he had previously acquired great reputation as a mathematician, he now maintained with Epicurus the worthlessness of geometry.[1][2] But the statement may be at least doubted, since it is certain Polyaenus wrote a mathematical work called Puzzles (Greek: Aπoριαι) in which the validity of geometry is maintained. It was against this treatise that another Epicurean, Demetrius Lacon, wrote Unsolved questions of Polyaenus (Greek: Πρὸς τὰς Πoλυαίνoυ ἀπoρίας) in the 2nd century BCE. Like Epicurus, a considerable number of spurious works seem to have been assigned to him; one of these was Against the Orators, whose authenticity was attacked both by Zeno of Sidon and his pupil Philodemus.

## Writings

The works attributed to Polyaenus include:[3]

* On Definitions
* On Philosophy
* Against Aristo
* Puzzles (Aporiai)
* On the Moon
* Against the Orators
* His collected Letters.

## Notes

1. ↑ Cicero, De finibus, i. 6 ; Academica, ii. 33
2. ↑ Diogenes Laertius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, ii.105, x. 12
3. ↑ Donald J. Zeyl, Daniel Devereux, Phillip Mitsis, (1997), Encyclopedia of Classical Philosophy, page 446.

## References

* Polyaenus, Polieno. Frammenti, A. Tepedino Guerra (Italian translation), Napoli, (1991)
* Smith, William; Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, "Polyaenus (2)"[Usurped!], Boston, (1867)
* This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed (1870). "article name needed". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.article+name+needed]]&rft.atitle=[[Dictionary+of+Greek+and+Roman+Biography+and+Mythology]]&rft.date=1870&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikibooks.org:Biography:Polyaenus_of_Lampsacus">

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Epicureanism

Philosophers|

| Greek era|

* Epicurus
* Polyaenus
* Metrodorus
* Batis
* Leontion
* Carneiscus
* Idomeneus
* Hermarchus
* Colotes
* Themista
* Leonteus
* Polystratus
* Dionysius of Lamptrai
* Basilides
* Philonides
* Diogenes of Tarsus
* Alcaeus and Philiscus
* Apollodorus
* Demetrius Lacon
* Zeno of Sidon

|

Roman era|

* Amafinius
* Rabirius
* Titus Albucius
* Phaedrus
* Philodemus
* Lucretius
* Patro
* Catius
* Siro
* Diogenes of Oenoanda

Modern era|

* Pierre Gassendi
* Denis Diderot
* Jeremy Bentham
* Jun Tsuji
* Christopher Hitchens
* Michel Onfray

Philosophy|

* Epicureanism (cf. Hedonism)
* Tetrapharmakos

Concepts|

* Aponia
* Ataraxia
* Clinamen
* Eudaimonia
* Hedone
* Metakosmia

Works|

* On the Nature of Things
* List of English translations of De rerum natura

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