Editing Heraclitus (section)

==Life==
[[File:Efes Antik Kenti Tiyatrosu.jpg|thumb|Theater in [[Ephesus]] on the coast of [[Asia Minor]], birthplace of Heraclitus]]
Heraclitus, the son of Blyson, was from the [[Ionians|Ionian]] city of Ephesus, a [[port]] on the [[Küçük Menderes River|Cayster River]], on the western coast of [[Asia Minor]] (modern-day [[Turkey]]). In the 6th century BC, Ephesus, like other cities in [[Ionia]], lived under the effects of both the rise of [[Lydia]] under [[Croesus]] and his overthrow by [[Cyrus the Great]] c. 547 BC.{{sfn|Kahn|1979|pp=1–3}} Ephesus appears to have subsequently cultivated a close relationship with the Persian Empire; during the suppression of the [[Ionian revolt]] by [[Darius the Great]] in 494 BC, Ephesus was spared and emerged as the dominant [[Greeks|Greek]] city in Ionia.{{sfn|Kahn|1979|pp=1–3}} [[Miletus]], the home to the previous philosophers, was captured and sacked.<ref>Ionian Revolt, Blackwell Encyclopedia of Ancient Battles (2011)</ref>

The main source for the life of Heraclitus is the [[doxographer]] [[Diogenes Laërtius]].{{efn|name=DiogLae}} Although most of the information provided by Laertius is unreliable, and the ancient stories about Heraclitus are thought to be later fabrications based on interpretations of the preserved fragments; the anecdote that Heraclitus relinquished the hereditary title of "king" to his younger brother may at least imply that Heraclitus was from an [[Aristocracy|aristocratic]] family in Ephesus.{{sfn|Kahn|1979|pp=1–3}}{{NoteTag|It may also be an unwarranted interpretation of the fragment from Heraclitus stating "the kingdom is a child's".{{sfn|Stokes|1961|page=477}}{{efn|name=Hippolyt52|{{harvnb|Hippolytus|loc= B52}}}} A similar story relates that Heraclitus persuaded the tyrant Melancomas to abdicate.{{sfn|Kirk|1954|p=13}}{{efn|{{harvnb|A3}}}}}} Heraclitus appears to have had little sympathy for [[democracy]] or [[commoner|the masses]].{{efn|{{harvnb|Clement, ''Stromateis''|loc= B29}}}}{{efn|{{harvnb| B49}}}} However, it is unclear whether he was "an unconditional partisan of the rich", or if, like the [[Seven Sages of Greece|sage]] [[Solon]], he was "withdrawn from competing factions".{{sfn|Kahn|1979|pp=1–3}}

Since antiquity, Heraclitus has been labeled a solitary figure and an arrogant misanthrope.{{sfn|Wheelwright|1959|pp=11, 84}}{{efn|name=DiogLae}} The [[Philosophical skepticism|skeptic]] [[Timon of Phlius]] called Heraclitus a "mob-abuser" (''ochloloidoros'').{{efn|name=DiogLae}} Heraclitus considered himself self-taught.{{efn|name=B101|{{harvnb| B101}}}} He criticized fools for being "put in a flutter by every word".{{efn|{{harvnb|B87}}}} He did not consider others incapable, but unwilling: "And though reason is common, most people live as though they had an understanding peculiar to themselves."{{Efn| name=sextb2|{{harvnb|Sextus Empiricus, ''Against the Mathematicians''|loc=B2}}}} Heraclitus did not seem to like the prevailing religion of the time, criticizing the popular [[Greco-Roman mysteries|mystery cults]], [[Sacrifice|blood sacrifice]], and [[prayer]] to statues.{{sfn|Mikalson|2010|p=96}}{{Efn|name=unholy|{{harvnb|B5}}}}{{efn|name=myste}}{{efn|{{harvnb|Clement, ''Protrepticus''|loc=B15}}}}{{NoteTag|This condemnation of blood sacrifice led some to conclude Heraclitus was a [[vegetarian]].<ref name=kindst/>{{sfn|Kirk|1954|p=5}}}} He also did not believe in [[Funeral|funeral rites]], saying "Corpses are more fit to be cast out than dung."<ref>Saxonhouse, A. W. (1995). Fear of Diversity: The Birth of Political Science in Ancient Greek Thought. United Kingdom: University of Chicago Press. p. 35</ref>{{efn|{{harvnb|B96}}}} He further criticized [[Homer]],{{efn|{{harvnb|Diogenes Laërtius|loc= B42}}}}{{efn|{{harvnb|Diogenes Laërtius|loc= B56}}}} [[Hesiod]],{{efn|{{harvnb|Diogenes Laërtius|loc= B57}}}} [[Pythagoras]],{{efn|{{harvnb|B81}}}} [[Xenophanes]], and [[Hecataeus of Miletus|Hecataeus]].{{efn|name=DiogLae}}{{efn|name=DiogL40|{{harvnb|Diogenes Laërtius|loc= B40}}}} He endorsed the sage [[Bias of Priene]], who is quoted as saying "Most men are bad".{{efn|{{harvnb| B39}}}} He praised a man named Hermodorus as the best among the Ephesians, who he says should all [[Suicide|kill themselves]] for exiling him.{{efn|{{harvnb|A2}}}}{{efn|{{harvnb| B121}}}}{{Notetag|Hermodorus may have given some laws to the Romans.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0104:entry=hermodorus-bio-1|via=A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology|title=Hermodo'rus|website=perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref>}}

Heraclitus is traditionally considered to have [[Floruit|flourished]] in the 69th [[Olympiad]] (504–501 BC),{{sfn|Burnet|1892|p=130}}{{efn|name=DiogLae|{{harvnb| A1}}}} but this date may simply be based on a prior account synchronizing his life with the reign of [[Darius the Great]].{{sfn|Kahn|1979|pp=1–3}}{{Notetag|Two alleged letters between Heraclitus and Darius, quoted by Diogenes Laërtius, are later forgeries.{{sfn|Kirk|1954|p=1}}}} However, this date can be considered "roughly accurate" based on a fragment that references Pythagoras, Xenophanes, and Hecataeus as older contemporaries, placing him near the end of the sixth century BC.{{sfn|Kahn|1979|pp=1–3}}{{sfn|Naddaf|2005|p=125}}<ref>Clement, ''Stromateis'', 1.129</ref>
According to Diogenes Laertius, Heraclitus died covered in dung after failing to cure himself from [[Edema|dropsy]]. This may be to parody his doctrine that for souls it is death to become water, and that a dry soul is best.<ref>Fairweather, Janet. "The Death of Heraclitus." Greek Roman and Byzantine Studies 14 (1973): 233–239.</ref><ref>Chitwood, A. (2004). Death by Philosophy: The Biographical Tradition in the Life and Death of the Archaic Philosophers Empedocles, Heraclitus, and Democritus. United States: University of Michigan Press. pp. 85–86</ref>{{efn|name=B36|{{harvnb|Clement, ''Stromateis''|loc=B36}}}}{{efn|name=B77|{{harvnb|B77}}}}{{efn|name=drysoul}}