Editing Diogenes Laertius (section)

==''Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers''==
[[Image:Dionysiou Monastery Codex 90.jpg|thumb|right|[[Dionysiou monastery]], codex 90, a 13th-century manuscript containing selections from [[Herodotus]], [[Plutarch]] and (shown here) Diogenes Laertius]]
The work by which he is known, ''Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers'' ({{langx|grc|Βίοι καὶ γνῶμαι τῶν ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ εὐδοκιμησάντων}}; {{langx|la|Vitae Philosophorum}}), was written in Greek and professes to give an account of the lives and opinions of the Greek philosophers.

Although it is at best an uncritical and unphilosophical compilation, its value, as giving us an insight into the private lives of the Greek sages, led [[Michel de Montaigne|Montaigne]] to write that he wished that instead of one Laërtius there had been a dozen.<ref>Montaigne, ''Essays'' II.10 [http://www.uoregon.edu/~rbear/montaigne/2x.htm "Of Books"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090214161140/http://www.uoregon.edu/~rbear/montaigne/2x.htm |date=2009-02-14 }}.</ref> On the other hand, modern scholars have advised that we treat Diogenes' testimonia with care, especially when he fails to cite his sources: "Diogenes has acquired an importance out of all proportion to his merits because the loss of many primary sources and of the earlier secondary compilations has accidentally left him the chief continuous source for the history of Greek philosophy".{{sfn|Long|1972|p=xix}}

===Organization of the work===
Diogenes divides his subjects into two "schools" which he describes as the [[Ionian School (philosophy)|Ionian/Ionic]] and the Italian/Italic; the division is somewhat dubious and appears to be drawn from the lost [[doxography]] of [[Sotion]]. The biographies of the "Ionian school" begin with [[Anaximander]] and end with [[Clitomachus (philosopher)|Clitomachus]], [[Theophrastus]] and [[Chrysippus]]; the "Italian" begins with [[Pythagoras]] and ends with [[Epicurus]].  The [[Socrates#Legacy|Socratic school]], with its various branches, is classed with the Ionic; while the [[Eleatics]] and [[Pyrrhonism|Pyrrhonists]] are treated under the Italian. He also includes his own poetic verse about the philosophers he discusses.

The following list shows the organization of philosophers discussed in the work:{{sfn|White|2020|pp=482-484}}
{|border="0" style="margin:1em auto; border: 1px solid #999; background-color:#FFFFFF"
|bgcolor="#CCCCCC"|'''Books 1–7: Ionian Philosophy'''
|-
|bgcolor="#CCCCCC"|Book 1: The [[Seven Sages of Greece|Seven Sages]]
|-
|bgcolor="#EFEFEF"|[[Thales]], [[Solon]], [[Chilon of Sparta|Chilon]], [[Pittacus of Mytilene|Pittacus]], [[Bias of Priene|Bias]], [[Cleobulus]], [[Periander]], [[Anacharsis]], [[Myson of Chenae|Myson]], [[Epimenides]], [[Pherecydes of Syros|Pherecydes]]
|-
|bgcolor="#CCCCCC"|Book 2: Ionians, Socrates, Socratics ([[Cyrenaics]], [[Megarians]]
|-
|bgcolor="#EFEFEF"|[[Anaximander]], [[Anaximenes of Miletus|Anaximenes]], [[Anaxagoras]], [[Archelaus (philosopher)|Archelaus]], [[Socrates]], [[Xenophon]], [[Aeschines of Sphettus|Aeschines]], [[Aristippus]], [[Hegesias of Cyrene|Hegesias]], [[Anniceris]], [[Theodorus the Atheist|Theodorus]], [[Phaedo of Elis|Phaedo]], [[Euclid of Megara|Euclides]], [[Eubulides]], [[Alexinus]], [[Euphantus]], [[Diodorus Cronus]], [[Stilpo]], [[Crito of Alopece|Crito]], [[Simon the Shoemaker|Simon]], [[Glaucon]], [[Simmias of Thebes|Simmias]], [[Cebes]], [[Menedemus|Menedemus of Eretria]]
|-
|bgcolor="#CCCCCC"|Book 3: Plato
|-
|bgcolor="#EFEFEF"|[[Plato]]
|-
|bgcolor="#CCCCCC"|Book 4: The [[Platonic Academy|Academics]]
|-
|bgcolor="#EFEFEF"|[[Speusippus]], [[Xenocrates]], [[Polemon (scholarch)|Polemo]], [[Crates of Athens]], [[Crantor]], [[Arcesilaus]], [[Bion of Borysthenes|Bion]], [[Lacydes of Cyrene|Lacydes]], [[Carneades]], [[Clitomachus (philosopher)|Clitomachus]]
|-
|bgcolor="#CCCCCC"|Book 5: The [[Peripatetics]]
|-
|bgcolor="#EFEFEF"|[[Aristotle]], [[Theophrastus]], [[Strato of Lampsacus|Strato]], [[Lyco of Troas|Lyco]], [[Demetrius Phalereus|Demetrius]], [[Heraclides Ponticus|Heraclides]]
|-
|bgcolor="#CCCCCC"|Book 6: The [[Cynicism (philosophy)|Cynics]]
|-
|bgcolor="#EFEFEF"|[[Antisthenes]],{{efn|name=dubious}} [[Diogenes of Sinope]], [[Monimus]], [[Onesicritus]], [[Crates of Thebes]], [[Metrocles]], [[Hipparchia of Maroneia|Hipparchia]], [[Menippus]], [[Menedemus the Cynic|Menedemus]]
|-
|bgcolor="#CCCCCC"|Book 7: The [[Stoics]]
|-
|bgcolor="#EFEFEF"|[[Zeno of Citium]], [[Persaeus]], [[Aristo of Chios|Aristo]], [[Herillus]], [[Dionysius the Renegade|Dionysius]], [[Cleanthes]], [[Sphaerus]], [[Chrysippus]]
|-
|bgcolor="#CCCCCC"|'''Books 8–10: "Italian" Philosophy'''
|-
|bgcolor="#CCCCCC"|Book 8: [[Pythagoreanism|Pythagoreans]]
|-
|bgcolor="#EFEFEF"|[[Pythagoras]], [[Theano (philosopher)|Theano]], [[Empedocles]],{{efn|name=dubious}} [[Epicharmus of Kos|Epicharmus]],{{efn|name=dubious}} [[Archytas]], [[Alcmaeon of Croton|Alcmaeon]],{{efn|name=dubious}} [[Hippasus]], [[Philolaus]], [[Eudoxus of Cnidus|Eudoxus]]{{efn|name=dubious}}
|-
|bgcolor="#CCCCCC"|Book 9: Unaffiliated, Eleatics, Atomists, Pyrrho and Pyrrhonians
|-
|bgcolor="#EFEFEF"|[[Heraclitus]], [[Xenophanes]], [[Parmenides]], [[Melissus of Samos|Melissus]], [[Zeno of Elea]], [[Leucippus]], [[Democritus]], [[Protagoras]], [[Diogenes of Apollonia]], [[Anaxarchus]], [[Pyrrho]], [[Timon of Phlius|Timon]]
|-
|bgcolor="#CCCCCC"|Book 10: Epicurus and the Epicureans
|-
|bgcolor="#EFEFEF"|[[Epicurus]], [[Metrodorus of Lampsacus (the younger)|Metrodorus]] and [[Hermarchus]]
|}

Book VII is incomplete and breaks off during the life of [[Chrysippus]]. From a table of contents in one of the manuscripts (manuscript P), this book is known to have continued with [[Zeno of Tarsus]], [[Diogenes of Babylon|Diogenes]], [[Apollodorus of Seleucia|Apollodorus]], [[Boethus of Sidon (Stoic)|Boethus]], [[Mnesarchus of Athens|Mnesarchus]], [[Mnasagoras]], [[Nestor of Tarsus|Nestor]], [[Basilides (Stoic)|Basilides]], [[Dardanus of Athens|Dardanus]], [[Antipater of Tarsus|Antipater]], [[Heraclides of Tarsus|Heraclides]], [[Sosigenes (Stoic)|Sosigenes]], [[Panaetius]], [[Hecato of Rhodes|Hecato]], [[Posidonius]], [[Athenodoros Cordylion|Athenodorus]], another [[Athenodoros Cananites|Athenodorus]], [[Antipater of Tyre|Antipater]], [[Arius Didymus|Arius]], and [[Lucius Annaeus Cornutus|Cornutus]].

His chief authorities were [[Favorinus]] and [[Diocles of Magnesia]], but his work also draws (either directly or indirectly) on books by [[Antisthenes of Rhodes]], [[Alexander Polyhistor]], and [[Demetrius of Magnesia]], as well as works by [[Hippobotus]], [[Aristippus]], [[Panaetius]], [[Apollodorus of Athens]], [[Sosicrates]], [[Satyrus the Peripatetic|Satyrus]], [[Sotion]], [[Neanthes of Cyzicus|Neanthes]], [[Hermippus of Smyrna|Hermippus]], [[Antigonus of Carystus|Antigonus]], [[Heraclides Lembus|Heraclides]], [[Hieronymus of Rhodes|Hieronymus]], and [[Pamphile of Epidaurus|Pamphila]].<ref>[[Friedrich Nietzsche]], [https://archive.org/details/gesammeltewerke01nietuoft ''Gesammelte Werke''], 1920, p. 363.</ref>{{sfn|Long|1972|p=xxi}}

===Textual tradition===
==== Manuscripts ====
There are many extant [[manuscript]]s of the ''Lives'', although none of them are especially old, and they all lack the end of Book VII.{{sfn|Long|1972|p=xxv}} The three most useful manuscripts are known as B, P, and F. Manuscript B (''Codex Borbonicus'') dates from the 12th century, and is in the [[National Library of Naples]].{{efn|The statement by Robert Hicks (1925) that "the scribe obviously knew no Greek",{{sfn|Hicks|1925|p={{page needed|date=March 2016}} }} was later rejected by Herbert Long. The more recent opinion of Tiziano Dorandi, however, is that the scribe had "little knowledge of Greek ... and limited himself to reproducing it in a mechanical way exactly as he managed to decipher it". A few years later an "anonymous corrector" with good knowledge of Greek rectified "many errors or readings that, rightly or wrongly, he considered erroneous" {{harv|Dorandi|2013|p=21}}.}} Manuscript P (''Paris'') is dated to the 11th/12th century, and is in the [[Bibliothèque nationale de France]].{{sfn|Dorandi|2013|p=2}} Manuscript F (''Florence'') is dated to the 13th century, and is in the [[Laurentian Library]].{{sfn|Dorandi|2013|p=3}} The titles for the individual biographies used in modern editions are absent from these earliest manuscripts, however they can be found inserted into the blank spaces and margins of manuscript P by a later hand.{{sfn|Dorandi|2013|p=52}}

There seem to have been some early [[Latin]] translations, but they no longer survive. A 10th-century work entitled ''Tractatus de dictis philosophorum'' shows some knowledge of Diogenes.{{sfn|Long|1972|p=xxvi}} [[Henry Aristippus]], in the 12th century, is known to have translated at least some of the work into Latin, and in the 14th century an unknown author made use of a Latin translation for his ''[[De vita et moribus philosophorum]]''{{sfn|Long|1972|p=xxvi}} (attributed erroneously to [[Walter Burley]]).

====Printed editions====
[[Image:Laertii Diogenis De Vitis Dogmatis et Apophthegmatis Eorum Qui in Philosophia Claruerunt.jpg|right|thumb|Title page of an edition in Greek and Latin, 1594]]
[[File:Vitae et sententiae philosophorum.tif|thumb|1611 Italian edition]]

The first printed editions were Latin translations. The first, ''Laertii Diogenis Vitae et sententiae eorum qui in philosophia probati fuerunt'' (Romae: Giorgo Lauer, 1472), printed the translation of [[Ambrogio Traversari]] (whose manuscript presentation copy to [[Cosimo de' Medici]] was dated February 8, 1433{{sfn|de la Mare|1992|p={{page needed|date=March 2016}} }}) and was edited by Elio Francesco Marchese.{{sfn|Tolomio|1993|pp=154, ff}} The [[Greek language|Greek]] text of the lives of Aristotle and Theophrastus appeared in the third volume of the [[Aldine Press|Aldine]] Aristotle in 1497. The [[editio princeps|first edition]] of the whole Greek text was that published by [[Hieronymus Froben]] in 1533.{{sfn|Long|1972|p=xxiv}} The Greek/Latin edition of 1692 by [[Marcus Meibomius]] divided each of the ten books into paragraphs of equal length, and progressively numbered them, providing the system still in use today.{{sfn|Dorandi|2013|pp=11&ndash;12}}

The first [[Textual criticism|critical edition]] of the entire text, by H.S. Long in the [[Oxford Classical Texts]], was not produced until 1964;{{sfn|Long|1972|p=xxv}} this edition was superseded by [[Miroslav Marcovich]]'s [[Teubner]] edition, published between 1999 and 2002. A new edition, by [[Tiziano Dorandi]], was published by [[Cambridge University Press]] in 2013.<ref>{{Cite web| url=http://www.cambridge.org/fr/academic/subjects/classical-studies/ancient-philosophy/diogenes-laertius-lives-eminent-philosophers |title=Diogenes Laertius: Lives of Eminent Philosophers| publisher=Cambridge University Press |access-date= 14 March 2014}}</ref>

====English translations====
Thomas Stanley's 1656 ''History of Philosophy'' adapts the format and content of Laertius's work into English, but Stanley compiled his book from a number of classical biographies of philosophers.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Stanley |first1=Thomas |title=The History of Philosophy |date=1656 |publisher=J. Mosely and T. Dring |location=London |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DUArteSohcMC}}</ref> The first complete English translation was a late 17th-century translation by ten different persons.<ref>{{harvnb|Fetherstone ''et al''|1688|loc=Volume 1}}, Volume 2 (published 1696).</ref> A better translation was made by [[Charles Duke Yonge]] (1853),{{sfn|Yonge|1853}} but although this was more literal, it still contained many inaccuracies.{{sfn|Long|1972|p=xiii}} The next translation was by [[Robert Drew Hicks]] (1925) for the [[Loeb Classical Library]],{{sfn|Hicks|1925}} although it is slightly [[bowdlerize]]d. A new translation by [[Pamela Mensch]] was published by [[Oxford University Press]] in 2018.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Lives of the Eminent Philosophers - Diogenes Laertius|
date=14 May 2018|
publisher=Oxford University Press|
isbn=978-0-19-086217-6|
access-date=22 May 2018|
url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/lives-of-the-eminent-philosophers-9780190862176}}</ref> Another by [[Stephen White (translator)|Stephen White]] was published by [[Cambridge University Press]] in 2020.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Diogenes Laertius - Lives of Eminent Philosophers - An edited translation|date=2020|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-88335-1}}</ref>