The Life of Sphærus

I. Sphærus, a native of the Bosphorus, was, as we have said before, a pupil of Cleanthes after the death of Zeno.

I. Sphærus was from the Bosphorus. As we said before, he became a student of Cleanthes after Zeno’s death.

II. And when he made a considerable advance in philosophy he went to Alexandria, to the court of Ptolemy Philopater. And once, when there was a discussion concerning the question whether a wise man would allow himself to be guided by opinion, and when Sphærus affirmed that he would not, the king, wishing to refute him, ordered some pomegranates of wax to be set before him; and when Sphærus was deceived by them, the king shouted that he had given his assent to a false perception. But Sphærus answered very neatly, that he had not given his assent to the fact that they were pomegranates, but to the fact that it was probable that they might be pomegranates. And that a perception which could be comprehended differed from one that was only probable.

II. After making considerable progress in philosophy, he went to Alexandria, to the court of Ptolemy Philopater. Once, there was a discussion about whether a wise man would allow himself to be guided by opinion. Sphærus said that a wise man would not. To refute him, the king ordered wax pomegranates to be placed before him. Sphærus was deceived by them, and the king shouted that he had accepted a false perception as true. But Sphærus gave a clever answer. He said that he had not accepted that they were pomegranates, only that they were probably pomegranates. He added that a perception one could grasp with certainty differed from one that was merely probable.

Once, when Mnesistratus accused him of denying that Ptolemy was a king, he said to him, “That Ptolemy was a man with such and such qualities, and a king.”¹⁰¹

Once, Mnesistratus accused him of denying that Ptolemy was a king. He replied, “Ptolemy was a man with such and such qualities, and a king.”¹⁰¹

III. He wrote the following books. Two on the World; one on the Elements of Seed; one on Fortune; one on the Smallest Things; one on Atoms and Phantoms; one on the Senses; five Conversations about Heraclitus; one on Ethical Arrangement; one on Duty; one on Appetite; two on the Passions; one on Kingly Power; on the Lacedæmonian Constitution; three on Lycurgus and Socrates; one on Law; one on Divination; one volume of Dialogues on Love; one on the Eretrian Philosophers; one on Things Similar; one on Terms; one on Habits; three on Contradictions; one on Reason; one on Riches; one on Glory; one on Death; two on the Art of Dialectics; one on Categorems; one on Ambiguity; and a volume of Letters.

III. He wrote the following books: two on the world, one on the elements of seed, one on fortune, one on the smallest things, one on atoms and phantoms, and one on the senses. He wrote five conversations about Heraclitus, one book on ethical arrangement, one on duty, and one on appetite. He wrote two on the passions, one on kingly power, one on the Lacedæmonian constitution, and three on Lycurgus and Socrates. He wrote one on law, one on divination, one volume of dialogues on love, and one book on the Eretrian philosophers. He also wrote one on similar things, one on terms, one on habits, three on contradictions, one on reason, one on riches, one on glory, and one on death. Finally, he wrote two on the art of dialectics, one on categorems, one on ambiguity, and a volume of letters.