Ancient · c. 494–434 BC
Who influenced Empedocles?
Influences and legacy
Four elements, two forces, and a legend that he leapt into Etna to prove himself a god.
Empedocles was influenced by Pythagoras and Parmenides, and went on to influence Gorgias and Plato. That is 4 lines of the 448 documented lines of influence between the 279 thinkers on this map.
Read on Wikipedia Portrait: Unknown author, Public domain See the whole map
Who was Empedocles?
Empedocles, a citizen of Akragas in Sicily, is best known for the theory of the four classical elements, mixed by a force he called Love and separated by one he called Strife. He opposed animal sacrifice and killing animals for food and taught his own doctrine of reincarnation.
He is usually considered the last Greek philosopher to write in verse, and more of his work survives than of any other pre-Socratic. Galen regarded him as the founder of the Sicilian school of medicine, and ancient writers turned his death into legend.
Summarized from the lead of the Wikipedia article.
Who influenced Empedocles?
2 direct influences on this map, earliest first.
- Pythagoras c. 570–495 BC
- Parmenides c. 515–450 BC
Who did Empedocles influence?
2 thinkers on this map draw directly on Empedocles.
The line of teachers behind Empedocles
The longest documented line of influence ending at Empedocles runs 3 generations back, to Thales of Miletus.
- Thales of Miletus
- Anaximander
- Pythagoras
- Empedocles
Two steps away from Empedocles
Indirect influences
- Through Pythagoras: Anaximander
- Through Parmenides: Xenophanes
The second generation
Contemporaries of Empedocles
Thinkers on this map born within 25 years of Empedocles, with no direct line between them.
- Zeno of Elea c. 495–430 BC
- Protagoras c. 490–420 BC
- Anaxagoras c. 500–428 BC
- Leucippus fl. 5th c. BC
- Socrates c. 470–399 BC
- Aspasia c. 470–400 BC
- Philolaus c. 470–385 BC
Empedocles by the numbers
- Direct influences
- 2
- Direct followers
- 2 — #44 of 279 on this map
- Thinkers upstream
- 5
- Thinkers downstream
- 197
- Wikipedia languages
- 83 — #20 of 54 among ancient philosophers
- Card rarity
- Epic
Questions about Empedocles
- Who influenced Empedocles?
- Pythagoras and Parmenides.
- Who did Empedocles influence?
- Gorgias and Plato.
- When did Empedocles live?
- c. 494–434 BC. The map files Empedocles under the ancient world.
- How rare is the Empedocles card?
- Wikipedia carries an article on Empedocles in 83 languages, which makes it an Epic card. Legendary starts at 100 languages, Epic at 50 and Rare at 25.
More ancient philosophers
- Confucius 551–479 BC
- Aristotle 384–322 BC
- Plato c. 428–348 BC
- Socrates c. 470–399 BC
- Pythagoras c. 570–495 BC
- Laozi c. 6th c. BC
- Cicero 106–43 BC
- Thales of Miletus c. 624–546 BC