Greek philosophers of the Hellenistic age

Abstract

This volume treats a fascinating but much neglected period in the history of ancient philosophy between the third and first centuries BC. Philosophers of the Hellenistic Age is based on primary sources: the Greek and Latin writings of the philosophers and the fragments, paraphrases, and testimonies from their lost works. The eight chapters discuss: Epicurus; Zeno, the founder of the Stoic school and his successor, Cleanthes; Pyrrho, the founder of Skepticism and Arcesilaus, the philosopher who introduced it to the Platonic Academy; Chrysippus, the third head of the Stoic school and its most important representative; Carneades and Philo of Larissa, second and third representatives of Skepticism in the Platonic Academy, respectively; Panaetius, the first leader of Middle Stoicism; Posidonius, the second leader of Middle Stoicism; and Antiochus of Ascalon, the head of the Academy who led it back from Skepticism and prepared Middle Platonism, which paved the way for Neoplatonism.