Hermarchus
ancient Greek philosopher
Hermarchus or Hermarch (Ancient Greek: Ἕρμαρχoς, Hermarkhos; c. 325 – c. 250 BC), sometimes incorrectly written Hermachus (Ἕρμαχoς, Hermakhos), was an Epicurean philosopher. He was the disciple and successor of Epicurus as head of the school. None of his writings survives. He wrote works directed against Plato, Aristotle, and Empedocles. A fragment from his Against Empedocles, preserved by Porphyry, discusses the need for law in society. His views on the nature of the gods are quoted by Philodemus.
Life
Hermarchus was a son of Agemarchus, a poor man of Mytilene (in insular Greece), and was at first brought up as a rhetorician, but afterwards became a faithful disciple of Epicurus, who left to him his garden, and appointed him his successor as the head of his school, about 270 BC. He died in the house of Lysias at an advanced age, and left behind him the reputation of a great philosopher. Cicero has preserved a letter of Epicurus addressed to him.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Hermarchus” as ancient Greek philosopher. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as ancient Greek philosopher. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q542808. VIAF identifies the subject as 516149294362880522045. The Library of Congress control number is nr95018231. 2 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Hermarchus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.