Pyrrho
Greek philosopher and founder of Pyrrhonism (c.360-c.270 BC)
Pyrrho of Elis (; Ancient Greek: Πύρρων ὁ Ἠλεῖος; c. 360 – c. 270 BC) was a Greek philosopher of Classical antiquity, credited as being the first Greek skeptic philosopher and founder of Pyrrhonism.
Life
Pyrrho of Elis is estimated to have lived from around 365/360 until 275/270 BCE. Pyrrho was from Elis, on the Ionian Sea. He was likely a member of the Klytidiai, a clan of seers in Elis who interpreted the oracles of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia where Pyrrho served as a high priest. The Klytidiai were descendants of Klytios, who was the son of Alcmaeon and the grandson of Amphiaraus. In the Python, Pyrrho's student Timon of Phlius describes first meeting Pyrrho on the grounds of an Amphiareion, i.e., a temple of Amphiaraus, while they were both on a pilgrimage to Delphi.
Most biographical information on Pyrrho, as well as some information concerning his demeanor and behavior, come from Diogenes Laertius; his work on Pyrrho's life drew primarily from the works of mid-third century BC biographer Antigonus of Carystus. Unlike the founders of other Hellenistic philosophies, Pyrrho was not substantively influenced by Socrates.
Pyrrho, along with Anaxarchus, travelled with Alexander the Great on his Indian campaign, "so that he even went as far as the Gymnosophists in India and the Magi" in Persia.
Philosophy
Pyrrho did not produce any written work. Most of the information on Pyrrho's philosophy comes from his student Timon.
“Pyrrho” enters the record as greek philosopher and founder of Pyrrhonism (c.360-c.270 BC). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Pyrrho, Greek and philosopher can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “Pyrrho” 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.