Demonax | Hellenic Library Beta

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Elegy and Iambus. with an English Translation by. J. M. Edmonds. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. London. William Heinemann Ltd. 1931. 1. 

====== Hippon of Rhegium: Fragments ======

“Strepsiades and Pheidippides: S. D'ye see that little door and the cottage beyond? —P. Yes; what is it? Do tell me, father —S. That's the thinking-house of wise souls, where people live who try to persuade us by their talk that the sky's an oven, all round us, and we're the coals. They teach, if you pay them for it, how to win an argument whether it be right or wrong.” 

Aristophanes Clouds 

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“. . This was said before by Cratinus in the All-Seers, where the takes off the philosopher Hippon.” 

Scholiast on the passage “>

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Cratinus accuses Hippon, too, of impiety.” 

Scholiast on Clement of Alexandria 

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“Hippon of Rhegium declared the elements to be cold, that is water, and heat, that is fire, and held that the fire when produced by water conquered the powre of its parent and formed the world.” 

Hippolytus （Origen） Against the Heresies 

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“Thus Hippon had a perfect right to immortalise his own death; for he gave instructions for the following couplet to be inscribed upon his tomb: ‘This is,’ etc.” 

Clement of Alexandria Protrepticus 

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“Owing to the feeble nature of his speculations Hippon can have no claim to be included among the philosophers who hold water to be an element or first principle.” 

Aristotle Metaphysics

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===== Inscription =====

He （Aristotle） would say this about him （Hippon） because he was an atheist; for even the inscription upon his tomb is of this character:

//This is the tomb of Hippon, whom by death Fate made equal with the Immortal Gods.1//



Alexander of Aphrodisias on the passage

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1 i.e. non-existent: cf. Ath. 13. 610b whence a citation of Hippon the atheist’ has fallen out.