Lectionary Calendar
Thursday, March 28th, 2024
Maundy Thursday
There are 3 days til Easter!
Attention!
For 10¢ a day you can enjoy StudyLight.org ads
free while helping to build churches and support pastors in Uganda.
Click here to learn more!

Bible Encyclopedias
Pherecydes

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

Search for…
or
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z
Prev Entry
Phenomenon
Next Entry
Pheresite
Resource Toolbox
Additional Links

(Φερεκύδης ), an ancient Greek philosopher, was a native of the island of Syros, one of the Cyclades, and flourished in the 6th century B.C. He is said by Diogenes Laertius to have been a rival of Thales, and to have learned his wisdom from the sacred books of the Plhenicians, or from the Egyptians and Chaldaeans. He is also reputed to have been a disciple of Pittacus, and to have taught Pythagoras. He wrote a cosmogony in a kind of prose much resembling poetry, under the title ῾Επτάμυχος , the meaning of which is doubtful. In a manner rather poetic than philosophic, he endeavored in this work to show the origin of all things from three eternal principles: Time, or Kronos; Earth, as the formless and passive mass; and Ether, or Zeus, as the formative principle. He taught the doctrine of the existence of the human soul after death; but it is uncertain whether he held the doctrine of the transmigration of souls, afterwards promulgated by his disciple Pythagoras. Of his work only fragments are extant, which have been collected and elucidated by Sturtz (Gera, 1798; 2d ed. Leips. 1824). See Smith, Dict. of Gr. and Rom. Biog. and Mythol. s.v.; Butler, Hist. of Anc. Phil. volume 2; Cudworth, Intell. System of the Universe (see Index in volume 3).

Bibliography Information
McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Pherecydes'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/​encyclopedias/​eng/​tce/​p/pherecydes.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.
adsFree icon
Ads FreeProfile