Sages of Greece
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
SEVEN, Solon, Chilo, Pittacus, Bias, Periander, Cleobulus, and Thales are those most generally named as the seven wise men of Greece, and they were the authors of the celebrated mottoes inscribed in more recent times in the Delphian Temple. Solon, through the imprudent course of his father, was compelled to engage in commercial adventures in other lands. His work on returning to Athens was that of a wise, unselfish patriot, who sought to compose the distractions, social and political, which then rent the city. His motto was, "Know thyself." Chilo, one of the ephori, was a Spartan, who early directed his attention to public affairs, and many of whose maxims are quoted by the ancient writers; one of the most famous of these was, "Consider the end." Pittacus was a native of Mytilene, in Lesbos, became a soldier, rose to supreme power in the state, acted with great patriotism, and having done much for the people, voluntarily resigned his power. "Know thy opportunity," or, as it is sometimes rendered, "Be watchful of opportunities," is attributed to him. Bias, a native of Ionia, was a poetical philosopher, who studied the laws of his country and employed his knowledge in the service of his friends, defending them in the courts of justice. Said Bias: "Most men are bad." Periander was distinguished for his love of science and literature, which entitled him to be ranked among the seven wise men of Greece. Of Cleobulus, of the island of Rhodes, who was remarkable for strength and beauty, but little is known. His favorite maxim was, "Avoid excesses." Thales, a celebrated philosopher, born at Miletus, and founder of the Ionic sect, traveled like Solon, and it is said learned, while at Memphis, geometry, philosophy, and astronomy. He is said also to have invented several fundamental propositions which were afterward incorporated into the elements of Euclid. He taught the Greeks the division of the heavens into five zones, and the solstitial and equinoctial points. SAGHALIEN. See SAKHALIN.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
The canon Collier's gave in 1921 is still the one taught, and the encyclopedia's own hedging ("those most generally named") reflects a genuine ancient disagreement: Plato's Protagoras substitutes Myson of Chenae for Periander, and later lists swap in Anacharsis, Epimenides and others, so the "seven" were never fixed. What has shifted is confidence in the attributions. Scholars now treat the mottoes as floating proverbial wisdom later parcelled out among the sages rather than sayings each man coined, and they read "Know thyself" as a Delphic precept absorbed into Solon's legend, not the reverse. The claims about Thales inventing Euclidean propositions or teaching the five zones are likewise now regarded as retrojection by much later writers, though his role at the head of Ionian natural philosophy stands; and Periander, praised here for love of science and literature, is usually presented today first of all as tyrant of Corinth.
Written for this edition, 2026.