Diogenes Laërtius · fl. 3rd century CE
Lives of Eminent Philosophers 7.28 — Diogenes Laërtius on Zeno
Translation by R. D. Hicks (1925)
Diogenes Laërtius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers 7.28
Reported speech · Diogenes Laërtius on Zeno
And in very truth in this species of virtue and in dignity he surpassed all mankind, ay, and in happiness; for he was ninety-eight when he died and had enjoyed good health without an ailment to the last. Persaeus, however, in his ethical lectures makes him die at the age of seventy-two, having come to Athens at the age of twenty-two. But Apollonius says that he presided over the school for fifty-eight years. The manner of his death was as follows. As he was leaving the school he tripped and fell, breaking a toe. Striking the ground with his fist, he quoted the line from the Niobe: I come, I come, why dost thou call for me? and died on the spot through holding his breath.
Cite this passage
Diogenes Laërtius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers 7.28 (on Zeno), tr. R. D. Hicks (1925)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/lives-of-the-stoics/7.28
Diogenes Laërtius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, Book VII, tr. R. D. Hicks (Loeb, 1925). Text: Perseus Digital Library (CC BY-SA 4.0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesReports that Zeno lived to a very old age in good health, with conflicting figures for his age and years as head of the school. After tripping and breaking a toe, he took it as death calling him and held his breath until he died.
Themes and situations
- Death and mortality
- Ageing
- Acceptance and fate