Thursday 12 June 2008

Top 10 Philosophers' Deaths

You get the feeling that a list with the title "Top 10 Philosophers' Deaths" shouldn't really exist, or at least the number should be smaller. But it seems something about being a philosopher does lead itself to eccentricity:
3. Chrysippus (280-207BC)
Perhaps the greatest of the Stoics. There are two stories of his death, both involving alcohol. In the first, he took a draught of sweet wine unmixed with water, was seized with dizziness and died five days later. But the second is even better: after an ass had eaten his figs, he cried out to an old woman, "Now give the ass a drink of pure wine to wash down the figs". Thereupon, he laughed so heartily that he died.

I'm sure his line loses something in the tranlation.

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