Why a mediocre biographer became the most important source for ancient Greek philosophy
In short: Diogenes Laertius is a puzzle. Scholars have called him an ignoramus and a complete ass, yet his work remains the primary window into the lives of the Greek sages. Because so many original texts were lost, this uncritical compiler accidentally became the chief authority on ancient thought.
Flourishing in the first half of the 3rd century CE, Diogenes Laertius remains a figure of mystery. We know little of his life, and even his name is subject to debate; 'Laertius' may be a nickname derived from the Homeric epithet for Odysseus. While he likely lived during the reign of Alexander Severus, his home town and personal philosophical allegiances remain unknown. He frequently copied information from earlier sources without critical evaluation, leading some to dismiss him as a mere compiler of gossip.
His major work, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, is often criticized for prioritizing trivial biographical details over rigorous philosophical analysis. He frequently fails to distinguish between the teachings of different eras, and his division of philosophers into 'Ionian' and 'Italian' schools is considered dubious. Despite these flaws, his work is invaluable because he rarely attempted to reinterpret the texts he quoted. In an era where primary sources have vanished, his lack of intellectual ambition ironically preserved the original words of thinkers like Epicurus.
The reception of his work has been polarized for centuries. Michel de Montaigne famously wished for a dozen such writers, while later scholars like Hermann Usener and Werner Jaeger were far less charitable. Today, the academic consensus is shifting. By reading his biographies within their Hellenistic literary context, modern scholars are beginning to redeem his reputation. While he remains notoriously unreliable and prone to error, he provides a continuous, if imperfect, narrative that remains the bedrock of our understanding of ancient Greek philosophy.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Diogenes Laertius
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