Stilpo

Stilpo of Megara
Stilpo, depicted as a medieval scholar in the Nuremberg Chronicle, where he is called "Silphon".
Born	c. 360 BC Megara
Died	c. 280 BC
Era	Ancient philosophy
Region	Western Philosophy
School	Megarian school
Main interests	Logic, dialectic, ethics
Notable ideas	The universal is fundamentally separated from the individual and concrete
Influences Euclid of Megara, Thrasymachus of Corinth, Pasicles of Thebes, Diodorus Cronus
Influenced Crates of Thebes, Zeno of Citium, Nicarete of Megara, Menedemus, Asclepiades

Stilpo (or Stilpon; Greek: Στίλπων, gen.: Στίλπωνος; c. 360 – c. 280 BC) was a Greek philosopher of the Megarian school. He was a contemporary of Theophrastus, Diodorus Cronus, and Crates of Thebes. None of his writings survive, he was interested in logic and dialectic, and he argued that the universal is fundamentally separated from the individual and concrete. His ethical teachings approached that of the Cynics and Stoics. His most important pupil was Zeno of Citium, the founder of Stoicism.

He was a native of Megara. He probably lived after the time of Euclid of Megara, which makes it unlikely that he was a pupil of Euclid, as stated by some; and others state that he was the pupil of Thrasymachus of Corinth, or of Pasicles, the brother of Crates of Thebes. According to one account, he engaged in dialectic encounters with Diodorus Cronus at the court of Ptolemy Soter; according to another, he did not comply with the invitation of the king, to go to Alexandria. We are further told that Demetrius, the son of Antigonus, honoured him no less, spared his house at the capture of Megara, and offered him indemnity for the injury which it had received, which, however, Stilpo declined. Uniting elevated sentiment with gentleness and patience, he, as Plutarch says, was an ornament to his country and friends, and had his acquaintance sought by kings. His original propensity to wine and voluptuousness he is said to have entirely overcome; in inventive power and dialectic art to have surpassed his contemporaries, and to have inspired almost all Greece with a devotion to Megarian philosophy. A number of distinguished men too are named, whom he is said to have drawn away from Theophrastus, Aristotle of Cyrene, and others, and attached to himself; among others Crates the Cynic, and Zeno, the founder of the Stoic school. Among his followers were Menedemus and Asclepiades, the leaders of the Eretrian school of philosophy. One of his pupils, Nicarete, was also said to have been his mistress. Stilpo was praised for his political wisdom, his simple, straightforward disposition, and the equanimity with which he tolerated his rebellious daughter.Cicero relates that Stilpo's friends had described him as "vehemently addicted to wine and women", but that his philosophy eliminated his inclinations.