Ecphantus the Pythagorean
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"Oh, that it were possible to put from human nature all need for obedience! For the fact that as mortal animals we are not exempt from it is the basest trace of our earthiness, inasmuch as a deed of obedience is very close to being one of necessity."--Ecphantus the Pythagorean |
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Ecphantus or Ecphantos (Template:Lang-grc) or Ephantus (Template:Lang) is a shadowy Greek pre-Socratic philosopher. He may not have actually existed. He is identified as a Pythagorean of the 4th century BCE, and as a supporter of the heliocentric theory. Described as from Syracuse, this may or may not be the same figure as the attested Ecphantus of Croton.
Ecphantus accepted the existence of atoms. He accepts the existence of void, empty space. Ecphantus maintained that the Cosmos is made of atoms and there is only one Cosmos (Universe) governed by providence (πρόνοια). He is the first of the Pythagoreans to attribute physical substance to the Pythagorean units (see Unit-point atomism).
Ecphantus, like Heraclides of Pontus, believed that the Earth turns around its center from west to towards east, like a wheel, as if it has an axis, the state.
