Chapter 21

CHAPTER VIII

ANAXAGORAS

Anaxagoras was born at Clazomenae in Asia Minor about
500 B.C. He was a man of noble family, and possessed con-
siderable property. He neglected his property in the search
for knowledge and in the pursuit of science and philoso-
phy. Leaving his home at Clazomenae, he settled down in
Athens. We have not heard so far anything of Athens in
the history of Greek Philosophy. It was Anaxagoras who
transplanted philosophy to Athens, which from his time for-
ward became the chief centre of Greek thought. At Athens,
Anaxagoras came into contact with all the famous men of
the time. He was an intimate friend of Pericles, the states-
man, and of Euripides, the poet. But his friendship with
Pericles cost him dear. There was a strong political faction
opposed to Pericles. So far as we know Anaxagoras never
meddled in politics, but he was a friend of the statesman
Pericles, and that was quite enough. The enemies of Peri-

cles determined to teach Anaxagoras a lesson, and a charge

of atheism and blasphemy was accordingly brought against

him. The particulars of the charge were that Anaxagoras

said that the sun was a red-hot stone, and that the moon

was made of earth. This was quite true, as that is exactly

what Anaxagoras did say of the sun and the moon. But

the Greeks {95} regarded the heavenly bodies as gods; even

Plato and Aristotle thought that the stars were divine be-

ings. To call the sun a red-hot stone, and to say that the

moon was made of earth, was therefore blasphemy accord-

ing to Greek ideas. Anaxagoras was charged, tried, and

condemned. The details of the trial, and of what followed,

are not known with accuracy. But it appears that Anaxago-

ras escaped, probably with the help of Pericles, and from

Athens went back to his native country in Asia Minor. He

settled at Lampsacus, and died there at the age of 72. He

was the author of a treatise in which he wrote down his

philosophical ideas. This treatise was well-known at the