The close relation in which Anaxagoras stood to Perikles is placed beyond the reach of doubt by the testimony of Plato. In the Phaedrus[[663]] he makes Sokrates say: “For all arts that are great, there is need of talk and discussion on the parts of natural science that deal with things on high; for that seems to be the source which inspires high-mindedness and effectiveness in every direction. Perikles added this very acquirement to his original gifts. He fell in, it seems, with Anaxagoras, who was a scientific man; and, satiating himself with the theory of things on high, and having attained to a knowledge of the true nature of intellect and folly, which were just what the discourses of Anaxagoras were mainly about, he drew from that source whatever was of a nature to further him in the art of speech.”
A more difficult question is the alleged relation of Euripides to Anaxagoras. The oldest authority for it is Alexander of Aitolia, poet and librarian, who lived at the court of Ptolemy Philadelphos (c. 280 B.C.). He referred to Euripides as the “nursling of brave Anaxagoras.”[[664]] A great deal of ingenuity has been expended in trying to find the system of Anaxagoras in the choruses of Euripides; but, it must now be admitted, without result.[[665]] The famous fragment on the blessedness of the scientific life might just as well refer to any other cosmologist as to Anaxagoras, and indeed suggests more naturally a thinker of a more primitive type.[[666]] On the other hand, there is one fragment which distinctly expounds the central thought of Anaxagoras, and could hardly be referred to any one else.[[667]] We may conclude, then, that Euripides knew the philosopher and his views, but it is not safe to go further.
The trial.
124. Shortly before the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War, the enemies of Perikles began a series of attacks upon him through his friends.[[668]] Pheidias was the first to suffer, and Anaxagoras was the next. That he was an object of special hatred to the religious party need not surprise us, even though the charge made against him does not suggest that he went out of his way to hurt their susceptibilities. The details of the trial are somewhat obscure, but we can make out a few points. The first step taken was the introduction of a psephism by Diopeithes—the same whom Aristophanes laughs at in The Birds[[669]]—enacting that an impeachment should be brought against those who did not practise religion, and taught theories about “the things on high.”[[670]] What happened at the actual trial is very differently related. Our authorities give hopelessly conflicting accounts.[[671]] It is no use attempting to reconcile these; it is enough to insist upon what is certain. Now we know from Plato what the accusation was.[[672]] It was that Anaxagoras taught the sun was a red-hot stone, and the moon earth; and we shall see that he certainly did hold these views ([§ 133]). For the rest, the most plausible account is that he was got out of prison and sent away by Perikles.[[673]] We know that such things were possible at Athens.
Driven from his adopted home, Anaxagoras naturally went back to Ionia, where at least he would be free to teach what he pleased. He settled at Lampsakos, and we shall see reason to believe that he founded a school there.[[674]] Probably he did not live long after his exile. The Lampsakenes erected an altar to his memory in their market-place, dedicated to Mind and Truth; and the anniversary of his death was long kept as a holiday for school-children, it was said at his own request.[[675]]
Writings.
125. Diogenes includes Anaxagoras in his list of philosophers who left only a single book, and he has also preserved the accepted criticism of it, namely, that it was written “in a lofty and agreeable style.”[[676]] There is no evidence of any weight to set against this testimony, which comes ultimately from the librarians of Alexandria.[[677]] The story that Anaxagoras wrote a treatise on perspective as applied to scene-painting is most improbable;[[678]] and the statement that he composed a mathematical work dealing with the quadrature of the circle is due to misunderstanding of an expression in Plutarch.[[679]] We learn from the passage in the Apology, referred to above, that the works of Anaxagoras could be bought at Athens for a single drachma; and that the book was of some length may be gathered from the way in which Plato goes on to speak of it.[[680]] In the sixth century A.D. Simplicius had access to a copy, doubtless in the library of the Academy;[[681]] and it is to him we owe the preservation of all our fragments, with one or two very doubtful exceptions. Unfortunately his quotations seem to be confined to the First Book, that dealing with general principles, so that we are left somewhat in the dark with regard to the treatment of details. This is the more unfortunate, as it was Anaxagoras who first gave the true theory of the moon’s light and, therefore, the true theory of eclipses.
The Fragments.
126. I give the fragments according to the text and arrangement of Diels, who has made some of them completely intelligible for the first time.
(1) All things were together infinite both in number and in smallness; for the small too was infinite. And, when all things were together, none of them could be distinguished for their smallness. For air and aether prevailed over all things, being both of them infinite; for amongst all things these are the greatest both in quantity and size.[[682]] R. P. 151.