Kitap 1
Chapter 9. MYSON (c. 600 B.C.)
9.106
Myson was the son of Strymon, according to Sosicrates, who quotes Hermippus as his authority, and a native of Chen, a village in the district of Oeta or Laconia; and he is reckoned one of the Seven Sages. They say that his father was a tyrant. We are told by some one that, when Anacharsis inquired if there were anyone wiser than himself, the Pythian priestess gave the response which has already been quoted in the Life of Thales as her reply to a question by ChilonAnth. Plan. vi. 40.: Myson of Chen in Oeta; this is he Who for wiseheartedness surpasseth thee. His curiosity aroused, Anacharsis went to the village in summer time and found him fitting a share to a plough and said, Myson, this is not the season for the plough. It is just the time to repair it, was the reply.
9.107
Others cite the first line of the oracle differently, Myson of Chen in Etis, and inquire what Myson of Etis means. Parmenides indeed explains that Etis is a district in Laconia to which Myson belonged. Sosicrates in his Successions of Philosophers makes him belong to Etis on the father’s side and to Chen on the mother’s. Euthyphro, the son of Heraclides of Pontus, declares that he was a Cretan, Eteia being a town in Crete. Anaxilaus makes him an Arcadian.
9.107
Myson is mentioned by Hipponax, the words beingFr. 45 Bergk.: And Myson, whom Apollo’s self proclaimed Wisest of all men. Aristoxenus in his Historical Gleanings says he was not unlike Timon and Apemantus, for he was a misanthrope.
