Traditional attribution
Letters of Heraclitus (spurious)
Ἡρακλείτου ἐπιστολαί
A collection of nine epistles in which Heraclitus declines King Darius' invitation, argues with Hermodorus and with the Ephesians about his exile, defends his retreat and his contempt for the crowd and, in the last ones, describes his dropsy and his quarrel with the doctors. They are valuable evidence of the Cynic reception of Heraclitus as the solitary, incorruptible sage, but tell us nothing about his life.
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Authorship note
Groundless attribution. Nine letters composed between the first century BCE and the first CE in Cynic circles (and perhaps Hellenistic Jewish ones, in the fourth and seventh). Jacob Bernays demonstrated in 1869 that they are spurious; Harold W. Attridge studied them in 1976.
Editions and translations
Editions in your language first, without hiding the others. Each with its cover and its store.
English
The Cynic Epistles: A Study Edition
Scholars Press / Society of Biblical Literature, 1977
Translation: Abraham J. Malherbe (ed.)
ISBN 9780891301516
Incluye las cartas de Heráclito en traducción de David R. Worley.
First-Century Cynicism in the Epistles of Heraclitus
Scholars Press (Harvard Theological Studies, 29), 1976
Translation: Harold W. Attridge
ISBN 9780891301110
Texto griego, traducción y estudio. Open Library registra también el ISBN 9780800670023.
Other works by Heraclitus
Sources
- Attridge, Harold W. First-Century Cynicism in the Epistles of Heraclitus. Harvard Theological Studies 29, Scholars Press, Missoula, 1976; y Malherbe, Abraham J. (ed.), The Cynic Epistles: A Study Edition, Scholars Press, Missoula, 1977.
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