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In this piece, Pherecydes taught his philosophy through the medium of mythic representations. Although it is lost, the fragments that survive are enough to reconstruct a basic outline. Aristotle in Metaphysics (section 1091 b 8) thus characterized Pherecydes' work as a mixture of myth and philosophy.
Pherecydes gives a history of the world that proceeds by rationalizing the Greek pantheon. The king of the gods is not Zeus but Zas ("he who lives"). His father is Chronos ("time") rather than Kronos, from whom water, earth, air and fire spring. The antagonism between father and son seems to have been omitted. Chronos and Zas fight a war against Ophion or Ophioneus ("the snake man"), and Zas celebrates his victory by weaving a robe for Chthonie, who is transformed into Ge ("the surface of the earth").
Both Cicero and AugustineAugustine is the name of two important Saints: Augustine of Hippo (354-430) philosopher and theologian, author of The City of God Confessions Augustine of Canterbury (d. 604) first Archbishop of Canterbury There is also a city called St. Augustine, Florid thought that Pherecydes of Syros first taught the immortality of the soul.
Diogenes LaertiusDiogenes Laertius the biographer of the Greek philosophers, is supposed by some to have received his surname from the town of Laerte in Cilicia, and by others from the Roman family of the Laertii. Of the circumstances of his life we know nothing. He must writes that some considered Pherecydes to have been the teacher of PythagorasPythagoras ( 582 BC 496 BC, Greek: Πυθαγρας) was an Ionian mathematician and philosopher, known best for formulating the Pythagorean theorem. Pythagoras, known as "the father of numbers", made influential cont. He is occasionally counted among the Seven Sages of GreeceThe Seven Sages of Greece (c. was the title given by Greek tradition to seven wise ancient Greek men who were philosophers, statesmen and law-givers. They were philodorians. The Seven Sages are known for their practical wisdom which "consisted of pithy an.Pherecydes of Syros should not be confused with Pherecydes of LerosThe Greek mythographer Pherecydes of Leros (c. 450s BC) came from the island of Leros (and wrote the island's history, in a lost work) but spent the greater part of his working life at Athens, and so he was also called Pherecydes of Athens ( Suidas consid.