Cebes

Cebes of Thebes was a disciple of Socrates and Philolaus, and a friend of Simmias of Thebes. He is one of the speakers in the "Phaedo" of Plato, in which he is represented as an earnest seeker after virtue and truth, keen in argument and cautious in decision. Three dialogues, the "Hebdome", the "Phrynichus" and the "Pinax" or "Tabula", are attributed to him by the "Suda" and Diogenes Laërtius. The two former are lost, and most scholars deny the authenticity of the "Tabula" on the ground of material and verbal anachronisms.

The Tablet of Cebes

The "Tablet of Cebes" is probably by an anonymous author of the 1st century. A philosopher called Cebes of Cyzicus is mentioned by Athenaeus (iv. 156 D) in a fictional "Banquet of the Cynics", but there is no evidence that Cebes of Cyzicus was a real person.

The work professes to be an interpretation of an allegorical picture in the temple of Cronus at Athens or Thebes. The author develops the Platonic theory of pre-existence, and shows that true education consists not in mere erudition, but rather in the formation of character. Parallels are often drawn between this work and John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress.

The "Tabula" has been widely translated both into European languages and into Arabic (the latter version published with the Greek text and Latin translation by Claudius Salmasius in 1640). It is usually printed together with Epictetus. Separate editions by CS Jerram (with introduction and notes, 1878), K Praechter (1893), and many others. See Zeller's "History of Greek Philosophy"; F Klopfer, "De Cebetis Tabula" (1818-1822); C Prachter, "Cebetis Tabula quanam aetate conscripta esse videatur" (1885). An English translation and commentary by John T. Fitzgerald and L. Michael White was published in 1983.

References

*1911