From the book
Empedocles’ The Testimonia, Volume II
Empedocles of Acragas · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordHomōnymos means “bearing the same name.”
- In this workDiogenes begins with a genealogy supported by several named authorities: Empedocles, son of Meton, son of Empedocles.
- In this editionThe editorial prose repeatedly says “four” fathers, but the named alternatives in these passages are three: Meton, Exaenetus, and Archinomus.
- A place to readGives the Meton genealogy and distinguishes the Olympic victor as the homonymous grandfather.
Meaning
Homōnymos means “bearing the same name.” Here it is the essential distinction between Empedocles the philosopher and his grandfather. The competing patronymics are inflected forms meaning “of Meton,” “of Exaenetus,” and “of Archinomus.”
Use in the book
Diogenes begins with a genealogy supported by several named authorities: Empedocles, son of Meton, son of Empedocles. His next group preserves Satyrus’ different father and son named Exaenetus, and a letter attributed to Telauges that names Archinomus as father. He does not erase the discrepancies. Homonymy is not incidental: an Olympic victory of an Empedocles can easily be attached to the wrong generation. Apollodorus uses the grandfather’s identity to resist chronological constructions that make the philosopher implausibly old. The Suda later compresses the alternative fathers into a list, demonstrating how a connected argument becomes catalogue information. These notices establish a disputed biographical tradition, not three equally verified families. The brother Callicratides is named in the Favorinus notice and repeated in the Suda; that repetition also needs to be considered within compilation and transmission, rather than counted automatically as independent corroboration.
Places to read
- A 1 §§ 51–52 (biography)Diogenes Laertius VIII 51–52. Gives the Meton genealogy and distinguishes the Olympic victor as the homonymous grandfather.
- A 1 §§ 53–55 (biography)2Diogenes Laertius VIII 53. Preserves Exaenetus, Archinomus, and Callicratides in different source reports.
- A 2 (biography)The Suda. Lists three possible fathers without resolving them.
Translation in this edition
The editorial prose repeatedly says “four” fathers, but the named alternatives in these passages are three: Meton, Exaenetus, and Archinomus. The numerical claim should not be reproduced as though the text supplied a fourth name.