Timaeus’ refutation

Use in the book

Timaeus’ objections, preserved by Diogenes, distinguish the location of the supposed sacrificial feast, expected memorial practice, and the poet’s silence about the volcanic craters. Peisianax is said to be Syracusan without an estate at Acragas; Pausanias should have commemorated a deified friend; and the poems allegedly never mention the nearby craters. Timaeus also attacks Heraclides’ broader appetite for wonders by recalling a story about a person falling from the moon. The dossier therefore preserves ancient source criticism, not merely modern skepticism applied to a credulous tradition. Yet its arguments have limits. A missing reference in the poems is an argument from silence, and a predicted memorial rests on assumptions about what a friend would do. The geographical correction can undermine a setting without proving every alternative death. The lexicon should value the precision of the critique while avoiding the edition’s repeated promotion of it into conclusive demonstration of a complete historical reconstruction.

Places to read

1. A 1 §§ 71–72 (biography)Diogenes Laertius VIII 70–72, reporting Timaeus, Histories XIV. Preserves the explicit objections to Heraclides and the alternative of withdrawal.
2. A 1 §§ 67–68 (legend)2Diogenes Laertius VIII 67–68, reporting Heraclides. Supplies the feast and disappearance narrative targeted by the critique.

Translation in this edition

The book number XIV is itself Diels’ correction of manuscript IV. The heading “the veiled statue” in this edition is not matched by a displayed veiled-statue narrative and should not be used as additional evidence.