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Wandering philosophers in Classical Greece*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 February 2012

Silvia Montiglio
Silvia Montiglio
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin at Madison
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Extract

The wandering philosopher is best known to us as a Romantic ideal that projects one's longing for physical and mental withdrawal. Rousseau's ‘promeneur solitaire’ does not cover great distances to bring a message to the world. His wanderings, most often in the immediate surroundings, rather convey spiritual alienation. But the ‘promeneur solitaire’ is not the only kind of wandering philosopher known in Western culture. Itinerant philosophers existed already in antiquity. During the Roman empire, many sages wandered all over the Mediterranean world. They went about for the sake of intellectual and spiritual enrichment, but essentially to spread their teaching and to intervene in local quarrels as religious consultants. Wandering connoted their ambiguous status in society—both in and out—and thereby enhanced their charisma and endowed them with an aura of superior power.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Hellenic Studies , Volume 120 , November 2000 , pp. 86 - 105
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies 2000

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