Global InformationSiro the Epicurean information
Siro (also Syro, Siron, or Syron; fl. c. 50 BC) was an Epicurean philosopher who lived in Naples.
He was a teacher of Virgil,[1] and taught at his school in Naples. There are two poems attributed to Virgil in the Appendix Vergiliana,[2] which mention Siro, and where the author speaks of seeking peace in the company of Siro:
I am setting sail for the havens of the blest to seek the wise sayings of great Siro, and will redeem my life from all care.[3]
Cicero also mentions Siro several times and speaks of Siro along with Philodemus as being "excellent citizens and most learned men."[4] The 5th-century commentator Servius claimed that Siro was commemorated in Virgil's sixth Eclogue as the character Silenus.[5]
- ^ Donatus, Vita Vergilii, 79.
- ^ Virgil, Catalepton, 5; Catalepton, 8.
- ^ Virgil, Catalepton, 5.
- ^ Cicero, de Finibus, ii. 35
- ^ Servius on Eclogue 6.1