Seven Sages of Greece

The Seven Sages or Seven Wise Men was the title given to seven philosophers, statesmen, and law-givers of the 7th-6th centuries BCE who were renowned for their wisdom.

The Seven Sages

The list of the seven sages given in Plato's Protagoras comprises:

Thales of Miletus is the first well-known Greek philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer.The ancient biographer Diogenes Laertius attributes the aphorism, "Know thyself", engraved on the front facade of the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, to Thales, although there was no ancient consensus on this attribution.
Pittacus of Mytilene governed Mytilene. He tried to reduce the power of the nobility and was able to govern with the support of the common people, whom he favoured.
Bias of Priene was a politician and legislator of the 6th century BCE.
Solon of Athens was a famous legislator and reformer from Athens, framing the laws that shaped the Athenian democracy.
Cleobulus, tyrant of Lindos, reported as either the grandfather or father-in-law of Thales;
Myson of Chenae ; and
Chilon of Sparta was a Spartan politician to whom the militarization of Spartan society was attributed.

Diogenes Laërtius points out, however, that there was among his sources great disagreement over which figures should be counted among the seven. Perhaps the two most common substitutions were to exchange Periander of Corinth or Anacharsis the Scythian for Myson. On Diogenes' first list of seven, which he introduces with the words "These men are acknowledged wise", Periander appears instead of Myson; the same substitution appears in The Masque of the Seven Sages by Ausonius. Both Ephorus and Plutarch substituted Anacharsis for Myson. Elsewhere, Plutarch claims that Epimenides the Phæstian "is counted the seventh wise man by those who would not admit Periander into the number". Diogenes Laërtius further states that Dicaearchus gave ten possible names, Hippobotus suggested twelve names, and Hermippus enumerated seventeen possible sages from which different people made different selections of seven. Leslie Kurke contends that "Aesop was a popular contender for inclusion in the group"; an epigram of the 6th century CE poet Agathias refers to a statue of the Seven Sages, with Aesop standing before them.

Interpretations

In Plato's Protagoras, Socrates says:
The section of the Protagoras in which this passage appears is "elaborately ironical", making it unclear which of its parts may be taken seriously.
Diogenes Laërtius writes in his account of the life of Pyrrho, the founder of Pyrrhonism, that the Seven Sages of Greece were considered to be precursors of Pyrrho's philosophical skepticism because the Delphic Maxims were skeptical. "The maxims of the Seven Wise Men, too, they call skeptical; for instance, 'Observe the Golden Mean', and 'A pledge is a curse at one's elbow', meaning that whoever plights his troth steadfastly and trustfully brings a curse on his own head."