# List of ancient Greek philosophers

This list of ancient Greek philosophers contains philosophers who studied in ancient Greece or spoke Greek. Ancient Greek philosophy began in Miletus with the pre-Socratic philosopher Thales and lasted through Late Antiquity. Some of the most famous and influential philosophers of all time were from the ancient Greek world, including Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.
↵Abbreviations used in this list:
* c. = circa
* fl. = flourished
| Name | Life | School | Notes |
| Acrion | 5th/4th century BC | Pythagorean | visited by Plato |
| Adrastus of Aphrodisias | 2nd century AD | Peripatetic | wrote commentaries on Aristotle's works and a commentary on Plato's Timaeus |
| Aedesia | 5th century | Neoplatonic | wife of Hermias, and mother of Ammonius and Heliodorus |
| Aedesius | 3rd/4th century | Neoplatonic | studied under Iamblichus before founding his own school in Pergamum |
| Aeneas of Gaza | 5th/6th century | Neoplatonic | Christian convert who studied under Hierocles |
| Aenesidemus | 1st century BC? | Pyrrhonist | wrote a book called Pyrrhonist Discourses which became a central text for the Pyrrhonists |
| Aesara | 5th/4th century BC | Pythagorean | wrote On Human Nature, of which a fragment is preserved by Stobaeus |
| Aeschines of Neapolis | 2nd/1st century BC | Academic skeptic | shared the leadership of the Academy at Athens together with Charmadas and Clitomachus about 110 BC |
| Aeschines of Sphettus | 5th/4th century BC | Socratic | part of Socrates' circle and likely present at his death |
| Aetius | 4th century AD | Peripatetic | Antiochean convert to Christianity who studied in Alexandria |
| Agapius | 5th/6th century AD | Neoplatonic | studied under Marinus of Neapolis. known for his learning |
| Agathobulus | 1st/2nd century AD | Cynic | known for his severe asceticism and teacher of Demonax |
| Agathosthenes | uncertain date | geographer, historian or philosopher | referred to by Tzetzes as his authority in matters connected with geography. |
| Agrippa the Skeptic | 1st/2nd century AD | Pyrrhonist | thought to be the creator of the "five grounds of doubt" |
| Albinus | 2nd century AD | Middle Platonist |
| Alcibiades | 450-404 BC | Socratic | Athenian General and Politician |
| Alcinous | 2nd century AD? | Middle Platonist |
| Alcmaeon of Croton | 5th century BC | Pythagorean | interested in medicine |
| Alexamenus of Teos | 5th century BC? | Socratic | may have been the first to write philosophical dialogues |
| Alexander of Aegae | 1st century AD | Peripatetic | tutored the emperor Nero |
| Alexander of Aphrodisias | 2nd/3rd century AD | Peripatetic | influential commentator on the Corpus Aristotelicum |
| Alexicrates | 1st/2nd century AD | Pythagorean |
| Alexinus | 4th/3rd century BC | Megarian | founded his own school which did not fare well |
| Amelius | 3rd century AD | Neoplatonic | student of Plotinus who wrote voluminously |
| Ammonius Hermiae | 5th/6th century AD | Neoplatonic |
| Ammonius of Athens | 1st century AD | Middle Platonist | teacher of Plutarch |
| Ammonius Saccas | 2nd/3rd century AD | Neoplatonic | Plotinus' teacher |
| Anaxagoras | 5th century BC | Pluralist | |
| Anaxarchus | 4th century BC | Atomist | first Greek to attempt the problem of squaring the circle |
| Anaxilaus | 1st century BC / 1st century AD | Pythagorean | Banished from Rome for practising magic |
| Anaximander | 7th/6th century BC | Milesian | First to conceive a mechanical model of the world |
| Anaximenes of Miletus | 6th century BC | Milesian | |
| Androcydes | 2nd century BC? | Pythagorean | |
| Andronicus of Rhodes | 1st century BC | Peripatetic | |
| Anniceris | 4th/3rd century BC | Cyrenaic | |
| Antiochus of Ascalon | 2nd/1st century BC | Middle Platonist | |
| Antipater of Cyrene | 4th century BC | Cyrenaic | |
| Antipater of Tarsus | 2nd century BC | Stoic | |
| Antipater of Tyre | 1st century BC | Stoic | |
| Antisthenes | 5th/4th century BC | Cynic | |
| Antoninus | 4th century AD | Neoplatonic | |
| Apollodorus of Athens | 2nd century BC | Stoic | |
| Apollodorus of Seleucia | 2nd century BC | Stoic | |
| Apollodorus the Epicurean | 2nd century BC | Epicurean | |
| Apollonius Cronus | 4th century BC | Megarian | |
| Apollonius of Tyana | 1st century AD | Neopythagorean | |
| Apollonius of Tyre | 1st century BC | Stoic | |
| Arcesilaus | 4th/3rd century BC | Academic skeptic | |
| Archedemus of Tarsus | 2nd century BC | Stoic | |
| Archelaus | 5th century BC | Pluralist | |
| Archytas | 5th/4th century BC | Pythagorean |
| Arete of Cyrene | 4th century BC | Cyrenaic | |
| Arignote | 6th/5th century BC | Pythagorean | |
| Aristarchus of Samos | 4th/3rd century BC | Academic skeptic | presented the first known model that placed the Sun at the center of the known universe with the Earth revolving around it. |
| Aristippus | 5th/4th century BC | Cyrenaic | |
| Aristippus the Younger | 4th century BC | Cyrenaic | |
| Aristoclea | fl. 6th century BC | |
| Aristocles of Messene | 1st century AD? | Peripatetic | |
| Aristocreon | 3rd/2nd century BC | Stoic | |
| Aristo of Alexandria | 2nd /1st century BC | Peripatetic | |
| Aristo of Ceos | 3rd/2nd century BC | Peripatetic | |
| Aristo of Chios | 4th/3rd century BC | Stoic | |
| Aristotle | 4th century BC | Peripatetic | founder of Peripatetic school; student of Plato |
| Aristotle of Cyrene | 4th/3rd century BC | Cyrenaic | |
| Aristotle of Mytilene | 2nd century AD | Peripatetic | |
| Aristoxenus | 4th century BC | Peripatetic | |
| Arius Didymus | 1st century BC | Stoic | |
| Asclepiades of Phlius | 4th/3rd century BC | Eretrian | |
| Asclepiades the Cynic | 4th century AD | Cynic | |
| Asclepigenia | 5th/6th century AD | Neoplatonic | |
| Asclepiodotus | 1st century BC | | |
| Asclepiodotus of Alexandria | 5th century AD | Neoplatonic | |
| Aspasius | 2nd century AD | Peripatetic | |
| Athenaeus of Seleucia | 1st century BC | Peripatetic | |
| Athenodoros Cananites | 1st century BC | Stoic | |
| Athenodoros Cordylion | 2nd /1st century BC | Stoic | |
| Athenodorus of Soli | 3rd century BC | Stoic | |
| Attalus | 1st century BC - 1st century AD | Stoic | |
| Atticus | 2nd century AD | Middle Platonist | |
| Basilides (Stoic) | 2nd century BC | Stoic | Denied the existence of incorporeal entities |
| Basilides the Epicurean | 3rd/2nd century BC | Epicurean | Succeeded Dionysius of Lamptrai as the head of the Epicurean school at Athens |
| Batis of Lampsacus | 3rd century BC | Epicurean | |
| Bion of Borysthenes | 4th/3rd century BC | Cynic | Once was a slave, later to be released |
| Boethus [ca] | 4th century BC | Platonist | |
| Boethus the Epicurean [ca; gl] | 1st century AD | Epicurean | |
| Boethus of Sidon | 1st century BC | Peripatetic | |
| Boethus of Sidon | 2nd century BC | Stoic | |
| Bolus of Mendes | fl. 3rd century BC | Pythagorean | |
| Brontinus | fl. 6th century BC | Pythagorean | |
| Bryson of Achaea | fl. 330 BC | Megarian | |
| Callicles | 5th century BCE | Sophist? | |
| Calliphon | 2nd century BC | Peripatetic | |
| Calliphon of Croton | 6th century BC | Pythagorean | |
| Callistratus | fl. 3rd century AD | Sophist | |
| Carneades | c. 214 – 129/8 BC | Academic skeptic | |
| Carneiscus | c. 300 BC | Epicurean | |
| Cassius Longinus | c. 213–273 | Middle Platonist | |
| Cebes | c. 430–350 BC | Pythagorean | |
| Celsus | 2nd century | | |
| Cercidas | 3rd century BC | Cynic | |
| Cercops | | Pythagorean | |
| Chaerephon | c. 470/460 – 403/399 BCE | Socratic | |
| Chamaeleon | 350-275 BC | Peripatetic | |
| Charmadas | 164 - c. 95 BC | Academic skeptic | |
| Chrysanthius | fl. 4th century | Neoplatonic | |
| Chrysippus | 279-206 BC | Stoic | |
| Cleanthes | 330-230 BC | Stoic | |
| Clearchus of Soli | 4th/3rd century BC (fl. 320 BC) | Peripatetic | |
| Cleinias of Tarentum | 4th century BC | Pythagorean | |
| Cleomedes | | Stoic | |
| Cleomenes | fl. c. 300 BC | Cynic | |
| Clinomachus | 4th century BC | Megarian | |
| Clitomachus | 187 - 109 BC | Academic skeptic | |
| Colotes | 320-268 BC | Epicurean | |
| Crantor | born c. 350 BC | Academic Platonist | |
| Crates of Athens | died 268-265 BC | Academic Platonist | |
| Crates of Mallus | fl. 2nd century BC | Stoic | |
| Crates of Thebes | c. 365 – c. 285 BC | Cynic | husband of Hipparchia of Maroneia |
| Cratippus of Pergamon | 1st century BC | Peripatetic | friend of Cicero |
| Cratylus | 5th century BC | Ephesian | |
| Crescens the Cynic | 2nd century | Cynic | |
| Crinis | 1st/2nd century BC | Stoic | |
| Critolaus | c. 200 – c. 118 BC | Peripatetic | |
| Cronius | fl. 2nd century A.D. | Neopythagorean | |
| Damascius | born c. 458, died after 538 | Neoplatonic | |
| Damis | 1st/2nd century A.D. | Neopythagorean | |
| Damo | 5th century BC | Pythagorean | reportedly the daughter of Pythagoras and Theano |
| Dardanus of Athens | 160-85 BC | Stoic | one of the several leaders of Stoa after the death of Panaetius |
| Demetrius Lacon | fl. late 2nd century BC | Epicurean |
| Demetrius of Amphipolis | fl. 4th century BC | Academic Platonist | |
| Demetrius Phalereus | c. 350 – c. 280 BC | Peripatetic | Governed Athens |
| Demetrius the Cynic | fl. 1st century | Cynic | |
| Democrates | unknown | Pythagorean? | |
| Democritus | c. 460 – c. 370 BC | Presocratic, Atomist | |
| Demonax | | Cynic | |
| Dexippus | fl. 350 | Neoplatonic | |
| Diagoras of Melos | | Sophist | |
| Dicaearchus | | Peripatetic | |
| Dio of Alexandria | fl. 1st century BC | Academic skeptic | |
| Dio Chrysostom | | Sophist | |
| Diocles of Cnidus | fl. 3rd or 2nd century BC? | Academic Platonist | |
| Diodorus Cronus | | Megarian | |
| Diodorus of Adramyttium | fl. 1st century BC | Academic skeptic | |
| Diodorus of Aspendus | | Pythagorean | |
| Diodorus of Tyre | | Peripatetic | |
| Diodotus | | Stoic | |
| Diogenes of Apollonia | | Presocratic | |
| Diogenes of Babylon | | Stoic | |
| Diogenes of Oenoanda | | Epicurean | |
| Diogenes of Seleucia | | Epicurean | |
| Diogenes of Sinope | 412/404 - 323 BC | Cynic | Lived in a clay wine jar |
| Diogenes of Tarsus | | Epicurean | |
| Dionysius of Chalcedon | | Megarian | |
| Dionysius of Cyrene | | Stoic | |
| Dionysius of Lamptrai | | Epicurean | |
| Dionysius the Renegade | | Stoic | abandoned Stoicism for Cyrenaicism |
| Dios | fl. 7th century BC ? | Pythagorean | |
| Diotima of Mantinea | |
| Diotimus | | Stoic | |
| Domninus of Larissa | c. 420 - c. 480 | Neoplatonic | |
| Echecrates | | Pythagorean | |
| Ecphantus | | Pythagorean | |
| Empedocles | | Presocratic, Pluralist | |
| Epicharmus of Kos | | Pythagorean | |
| Epictetus | | Stoic | wrote The Enchiridion, a handbook of Stoic ethical advice |
| Epicurus | | Epicurean | said that the purpose of philosophy was to attain tranquility characterized by ataraxia |
| Eubulides | | Megarian | |
| Euclid of Megara | | Megarian | |
| Eudemus of Rhodes | | Peripatetic | |
| Eudorus of Alexandria | | Peripatetic | |
| Eudoxus of Cnidus | 410/408 – 355/347 BC | Academic Platonist | |
| Euenus | | Sophist | |
| Euphantus | | Megarian | |
| Euphraeus | |
| Euphrates | | Stoic | |
| Eurytus | | Pythagorean | |
| Eusebius of Myndus | fl. 4th century | Neoplatonic | |
| Eustathius of Cappadocia | c. 400 | Neoplatonic | |
| Evander | fl. c. 215 - c. 205 | Academic skeptic | |
| Favorinus | | Academic skeptic | |
| Gaius the Platonist | fl. 2nd century | Middle Platonist | |
| Geminus | | Stoic | |
| Gorgias | | Sophist | |
| Hagnon of Tarsus | fl. 2nd century BC | Academic skeptic | |
| Hecataeus of Abdera | | Pyrrhonist | |
| Hecato of Rhodes | | Stoic | |
| Hegesias of Cyrene | | Cyrenaic | |
| Hegesinus of Pergamon | fl. c. 160 BC | Academic skeptic | |
| Hegias | fl. c. 500 | Neoplatonic | |
| Heliodorus of Alexandria | fl. 5th century | Neoplatonic | |
| Heraclides Lembus | |
| Heraclides Ponticus | 387 - 312 BC | Academic Platonist | |
| Heraclitus | | Presocratic, Ephesian | claimed that "You cannot step in the same river twice" and "All is fire." |
| Heraclius | | Cynic | |
| Herillus of Carthage | | Stoic | |
| Hermagoras of Amphipolis | | Stoic | |
| Hermarchus | | Epicurean | |
| Hermias | born c. 410 - died c. 450 | Neoplatonic | |
| Herminus | | Peripatetic | |
| Hermippus of Smyrna | | Peripatetic | |
| Hermotimus of Clazomenae | |
| Hicetas | | Pythagorean | |
| Hierius | fl c. 500 | Neoplatonic | |
| Hierocles of Alexandria | fl. c. 430 | Neoplatonic | |
| Hierocles (Stoic) | 2nd century CE | Stoic | |
| Hieronymus of Rhodes | c. 290 – c. 230 BC | Peripatetic | |
| Himerius | | Sophist | |
| Hipparchia of Maroneia | fl. c. 325 BC | Cynic | Genus of butterflies, Hipparchia (butterfly), named after her |
| Hippasus | | Pythagorean | |
| Hippias | | Sophist | |
| Hippo | 5th century BC | Presocratic | |
| Horus | | Cynic | |
| Hypatia of Alexandria | born 350-370 – 415 | Neoplatonic | |
| Iamblichus | c. 245-c. 325 | Neoplatonic | |
| Ichthyas | | Megarian | |
| Idomeneus of Lampsacus | | Epicurean | |
| Ion of Chios | | Pythagorean | |
| Isidore of Alexandria | fl. c. 475 | Neoplatonic | |
| Jason of Nysa | | Stoic | |
| Lacydes of Cyrene | before 241 - c. 205 BC | Academic skeptic | |
| Leonteus of Lampsacus | | Epicurean | |
| Leontion | | Epicurean | |
| Leucippus | | Presocratic, Atomist | |
| Lyco of Iasos | | Pythagorean | |
| Lyco of Troas | | Peripatetic | |
| Lycophron | | Sophist | |
| Lysis of Taras | | Pythagorean | |
| Marinus of Neapolis | born c. 450 | Neoplatonic | |
| Maximus of Ephesus | died 372 | Neoplatonic | |
| Maximus of Tyre | fl. 2nd century | Middle Platonist | |
| Meleager of Gadara | | Cynic | |
| Melissus of Samos | | Presocratic, Eleatic | |
| Menedemus | | Eretrian | |
| Menedemus of Pyrrha | fl. c. 350 BC | Academic Platonist | |
| Menedemus the Cynic | | Cynic | |
| Menippus | | Cynic | |
| Metrocles | | Cynic | |
| Metrodorus of Athens | |
| Metrodorus of Chios | | Atomist | |
| Metrodorus of Cos | | Pythagorean | |
| Metrodorus of Lampsacus (the elder) | | Presocratic | |
| Metrodorus of Lampsacus (the younger) | | Epicurean | |
| Metrodorus of Stratonicea | fl. 2nd century BC | Academic skeptic | |
| Mnesarchus of Athens | | Stoic | |
| Moderatus of Gades | | Neopythagorean | |
| Monimus | | Cynic | |
| Myia | | Pythagorean | |
| Nausiphanes | | Atomist | |
| Nicarete of Megara | | Megarian | |
| Nicolaus of Damascus | | | |
| Nicomachus | | Neopythagorean | |
| Nicomachus (son of Aristotle) | | Peripatetic | |
| Numenius of Apamea | fl. c. 275 | Neopythagorean | |
| Nymphidianus of Smyrna | fl. c. 360 | Neoplatonic | |
| Ocellus Lucanus | | Pythagorean | |
| Oenomaus of Gadara | | Cynic | |
| Olympiodorus the Elder | | Peripatetic | |
| Olympiodorus the Younger | c. 495-570 | Neoplatonic | |
| Onasander | fl. 1st century | Middle Platonist | |
| Onatas | | Pythagorean | |
| Origen the Pagan | fl. c. 250 | Middle Platonist | |
| Panaetius | | Stoic | |
| Pancrates of Athens | | Cynic | |
| Panthoides | | Megarian | |
| Parmenides of Elea | | Presocratic, Eleatic | held that the only thing that exists is being itself; teacher of Zeno of Elea |
| Pasicles of Thebes | | Megarian | |
| Patro the Epicurean | | Epicurean | |
| Peregrinus Proteus | | Cynic | |
| Persaeus | | Stoic | |
| Phaedo of Elis | | Eretrian | Originally founded the School of Elis; it was later transferred to Eretria by his pupil Menedemus. |
| Phaedrus | | Epicurean | |
| Phanias of Eresus | | Peripatetic | |
| Phanto of Phlius | | Pythagorean | |
| Philip of Opus | fl. 4th century BC | Academic | |
| Philiscus of Aegina | | Cynic | |
| Philiscus of Thessaly | | Sophist | |
| Philo | 20 BC - 50 AD | Middle Platonist | |
| Philo of Larissa | 159/158 – 84/83 BC | Academic skeptic | |
| Philo the Dialectician | | Megarian | |
| Philodemus | | Epicurean | |
| Philolaus | | Pythagorean | |
| Philonides of Laodicea | | Epicurean | |
| Philostratus | | Sophist | |
| Phintys | | Pythagorean | |
| Plato | 428/427 - 348/347 BC | Academic | student of Socrates and teacher of Aristotle; famous for the Theory of Forms |
| Plotinus | c. 204 – 270 | Neoplatonic | |
| Plutarch | c. 46 – 120 | Middle Platonist | |
| Plutarch of Athens | c. 350 – 430 | Neoplatonic | |
| Polemarchus | |
| Polemon of Athens | | Stoic | |
| Polemon of Athens (scholarch) | before 314 - 270/269 BC | Academic |
| Polemon of Laodicea | | Sophist | |
| Polus | |
| Polyaenus of Lampsacus | | Epicurean | |
| Polystratus | | Epicurean | |
| Porphyry | 234 – c. 305 | Neoplatonic | taught by Plotinus; wrote the Isagoge, an introduction to Aristotle's "Categories", |
| Posidonius | | Stoic | |
| Potamo of Alexandria | | Eclecticism | |
| Praxiphanes | | Peripatetic | |
| Priscian of Lydia | fl. c. 550 | Neoplatonic | |
| Priscus of Epirus | c. 305-c. 395 | Neoplatonic | |
| Proclus | 412 – 485 | Neoplatonic | |
| Proclus of Laodicea | | |
| Proclus Mallotes | | Stoic | |
| Prodicus | | Sophist | |
| Protagoras | | Sophist | |
| Ptolemy-el-Garib | fl. c. 300 AD | Peripatetic | |
| Pyrrho | | Pyrrhonist | credited as being the first skeptic philosopher |
| Pythagoras | c. 570 – c. 495 BC | Pythagorean | Credited with discovering the Pythagorean theorem |
| Sallustius | | Neoplatonic | |
| Sallustius of Emesa | | Cynic | |
| Satyrus | | Peripatetic | |
| Secundus the Silent | | Cynic | |
| Sextus of Chaeronea | |
| Sextus Empiricus | | Pyrrhonist | |
| Simmias of Thebes | | Pythagorean | |
| Simon the Shoemaker | | Socratic | |
| Simplicius of Cilicia | c. 490 - c. 560 | Neoplatonic | |
| Siro | | Epicurean | |
| Socrates | c. 470–399 BC | Socratic | considered one of the founders of Western philosophy; credited as being the first moral philosopher |
| Sopater of Apamea | died before 337 | Neoplatonic | |
| Sosigenes | | Peripatetic | |
| Sosipatra | fl. c. 325 | Neoplatonic | |
| Sotion | | Neopythagorean | |
| Speusippus | c. 407 – 339 BC | Academic | |
| Sphaerus | | Stoic | |
| Stilpo | | Megarian | |
| Strato of Lampsacus | | Peripatetic | |
| Syrianus | died c. 437 | Neoplatonic | |
| Telauges | | Pythagorean | |
| Telecles of Phocis | died 167/166 BC | Academic skeptic | |
| Teles the Cynic | | Cynic | |
| Thales | c. 626/623 – c. 548/545 BC | Presocratic, Milesian | first philosopher; held that the first principle (arche) is water; one of the Seven Sages of Greece |
| Theagenes of Patras | | Cynic | |
| Theano | | Pythagorean | |
| Themista of Lampsacus | | Epicurean | |
| Themistius | | Neoplatonic | |
| Theodorus of Asine | fl. 3rd century | Neoplatonic | |
| Theodorus the Atheist | c. 340 – c. 250 BCE | Cyrenaic | |
| Theon of Smyrna | | Neopythagorean | |
| Theophrastus | | Peripatetic | |
| Thrasymachus | | Sophist | |
| Thrasymachus of Corinth | | Megarian | |
| Timaeus of Locri | | Pythagorean | |
| Timaeus the Sophist | fl. between 1st and 4th centuries | Middle Platonist | |
| Timon | | Pyrrhonist | |
| Timycha | | Pythagorean | |
| Tisias | | Sophist | |
| Xenarchus of Seleucia | | Peripatetic | |
| Xeniades | | Pyrrhonist | |
| Xenocrates | c. 396 – 314 BC | Academic | |
| Xenophanes of Colophon | | Presocratic, Eleatic | claimed that if oxen were able to imagine gods, those gods would be in the image of oxen |
| Xenophilus | | Pythagorean | friend and teacher of Aristoxenus |
| Xenophon | | |
| Zenobius | 2nd century A.D. | Sophist | flourished in the times of the emperor Hadrian |
| Zenodotus | fl. c. 475 | Neoplatonic | described as "the darling of Proclus" |
| Zeno of Citium | 334-262 BC | Stoic | founder of the Stoic school of philosophy |
| Zeno of Elea | | Presocratic, Eleatic | famous creator of Zeno's paradoxes |
| Zeno of Sidon | 150-75 BC | Epicurean | sometimes termed the "leading Epicurean" |
| Zeno of Tarsus | fl. 200 BC | Stoic | |