Bias of Priene — of more account than the rest
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ἐν Πριήνῃ Βίας ἐγένετο ὁ Τευτάμεω, οὗ πλείων λόγος ἢ τῶν ἄλλων
At Priene was born Bias the son of Teutamos, of whom there is more account than of the others.
Preserved by Diogenes Laertius in his life of Bias (1.88). Heraclitus, who scorned nearly every famous name, singles out Bias of Priene — one of the Seven Sages — as the one 'of whom there is more account than of the others.'
Diogenes Laertius keeps this line in his life of Bias (1.88), one of the Seven Sages. Heraclitus, who had contempt for nearly every famous name — Homer, Hesiod, Pythagoras, Archilochus — makes an exception for Bias of Priene, 'of whom there is more account than of the rest.'
The praise turns on <em>logos</em>. On the surface it means reputation: more is said of Bias, he counts for more. But in the mouth of the man for whom <em>logos</em> is the very measure by which things hold together, the phrase carries a second weight — Bias has more of the real reckoning in him. What Heraclitus admired is on record: Bias' saying that 'most men are bad' (οἱ πλεῖστοι κακοί), the same low estimate of the many that runs through Heraclitus's own fragments (B104, B29). One sage against the crowd is a shape Heraclitus keeps returning to.
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