Abstract:

In this paper I work out a classification of the various types of conversion to philosophy as they appear in ancient Greek biographies, especially in Diogenes Laertius’ Lives and tenets of eminent philosophers, to the purpose of making clear that it was a well-established biographical topic. Moreover, the “rites” of initiation to philosophical activity and the different means employed to socially legitimate a philosopher are reviewed from the point of view of ancient biography. This analysis allows us to shed some light on the image ancient Greeks had about their own philosophers as a kind different from other “cultural agents”, like poets, as well as from other figures belonging to the collective imagery, like heroes.