Introduction to Presocratics

Introduction to Presocratics presents a succinct introduction to Greek thinkers of the 6th and 5th century BCE and a thematic exploration of the topics and enquiries opened by these first philosophers and scientists of the Western tradition.

  • Offers a concise, thematically organized introduction to the Presocratics
  • Includes a previously unpublished translation of the main fragments of the Presocratics by Classics scholar Rosemary Wright
  • Covers key figures including Thales, Anaximander and Anaximenes of Miletus, Xenophanes, Heraclitus, Pythagoras, Parmenides and Zeno of Elea, Empedocles, Anaxagoras and Democritus
  • Supplemented with helpful features including a timeline, map of the ancient world, glossary of terms, and index of proper names


Giannis Stamatellos is Post Doctoral Researcher at the Center for Neoplatonic Virtue Ethics at the University of Copenhagen. He is the author of Plotinus and the Presocratics (2007).