Athenodo'rus or Athenodo'rus Cananites
3. A Stoic philosopher, surnamed CANANITES (
Κανανίτης) from Cana in Cilicia, the birthplace of his father, whose name was Sandon. Athenodorus was himself a native of Tarsus.
It is the same person probably whom Cicero (
Cic. Att. 16.11) calls Athenodorus Calvus. In Rhodes he became acquainted with Posidonius, by whom probably he was instructed in the doctrines of the Stoics.
He afterwards went to Apollonia, where he taught, and attracted the notice of Octavianus, whom he followed to Rome.
He stood high in the favour of the emperor, and was permitted to offer him advice, which he did on some occasions with considerable freedom. (
D. C. 52.36,
56.43; Zonaras, p. 544b.) Zosimus (1.6) tells us, that the government of Augustus became milder in consequence of his attending to the advice of Athenodorus.
The young Claudius was placed under his instruction. (
Suet. Cl. 4.)
In his old age he returned to Tarsus, which was at that time misgoverned by Boethus, a favourite of Antonius. Athenodorus procured his expulsion and that of his party, and restored order. Through his influence with Augustus, he procured for his native city a remission of the vectigalia.
He died at the age of eighty-two, and his memory was honoured by an annual festival and sacrifice. (
Strab. xiv. p.674; Lucian,
Macrob. 21;
Cic. Fam. 3.7,
ad Att. 16.14.)
He was the author of a work against the Categories of Aristotle (Porphyr.
in Categ. p. 21a.; Simplic.
Categ. p. 15b.; Stobaeus,
Serm. 33) attributed by some to Athenodorus Cordylio; of an account of Tarsus (Steph.
Ἀγχιάλη); of a work addressed to Octavia (Plut.
Puplic. 17); of one
περὶ σπουδῆς καὶ ραιδείας (
Athen. 12.519); of a work called
Περίπατοι (
D. L. 3.3,
5.36), and of some others. (Fabric.
Bibl. Graec. iii. p. 543; Hoffinann,
Dissert. de Athen. Tarsensi, Lips. 1732; Sevin, in the
Mémoires de l'Acad. des Inscr. xix. p. 77.)
