Quote by Matthew Arnold

This title references the famous classical legend of the philosopher Empedocles of Agrigentum, an ancient Greek thinker known for his theories of the four elements. According to tradition, Empedocles was a ruler and healer in the city of Agrigentum in Sicily during the 5th century BCE. The most enduring account of his life describes his death, which various ancient sources claim occurred when he threw himself into the crater of Mount Etna, either as a deliberate act to have his physical body vanish completely and thus be mistaken for a god, or accidentally. The mountain on the island of Sicily became associated with his mysterious disappearance, giving rise to one of the most iconic deaths in philosophical literature. A work bearing this title would likely draw upon these classical sources and the enduring fascination with this mysterious figure who straddled the boundary between philosophy, politics, and mythology in ancient Greek culture. more