Aristo of Chios, Herillus of Chalcedon, and Dionysius of Heraclea belong to the first generation of Stoic philosophers active after the death of Zeno of Citium. They represent some of the most distinctive voices of the early Stoa. Active mainly in the first half of the 3rd century BCE, they were direct pupils of Zeno and developed philosophical positions that diverged from what would later come to be regarded as Stoic ‘orthodoxy’. In Diogenes Laertius’ Lives of Eminent Philosophers, they are grouped among the so-called ‘heterodox’ or ‘dissident’ Stoics (οἱ διενεχθέντες). Apollophanes of Antioch, for his part, does not figure among these ‘dissident’ Stoics, but belonged to the same early Stoic milieu and was a follower of Aristo of Chios. The reconstruction of the doctrines of all these Stoic thinkers is rendered particularly difficult by the extreme fragmentariness and indirect transmission of the surviving evidence, much of which consists of papyri – especially from Herculaneum – that are difficult to reconstruct. Their writings are entirely lost and survive only through scattered testimonies preserved in later sources, often mediated by polemical or doxographical agendas. The volume is accompanied by an extensive introduction, updated English translations, and a running commentary that addresses the principal interpretative and textual difficulties posed by the sources within the context of modern scholarly discussion. It aims to be accessible to non-specialists while remaining useful to scholars working on early Stoicism and Hellenistic philosophy. By bringing together these often neglected figures, the volume sheds new light on the internal diversity of the early Stoa and on the theoretical stakes of early Stoic debates. More broadly, it contributes to our understanding of the development of Hellenistic philosophy and restores to prominence philosophers whose doctrines played a decisive role in shaping the trajectory of Stoic thought and its enduring legacy.
