Pittacus ( - 568BCE), Greek general and one of the Seven Sages of Greece. Pittacus lived in the city state of Mytilene. As commander of the ar

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Pittacus ( - 568BCE), Greek general and one of the Seven Sages of Greece. Pittacus lived in the city state of Mytilene. As commander of the army of Mytilene he successfully defended the city against the Athenians by challenging the opposing general to settle the battle by single combat 'in order to avoid bloodshed'. As a result he was appointed governor for ten years, in which time he codified laws in poetry and instilled a sense of doing right by others. His 'Golden Rule' was 'do not to your neighbour what you would take ill from him'. This engraving first appeared in The History of Philosophy by Thomas Stanley, published in London in 1656.

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Photo credit: © MIDDLE TEMPLE LIBRARY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
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Keywords: 1600s, 1656, 17th, black, century, drawing, engraving, general, golden, greek, history, law, lawmaker, leader, legislator, maker, male, man, monochrome, mytilene, philosopher, philosophy, pitacus, plate, portrait, rule, sage, sages, thinker, tolerance, white