Heraclitus is one of the great Greek philosophers.  He is best known for his belief that the world is constantly changing.  His most famous quote was:  “no man ever steps into the same river twice”.  According to legend, at the end of his life he was suffering from dropsy (known today as edema).  This caused fluid to pool under his skin.  It was painful.  He decided to cure himself.  His theory was that if he could draw the fluid out, he would have some alleviation of his problem.  He decided to cover himself with cow dung.  When the dung dried, it would cause the fluid to seep out.  So, he lay in the hot sun covered in poop.  What he did not foresee was that when the dung dried, it immobilized him.  Not a good time to have a pack of wild dogs come sniffing around.  Due to his inability to move, Heraclitus was a sitting duck and was eaten.  We do not know if his dropsy had been cured.  But it is safe to assume the cure ended up being worse than the disease.

https://www.ranker.com/list/strange-ways-historical-figures-perished/emily-mast?fbclid=IwAR1NuoYeSBJqMdTxAGnVgJ5b1kDXtY-LeP92DTNXew7ouVXkeDrqoara2Jw

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heraclitus

 

Categories: Anecdote

0 Comments

I would love to hear what you think.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.