Euclid of Megara

Euclid of Megara, a celebrated philosopher and logician; he was a disciple of Socrates, and flourished about 400 years before Christ.

Euclid of Megara endued by nature with a subtle and penetrating genius, early applied himself to the study of philosophy. The writings of Parmenides first taught him the art of disputation.

Hearing of the fame of Socrates, Euclid determined to attend upon his instructions and for this purpose removed from Megara to Athens.

According to a story told by the Roman antiquarian Aulus Gellius, Euclid of Megara exhibited a singular passion for philosophy.

At the outset of the Peloponnesian War, Athens imposed sanctions against the nearby city of Megara and banned its citizens from entering Athens. Euclid of Megara disguised himself in women’s clothes to attend the lectures of Socrates. He long remained a constant hearer and zealous disciple of the Moral Philosospher.

Euclid went on to found the Megaric school of philosophy, renewed for their delight in paradoxes. One of the nest-known puzzles associated with this school was that of the ‘veiled figure’.
Euclid of Megara