Pherecydes

Pherecydes, an ancient Greek philosopher, born in the island of Syros, in the 6th century B.C., a contemporary of Thales. He taught the doctrine of the existence of the human soul after death; but it is uncertain if he held the doctrine of the transmigration of souls, afterwards promulgated by his disciple, Pythagoras. Of his work, a mythological system of philosophy, only fragments are extant, collected and edited by Sturz (2d ed. Leip. 1824).—Another Pherecydes, a native of Leros, who lived in the 5th century B.C., com- piled mythical histories of Athens and other states, but only a few fragments remain, published in C. Müller, Frag. Hist. Græc. (vol. i.).