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Heraclitus

Greek philosopher (late 6th/early 5th-century BC)
Person human Q41155
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Heraclitus was born in 535 BC in Ephesus and died in 470 BC in the same city . His occupation included being a philosopher, writer, and physicist [1][2][3], and his primary field was philosophy [4]. He died of edema .

Key Facts

  • Country of citizenship: Ephesus[9], Achaemenid Empire[10]
  • Native language: Ionic Greek[11]
  • Ethnic group: Greeks[12]
  • Field of work: philosophy[13], ancient literature[14]
  • Student: Empedocles[15]
  • Influenced by: Hippasus[16], Xenophanes[17]
  • Sex or gender: male[18]
  • Movement: Pre-Socratic philosophy[19], ancient philosophy[20], Western philosophy[21], Ionian School[22]
  • Commons category: Heraclitus[23]
  • Cause of death: edema[24]
  • Residence: Ephesus[25]
  • Given name: Ηράκλειτος[26]
  • Topic's main category: Category:Heraclitus[27]
  • Manner of death: natural causes[28]
  • Described by source: Small Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary[29]

Body

Works and Contributions

Things named for Heraclitus include he[30].

Why It Matters

Heraclitus has Wikipedia articles in 29 language editions, a strong signal of global cultural recognition.[31] He is known by 90 alternative names across languages and contexts.[32]

He has been cited as an influence by Friedrich Nietzsche[33], a philosopher[34], 1844–1900[35], of Kingdom of Prussia[36], specialised in classical philology[37]; Aristotle[38], a biologist[39], -0384–-0322[40], specialised in philosophy[41]; Plato[42], a philosopher[43], -0427–-0347[44], of Classical Athens[45], specialised in philosophy[46]; Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel[47], a philosopher[48], 1770–1831[49], of Kingdom of Württemberg[50], awarded the Order of the Red Eagle 3rd Class[51], specialised in philosophy[52]; Martin Heidegger[53], a philosopher[54], 1889–1976[55], of Weimar Republic[56], awarded the Johann-Peter-Hebel-Preis[57], specialised in philosophy[58]; and Friedrich Engels[59], an economist[60], 1820–1895[61], of Kingdom of Prussia[62], specialised in philosophy[63].

Works attributed to him include panta rhei[64], On Nature[65], and Fragments of him[66]. Entities named for him include he[30].

FAQs

Where was Heraclitus born?

Heraclitus was born in Ephesus[2].

Where did Heraclitus die?

Heraclitus died in Ephesus[4].

What did Heraclitus do for work?

Heraclitus worked as a philosopher[5], writer[6], and physicist[7].

Who did Heraclitus influence?

Heraclitus has been cited as an influence by Friedrich Nietzsche[33], Aristotle[38], Plato[42], and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel[47].

Related Entities

Aristotle Czesław Miłosz Edgar Morin Empedocles Epicharmus of Kos Friedrich Engels Friedrich Nietzsche Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Heraclius Hippasus Martin Heidegger metaphysics Oswald Spengler Parmenides philosophy Plato politics The Divine Comedy Western philosophy Xenophanes

References

Programmatic citations — every numbered marker resolves to a verifiable graph row below.

Direct Wikidata claims

  1. [2] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  2. [4] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  3. [18] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  4. [9] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  5. [10] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  6. [13] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  7. [14] ↑ . Czech National Authority Database. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  8. [11] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  9. [5] ↑ . The Fine Art Archive. Retrieved . cs.isabart.org. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  10. [6] ↑ . Library of the World's Best Literature. wikidata.org.
  11. [7] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  12. [19] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  13. [20] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  14. [21] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  15. [22] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  16. [12] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  17. [23] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  18. [24] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  19. [25] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  20. [1] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  21. [3] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  22. [26] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  23. [16] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  24. [17] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  25. [15] ↑ . Q45270574. wikidata.org.
  26. [27] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  27. [28] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  28. [29] ↑ . wikidata.org.

Inverse relationships (entities pointing at this one)

  1. [33] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site
  2. [38] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site
  3. [42] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site
  4. [47] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site
  5. [53] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site
  6. [59] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site
  7. [64] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site
  8. [65] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site
  9. [66] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site
  10. [30] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site

Inline context (facts about related entities)

  1. [34] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  2. [35] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  3. [36] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  4. [37] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  5. [39] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  6. [40] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  7. [41] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  8. [43] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  9. [44] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  10. [45] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  11. [46] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  12. [48] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  13. [49] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  14. [50] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  15. [51] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  16. [52] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  17. [54] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  18. [55] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  19. [56] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  20. [57] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  21. [58] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  22. [60] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  23. [61] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  24. [62] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  25. [63] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site

Aggregate / graph-position facts

  1. [8] ↑ . Wikimedia Foundation. dumps.wikimedia.org.
  2. [31] ↑ . Wikidata sitelinks. wikidata.org.
  3. [32] ↑ . Wikidata aliases. wikidata.org.

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Rolling log of changes to this entity's Wikidata record. Values shown reflect the current state of each edited property — follow the history link to see the precise diff for any edit.

  1. 23h ago · Printstream · 2026-10-14 view diff on Wikidata ↗
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  2. 9d ago · Printstream · 2026-10-06 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Sitelink count → 146
    Wikipedia languages → ['af', 'als', 'an', 'ar', 'arz', 'ast', 'az', 'azb', 'bat_smg', 'be', 'be_x_old'
    Field of work → philosophy, ancient literature
    Claims rich → —
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  3. 21d ago · Balluc1977 · 2026-09-24 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    P14611 → 152156
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  4. 4w ago · DifoolBot bot · 2026-09-14 view diff on Wikidata ↗
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  5. 5w ago · Anti-Strange-Ipek-Action · 2026-09-06 view diff on Wikidata ↗
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  6. 8w ago · Mahirtwofivesix · 2026-08-19 view diff on Wikidata ↗
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  7. 11w ago · Pierrotrgr · 2026-07-24 view diff on Wikidata ↗
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  8. 13w ago · Nyuhn · 2026-07-10 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    P14541 → 38wfhL
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  9. 14w ago · Printstream · 2026-07-04 view diff on Wikidata ↗
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  10. 15w ago · Printstream · 2026-07-01 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    P14585 → 61930
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  11. 15w ago · Epìdosis · 2026-06-27 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Parsifal cluster id → 109544, 370959, 14075 +2
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  12. 15w ago · Printstream · 2026-06-26 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    P14536 → 339658
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  13. 18w ago · MariuszRokin · 2026-06-07 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Parsifal cluster id → 109544, 370959, 14075 +2
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  14. 20w ago · Quesotiotyo · 2026-05-21 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    P14397 → 7514
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  15. 22w ago · Epìdosis · 2026-05-12 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Cerl thesaurus id → cnp00980165, cnp01317458
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  16. 22w ago · Bargioni · 2026-05-12 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Parsifal cluster id → 109544, 370959, 14075 +2
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  17. 22w ago · Epìdosis · 2026-05-11 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Parsifal cluster id → 109544, 370959, 14075 +2
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  18. 22w ago · JBradyK · 2026-05-10 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Significant place → Ephesus
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  19. 22w ago · Bargioni · 2026-05-09 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Image last checked license → —
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    + 1 other property edited (see Wikidata diff for full list)
    "/* wbsetclaim-update:2||1|2 */ Pontificia università della santa croce id: 147845, Added or updated using [[User:Bargioni/P5739_add_or_update_P1810|P5739_add_or_update_P1810]]"
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