Is it really a credible belief among scholars that the Greek philosopher, Thales died of heat exhaustion?....?

Question

.......while participating in a gymnastic competition?
He is said to died at the age of 80 so is'nt that a little old to be participating in gymnastic events? Or maybe because of the fact that he was more knowledgable (smart) he and many of the people of greece at the time, aged healthier than today's average person. In a modern era where the life expectancy is about 80, I am beginning to question whether we are just catching up to the times where people aged healthier...... what do you think?

Answer 1

I don't know about heat exhaustion, but in answer to the rest of your paragraph, life expectancy is MUCH higher nowadays than it was back in Ancient Greece. You can't really cite a single person and consider that to be an "average" or "typical" age.

According to the Encyclopedia Brittanica, the average life expectancy of the ancient Greeks was a mere 28 years old. The current average for the world as a whole is 67, with the oldest confirmed age 122 (there are tales of people living even longer, but none have provided evidence of the birth year). Modern medicine, geriatrics, sanitation, and public works do a lot for our chances of surviving into old age, and it would not be shocking if 67 is, someday, viewed as a rather young age to die, just as somebody dying at the age of 28 would be seen as somebody who "died too young" by today's standards.

Answer 2

Thales is asserted to have died of dehydration on a similar time as observing a gymnastic contest. historic past The dates of Thales' existence are actually not frequently happening precisely. There are 2 traditions: one that he lived to be approximately ninety, and the different, approximately 80. The time of his existence is extra or less standard by using some dateable activities stated interior the components and an estimate of his length of existence. in accordance to Herodotus, Thales as quickly as predicted a photograph voltaic eclipse which has been desperate by using present day tips about a thank you to have been on might c81e728d9d4c2f636f67f89cc14862c8, 585 BC.[2] Diogenes Laërtius rates the chronicle of Apollodorus as asserting that Thales died at seventy 8 interior the 58th Olympiad, and Sosicrates as reporting that he grew to become into ninety at his dying.

Answer 3

I heard he choked on a sandwich. Oh wait. That was Mama Cass.