DIODORUS CRONUS (4th century B.C.), Greek philos opher of the Megarian school. Practically nothing is known of his life. Diogenes Laertius (ii. 1 1 1) tells a story that, while stay ing at the court of Ptolemy Soter, Diodorus was asked to solve a dialectical subtlety by Stilpo. Not being able to answer on the spur of the moment, he was nicknamed d Kpovos (Father Time) by Ptolemy. The story goes that he died of shame at his failure. Strabo, however, says (xiv. 658; xvii. 838) that he took the name from Apollonius, his master. He belonged to the Megarian school. His was the famous sophism known as the KvpLE6wv. The impossible cannot result from the possible; a past event cannot become other than it is; but if an event, at a given moment, had been possible, from this possible would result something impossible; therefore the original event was impossible. From his great dialectical skill he earned the title 6 &aX EKTCKOs or SLaXEKTCKCJTaTOS.
See Cicero De Fato, 6, 7, 9; Aristotle Metaphysica, § 3; Sext. Em piric. adv. Math. x. 85 ; Ritter and Preller Hist. philos. Gr. et Rom. chap. V. §§ (ed. 1869)•