10. One of the most influential philosophers from Ancient Greece, Chrysippus of Soli is reputed to have died after laughing too hard whilst watching a donkey eat figs
Born in 279 BCE, Chrysippus, slight in stature, is thought to have initially trained as a long-distance runner. Moving to Athens following the confiscation of his family’s property in Soli, Chrysippus became a student of Cleanthes at the Stoic school. Acquiring a reputation for his intellect and learning, upon the death of his teacher in 230 Chrysippus succeeded Cleanthes as the head of the Stoics. A prolific writer, said to have produced at least five hundred lines per day and allegedly composing more than seven hundred works throughout his lifetime, sadly none of these philosophical treatises have survived to the modern day other than in fragments quoted by the works of others.
Dying at the age of seventy-three during the 143rd Olympiad, two separate accounts of Chrysippus’ death are offered. The first and more commonplace, recorded by Diogenes Laërtius, contends Chrysippus was seized with dizziness following drinking at a feast and died soon after. The alternative, which has since become an indelible aspect of his legacy and character, is far more bizarre, claiming Chrysippus was watching a donkey eat figs whereupon he exclaimed: “now give the donkey a drink of pure wine to wash down the figs”. Believing he had made a hilarious joke, the philosopher collapsed in an unending fit of laughter and subsequently died.