exactly he lived within the 6th century. The Suda places his date of birth during the reign of King Alyattes in Lydia (c. 605-560 BCE), which would place him as a contemporary of the Seven Sages of Greece,, among whose number he was occasionally included. Alternatively, Apollodorus, places his floruit several decades later, in the 59th Olympiad (544–541 BCE), a generation later. Assuming that Pherecydes was born in this later generation, younger than the philosopher Thales (624-545 BC) and thus an older contemporary of Anaximander, he would also be approximately the correct age for the Pythagorean tradition in which he is regarded as a teacher of Pythagoras. Most of the other biographical information is probably fiction, and the ambiguity and contradictions in the surviving testimonies suggest that any reliable biographical data that may have existed was no longer available in the Hellenistic period. The identity of Pherecydes was also unclear in ancient times because there were two authors of that name who both wrote about mythology: Pherecydes of Syros and Pherecydes of Athens (fl. 5th century BC). According to a forged letter attributed to Thales, Pherecydes never traveled but according to other sources he traveled throughout the Greek cultural area, to Delphi, the Peloponnese, Ephesus and Samos. According to Josephus and Byzantine writers, Pherecydes also made a journey to Egypt. Such a journey, however, is a common tale that is also part of other biographies of philosophers. A sun-dial (heliotropion), supposedly made by Pherecydes, was said by Diogenes Laërtius to be "preserved on the island of Syros." Several miraculous deeds were also attributed to Pherecydes; such as that he accurately predicted an earthquake on Syros after drinking from a well, or that he predicted the sinking of a ship that he saw along the coast of Syros, which then proceeded to sink. In Messene he allegedly warned his friend Perilaus that the city would be conquered. Finally, Hercules was said to have visited him in a dream and told him to tell the Spartans not to value silver or gold, and that same night Heracles is said to have told the king of Sparta in his sleep to listen to Pherecydes. Many of those miracles however, were also attributed to other legendary philosophers such as Pythagoras or Epimenides. There are many conflicting legends that purport to be an account of the death of Pherecydes. According to one story, Pherecydes was