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This article is about the philosopher Theodorus of Cyrene, about the mathematician Theodorus of Cyrene see Theodore of Cyrene (mathematician)

Theodore of Cyrene, also Theodor the Atheist (circa 340 BC – circa 250 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Cyrene school. The dating of the life of the philosopher is based on the Chronicle of Eusebius of Caesarea, where his activity is correlated with the 4th year of the 117th Olympian, that is, 309 BC. Other doxographic information about Theodore has low reliability. It is believed that the philosopher was born in the city of Cyrene, from where he was forced to go to Athens, where he joined the Cyrenaics. Diogenes Laertius and the Dictionary of the Judgment report that Theodore also studied with the Stoic Zeno of Citia, the sophist Brison of Heraclea and the dialectician Dionysius of Chalcedon, as well as the skeptic Pyrrho. An impressive list, but modern historians consider only Pyrrho’s training to be reliable, as indicated by the presence of some similar ideas of philosophers. The Cyrenaic teachings Theodore studied either with Aristippus the Younger, as Diogenes Laerstsky believed, or with Annekerides, to which we point out Diogenes himself, referring to the opinion of Antisthenes in the Successions of Philosophers.

Diogenes of Laertes points out that Theodore was forced to leave Athens after appearing before the Areopagus for "ungodliness" (,σέβεια), but does not give details. Amphicrates, in his book On Famous Men, writes that he was condemned to be poisoned with cicuta, but this is not true, and Diogenes points out that Demetrius of Faler helped him avoid trial. Perhaps the version of Tsikut originates from "Anthology" Stobeya, who writes of the philosopher's bold response to the threat of putting him to death for daring speeches: "Truly thou shalt be exalted, O king, by equalizing strength with tsikuta."

Before his death, the philosopher returned to his hometown of Cyrene, where he enjoyed the patronage of King Magas.

According to Diogenes Laertes, Theodore founded a whole trend in philosophy, but only one student of the philosopher, Bion Borisphenite, remained in history. However, he was not a convinced Cyrenaic, eclectically combining elements of the teachings of Cynics and Sophists, including in the way of life.

Theodore's philosophy and ethics
Theodore was the founder of an offshoot of the Cyrenaic school, named after his name Theodorovtsy. Like all Cyrenaics, Theodore believed that science and logic are useless, and that “it is enough to understand the meaning of good and evil to speak well, not to know superstitions, and to be free from the fear of death” (Diog. Laert. II 92). However, if Aristippus and others considered pleasure and pain (πόνος) to be the highest good and evil, Theodorus had joy (χαρά) and grief (λύπη) (Diog. Laert. II 98). E. Zeller and K. von Fritz paid attention to this aspect, in modern times this question was dealt with by M. Vinyarchik. He believes that Theodore was concerned about the lack of control over bodily sensations caused by external events, so he replaced in philosophy bodily sensations with concepts dependent on personal understanding. Thus, the philosopher increased the degree of freedom of opportunity to achieve happiness. Viñarcik pr