Chronology and selection of the ancient philosophers/books

Hello everyone,

I’m buying works/fragments of the ancient philosophers from the first natural one, thales, until aristotle. When I’m through with it, I’ll continue with post-aristotelian philosophy. Here is a chronological list of the thinkers, correct me if I’m wrong, or in case I left out a significant figure.

thales
anaximander
anaximenes
pythagoras/xenophanes (contemporaries)
heraclitus
parmenides
anaxagoras
empedocles
zeno
sophists (for the sake of simplicity, I put them all under this term)
philolaus
leucippus
socrates
diogenes of apollonia
democritus
antisthenes
aristippus
plato
diogenes of sinope
aristotle
diodorus cronus (overlaps with aristotle)

I made a research on translations of the above mentioned philo’s, and am intending to buy one book per each. Need some advice where I found multiple potential buying candidates. Please take some time to go through this list, and help me with my buying decision, or recommend me a book that I didn’t put on the list, but you think is a better alternative.

Thales of Miletus: The Beginnings of Western Science and Philosophy (Western Philosophy Series)
by Patricia F. O’Grady

Anaximander and the Origins of Greek Cosmology
by Charles H. Kahn

I assume ars rhetorica is written in latin, couldn’t find any other translations of anaximenes’ fragments. Any advice where to find some?

Ars Rhetorica : Anaximenes
by Manfred Fuhrmann (Editor)

I found three books on pythagoras/pythagoreans. Which one includes the most amount of translation from them?

The Pythagorean Sourcebook & Library : An Anthology of Ancient Writings Which Relate to Pythagoras & Pythagorean Philosophy
by David Fideler (Introduction by), Joscelyn Godwin (Foreword by), Kenneth S. Guthrie (Editor), Iamblichus, Diogenes

Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans: A Brief History
by Charles H. Kahn

Pythagoras & Early Pythagoreanism
by James A. Philip

Xenophanes of Colophon: Fragments (Phoenix Presocractics Series, 4)
by J.H. Lesher (Translator)

Which one should I choose from these two?

The Art and Thought of Heraclitus : An Edition of the Fragments with Translation and Commentary
by Charles H. Kahn (Editor)

Heraclitus - Fragments : A Text and Translation with a Commentary
by T. M. Robinson (Editor)

From these three?

Parmenides of Elea : Fragments: A Text and Translation with an Introduction
by Parmenides of Elea, David Gallop (Editor)

Parmenides : The Fragments
by David Sider, Henry W., Jr. Johnstone

Collected Philosophical Papers Vol. 1 : Parmenides
by G. E. Anscombe

Philolaus of Croton - Pythagorean & Presocratic : A Commentary on the Fragments & Testimonia with Interpretive Essays by Carl A. Huffman

Anaxagoras and the Birth of Physics
by Daniel E. Gershenson, Daniel A. Greenberg

From these three?

Empedocles: Extant Fragments
by R. Wright

The Poem of Empedocles: A Text & Translation with a Commentary
Editor: Brad Inwood

Empedocles’ Cosmic Cycle : A Reconstruction from the Fragments and Secondary Sources
by Denis O’Brien

Regarding zeno, I need fworks from zeno of elea, not zeno of citium, are these four works from the former one, and if which one should I select?

The Paradoxes of Zeno
by J. A. Farris

Zeno’s Paradoxes
by Wesley C. Salmon (Editor)

Fragments of Zeno and Cleanthes (Philosophy of Plato and Aristotle)
by A.C. Pearson (Editor)

Pseudo-Zeno: The Anonymous Philosophical Treatise (Philosophia Antiqua, 83)
by M.E. Stone, M.E. Shirinian, J. Mansfeld (Translator), D. Th. Runia (Translator)

From these two?

Protagoras and the Greek Community
by Dirk Loenen

Protagoras & Logos : A Study in Greek Philosophy & Rhetoric
by Edward Schiappa, Thomas Bensen (Editor)

This book contains several sophists, is anyone familiar with it, and if, does it include prodicus/hippias/gorgias, and if not, can you recommend me one that does?

The Older Sophists
by Hermann Diels (Editor), Rosamond Kent Sprague (Editor)

The Atomists: Leucippus and Democritus (Phoenix Presocractic Series)
by C. C. W. Taylor (Translator)

Antisthenes of Athens: Setting the World Aright (Contributions in Philosophy)
by Luis E. Navia

Aristippus
by Powys, Llewelyn

Plato Complete Works
by Plato, John M. Cooper (Editor), D. S. Hutchinson (Editor)

Diogenes of Sinope: The Man in the Tub (Contributions in Philosophy , No 67)
by Luis E. Navia

Complete Works of Aristotle
by Aristotle, Jonathan Barnes (Editor)

The Sea Battle and the Master Argument : Aristotle and Diodorus Cronus on the Metaphysics of the Future
by Richard Gaskin

I’ve been going to this post for a few weeks now, and I’m just wondering if you all agree with his selecton.

blah! who the hell lumps xenophanes with pythagoras??? why??? the two are incredibely distinct, with the most important one being that xenophanes wrote stuff down – pythagoras refused.

as for the reference books,

anything by charles kahn is amazing – very creative, highly respectable, great. but at a very advanced level.

oh my god! i can’t believe that book made it on the list, y’all. oh god.
{moment of crisis }
ah, shit.

anyways, was there any theme or thinker that you were interested at looking at, smooth?

yes Trix, I’m looking for social theory’s

but wow, this fucker’s thorough, no? shit I just buy the cheapest shit as I can find it. You don’t HAVE to read in chronological order, brother. You can always see how philosophers contrast. (Reminds me of a friend in high school who wanted to read from Thales to Merleau Ponty, come hell or high water, in our senior year of high school)

You’re BUYING ALL this? Very impressive. Respect, my friend.