He was a member of the noble Theopropidai family, which held significant religious authority but had become impoverished by Menedemus's time.
In addition to his philosophical work, he took a leading part in the political affairs of his city from the time of the Diadochi until his death.
By about 300 BC, Menedemus began to assume a prominent position in the political life of his hometown on the island of Euboea.
He is said to have campaigned for the independence of Eretria, which had lost much of its former importance at that time, and accompanied numerous embassies to other Greek cities.
Diogenes Laërtius[6] says that he declined to identify the Good with the Useful and that he denied the value of the negative proposition on the ground that affirmation alone can express truth.