![]() Many anecdotes concern repartee between Diogenes and Plato, and between Diogenes and Alexander the Great, and illustrate his deliberate disregard for fame and political power. When a landlord delayed in preparing a small cottage for him, Diogenes instead took up residence in a cask that belonged to the Temple of Cybele. Diogenes Laertius relates that he often pointed to public buildings and remarked "that the Athenians had built him places to live in." When the people reproached him because, contrary to common etiquette, he ate in the marketplace-he replied that the marketplace was where he felt hungry. He doubled up his cloak to sleep in it, carried his food in a wallet, and carried out his daily activities wherever he happened to be at the time. He threw away his bowl after he observed a child drinking water from his cupped hands, and his spoon when he observed a boy scooping up lentils with a piece of flat bread, because he no longer needed them. He observed a mouse running around, “not seeking for a bed, nor taking care to keep in the dark, nor looking for any of those things which appear enjoyable to such an animal,” and realized that he also had no need of the things which ordinary people considered necessities of life. As training, he walked barefoot in the cold and rolled in hot sand during the summer. Diogenes’ determination to live simply and completely in accordance with nature led him to extremes. On one occasion Antisthenes threatened to hit him with a heavy stick, but Diogenes said, "Strike, for you will not find any stick hard enough to drive me away as long as you continue to speak." Diogenes took Antisthenes’ precept that “ virtue is the only good,” and followed him in an ascetic lifestyle intended to liberate the soul from the deceptive influences of pleasure, luxury and fame. According to Lives, Antisthenes did not accept pupils and tried to repel Diogenes, but he persisted. Upon arriving in Athens, Diogenes encountered Antisthenes. ![]() Numismatic evidence shows that the currency of Sinope was adulterated, but it is not certain that this was done by Diogenes. Diogenes was exiled from Sinope for adulterating the coinage one account says that his father was a money changer and defiled the coinage, another that he directed Diogenes to do it, and another that Diogenes went to an oracle who instructed him to defile the coinage. The primary source for information on Diogenes is the Lives of Eminent Philosophers written by Diogenes Laertius around 400 C.E. He is credited with establishing the tradition of Cynicism that was carried on by Crates and later became a foundation for Stoicism.ĭiogenes was held in high esteem by the people, who honored him at his death with a tombstone bearing a dog-an animal to which he often compared himself.ĭiogenes was born in Sinope (Sinop in modern-day Turkey) about 412 B.C.E. Many colorful and amusing stories are told about him. He emphasized action over words and thoughts, and disparaged theoretical philosophy, mathematics, astronomy and metaphysics as being removed from reality. Diogenes lived for a time in a tub, and wore only a cloak and carried a staff and a wallet containing his food, attire that became a Cynic trademark. He was known for his blatant disregard for social niceties and for the abrasive manner in which he spoke to people. Taking the precept that “virtue is the only good, all else is evil,” he practiced a life of ascetic self-sufficiency. He was exiled from Sinope for adulterating the currency and went to Athens, where he became a follower of Antisthenes. – 323 B.C.E.) was an ancient Greek philospher and one of the founders of the Cynics. Diogenes by John William Waterhouse, depicting his lamp, tub and diet of onions.ĭiogenes of Sinope (412 or 399 B.C.E.
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