![]() ![]() From both a civilian aspect and from a student aspect, I can’t really find a true reason as to why Diogenes should be added to our history books, outside of a small sidebar. What makes it even more difficult is that ancient cynicism is far removed from current cynicism. As one hears about him, you can clearly tell why he isn’t talked about within schools but understanding his impact is slightly more difficult. He was regarded as a great philosopher and had several interesting and humorous ideas. He was a great philosopher after all, just not talked about that often due to clear reasons.ĭiogenes, as a person in history, is an interesting topic. There are many stories of him meeting with Alexander the great and being, well, his usual self to the ruler. Although he did all these strange and, in some cases of what we would classify as public indecency, disgusting things, he was beloved by the community. He had many quirks, excluding the ones we already talked about, such as a distaste for showing manners, which he equated to lying, a belief in personal excellence and a very meager living, similar to a homeless person. The lantern was used to help him find an “honest man” who actually, by his standards, is a human. As stated many times previously, Diogenes is regarded as a cynic and is known for carrying around a lantern, surrounded by dogs. Diogenes, not being one to stand down to criticism, decided the most logical response would be to urinate on the throwers, similar to how a dog would. The philosophers and nobles found him so hilarious, in fact, that they threw bones at him and called him a dog. Both in ancient times and now, many people found Diogenes to be quite hilarious, especially the philosophers. He was extremely well known for sleeping in public buildings, eating in public market (which was prohibited in ancient Greece) and even sleeping in a bathtub. He found that most of the people in cities were corrupted by the customs of mankind. Both Diogenes and his father were exiled from Sinope for this and left for Athens but Diogenes, as he is the focus of this, choose to use this chance to become a philosophical thinker and adopt a life of asceticism. At some point, the two were embroiled in a scandal that saw them defacing Sinopian coinage, and as a result, both were banished from the city and stripped of their possessions and citizenship. Many sources agree that due to his belief that he must “deface the currency”, he proceeded to literally deface the currency, either by cutting the face off the ‘heads’ side of the coin or making large slash marks across it. Diogenes was born in Sinope in what is now Turkey, which was a Greek colony at the time his father Hicesius was a banker and a coin-minter. Diogenes worked with his father and thus begins how he was exiled. His father worked with money but, much with a majority of ancient history, we are not sure how exactly it specifically worked. The anecdotes come from Diogenes Laërtius' book Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers and some other sources.To begin on Diogenes, we must start with his year of birth which is believed to be 412 B.C.E. None of Diogenes' writings have survived, but there are some details of his life from anecdotes. Zeno worked on stoicism, which became one of the main schools of Greek philosophy. There he explained cynicism to Crates, who taught it to Zeno of Citium. He also made a notion of " cosmopolitan" on world citizenship first time in history.ĭiogenes was captured by pirates and sold into slavery. ĭiogenes helped Antisthenes create cynicism, a philosophy that focuses on living a simple life without the need for money, fame, power, or possessions. Diogenes was also noted for having publicly mocked Alexander the Great. He sabotaged Plato's lectures, distracting attenders by bringing food and eating during the discussions. He criticized Plato, disputed his interpretation of Socrates. He used to carry a lamp during the day, and claimed he was looking for an honest man. He became notorious for his philosophical stunts. He begged for a living and often slept in a large ceramic jar in the marketplace. This gave him a basis to criticize the social values and institutions of the corrupt, confused society he saw around him.ĭiogenes made a virtue of poverty. ![]() He had a simple life-style and behaviour. He was born in the town of Sinope (now called Sinop, Turkey) around the year 412 BC and died in the city of Corinth, Greece on the year 323 BC.Īfter being exiled for debasing the currency, he moved to Athens. Diogenes of Sinope (or Diogenes the Cynic) was an Ancient Greek philosopher. ![]()
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