He said that if they are buying a pot or plate, or presumably a fish, they test first that it is good quality but when buying men they merely look them over rather than testing their character properly. After making fun of the auctioneer by laying down and pretending to be a fish, in typical Diogenes style, he then berated the audience, giving them a lecture on how to go about buying men. Such auctions typically began by asking where the slave was from to which Diogenes gave his standard reply, that he was from “everywhere”, being a citizen of the world, the original meaning of “cosmopolitan ”. Seeing one man was too upset to eat, Diogenes reassured him, urging him to have some food, and telling him to stop worrying and just take the moment as it comes. Just before the sale began he sat down to share some bread with the other prisoners, who were weeping at their misfortune. They took him to Crete where he was put up for auction as a slave. Listening to reason, the pirates began to feed all their prisoners better. Unintimidated as always, he rebuked the pirates saying that if one has pigs or sheep to sell, one fattens them up and keeps them healthy, yet they kept the finest of animals, human beings, on sparse food, until they were reduced to skeletons and worthless to sell. His captors were initially quite brutal to Diogenes and the other captives, giving them barely enough food to survive but he bore his misfortune well, rising above their maltreatment with greatness of spirit. The story goes that Diogenes was captured by the notorious pirate captain Skirpalos and his crew, while sailing to the island of Aegina. He meant that, although the two men perhaps never met in person, Diogenes was set free by the philosophical teachings of Antisthenes, one of Socrates’ circle of friends who founded his own Socratic sect, credited as the main forerunner or sometimes even the founder of Greek Cynicism.Įpictetus goes on to discuss the particularly well-known, although probably fictitious, story about Diogenes being captured by pirates, which apparently came from a book called The Sale of Diogenes by the 3 rd century BC Cynic philosopher and satirist Menippus. According to Epictetus, “Diogenes was set free by Antisthenes, and said that from that point forward he could never be enslaved by anyone again” ( Discourses, 4.1). Diogenes became a legendary character and many stories and anecdotes circulated about him in the ancient world, contributing to his status as a Stoic role-model. The two schools were sometimes even considered part of a single “Cynic-Stoic” tradition. The anecdotes come from Diogenes Laërtius' book Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers and some other sources.Diogenes of Sinope, the founder of Cynicism was greatly admired by the Stoics as a near-sage. 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. Diogenes was also noted for having publicly mocked Alexander the Great.ĭiogenes helped Antisthenes create cynicism, a philosophy that focuses on living a simple life without the need for money, fame, power, or possessions.ĭiogenes was captured by pirates and sold into slavery. 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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