Lifeĭiogenes Searching for an Honest Man (1640–1647) by Giovanni Benedetto / National Gallery of Art, Wikimedia Commons No writings of Diogenes survive but there are some details of his life from anecdotes ( chreia), especially from Diogenes Laërtius’ book Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers and some other sources. There he passed his philosophy of Cynicism to Crates, who taught it to Zeno of Citium, who fashioned it into the school of Stoicism, one of the most enduring schools of Greek philosophy. ĭiogenes was captured by pirates and sold into slavery, eventually settling in Corinth. Diogenes was also noted for having mocked Alexander the Great, both in public and to his face when he visited Corinth in 336 BC.
He criticized Plato, disputed his interpretation of Socrates, and sabotaged his lectures, sometimes distracting listeners by bringing food and eating during the discussions. He became notorious for his philosophical stunts, such as carrying a lamp during the day, claiming to be looking for a man (often rendered in English as “looking for an honest man”). He begged for a living and often slept in a large ceramic jar, or pithos, in the marketplace. Diogenes Searching for an Honest Man (1640–1647) by Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione held at the National Gallery of Artĭiogenes made a virtue of poverty. There are many tales about his dogging Antisthenes’ footsteps and becoming his “faithful hound”. He declared himself a cosmopolitan and a citizen of the world rather than claiming allegiance to just one place. He had a reputation for sleeping and eating wherever he chose in a highly non-traditional fashion, and took to toughening himself against nature. He used his simple lifestyle and behavior to criticize the social values and institutions of what he saw as a corrupt, confused society.
He modelled himself on the example of Heracles, and believed that virtue was better revealed in action than in theory.
After being exiled, he moved to Athens and criticized many cultural conventions of the city. His father minted coins for a living, and Diogenes was banished from Sinope when he took to debasement of currency. He was born in Sinope, an Ionian colony on the Black Sea coast of modern-day Turkey, in 412 or 404 BC and died at Corinth in 323 BC. He begged for a living and often slept in a large ceramic jar, or pithos, in the marketplace.ĭiogenes, also known as Diogenes the Cynic, was a Greek philosopher and one of the founders of Cynic philosophy. Diogenes (1882), by John William Waterhouse / Art Gallery of New South Wales, Wikimedia Commons
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