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OXFORD WORLD’S CLASSICS
DIOGENES THE CYNIC
Sayings and Anecdotes
with Other Popular Moralists
Translated with an Introduction and Notes by
ROBIN HARD
OXFORD WORLD’S CLASSICS
SAYINGS AND ANECDOTES
DIOGENES (c.404–c.323 BC) was born at Sinope on the Black Sea coast as the son
of a banker, but later settled in Athens, where he became acquainted with
Socratic moral thought, supposedly from Antisthenes, a disciple of Socrates who
advocated an ascetic way of life. Taking such ideas to an extreme, Diogenes cast
aside whatever he may have owned to live as a beggar in the streets. He thought
that we should anticipate the worst that fate can bring by living a life of
hardship, and be contented to satisfy our basic needs in the simplest way
possible. Casting scorn not only on luxury but on civilized life and culture in
general, he tried to shock others into changing their lives by behaving in a
provocative and shameless manner, and by subjecting people to his acerbic wit.
He thus came to be known as the Dog, and his philosophy and way of life as
Cynic, meaning dog-like.
Our knowledge of him is derived almost entirely from anecdotes and from
sayings ascribed to him. His most notable follower was Crates of Thebes, a man
of more conciliatory character who had Zeno, the founder of Stoicism, as one of
his pupils. Although Cynicism left its mark on the Stoic movement, it was not
widely adopted in its own right until the Roman period, when the Cynic street-
preacher would become a familiar figure.
Aristippos of Cyrene (c.435–c.360 BC), the disciple of Socrates who became
the founder of the Cyrenaic school of philosophy, is known to us mainly through
anecdotes as in the case of Diogenes; but his view of life could hardly have been
more different, since he thought that happiness is to be sought in the pleasure of
the moment, and so introduced a hedonistic strain into the Socratic succession.
ROBIN HARD has translated Apollodorus’ Library of Greek Mythology and
Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations for Oxford World’s Classics. He is the author of
the Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology.
CONTENTS
Introduction
The Cynic Succession
The Cyrenaic Succession
Note on the Texts
Note on the Ancient Sources
Select Bibliography
SAYINGS AND ANECDOTES
PART 1 · DIOGENES AND THE EARLY CYNICS
I A Humorous Portrait of Diogenes and Aristippos
II Diogenes’ Conversion to the Ascetic Life
III The Sage as Beggar
IV Self-characterization
V A Short Cut to Philosophy and Virtue
VI The World of Illusion
VII Religion and Superstition
VIII Politicians and Rulers
IX The Enslavement of Diogenes
X Moralistic and Traditional
XI Diogenes as Wit
XII Old Age and Death
XIII Immediate Followers of Diogenes
XIV Sayings, Anecdotes, and Verses of Crates
XV The Followers of Crates and Later Cynics
XVI Postscript: Bion of Borysthenes
XVII Antisthenes as Forerunner of Cynicism
PART 2 · ARISTIPPOS AND THE CYRENAICS
XVIII Aristippos of Cyrene
XIX The Cyrenaic School under the Younger Aristippos
XX The Other Cyrenaics
PART 3 · APOCRYPHAL LETTERS
XXI Selections from the Cynic Letters
XXII Correspondence of Aristippos
Explanatory Notes
Index of Names
Index of Themes
INTRODUCTION
DIOGENES the Cynic remains a widely familiar figure, even if very little is
remembered about him among people who have no special interest in the ancient
world. He is popularly known for having lived in a barrel or tub and for his
barbed utterances. But Diogenes was more than a picturesque eccentric, and it is
only when such stories are considered in their wider context, as part of the very
full surviving record of what Diogenes was supposed to have said and done, that
it becomes apparent that he was trying to convey a serious message through his
disconcerting behaviour and caustic wit.
Diogenes’ makeshift home was more accurately a very large ceramic jar, of a
kind that was used for storing grain or water. Since he had deliberately chosen to
live as a beggar in the streets of Athens, he had no house to return to, and would
have taken shelter at night wherever he could, in doorways, temples, or public
arcades. It need not be thought that he used a particular jar as his regular home,
this is merely one form of shelter that was mentioned among others, even if it
became especially memorable for its emblematic value. It is not in fact as highly
stressed in ancient sources
as one might suppose—more emphasis was placed on Diogenes’ Cynic uniform
and accoutrements.
To be prepared for any kind of weather, he would wear a rough cloak folded
double, which would enable him to keep warm in winter and cool in summer;
and since he owned no more than what he could lug around with him, he would
carry a knapsack (pera) for his provisions and scanty possessions. Perhaps there
was even room in it for a few books and for writing materials.
It was a commonplace of Socratic thought that one can be rich by being
satisfied with little, and so achieve a measure of invulnerability to fortune.
Diogenes radicalized this idea, taking it to the utmost extreme. If one takes into
account only one’s most basic needs and desires, putting everything else aside as
mere fancy and illusion, and is content to satisfy those needs in the simplest and
most direct way possible, one needs hardly anything at all; and if one divests
