If this is true, the story stuck to Diogenes as a metaphor after the fact. It is also true that there were, understandably, warring factions of pro-Greek separatists and pro-Persian loyalists fighting over authority of the city, and the coins may not have involved Diogenes but rather political infighting. Diogenes believed that people were corrupted by society, and should return to a simple life. While some believe that Diogenes and his father were involved in counterfeiting, it is likely that this is a metaphor for Diogenes’ rejection of traditional life, the “way of his father”, the common currency used in the marketplace. Large numbers of coins have been found in the region that have been defaced, some with Diogenes’ father’s name on them as the minter. ![]() One source says that Diogenes went to the Oracle at Delphi, and the pythias told him to deface the currency. He tried to show that you should think for yourself and that you don’t need things to be happy.Legend has it that Diogenes’ father was a banker in charge of the mint, making coins for the government, but Diogenes “defaced the currency” and was banished. Diogenes ended up spending the rest of his life quite comfortably with his “master” and his family.ĭiogenes taught by example. So Diogenes pointed at a wealthy man and said, "Sell me to this man he needs a master." The man was so impressed by Diogenes, he bought him right away and had him teach his children as a free man. One day Diogenes was captured by Pirates. To this, Alexander then declared, “If I were not Alexander, then I should wish to be Diogenes.” To this, Diogenes said, “Move a little to the right. and he was so impressed with Diogenes that when he met him, he offered to give him anything in the world. Alexander had one of the greatest empires of all time (even to this day). The fame of Diogenes spread throughout the ancient world and one day, King Alexander the Great heard about this unconventional philosopher. and in front of all his friends said, “Behold! Plato’s Man!” The next day Diogenes found a chicken, plucked its feathers and went straight to Plato. One day, Diogenes heard the famous philosopher Plato try to define a man as, “a featherless biped” (this means something that walks on two legs. However, he didn’t always get along with other philosophers. One day he saw a child drinking water from his hands and so Diogenes threw away his cup, saying that the young boy was a better Cynic than he! He tossed his bowl as well, when he saw a kid eat from a hollowed piece of bread.ĭiogenes loved dogs and thought of himself as the guard dog of society. He only had his cloak to sleep in, his staff to help him stand, and a knapsack to hold his bowl and cup. mostly to prove a point.ĭiogenes lived in a huge ceramic jar in the middle of the city and wanted to live without any things. ![]() He took the ideas of Cynicism to their most extreme. but he was certainly the most famous Cynic! And that is probably because of all the bizarre things he did. They thought that we can be happy if we try to have a simple life, without a bunch of things.ĭiogenes the Dog was not the founder of Cynicism. They also believed we should live according to nature, in a way that is natural to us. ![]() Cynics believed that the purpose of life was to be virtuous, to be good. Today, the word ‘Cynic’ means someone who doesn’t believe something or someone is true, but in ancient times it meant something very different. others not so much.Īmong these different schools was one called Cynicism. ![]() Some of these schools were very similar to each other. Some followed Socrates or Plato or came up with completely new ideas. In Athens there were many different ‘schools’ of philosophy, different groups that answered these important questions in a variety of ways. They asked questions like: What is True? What makes a Good Life? How should we spend our days? What makes us Happy? Men like Socrates and his student Plato were talking about very important topics every day. It was a time when philosophy, the study of wisdom itself, was flourishing. Diogenes lived in Ancient Athens, during a very exciting period of history.
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