Diogenes was born in 412 BC. in the Greek colony of Sinop on the southern coast of the Black Sea. Information about his early years has not come down to us. It is only known for certain that his father, Gicesius, was a repast. Apparently, Diogenes helped his father in banking. The story describes a case when a father and son bring trouble upon themselves, being convicted of falsification, or forgery of coins. As a result, Diogenes is expelled from the city. This story is confirmed by archaeological evidence in the form of several counterfeit coins with a stamped stamp found in Sinop and dated to the 4th century BC. BC. There are also other coins of the same period engraved with the name of Hytsesius as the person who put them into circulation. The reasons for this incident remain unclear to this day, however, given that in the 4th century clashes between pro-Persian and pro-Greek groups took place in Sinop, this act could have political motives. There is another version of this event, according to which Diogenes goes for advice to the oracle from Delphi, receiving in response a prophecy about a "turn in the course", and Diogenes understands that this is not about the course of coins, but about a change in political direction. And then he goes to Athens, ready to challenge the existing values and way of life.
In Athens
Upon arrival in Athens, Diogenes aims at the metaphorical destruction of the "chased" foundations. The destruction of generally accepted values and traditions becomes the main goal of his life. The people of antiquity, without thinking about the true nature of evil, limply rely on the established ideas about it. This distinction between essence and habitual images is one of the favorite themes of Greek philosophy. ancient world. There is evidence that Diogenes arrived in Athens accompanied by a slave named Manes, who, however, soon escapes from him. With a natural sense of humor, Diogenes brushes off his failure with the words: "If Manes can live without Diogenes, why shouldn't Diogenes live without Manes?" About these relations, in which one is completely dependent on the other, the philosopher will joke more than once. Diogenes is literally fascinated by the ascetic teaching of Antisthenes, a student of Socrates. And therefore, despite all the difficulties that he has to face at the beginning, Diogenes becomes a faithful follower of Antisthenes. Whether these two philosophers actually met or not remains unclear, but Diogenes soon surpasses Antisthenes in both the reputation he won and the severity of his lifestyle. Diogenes puts his voluntary renunciation of earthly goods in opposition to the mores of the Athenians that existed at that time. And these views lead him to a deep rejection of all stupidity, pretense, vanity, self-deception and falsity of human behavior.
According to the rumors surrounding his life, this is the enviable constancy of his character. Diogenes successfully adapts to any changes in the weather, living in a tub near the temple of Cybele. Seeing once a peasant boy drinking from folded palms, the philosopher breaks his only wooden bowl. In Athens at that time it was not customary to eat in the marketplaces, but Diogenes ate stubbornly, proving that every time he was in the market he wanted to eat. Another oddity of his behavior was that, in broad daylight, he always walked with a lit lamp. When asked why he needed a lamp, he replied: "I'm looking for an honest man." He was constantly looking for humanity in people, but more often he came across only swindlers and rogues. When Plato, echoing Socrates, called a man “a featherless two-legged animal”, for which everyone around lavished praise on him, Diogenes brought him a chicken and said: “Look! I brought you a man." After this incident, Plato revised the definition and added the characteristic “with wide flat nails” to it.
In Corinth
According to the testimony of Menippus of Gadara, Diogenes once sailed to the shores of Aegina, during which he was captured by pirates who sold the philosopher into slavery to a Corinthian from Crete named Xeniades. When Diogenes was asked about his craft, he replied that he knew no other craft than to guide people on the true path, and that he wanted to be sold to someone who himself needed a master. The philosopher will spend his entire subsequent life in Corinth, becoming the mentor of the two sons of Xeniad. He devotes his entire life to preaching the doctrines of chaste self-control. There is a version according to which he conveyed his views to a wide audience, speaking to the public at the Isthmian Games.
Relationship with Alexander
Already in Corinth, Diogenes meets with Alexander the Great. According to Plutarch and Diogenes Laertes, the two exchanged only a few words. One morning, while Diogenes was resting in the sun, he was disturbed to present famous philosopher, Alexandru. When asked if he was pleased with such an honor, Diogenes replied: “Yes, only you block the sun for me,” to which Alexander said: “If I were not Alexander, I would wish to be Diogenes.” There is another story, according to which Alexander found Diogenes contemplating a pile of human bones. Diogenes explained his occupation as follows: “I am looking for the bones of your father, but I just can’t distinguish them from slave ones.”
Death
Diogenes died in 323 BC. There have been many versions of his death. Someone believes that he died while practicing holding his breath, someone believes that he was poisoned by a raw octopus, and some are of the opinion that he died from the bite of a sick dog. When the philosopher was asked how he wanted to be buried, he always replied that he would like to be thrown outside the city wall so that wild animals feast over his body. In response to whether he himself would not be afraid of this, he answered: “Not at all, if you provide me with a stick.” To all the astonished remarks about how he could use a stick when he was unconscious, Diogenes said: “Why should I worry, then, when I still have no consciousness?” Already in the later period of his life, Diogenes will make fun of the excessive interest shown by people in the "proper" treatment of the dead. In memory of him, the Corinthians erected a column of Parian marble, on which, curled up, a dog sleeps.
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Many of our contemporaries remember Diogenes in the first place that he lived in a barrel. In fact, this is far from being a “city madman”: Diogenes of Sinop is a famous ancient Greek philosopher, a prominent representative of the Cynic school, a student of Antisthenes, who continued to develop his teachings. The main source of information about the biography of Diogenes is another Diogenes - Laertes, who wrote a treatise "On life, teachings and sayings famous philosophers". Now it is difficult to assess the reliability of the data contained in it - as well as other information about this philosopher.
Diogenes of Sinop was born around 412 BC. e. (dates differ in different sources) in Sinop, in the family of a noble and wealthy banker Gikesias. In his youth, he became an exile: the townspeople expelled him because he helped his father make counterfeit money in his chased workshop. According to one legend, Diogenes, who was in doubt, sought the advice of the oracle of Apollo, going to Delphi. Diogenes took the advice to “do a reassessment of values” as an indication of the admissibility of what the father suggested. According to another version, Diogenes ended up in Delphi after his exposure and flight with his father and did not try to resolve doubts, but asked about the paths to fame. Having received the above advice, the future philosopher turned into a wanderer and traveled a lot in his country. Around 355-350 BC. e. he ended up in the capital, where he joined the students of the philosopher Antisthenes, who founded the school of cynics. In Diogenes Laertes one can find information about 14 philosophical and ethical works of Diogenes of Sinop, which gave an idea of the system of views of their writer. In addition, he is considered the author of seven tragedies.
The views of this ancient Greek philosopher, his way of life, demeanor in the eyes of other people were very original and even shocking. The only thing that Diogenes recognized was ascetic virtue, which is based on the imitation of nature. It is in it, its achievement, that the only goal of man lies, and the path to it lies through work, exercises and reason. Diogenes called himself a citizen of the world, advocated that children and wives be common, spoke of the relativity of authorities, including in the field of philosophy. For example, in the famous Plato, he saw a talker. He also considered the state, social laws, and religious institutions to be the brainchild of demagogues. The primitive society seemed ideal to him with its simple, natural mores, not disfigured by civilization and culture. At the same time, he believed that people needed philosophy - as a doctor or a helmsman. Diogenes showed complete indifference to public life, to everything that ordinary people considered to be goods and moral norms. As a dwelling, he chose a voluminous vessel for storing wine, wore rags, publicly attended to the most intimate needs, communicated with people rudely and straightforwardly, regardless of faces, for which he received the nickname “Dog” from the townspeople.
Habits, ways of expressing a negative attitude towards society and morality, the statements of Diogenes, most likely, were subsequently exaggerated, and today no one can say what is true in numerous anecdotes and stories about Diogenes, and what is myth, fiction. Be that as it may, Diogenes of Sinop is one of the brightest representatives of the ancient era, and his views had a noticeable influence on later philosophical concepts.
Legend has it that Diogenes lost his life voluntarily by holding his breath. It happened in Corinth on June 10, 323 BC. e. A marble monument depicting a dog was erected on the grave of the original philosopher.
And his student Diogenes of Sinop gave his life a model of a cynic sage, which served as a source for many anecdotes associated with Diogenes, which abound in the corresponding chapter in the famous book of Diogenes Laertes. It was Diogenes who brought his needs to the extreme, tempered himself by putting his body to the test. For example, in summer he lay down on hot sand, in winter he hugged statues covered with snow. He lived in a large clay round barrel (pithos). Seeing one boy drinking water from a handful, and another eating lentil stew from a piece of eaten bread, Diogenes threw away both the cup and the bowl. He accustomed himself not only to physical deprivation, but also to moral humiliation. He begged from the statues in order to accustom himself to refusals, because people give to the lame and the poor and do not give to philosophers, because they know that they can still become lame and beggars, but never wise men. Diogenes brought his teacher Antisthenes' contempt for pleasure to its apogee. He said that he "would prefer madness to pleasure." Diogenes found pleasure in the very contempt for pleasure. He taught the poor and downtrodden to contrast the contempt of the rich and noble with contempt for what they valued, and yet he did not urge them to follow his way of life with its extremes and extravagances. But only an excessive example can teach people to observe the measure. He said that he takes an example from singing teachers who deliberately sing in a higher tone so that the students understand what tone they themselves should sing in.
Diogenes in his barrel. Painting by J. L. Gerome, 1860
Diogenes himself, in his simplification, reached complete shamelessness, he challenged society, refusing to observe all the rules of decency, thereby incurring a hail of ridicule and provocative antics, to which he always answered with extraordinary resourcefulness and accuracy, embarrassing those who wanted to embarrass him . When bones were thrown at him, who called himself a dog, at one dinner, he went up to them and urinated on them. To the question: if he is a dog, what breed? - Diogenes calmly replied that when he was hungry, he was of the Maltese breed (i.e., affectionate), and when full, then Milo (i.e., fierce).
With his outrageous behavior, Diogenes emphasized the superiority of the sage over ordinary people, who deserve only contempt. Once he began to call people, and when they ran away, he attacked them with a stick, saying that he called people, not scoundrels. On another occasion, in daylight, he searched for a man with a lit lantern. In fact, the so-called people compete to see who will push whom into the ditch (a type of competition), but no one competes in the art of being beautiful and kind. In his contempt for people, Diogenes made no exception for priests or kings. When Alexander the Great once approached him and said: “I am the great Tsar Alexander,” Diogenes, not in the least embarrassed, replied: “And I am the dog Diogenes.” When another time Alexander the Great, approaching Diogenes, who was basking in the sun, suggested that he ask him what he wants, Diogenes answered: “Do not block the sun for me.” All this allegedly made such a great impression on the Macedonian king that he said that if he were not Alexander the king, he would like to be Diogenes.
Alexander the Great pays homage to Diogenes. Painting by J. Regnault
Having become a slave of a certain Xeniades (Diogenes was captured by pirates and sold into slavery), the philosopher applied an excellent system of education to the children of his master, accustoming them to modest food and water, to simplicity in clothes, doing physical exercises with them, but only so much how much it is necessary for health; he taught them knowledge, giving them the basic information in short form for the convenience of memorization and teaching them to memorize pieces from the works of poets, mentors and Diogenes himself. Slavery did not humiliate Diogenes. Refusing to be redeemed from slavery by his students, he wanted to show that the cynic philosopher, even being a slave, can become the master of his master - the slave of his passions and public opinion. When he was being sold in Crete, he asked the herald to announce if anyone wanted to buy a master for themselves.
Diogenes placed philosophy above all forms of culture. He himself possessed an amazing power of persuasion, no one could resist his arguments. However, in philosophy, Diogenes recognized only its moral and practical side. He philosophized with his way of life, which he considered the best, freeing a person from all conventions, attachments, and even from almost all needs. To a man who said that he did not care about philosophy, Diogenes objected: “Why do you live if you do not care to live well?” In turning philosophy into a practical science, Diogenes surpassed Antisthenes. If philosophy gave Antisthenes, in his words, "the ability to talk with oneself", then philosophy gave Diogenes "at least readiness for any turn of fate."
However, Diogenes was interested theoretical philosophy and expressed his negative attitude both to the idealism of Plato, and to the metaphysics (as anti-dialectics) of Zeno, both in words and actions. When someone argued that movement does not exist, Diogenes got up and began to walk. When Plato was talking about ideas, coming up with names for “stolnost” and “chalice”, Diogenes said that he sees the table and the bowl, but he does not see the stolnost and the cup. Diogenes systematically mocked Plato, calling his eloquence empty talk, reproaching him for vanity and for groveling before the powerful of this world. For his part, Plato, who did not love Diogenes, called him a dog, accused him of vanity and lack of reason. When Diogenes stood naked in the rain, Plato said to those who wanted to take the cynic away: “If you want to have pity on him, step aside,” meaning his vanity. (In the same way, Socrates once said to Antisthenes, who was showing off a hole in his cloak: “Your vanity peeps through this cloak!”) and a cup, you have eyes, but to see the stature and the cup, you have no mind. Plato called Diogenes "the mad Socrates".
Rejecting all kinds social inequality between people, without denying, however, slavery, ridiculing noble origin, fame, wealth, Diogenes denied both the family and the state. He considered the whole world to be the only true state and called himself a "citizen of the world." He said that wives should be common. When a certain tyrant asked him what kind of copper is best suited for statues, Diogenes replied: “The one from which Harmodius and Aristogeiton are cast” (the famous Athenian tyrannicides). Diogenes died at ninety, holding his breath. A dog was depicted on his grave monument. His writings have not come down to us.
As a collective image of the Cynic Diogenes is derived from Lucian. There, Diogenes says to his interlocutor: “You see before you a cosmopolitan, a citizen of the world... I am at war... against pleasures... I am the liberator of mankind and the enemy of passions... I want to be a prophet of truth and freedom of speech.” Further, it is said what will happen to his interlocutor, as soon as he wants to be a cynic: “First of all, I will take off your effeminacy ... I make you work, sleep on bare ground, drink water and eat anything. You will throw your riches into the sea. You will not care about marriage, or children, or the fatherland ... Let your knapsack be full of beans and bundles written on both sides. Leading such a way of life, you will call yourself happier than a great king ... wipe the ability to blush forever from your face ... In front of everyone, boldly do what another would not do on the sidelines.
"MY HOUSE - MY BARREL" (DIOGENES OF SINOPSKY)
Diogenes of Sinop is an ancient Greek cynic philosopher, a student of Antisthenes. He lived and worked around 400-325 BC. e. He was a very outstanding personality, during his lifetime he became the hero of numerous tales and anecdotes. His father was a government money changer, and Diogenes sometimes worked with his father. But soon they were expelled because they deceived and robbed the people.
Having settled in Athens, he became a student of Antisthenes, who, according to legend, first drove Diogenes away with a stick, but then nevertheless accepted him, seeing in the young man a deep desire to know life as it really is. Since then, he began to lead a very peculiar way of life.
Diogenes lived an interesting and unusual life, dying at a ripe old age. Not only about his life, but also about his death, there are many legends. Some say that he ate a raw octopus and fell ill with cholera, others that he died of old age, deliberately holding his breath. Still others say that Diogenes wanted to share the octopus among stray dogs, but they were so hungry that they bit him himself, and from this he died.
Dying, Diogenes gave the order not to bury his body, but to throw it into the prey of animals, or throw it into a ditch. But, of course, the grateful disciples did not dare to leave the mortal remains without burial - and buried Diogenes near the gate leading to Isthma. A pillar was placed on his grave, and on the pillar there was an image of a dog and a huge number of copper tablets on which words of gratitude and regret for his death were carved. It may seem strange that a stone dog was placed on the grave. The fact is that during his lifetime, Diogenes called himself a dog (the philosopher considered himself a cynic, and “kinos” is translated from ancient Greek as “dog”), arguing that he would lick the feet of kind people who gave him a piece of bread, and evil - mercilessly bite.
Diogenes composed many works, including "The Athenian People", "The State", "The Science of Morality", "On Wealth", "On Love", "Aristarchus", "On Death" and others. In addition, he wrote such tragedies as "Helen", "Fiestes", "Hercules", "Achilles", "Oedipus", "Medea" and others.
As mentioned earlier, Diogenes of Sinop had an extraordinary mind and practiced extreme asceticism, sometimes bordering on eccentric foolishness. He preached a healthy lifestyle. The simpler and poorer a person lived, refusing many of the benefits of civilization, the higher and more spiritual he looked in the eyes of Diogenes. He called himself a citizen of the world and, according to ancient legend, he lived in an ordinary clay barrel at the temple of the Mother of the Gods, deliberately depriving himself of numerous benefits.
Diogenes realized how to live when he accidentally turned his gaze to a mouse running past. She was free, did not need bedding, was not afraid of the dark, was content with simple food, which she obtained through labor and care, and did not seek to receive any kind of pleasure, which Diogenes considered superficial and imaginary, only hiding the real essence.
In his so-called dwelling - in a barrel - Diogenes slept, putting a cloak folded in half under him, which he then put on and wore. He always had a scrip in which he kept simple food. If he sometimes did not have to spend the night in a barrel, then any other place, be it a square or bare damp land, was equally suitable for Diogenes for eating, sleeping, and for lengthy conversations with casual listeners.
Diogenes urged everyone to harden their body, but was not limited to just one call, but showed by his own example how to harden. In the summer he took off his clothes and lay on the hot sand for a long time, and in the winter he went jogging bare feet on the cold ground and embraced the snow-covered statues.
Diogenes treated all people without exception with contemptuous mockery - and said that sometimes it seems to him that a person is the most intelligent creature on earth. But when he met people on his way who boasted of wealth or fame, or deceived ordinary people for their own benefit, then people seemed to him much more stupid than the rest of God's creatures. He argued that in order to live properly, you must have at least a mind.
Diogenes, by nature, was a kind of cynic (it's easy to guess that the "cynic" is the "cynic" distorted by the Romans), sparing neither himself nor anyone else. He said that people are initially evil and insidious - and at any opportunity they strive to push someone who is walking into a ditch next to him, and the further, the better. But none of them even makes attempts to become kinder and better. He was surprised that people look into the distance, not noticing the simple and everyday things that happen very close. He was annoyed that they prayed to God for good health, while at the same time engaging in gluttony at numerous feasts.
The philosopher taught that people, if possible, take care of themselves, eat simple food and drink clean water, cut their hair short, did not wear jewelry and frilly clothes, walked barefoot as often as possible and were more silent, looking down. He considered people with eloquence to be idle talkers with a limited outlook.
Being a deep believer, Diogenes believed that everything that happens on earth is in the power of the gods. He considered the wise men to be chosen people close to the gods, their close friends, and since friends have everything in common, absolutely everything in the world belongs to the sages. He was sure that fate can be outwitted if courage and courage are shown in time. He opposed nature to law, and reason to human passions.
To those who were afraid of bad dreams, Diogenes said that it would be better if they were worried about what they do during the day, and not about stupid thoughts that come to mind at night. But no matter how cynically he treated people in general and himself in particular, the Athenians loved and revered Diogenes. And when one day a poor boy accidentally broke his house - a barrel, this boy was subjected to severe punishment, and Diogenes was given a new barrel.
Often he announced publicly that initially the gods granted people an easy and happy life, but they themselves spoiled and overshadowed it, gradually inventing various benefits for themselves. He considered greed to be the cause of all troubles - and he called old age, which catches a person in poverty, the saddest thing in life. Such a wonderful feeling as love, Diogenes called the work of idlers, and noble and good-natured people - likenesses of the gods. He considered human life to be evil, but not all life, but only bad.
He ridiculed fame, wealth and noble birth, calling it all the embellishments of vice. And the whole world considered the only true state. Diogenes said that wives should be common and, therefore, sons are also common. He denied legal marriage. He argued that everything exists in everything and through everything, that is, bread contains meat, vegetables contain bread; and in general, all bodies penetrate each other with the smallest particles through invisible pores.
Diogenes had many students and listeners, despite the fact that he was at least known as an unusual and extraordinary personality. They continued his work, thereby ensuring the development of the idea of asceticism in philosophy.
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Once the famous commander Alexander the Great passed through Athens and stopped to look at the local landmark - the philosopher Diogenes. Alexander approached the barrel in which the thinker lived and offered to do something for him. Diogenes replied, "Don't block the sun for me!"
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He was smart and sharp-tongued, subtly noticed all the shortcomings individual person and society. Diogenes of Sinop, whose works have come down to us only in the form of retellings of later authors, is considered a mystery. He is both a seeker of truth and a sage to whom it was revealed, a skeptic and a critic, a unifying link. In a word, a man with a capital letter, from whom you can learn a lot and modern people accustomed to the benefits of civilization and technology.
Diogenes of Sinop and his way of life
Many people remember from school that Diogenes was the name of a man who lived in a barrel in the middle of an Athenian square. A philosopher and an eccentric, he, nevertheless, glorified his name through the centuries thanks to his own teachings, later called cosmopolitan. He severely criticized Plato, pointing out to this ancient Greek scientist the shortcomings of his philosophy. He despised fame and luxury, laughed at those who sing of the mighty of the world in order to be held in high esteem. He preferred to lead the house as an earthen barrel, which could often be seen in the agora. Diogenes of Sinop traveled a lot in Greek policies, and considered himself a citizen of the whole world, that is, space.
path to truth
Diogenes, whose philosophy may seem contradictory and strange (and all because of the fact that his works did not reach us in their original form), was a student of Antisthenes. History says that the teacher at first strongly disliked the young man who was looking for the truth. All because he was the son of a money changer, who not only was in prison (for transactions with money), but also had a not the best reputation. The respectful Antisthenes tried to drive the new student away, and even beat him with a stick, but Diogenes did not budge. He craved knowledge, and Antisthenes had to reveal it to him. Diogenes of Sinop considered his credo that he should continue the work of his father, but on a different scale. If his dad spoiled the coin in the literal sense, then the philosopher decided to spoil all the established stamps, destroy traditions and prejudices. He wanted, as it were, to erase from those false values that were implanted by him. Honor, glory, wealth - he considered all this to be a false inscription on coins made of base metal.
Global Citizen and Friend of Dogs
The philosophy of Diogenes of Sinop is special and brilliant in its simplicity. despising everything wealth and values as such, he settled in a barrel. True, some researchers believe that it was not quite an ordinary barrel in which water or wine was stored. Most likely, it was a large jug, which had a ritual significance: they were used for burial. The philosopher ridiculed the established norms of clothing, rules of conduct, religion, and the way of life of the townspeople. He lived like a dog - on alms, and often called himself a four-legged animal. For this he was called a cynic (from the Greek word for dog). His life is entangled not only with many secrets, but also with comical situations, he is the hero of many jokes.
Common features with other teachings
The whole essence of the teachings of Diogenes can fit into one sentence: live contentedly with what you have, and be grateful for it. Diogenes of Sinop negatively treated art as a manifestation of unnecessary benefits. After all, a person should not study ghostly matters (music, painting, sculpture, poetry), but himself. Prometheus, who brought fire to people and taught how to create various necessary and unnecessary objects, was considered justly punished. After all, titanium helped man create complexity and artificiality in modern life, without which life would be much easier. In this, the philosophy of Diogenes is similar to Taoism, the teachings of Rousseau and Tolstoy, but is more stable in views.
Fearless to the point of recklessness, he calmly asked (who conquered his country and came to meet the famous eccentric) to move away and not block the sun for him. The teachings of Diogenes help to get rid of fear and all who study his works. After all, on the path of striving for virtue, he got rid of worthless earthly goods, acquired moral freedom. In particular, it was this thesis that was accepted by the Stoics, who developed it into a separate concept. But the Stoics themselves failed to give up all the advantages of a civilized society.
Like his contemporary Aristotle, Diogenes was cheerful. He did not preach a departure from life, but only called for detachment from external, fragile goods, thereby laying the foundations of optimism and a positive outlook on all occasions in life. Being a very energetic person, the philosopher from the barrel was the exact opposite of the boring and respectable sages with their teachings intended for weary people.
The Significance of the Philosophy of the Sage of Sinop
A lit lantern (or torch, according to other sources), with which he searched for a person during the day, back in ancient times became an example of contempt for the norms of society. This particular outlook on life and values attracted other people who became followers of the madman. And the teaching of the Cynics itself was recognized as the shortest road to virtue.
