It seems likely that Diogenes was also enrolled into the banking business aiding his father. Nothing is known about Diogenes' early life except that his father, Hicesias, was a banker. 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. Diogenes was also noted for having mocked Alexander the Great, both in public and to his face when he visited Corinth in 336 BC.ĭiogenes was captured by pirates and sold into slavery, eventually settling in Corinth. 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 an honest man. He begged for a living and often slept in a large ceramic jar, or pithos, in the marketplace. There are many tales about his dogging Antisthenes' footsteps and becoming his 'faithful hound'.ĭiogenes made a virtue of poverty. 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 behaviour 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.ĭiogenes was a controversial figure. I know nothing, except the fact of my ignorance.ĭiogenes was a Greek philosopher and one of the founders of Cynic philosophy.

Diogenes of sinope life and legend