10 Absolutely Bizarre Facts About Diogenes the Cynic

Diogenes of Sinope was an ancient Greek philosopher among the others heavyweights, who held his own not only in thought and wit, but in action and style. This classic philosopher was as bizarre as one could get for the ancient Greek world, and while it’s uncertain when exactly Diogenes was born, we know that he died around 320 BCE, in the classical period of ancient Greece. The so-called Classical Period of Athens actually came to a close in approximately 323 BCE, around the presumed death of Diogenes by many sources, making him one of the last members of the Classic Period of Ancient Greece.

Though originally from Sinope, a city in what is now modern-day Turkey (then ancient Greece), most of the story of Diogenes takes place in Athens, where he contended with the biggest names in western philosophical tradition and forged an entire school of thought that would still be known today. Hands down, Diogenes is undeniably one of the most interesting human beings to ever live. Here are ten facts about Diogenes in an attempt to shed light on both the madman and the philosophy he invented.

Socrates Gone Mad

First and foremost, it must be said that, without a shadow of a doubt, Diogenes of Sinope was absolutely a raving lunatic in every sense of the term. Brash, course, crass, unruly, and obscene, Diogenes took great pride in his disregard of the thoughts and esteems of others. While this was true, what was equally true was his undeniable brilliance as a thinker, so much so that one of the most famous philosophers in all of world history, Plato, once referred to him as “The Socrates Gone Mad!” And he most certainly lived up to this reputation with outlandish behavior in the streets of Athens that startled even the most hardened of stoic individuals.

Cynicism

Diogenes founded the philosophical school of cynicism which is a branch that started the off-shoot of stoicism, and the two share a lot of similar traits, such as living with reason in accordance to nature, or as nature intended. Today, the word cynic has been distorted to mean dark, nasty, or rather nihilistic, when in ancient times, the philosophical dogma was very much one of living, and without any real pessimistic connotations that the word’s associated with today. Diogenes spelled out a philosophy, with cynicism, that was very much anti-traditionalist and against the typical accepted code of behavior of Athenian society, especially polite society.

Cynicism sought strongly to challenge pretty much all of the prevailing ideas in ancient Athens — literally everything; Diogenes was very much a rebel philosophy who took to heart the old adage of, “Question everything!” He truly lived this philosophy. Why is money valuable? Why is tradition important? Why is something valuable just because others say it is valuable? Should I care if other people love, like, or even respect me? If so, why? These are questions many of us still grapple with on a deep level today, and Diogenes not only sought the answers to them, he sought through his living to demonstrate concretely, that his philosophy was more than just mere words — it was to be a philosophy of life.

The Dog

The term cynic, for his philosophy of Cynicism, wasn’t actually even invented by Diogenes himself, like other terms were, such as Philosophy, “philo” (love of) and “phia” (knowledge). The ancient Greek word for cynic simply meant “dog,” or “dog-like,” in English. Cynicism was the philosophy of dogs, and its practitioners were sometimes thought of as being on the same levels of dogs. Some have theorized other translations, such as “dog-meat,” though it’s definitely certain that cynic means “doggish.” And many ancient Athenians would say that Diogenes lived much more like a beast than a civilized man.

Asceticism

Asceticism is a practice whereby the practitioners seek to live with a minimal amount of worldly material goods, or sometimes even pleasures. Diogenes was definitely an ascetic, and by the time he had moved from Sinope to Athens, he was already practicing asceticism, rejecting almost everything that wasn’t the very most basic fundamentals to sustain his life. He rejected flash, flair, and even money, seeking to show money for what it was, absolutely valueless coins — many still hold this belief to this day, and there seems to be a current resurgence in such beliefs in the 21st century with the questioning of our western banking systems. This actually became one of his missions to wholly denounce money. Having already rid himself of all of his possessions that weren’t of the utmost necessity, it is said that Diogenes still possessed a bowl which he used also as a cup for feeding and drinking water. When Diogenes witnessed a boy drinking water by cupping his hands and drawing the water up to his mouth with his clasped hands, Diogenes immediately threw out the bowl to adhere to his quite strict version of asceticism.

Homelessness

Diogenes took his asceticism so far to the extreme, that he even rendered himself homeless, refusing housing, and basically living in the streets of Athens. This brought the ancient philosopher into frequent contact with the members of the polity, more often than not to their dismay, considering that he lived in the marketplace. It was because of this that Diogenes would often have conflict with his fellow Athenians, which is often quite humorous. His witty remarks amuse us years later, as it’s said that Diogenes was once asked which kind of wine was his favorite, to which he replied, “That for which other people pay.”

He Lived in a Bathtub

Yes…you read that right. He lived in a bath tub. Some sources say it was a re-purposed wine barrel, but other sources say that Diogenes didn’t just live in the streets of Athens at the market, he lived in a discarded bathtub. Whether it was a discarded bathtub or a re-purposed wine barrel is less relevant, what was more relevant and infinitely more respectable, was that he practiced what he preached when it came to his philosophy of life. Plenty today preach a life of simplicity and modesty, while living a life of excess and luxury, while Diogenes really put his money where his mouth was and lived in a tub or barrel that wasn’t even brand new when he got it. This was Diogenes’ way of shunning all of those things that aren’t necessary in love to get to the bottom of those questions of what’s really important to us as humans. Through his bizarre behavior he wanted to live his philosophy, rather than just talk about it, something academics today could possibly take their cue from.

Street Art

Of course, part of living in the streets is doing all of your daily deeds in the street, and part of that, of course, was the need to defecate. When it came to defecation, Diogenes hid nothing, just like everything else in his life, as a cornerstone of his philosophy was to live in-line with nature. Diogenes would just plop down right in front of a crowd and relieve himself as he saw fit with zero hint of shame or remorse, thousands of years before GG Allin was even thought of. He also reportedly would defecate in the theater during the world-famous Greek tragic plays and epics. But there was more to it than that — Diogenes would also do every other bodily function, including public masturbation, as living in public buildings put his life entirely on display. And this wasn’t for just bold, plain shock value, he sought to demonstrate some pretty important points with this.

Independence

Living in a public building, basically squatting in a bathtub, with zero privacy, was a massive demonstration that the social norms and societal status quo which people perceptively believe to hold everything together, are in-fact, a big lie, and wholly unnecessary.

Diogenes would shamelessly beg for his food for sustenance. He survived for a very long period off of the goodness of others around him, without having to sacrifice himself to the grind of a day job or submit to anyone else’s authority. While defecating or masturbating in public, Diogenes was cutting to the core lesson of life, that what other people think of you doesn’t really matter in the long run, and shame before yourself is is one of the worst vices one can engage in.

For Diogenes, independence meant taking disregard of the thoughts of others and having thick skin to the fullest extent, in all situations of truth, one should be shameless in front of themselves.

Disdain for Authority

A lot of what Diogenes did with his bizarre antics and “street performances,” was raise the question of authority, namely why should other people have authority over me, or you, or he? What is it about people, certain persons, or certain groups of people that automatically bestows them with authority over us, at least in our minds? Is that right? Similarly, today many of us wonder questions like why we have to submit to laws which we didn’t write, and that we weren’t alive when they were agreed upon. Is there any legitimate reason other than tradition for why we do this? The goal of the Cynic School wasn’t just downright degenerate rudeness, but it was to tear apart the fabric of these fundamental assumptions and analyze them with intense scrutiny, to try to build a foundation from what remained and what held true as reasonable. Back in ancient Greece, giving someone the middle finger was just as provocative as it is in modern western society, so Diogenes would actually do it, then raise the question, why is it offensive if it’s the middle finger and not, say, the thumb? After all, you’re just raising a finger either way, right?

Stand Out of My Sun

In one of the most famous exchanges that has ever taken place between two people, be it philosopher or emperor, Alexander the Great, the father of the Ancient Greek Empire, encountered Diogenes in a verbal exchange that would go down in history. At the time, Diogenes was actually living in Corinth, and Alexander the Great had come there and was actually very interested in meeting the famed philosopher (who’d obviously made a name for himself).

In the ancient world, when emperors spoke, you listened; people bowed to them as they passed, or trembled in fear- imagine how you would act if you met the prime minister or president of your country — most people are pretty timid…but not Diogenes in the slightest…when Alexander met the man, he asked Diogenes if there was anything that the emperor could do for him, to which Diogenes replied wittily, “Yes, stand a little out of my sunshine.” In other words, he was telling the emperor to go screw himself, because his supposed authority was meaningless, and not without good cause; had Diogenes not built himself a life without luxury and excessive pleasures? What could Alexander take from him? Nothing. Had Diogenes not shown himself, as he sought to teach his students, to be capable of obtaining happiness (which he did) without relying on material goods or outward symbols of success? Absolutely. See, Diogenes, being the head of the Cynic school of philosophy didn’t actually require that his students live like he did, but he did it to show them (and you, even today) that they COULD — we all possess that power within us, of happiness independent of external praise or objects, prestige or cash, we can be happy just being humans, as long as we live in line with our nature.

As it turns out, Alexander the Great actually admired the great philosopher’s courage when Diogenes told him to get the hell out of his sunshine, and he replied to the philosopher saying that if he would be any man other than Alexander the Great, he would like to be Diogenes. To this, Diogenes replied, “If I would be any other man but Diogenes, I would still like to be Diogenes.”

While I’d never recommend trying to recreate the life of Diogenes in any way (though it’s your choice if you decide to do so), there are some nuggets of gold in the way he lived, bits and pieces we may be able to augment into our modern lives to perhaps find…uhh…happiness?

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