DIOGENES – WHAT BEING NOONE CAN TEACH US

WHO WAS DIOGENES?

“Diogenes” by John Waterhouse (1882)

One of the greatest banners of Cynic Philosophy alongside one of his teachers, Anthistenes and a fellow thinker in Crates, Diogenes of Sinope (404-323 BCE) was a Greek wise man known for his unorthodox views on life and the affairs of society.

Being a Cynic, he most of all praised the challenging of estabilished beliefs in order to reach truth, and the discarting of social conventions when these stood in front of it.

He was known as “The Dog”, both from self-refferance and similarity of behaviour, since just like one he would “bark”, for understanding sake – contest by means of discourse – at whomever was not being true to himself. The term ‘Cynic’ and its derivative, Cynical, both originate from the Greek word kynikos, which means ‘dog-like’.

His abrasive stance on virtue and simplicity, as well as the inherent value of hard labour in mind and body being essential to achieve them, helped lay out the path for other important phylosophical movements like the Stoics and Epicureans.

HONESTY AND IDEALS

He was known for his straightforward nature and honesty, and believed ‘manners’ were just senseless rules used to shackle people’s nature’s.

He was often seen shamelessly urinating and even masturbating in public, and when confronted with such “fowl” actions, he pointed out that it was normal for humans to do so, and that he was the only one who was not a coward to admit it.

One of his most famous behaviours was wander the local Athens market, with a lighted lamp in broad daylight, which he held up at the faces of passers-by, while looking for an ‘honest human being’.

“Diogenes Searching for an Honest Man” by Johann Tischbein (1780)

Parrhesia, meaning full expression or frankness, was employed by this strange man in a borderline comedic manner. To someone completely deprived of context or blind to the art of satire, this would’ve just been a random ‘loon’ that acts senselessly and without purpose.

“Other dogs bite their enemies, whereas i also bite my friends in order to save them.”

He was however, a fierce believer in acting over discussing and losing oneself in theoretical argument. Hence, it was only logical for him to call out its often fruitless nature and to expose its flaws, by mocking those he deemed foolish and making masterful use of hyperbole and caustic humour.

JUDGEMENT AND BEING

He also had no respect for social hierarquies and often made a mockery of respected statesmen and thinkers alike.

When his contemporary, Plato, at one time compared the human being to a “featherless biped” in trying to explain human nature, Diogenes brought to him a plucked chicken, and loudly proclaimed:

“Behold! Plato’s human being.”

These episodes eventually earned him Plato’s label of “Socrates gone mad.”, a personal hero of the cynic, and one that he would never have the chance to meet.

It is said as well that in another apocryphal meeting, he was once visited by Alexander The Great himself, while the former was sunbathing. When asked if there was anything the conqueror could do for him, Diogenes simply stated:

“Yes, you can get out of my sunlight.”

“Alexandre et Diogène” by Nicolas Monsiau (1818)

Another version of this episode states that he was in fact seen observing a pile of refuse and human bones. When questioned about the action by the Prince of Macedon, he answered:

“I am searching for the bones of your father (Phillip II of Macedon), but I cannot distinguish them from those of his slave.”

Some time later when asked about the seemingly outrageous episode, Alexander said that if he could not be himself, we would’ve wanted to be Diogenes.

In the end, the “Dog” understood that when boiled down to their most basic state, humans are all the same, regardless of title or achievement.

It doesn’t matter how much apparent power or influence you bare, the question is, are you true to your nature?

And if so, does your pursuing of “happiness” require such complex diatribes?

Are we infact just lying to ourselves about what it takes to reach the “ideal state”, whatever that may entail to each of us?

 SELF-SUFFICIENCY AND UNNATACHMENT

Diogenes was one of the best examples of “living by your word”, as he conveyed Cynic philosophy through personal example and not any polished modus operandi required in applying a system of thought.

He sought self-sufficiency through asceticism. And to him, adapting one’s unique nature to that of the rest constitutes cowardice of character.

In his and many other’s understanding’s, group-think equates to herd-think.

“Diogenes” by Jean-Léon Gérôme (1860)

He therefore gave up the luxuries of “normality” and started living inside a large ceramic barrel, with few possessions. One of his last objects, a bowl he used to feed himself and drink, was thrown away when he witnessed a local boy drink water from his bare hands.

“A child has beaten me in plainness of living.”

May you understand him as a brave man that truly lived in complete honesty to his beliefs or the first ever stand-up comedian and an hilarious ‘troll’, to Diogenes the purpose of life was to be truly free, and live virtuously in complete awareness.

He was in a way a walking billboard that exposed society’s flaws before itself, and a sort of “cannary in a coal mine” for paths that he understood were of corruption and loss of self.

Outspokenness, shamelessness and asceticism were the unassailable tools that assisted him in keeping himself in check from vice and conceit, and that helped him show everyone else the dangers of straying too far away from our basic animal nature.

For Diogenes, a good life is one lived in accordance with one’s natural inclinations. To be true to oneself, then, no matter how `mad’ one may appear, is to pursue a life worth living, by one’s own standards.

After all who better knows you then yourself? Only you are in reach of your own self-fulfilment.

SOURCES

Images:

Bastien-Lepage, Jules. “Diogène”. 1873. Oil on Canvas. Musée Marmottan Monet. Paris (Île-de-France), France.

Gérôme, Jean-Léon. “Diogenes”. 1860. Oil on Canvas. Walters Art Museum. Baltimore (MA), United States.

Monsiau, Nicolas. “Alexandre et Diogène”. 1818. Oil on Canvas. Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen. Rouen (Normandy), France.

Tischbein, Johann. “Diogenes Searching for an Honest Man”. 1780. Oil on Panel. Nagel Auktionen. Stuttgart (BW), Germany.

Waterhouse, John William. “Diogenes”. 1882. Oil on Canvas. Art Gallery of New South Wales. Sydney (New South Wales), Australia

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