Diogenes of Sinope (404-323 BC)
One of my more interesting objects inherited from a late relative is a small, yellowing statue of a bent, barefoot man clutching a lamp. At his side is a canine creature that curiously looks away in a different direction. Probably purchased in Turkey, the figurine is that of Diogenes. (A Greek Cynic philosopher who, maybe, studied under the reluctant tutelage of Antisthenes, a former student of Socrates.)
Diogenes was most famous for his searching for an honest man. By holding up a literal light to people’s faces in broad daylight, he forced them to recognise their participation in practices that prevented them from living truthfully. It was his way of exposing the sham and hypocrisy of polite, societal conventions.
Diogenes lived in the marketplace of Athens taking up residence in what some think was a large wine cask. True to his beliefs, he owned nothing, apart from a cup from which he also ate his food. The tale is that he even disposed of that after seeing a boy drinking water with his hands, thus realising that he didn’t even need a cup. Apparently, he lived off the charity of others.
Joshua J Mark https://www.worldhistory.org/Diogenes_of_Sinope/
I doubt I would have agreed with many of Diogenes' bizarre practices and beliefs. Nevertheless, honesty is to be encouraged and hypocrisy deplored.
This quaint little heirloom has often been a talking point with visitors.
‘ ... the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.’ James 3 v17 NKJ
‘Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.’ Ps. 119 v105 NKJ
- Log in to post comments