DIOGENES - OVERVIEW

<BODY> <TABLE width=400 BORDER=0 CELLSPACING=2 CELLPADDING=1> <TR> <TD><IMG ALIGN=Left SRC="0801a.jpg" WIDTH="123" HEIGHT="150" ALT="DIOGENES"></TD> <TD><CENTER><FONT SIZE=5><B><FONT SIZE=6>DIOGENES</FONT><BR> THE CYNIC<P> (400-325 BC)</B></FONT><BR><BR> "No, not life itself, but living wrongly is evil" </CENTER></TD> </TR> </TABLE> <FONT SIZE=4><B>Overview</B></FONT><P> Diogenes, son of Hicesias, was exiled from his home town of Sinope, allegedly for defacing its debased currency. Thereafter, he lived in streets of Corinth and Athens where he is said to have lived in a barrel. He became the protype of <A HREF="../t03/g007.html" TARGET="_top">Cynicism</A>, the very term Cynic deriving from his nick-name, which in Greek meant Dog, a reference to his shameless behaviour and his living like an animal. He did everything from eating to masturbating in public.<P> He has been described as a <A HREF="../03/03f01.html" TARGET="_top">Socrates</A> gone mad. Like Socrates, he saw himself encouraging men to examine their own behaviour, and to live a virtuous life. By this, he meant a life of total self sufficiency free from social restraint, and distracting desires.<P> Like many extremist radicals, he was and is admired even by those who disapprove of his extremism. By the end of his long life, the "dog" would be celebrated in verse as "true born son of Zeus and hound of heaven." <BR clear=left><BR> <HR width=100%> <A HREF="http://www.creatorix.com.au"><IMG SRC="../creatorix.gif" WIDTH="85" HEIGHT="40" BORDER="0" ALT="Creatorix" align=right></A> </BODY>