S 36 D I O G 
ftoic. A flrong proof of the high eftimation in which 
his charafter and talents were held, was his appoint¬ 
ment, conjointly with Carneades, the head of the acade¬ 
mics, and Critolaus, the chief of the peripatetic fchool, 
to the embaffy to Rome, of which notice has been taken 
in the lives of thofe philofophers. He compofed feveral 
■works, among which were treatifes on divination, on no¬ 
bility, on the laws, and on Minerva, to which there are 
references in Cicero and Athenaeus. He lived to the age 
of eighty-eight years, and philofophifed to the la ft. 
DIO'GENES, a celebrated cynic philofopher, born at 
Sinope, a city of Pontus, in the third year of the ninety- 
firft olympiad, or 414 years before Chrift. His father, 
who was a banker, having been guilty of coining falfe 
money, was either exiled or obliged to fly from his na¬ 
tive place, and was accompanied by his fon, who was 
involved in his difgrace, if not in his criminality. Ar¬ 
riving at Athens, Diogenes determined to devote himfelf 
to the ftudy of philofophy, and wiflied to place himfelf 
under the tuition of Antifthenes, the founder of the cy¬ 
nic fe< 5 f. When he applied to that philofopher to'be re¬ 
ceived into the number of his difciples, his appearance 
was fo forbidding, that he was repulfed with harftinefs, 
and even threatened to be driven away from his fchool 
by blows. “ Beat me ((aid he) as you .pleafe, I will 
fubmit to the ftrokes of the hardeft cudgel, if I may be 
allowed to benefit by your inftrudtions.” Antifthenes 
was prevailed upon to admit him among his pupils, and 
afterwards entered into the ftricteft friendftiip with him. 
Diogenes entered thoroughly into the views, and imi¬ 
tated the manners, of his niafter, but with a ftill greater 
degree of rigour and aufterity. He pradtifed the moft 
hardy felf-controul, and moft rigid abftinence ; expofed 
himfelf to the utnioft extremes of heat and cold, and 
lived upon the ftmpleft diet; and exhibited a degree of 
contempt not only for the luxuries, but alfo for the con¬ 
veniences, of life, that fubjedted him to ridicule and in¬ 
dignity, and juftifies the remark of Bayle, that he “ was 
one of thofe extraordinary men who are upon the ex¬ 
tremes in every thing, not excepting redfon, and who 
verify this maxim, that there is no great wit without a 
mixture of folly.” He wore a coarfe cloak, carried a 
wallet and a ftafr, frequently made the porticoes, and 
other public places, his habitation, and often depended 
for fubliftence on charitable donations. It is reported 
by fome of his biographers, that having once defired a 
friend to prepare a fmall apartment for him, and not 
finding it ready as fpeedily as he wiftied, he took up his 
abode in a tub that was in the temple of the mother of the 
gods. And they add, that he afterwards affefted, in the 
different places wherein he relided, to attrafl public no¬ 
tice by confining himfelf to fuch a kind of dwelling. 
Several circumftances in his life, however, and the total 
omiflion of that anecdote by fome of the moft refpe&able 
ancient writers, leave us reafon to fufpedt that it de- 
ferves to be clalfed among the tales which have been in¬ 
vented to expofe the fett of the cynics to ridicule. To 
fuch an origin are we difpofed to afcribe fome other fto- 
ries preferved in Athenaeus and Diogenes Laertius, which 
accufe this philofopher of pradtifing, in an open and fcan- 
dalous manner, the moft filthy adfions, and fome of the 
grofleft indecencies. The truth of fuch flories is utterly 
irreconcileable with the high refpedl in which he was 
unqueftionably held by his contemporaries, and the ho¬ 
nours which, after his death, they vied with each other 
in conferring on his memory. The great objedt of his 
profellion was to expofe the prevalent vices and follies 
of the times, and to inculcate pure morals, and honour¬ 
able fentiments. In his difcourfes, for thefe purpofes, 
at the public aflemblies, or on particular occafions, and 
in bis addrefles to, or converfation with, individuals, 
Diogenes difcovcred a bold and independent fpirit 2 an 
intimate knowledge of mankind, an ardent zeal for the 
true interefts of virtue, and a degree of learning, inge¬ 
nuity, and wit, that commanded the admiration even of 
E N E S. 
thofe who were the fubjedts of his cenfiire. But he dif- 
tinguiftied himfelf by fuch a ruggednefs of manners, fuels 
an avowed contempt of other philofophers, and fuch a 
negledt of civility and decorum towards magiftrates and 
other public men, as lay him open to the charge of in¬ 
dulging an unworthy fpiritof philofophical pride. When 
Diogenes was far advanced in life, he had cccafion to vi- 
fit the ifland of ABgina. On Isis paftage thither he was 
captured by pirates, who carried him into Crete, and 
expofed him to fale in the public market. He was pur- 
chafed by a-wealthy Corinthian citizen, called Xeniades, 
who was ftruck with the Angularity of the reply which 
he made to the public crier when he afkcd him what he 
could do : “I can govern men, (faid he,) therefore fell 
me to one who wants a niafter.” By Xeniades he was 
taken to Corintli, where he foon acquired his efteent 
and confidence, and was entrufted with the education of 
his fons, and the management of his domeftic affairs. 
During this period of his life, Diogenes frequently at¬ 
tended at the Craneum, a place of exercife at Corinth, 
and at other affemblies of the people, where lie appeared 
in the charafterof a public cenfor, and ftill acquired ce¬ 
lebrity by his bold and fpiriled reproofs of vice and folly, 
and the leflons of moderation and virtue which he incul¬ 
cated. It was probably at the Craneum that the cele¬ 
brated interview' between him and Alexander the Great 
took place. Surrounded by attendants, the prince ap¬ 
proached him and faid, “ I am Alexander the king.” 
“ And I (replied the uncourteous philofopher).am Dio¬ 
genes the cynic.” Alexander, defirous to convince him 
.of the refpect which he entertained for his charadfer, 
afked him if there was any fervice which he could ren¬ 
der him. “ Yes, (laid Diogenes,) not to ftand between 
me and the fun.” While the attendants of the king 
-were ridiculing the cynic for the rudenefs of his anfwer, 
Alexander was pleafed with the independence of mind 
w hich it breathed, and remarked to them, “ If I were 
not Alexander, I would be Diogenes;” intimating, that 
next to the fpirit which prompted the foul to the acqtii- 
fition of wealth, power, and glory, he admired the phi¬ 
lofophical magnanimity which could defpife them. Of 
the time and manner of the death of Diogenes, the ac¬ 
counts tranfmitted to 11s are various and uncertain. Moft 
probably he died at Corinth, of a decay of nature, when 
advanced to at leaft the ninety-fecond year of his age. 
To his remains the honours of a public funeral were de¬ 
creed, at the expence of the people of Athens, by whom 
a column was raifed over his tomb, on which was placed 
a dog of marble. Several of his friends alfo, and the in¬ 
habitants of Sinope, erected brazen ftatues out of refpedt 
to his memory. Of the principal of his moral doffrines 
the following is a fummary : Virtue of mind, as well as 
ftrength of body, is chiefly to be acquired by exercife 
and habit. Nothing can be accompliflied without la¬ 
bour, and every thing may be accompliflied with it. 
Even the contempt of pleafure may, by the force of ha¬ 
bit, become pleafant. All things belong to wife men, 
to whom the gods are friends. The ranks of fociety 
originate in the vices and follies of mankind, and are 
therefore to be defpifed. Laws are neceffary in a civi¬ 
lized ftate ; but the happieft condition of human life is 
that which approaches the neareft to a ftate of nature,, 
in which all are equal, and virtu-e the only ground of 
diftinction. It is the height of folly to teach virtue and 
to commend it, and yet to negleft the praftice of it. The 
end of philofophy is to fubdiie the paffions, and prepare 
men for every condition of life, Rrom among the nume¬ 
rous anecdotes which are related concerning Diogenes, and 
the apophthegms which are attributed to him, vve (hall 
felect the following. Being deferted by a (lave whom he 
had brought from Sinope, and advifed by his friend to 
ipake enquiry after him, he faid, “ Would it not be truly 
ridiculous if Menades could live without Diogenes, and 
if Diogenes could not live without Menades ?” Perceiv¬ 
ing one day a boy drinking water out of the hollow of his 
hand. 
