Alexander and Diogenes

Thousands of years ago, a man was begging in the streets, and someone walked up and told him that he'd give money only if he could convince him to. The beggar looked at him and said, if I could have persuaded you of anything, I would have persuaded you to hang yourself. Surprisingly enough, these words came from the great ancient philosopher Diogenes, who, throughout history, has been represented many times. Though he wasn't as influential as Plato or Socrates, one could argue that he's much more interesting. His philosophy, cynicism, is really embodied by his actions, rather than his writings, which have all been lost. Briefly, what ancient cynicism is, is a philosophy which believes that happiness is achieved through a simple life, one in which pleasure comes from within. A life without the constant struggle for wealth and power, where individuals live according to their nature. Diogenes only had in his possession a wooden bowl from which he'd drink water, but when he saw a peasant boy drink from his hands, he realized he didn't need a bowl to be happy. He threw away the bowl, believing that poverty is a virtue, and being independent from material possessions is true freedom. Diogenes believed that norms and conventions corrupt humans, making them forget their true This, he believes, will only cause frustration in the individuals who follow these norms, as they do not live freely. Blindly following what has been imposed on them, without them thinking, makes them shallow and superficial. Diogenes would walk around the marketplace in broad daylight with a lantern saying that he's looking for an honest man. He couldn't find any. All around him were obedient men and women, living their lives comfortably and automatically. Diogenes really lived according to his values, which is really what ancient cynics do. He rejected wealth and power as a way of providing him happiness. He lived in a jar begging for food and was still satisfied with his life, as he, unlike others, lived it authentically. One of the most famous anecdotes surrounding Diogenes is his encounter with Alexander the Having heard of the unconventional philosopher, Alexander, having been taught by Aristotle, decides to pay him a visit. Upon seeing him resting in his jar, Alexander approached Diogenes and asked if he could help him in any way, if he could provide him anything. Diogenes' request was, This scene has been illustrated many times, but we'll take a closer look at Edwin Landseer's interpretation of it, made in 1848, which, like the ancient cynics, is pretty unconventional. That's not to say Landseer was a cynic himself, in fact, he was pretty close to Queen Victoria and painted a lot of portraits of bourgeois pets. Nonetheless, this painting is a decent representation of Diogenes, as there's a dog in a jar and there's the famous lantern which was used to find an honest man. The jar's rim frames the main protagonist, Alexander, the bulldog with a golden collar, and Diogenes, the scruffy mutt. One is proud and standing strong, while the other is just relaxing, minding his own business. Every dog, except for Diogenes, seem to be well-groomed. Some have collars and some have ribbons. The hounds in the back, who look identical, could be Alexander's guard dogs. Diogenes would absolutely despise these trained dogs, as they don't abide by their nature. They are fake, obedient to conventions, and restrained by norms. Diogenes was actually often compared to a dog, as seen in this painting His lifestyle was comparable to the one of a stray dog, without any owner and following its instincts. Cynicism comes from the ancient Greek kynikos, which means dog-like. This makes Lanciers' interpretation even more interesting, as he represents the cynic not as a man amongst dogs, but as a dog himself. That way, when thinking of cynicism, we don't ask ourselves if we want to the dog being free but bestial and the human being civilized. We rather ask ourselves which kind of dog do we want to be? The one relaxing in a jar, happy with what he is and living as he wants, or the dogs preoccupied with vanity, power and wealth, living according to the standards imposed on them. We'd like to thank our supporters on Patreon. If you'd like to become a patron, check us out on patreon.com forward slash the canvas