Diogenes - Versailles, France
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Metro2
N 48° 48.409 E 002° 07.004
31U E 435146 N 5406357
Diogenes was a Greek philosopher who argued that actions were better than theory.
Waymark Code: WMD0TW
Location: Île-de-France, France
Date Posted: 11/03/2011
Views: 15
This 1688 marble sculpture depicts Diogenes from head to waist, bearded and wearing flowing robes while holding a scroll in his right hand as he looks into the distance. His left hand seems to be raising part of his robes a bit.
The artist is Matthieu Lespagnandelle (1616-1689).
Wikipedia (
visit link) informs us that Diogenes:
"was born in Sinope (modern-day Sinop, Turkey) in 412 or 404 BCE and died at Corinth in 323 BCE.[1]
Diogenes of Sinope was a controversial figure. After being exiled from his native city for defacing the currency, he moved to Athens to debunk cultural conventions. Diogenes modelled himself on the example of Hercules. He believed that virtue was better revealed in action than in theory. He used his lifestyle and behaviour to criticise the social values and institutions of what he saw as a corrupt society. He declared himself a cosmopolitan. There are many tales about him dogging Antisthenes' footsteps and becoming his faithful hound,[2] but it is by no means certain that the two men ever met. Diogenes made a virtue of poverty. He begged for a living and slept in a tub in the marketplace. He became notorious for his philosophical stunts such as carrying a lamp in the daytime, claiming to be looking for an honest man. He publicly mocked Alexander and lived. He embarrassed Plato, disputed his interpretation of Socrates and sabotaged his lectures.
After being captured by pirates and sold into slavery, Diogenes eventually settled in Corinth. There he passed his philosophy of Cynicism to Crates, who taught it to Zeno of Citium, who fashioned it into the school of Stoicism, one of the most enduring schools of Greek philosophy. None of Diogenes’ many writings have survived, but details of his life come in the form of anecdotes (chreia), especially from Diogenes Laërtius, in his book Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers."