He said to Alexander the Great, "Get away from me and do not shadow me": Who is Diogenes?

Cynicism; It is a way of thinking that abandons all human emotions such as wealth, power, and fame, and lives away from everything. The basic concepts for cynicism are; nature, reason, self-sufficiency, and freedom. Other than that, they ignore everything. To a cynic, traditions are often absurd and worthy of ridicule. Although the founder of this idea is considered to be Antisthenes (446 BC - 366 BC), a student of Socrates, the first person that comes to mind when cynicism is mentioned is Diogenes of Sinope, who devoted his life to self-sufficiency and the absence of shame.

Diogenes was actually born in Anatolia, in Sinop. His father was considered a wealthy man. His father's main profession was a jeweler, But apparently, he also took up counterfeiting as a hobby. They were exiled from Sinop because of these activities. When they came to Athens, they lived in misery. Perhaps, thanks to the misery he experienced in those days, he became the "Diogenes" whose name we know even today.

Diogenes (412/404 BC – 323 BC), also known as Diogenes the Cynic or Diogenes of Sinope, was a Greek philosopher and one of the founders of Cynicism.

Do not think that Diogenes was completely miserable at that time. He shined with his intelligence even in difficult times. It was said that he had very good oratory skills.

The early cynics "barked" at those dissatisfied with them, rejected Athenian etiquette, and lived in nature. In other words, what we call derogatory today, turned into a philosophical thought thousands of years ago. Those who embrace the cynical philosophy are people who have acquired a habit of indifference. So much so that Diogenes took this indifference to another level. It is said that he once lived in a barrel and wore minimal clothing. He even welcomed begging. Of course, it is normal for you to find this situation strange right now. This event, which may be embarrassing for us, was quite normal for Diogenes and those who adopted this idea.

Diogenes treated a king and a normal citizen the same way. He was someone who adopted this idea to the extent of telling Alexander the Great, who said to him, "Ask me whatever you wish," to get out of his way and never hesitated to implement it.

Diogenes did not like people at all and despised them. During the day, he would wander the streets with a flashlight in his hand, saying "I'm looking for a man." By doing this, he tried to explain that he did not see a "man", that is, a good and virtuous person, in Athens.

To experience the cynical life, one had to endure the various physical challenges that such freedom required. Cynics train their bodies for the good of their souls. Adopting this, Diogenes also made his master's children do the necessary amount of sports.

Diogenes' way of thinking is undoubtedly quite different from other philosophers we know in history. Diogenes had the ability to approach events from angles that we do not approach. Thanks to this talent, we are talking about him even in 2023. But what did he have? Was he a king or a very important politician? No. He was a thinker who had nothing but his thoughts. Even today, we talk about Diogenes and discuss his thoughts together with Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great had a huge army and his assistants, and Diogenes had a barrel...