Diogenes of Sinope.

Diogenes of Sinope (Greek: Διογένης ὁ Σινωπεύς Diogenes ho Sinopeus), was a Greek philosopher and one of the founders of Cynicphilosophy. Also known as Diogenes the Cynic, he was born in Sinope (modern-day Sinop, Turkey) in 412 or 404 BC ^[1] and died in 323 BC,^[2]at Corinth. Diogenes was the only man to mock Alexander the Great and live. He intellectually humiliated Plato and was the only pupil ever accepted by Antisthenes, whom he saw as the true heir of Socrates. Diogenes taught his philosophy of cynicism to Crates who taught it toZeno who fashioned it into the school of Stoicism, one of the most enduring branches of Greek philosophy.

Diogenes of Sinope was always controversial. Exiled from his native city for defacing the currency, he moved to Athens and declared himself acosmopolitan (in flagrance of the prevailing city-state system). He became a disciple of Antisthenes, and made a virtue of extreme poverty, famously begging for a living and sleeping in a large tub in the marketplace. He became notorious for his provocative behaviour and philosophical stunts such as carrying a lamp in the daytime, claiming to be looking for an honest man. He regularly tangled with Plato, disputing his interpretation of Socrates and sabotaging his lectures. After being captured by pirates and sold into slavery, Diogenes eventually settled inCorinth, where he was befriended by Alexander.

Diogenes was a staunch admirer of Hercules. He believed that virtue was better revealed in action and not theory. His life was a relentless campaign to debunk the social values and institutions of what he saw as a corrupt society. None of his 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.