When Alexander the Great Met Diogenes the Cynic

The year is 336 B.C. The place is the Greek city-state of Corinth in the suburb of Craneion and the sun was shining bright when Alexander III of Macedon met Diogenes the Cynic. Their interaction would spawn numerous paintings and philosophical and literary reinterpretations. Let’s introduce these two figures of antiquity.

Alexander III of Macedon

In one corner, Alexander III of Macedonia. This was the year that his father, King Phillip II, was assassinated, and he ascended as ruler of the Macedonian empire.

He is twenty years old and already a formidable military figure. Standing at an average Ancient Greek height of 5 feet, he is stocky and has a fair complexion and medium-length hair. He is average-looking physically, but well-built and dressed not only as a king with a cape but in the armor of a conqueror.

Alexander is going on a tour of city-states, accepting oaths of fealty and has reached Corinth. He is already the most powerful man in Greece and is in the process of unleashing a tidal wave of conquest that will envelop much of the Middle East.

Alexander and his procession are marching down the streets of Corinth. Statesmen, philosophers, and common citizens grovel and congratulate their new king. However, one man remains unfazed by the cavalcade. Lying on the floor in the afternoon sun is one of the most colorful philosophers of the city: Diogenes the Cynic.

Diogenes of Sinope

The second actor in this story is Diogenes of Sinope. He is the son of a banker of Sinope in modern-day Turkey. His father became embroiled in a scandal that likely involved counterfeit money and was banished from Sinope. It is likely that Diogenes himself was involved in his father’s business and was exiled. Making his way to Athens, Diogenes pestered the philosopher Antisthenes, an ascetic pupil of Socrates for his tutelage, and soon the two figures began developing the early streams of Cynic philosophy.

Diogenes is not a fan of Plato and thinks him to be too needlessly abstract, instead, to him and many of the Cynic philosophers virtue is promoted through action and harmony with nature. Social constraints and the desires that society imposes are to be rejected.

During this encounter, Diogenes is roughly seventy years old, wearing simple garments, he has rejected worldly possessions and chooses to live a life opposing society’s influence. Because of this, he does everything he needs to do in the streets.His only consistent abode was a ceramic tub, which he eventually destroyed because he thought it superfluous. He has several dogs to keep him company and often emulates their actions more than humans. Disheveled and dirty, Diogenes the Cynic is found in the streets of Corinth sunbathing when he is approached by Alexander and his posse.

Diogenes Sitting in His Tub|Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1860

The Encounter

Alexander the Great, likely slightly discontented that one of the most prominent philosophers of this city had not paid him much notice, approaches the old man and declares “I am Alexander the Great King,” Diogenes looks up and responds, “I am Diogenes the Dog.”

Alexander then proceeds to ask Diogenes if he desires anything. Knowing that Alexander is the most powerful man he would ever meet, Diogenes replies, “Yes. I would like you to stand a little out of my sun.”

Alexander’s men proceed to hurl insults at the philosopher, but Alexander is reportedly so stunned by this interaction and in awe at Diogenes' attitude, that he later says to his close companions “But truly, if I were not Alexander, I wish I were Diogenes.”

Another version of the anecdote has Diogenes contemplating a pile of human bones. The philosopher says, “I am looking for the bones of your father, but I just can’t tell them from the slaves.”

Alexander and Diogenes|Gaetano Gandolfi, 1792

The Significance of the Interaction

During the Middle Ages, this anecdote gained considerable notoriety as the teachings of the ancient Greeks became more popular.

The duality between the two men is often highlighted in the interpretations, Alexander being a conqueror not satisfied till he conquers the world, while Diogenes the contented vagrant is satisfied with simple earthly pleasures. This event was used largely to demonstrate the material limitations of man.

Although Alexander could have probably given Diogenes anything reasonable, he could not give him the time Diogenes lost in the sun. However, this anecdote also shows Alexander as a tolerable and respectable king opting to praise and commend the philosopher for his virtue rather than reprimand him for his insolence, further cementing Alexander as a great king.

This interaction also gets interesting when you learn that Alexander and his followers would frequently refer to him as the son of Zeus. Coins with Alexander’s face also had the signature Herculean symbols of spiked clubs and lions etched to further his image as the mythical son of Zeus. This was not fully dishonest because during this period it was believed that the gods came down to earth and had children, and a sign that you were a descendant of a god was typical that you had good luck, which Alexander had in buckets.

However, when you translate Diogenes’s name from Ancient Greek it literally means born of Zeus. Alexander wanted to prove himself to the world through conquest and emulating the heroics of Achilles and Hercules, while Diogenes did not need anything to prove himself because his name already cemented that he had already attained a superior mode of contentment in his own life, one which Alexander was searching for.

Alexander and Diogenes as Dogs|Edwin Landseer, 1848

It must concluded that, like much ancient history, this anecdote is subject to debate regarding its veracity. Many believe that the anecdote is exaggerated, while some believe that it actually happened in India when Alexander interacted with the Gymnosophists, a group of naked ascetic philosophers. Still, the anecdote is a timeless demonstration of Diogenes’s Cynic philosophy and the limitations of material wealth and power.