Diogenes was a Greek philosopher who lived in a tub; one day he was sunning himself when Alexander the Great, smitten by desire to see the great philosopher, approached and asked if there was anything he could do for him, to which Diogenes responded: ’Get out of my light’. (Cic. Tusc .v.91; D.L. vi.38) The Cynics had no ideals of their own and assumed the worst of everybody else; hence the modern usages ‘cynic’ and ‘cynical’. Among non–classicists today these are perhaps the two dominant, although contradictory, images of Cynicism. The first projects Diogenes’ behaviour, which some might regard as merely loutish, as illustrating a truly admirable independence of spirit; indeed, some versions add that Alexander delightedly exclaimed: ‘Had I not been Alexander, I would have wished to be Diogenes’ (Plu. Alex. 14. 5; D.L. VI. 32). The second projects the Cynics as, if not positively immoral, at least unpleasantly amoral. Neither seems to encourage claims that the Cynics made an important contribution to ancient political thought, and the contradiction between the two is but a pale reflection of the many difficulties involved in the attempt to uncover a true picture of Cynicism. Any assessment, therefore, of the Cynic contribution must begin by resolving these difficulties.
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