The Philosopher Who Asked a King to Move

In ancient Greece there lived a man who owned almost nothing.

His name was Diogenes. In Athens, the ancient writers say, he slept in a large clay jar, the kind used to store wine or oil, lying on its side near a temple. Later in life he lived in Corinth. He wore a rough cloak. He carried a wallet for scraps of food and a wooden cup for water.

It is said that one day he saw a child drinking water from cupped hands. Diogenes looked at his cup, said that a child had beaten him in simplicity, and threw the cup away.

He belonged to a group of thinkers later called the Cynics. They believed that most of what people chase, such as wealth, fame, fine clothes and the good opinion of others, is unnecessary, and that a good life comes from living simply and honestly, by nature. Diogenes was famous for his sharp tongue, his strange behaviour and his refusal to bow to anyone.

The young king

At about the same time, in around 336 BCE, a young man of twenty became king of Macedon, in the north of Greece. His name was Alexander. Within a few years he would conquer the Persian Empire and lead his armies as far as India. History would call him Alexander the Great.

When he came to Corinth, the leaders of the Greek cities gathered there and agreed to follow him in his war against Persia. Statesmen and philosophers hurried to meet the young king and congratulate him.

Diogenes did not come.

Plutarch, the Greek writer who told Alexander's life story about four hundred years later, says that Diogenes was living in a suburb of Corinth called the Craneion, and that he took no notice of Alexander at all. So Alexander went to see him.

In the sun

Alexander found the old philosopher lying on the ground, enjoying the warmth of the sun.

When Diogenes saw so many people coming towards him, he raised himself up a little and looked at Alexander. The king greeted him and asked whether there was anything he wanted. Here was the most powerful young man in the world, offering anything at all.

According to Plutarch, Diogenes replied:

"Yes, stand a little out of my sun."

That was all. He did not ask for money, or land, or honour. He asked the king to step aside, because his shadow was in the way.

What Alexander said

Alexander's followers laughed and made fun of the old man as they walked away. But Alexander was struck by the reply. Plutarch writes that he was so impressed by the pride and greatness of a man who looked down on him that he said, "But verily, if I were not Alexander, I would be Diogenes."

The two men could hardly have been more different. One wanted the whole world. The other wanted nothing except to be left in the sunshine. And yet the king seemed to recognise in the beggar something he could not conquer: a man who was completely free.

Is it true?

Historians cannot be sure this meeting happened exactly as told. Plutarch was writing centuries later, and many stories about Diogenes were invented or polished by people who admired or mocked him. Some ancient writers even claimed that Alexander and Diogenes died on the same day, in 323 BCE, which seems more like a good story than a fact.

But the story has survived for more than two thousand years because of what it says. Alexander would go on to rule an empire from Greece to India, and die at thirty-two. Diogenes, by tradition, lived to be very old, as poor as ever and just as free.

Further reading

Plutarch's Life of Alexander is available free online in public-domain translations. The anecdotes about Diogenes collected by Diogenes Laërtius, an ancient writer with a similar name but no relation, are full of other memorable stories, though many are certainly legends.