[6,0] ΔΙΟΓΕΝΗΣ Η ΠΕΡΙ ΤΥΡΑΝΝΙΔΟΣ. 1 Διογένης ὁ Σινωπεύς, ὅτε ἔφυγεν ἐκ Σινώπης, ἀφικόμενος εἰς τὴν Ἑλλάδα διῆγε ποτὲ μὲν ἐν Κορίνθῳ, ποτὲ δὲ Ἀθήνησιν. ἔφη δὲ μιμεῖσθαι τοῦ Περσῶν βασιλέως τὴν δίαιταν· καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος τοῦ μὲν χειμῶνος ἐν Βαβυλῶνι καὶ Σούσοις, ἐνίοτε δὲ ἐν Βάκτροις διῆγεν, ἐν τοῖς εὐδιεινοτάτοις τῆς Ἀσίας, τοῦ δὲ θέρους ἐν Ἐκβατάνοις τῆς Μηδικῆς, ὅπου ψυχρότατος ὁ ἀὴρ ἀεί ποτέ ἐστι καὶ τῷ περὶ Βαβυλῶνα χειμῶνι τὸ θέρος ὅμοιον. (6,2) οὕτως δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς μεταλλάττειν τὴν οἴκησιν κατὰ τὰς ὥρας τοῦ ἔτους. τὴν μὲν γὰρ Ἀττικὴν μήτε ὄρη μεγάλα ἔχειν μήτε ποταμοὺς διαρρέοντας, καθάπερ τήν τε Πελοπόννησον καὶ Θετταλίαν· εἶναι γὰρ τὴν χώραν ἀραιὰν καὶ τὸν ἀέρα κοῦφον, ὡς μήτε ὕεσθαι πολλάκις μήτε ὑπομένειν τὸ γιγνόμενον ὕδωρ, περιέχεσθαί τε ὀλίγου πᾶσαν αὐτὴν ὑπὸ τῆς θαλάττης· ὅθεν δὴ καὶ τοὔνομα λαβεῖν, οἷον ἀκτήν τινα οὖσαν· τὴν δὲ αὖ πόλιν ἐν τῷ χθαμαλῷ κεῖσθαι καὶ πρὸς μεσημβρίαν. (6,3) σημεῖον δέ· τοὺς γὰρ ἀπὸ τοῦ Σουνίου καταίροντας εἰς τὸν Πειραιᾶ μὴ δύνασθαι ἄλλως ἢ νότῳ κατᾶραι. εἰκότως οὖν τὸν χειμῶνα γίγνεσθαι πρᾷον. ἐν δὲ τῇ Κορίνθῳ τὸ θέρος εὔπνουν, διὰ τοὺς εἰσέχοντας κόλπους ἀεί ποτε τῶν πνευμάτων ἐκεῖσε συρρεόντων· ὅ τε Ἀκροκόρινθος ἐπισκιάζει καὶ αὐτὴ μᾶλλον ἐπὶ τὸ Λέχαιον καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἄρκτον ἀποκλίνει. (6,4) πολὺ δὲ καλλίονας ὑπάρχειν τὰς πόλεις ταύτας Ἐκβατάνων καὶ Βαβυλῶνος, καὶ πολὺ ἄμεινον κατεσκευάσθαι τῶν ἐκεῖ βασιλείων τό τε Κράνειον καὶ τὴν Ἀθήνησιν ἀκρόπολιν καὶ τὰ προπύλαια, μεγέθει δὲ λείπεσθαι μόνον· καίτοι διακοσίων σταδίων εἶναι τὴν περίμετρον τῶν Ἀθηνῶν, τοῦ Πειραιῶς συντιθεμένου καὶ τῶν διὰ μέσου τειχῶν πρὸς τὸν περίβολον τοῦ ἄστεος· οἰκεῖσθαι γὰρ οὐ πάλαι καὶ ταῦτα σύμπαντα· ὥστε τὸ ἥμισυ ἔχειν Ἀθήνας Βαβυλῶνος, εἰ τυγχάνει ἀληθῆ λεγόμενα περὶ τῶν ἐκεῖ. (6,5) καὶ μὴν τό γε τῶν λιμένων κάλλος, ἔτι δὲ ἀνδριάντας καὶ γραφὰς καὶ χρυσόν τε καὶ ἄργυρον καὶ χαλκόν, τό τε νόμισμα καὶ τὰ ἔπιπλα, καὶ τὴν τῶν οἰκιῶν κατασκευήν, ὑπερβάλλειν μὲν τὰ ἐνταῦθα· πλὴν αὐτῷ γε οὐ πολὺ μέλειν τῶν τοιούτων. (6,6) τὸ δὲ τῆς ὁδοῦ μῆκος ἐκείνῳ μὲν ὥστε μεταβῆναι πάμπολυ γίγνεσθαι· σχεδὸν γοῦν αὐτὸν ἐν ὁδῷ διάγειν τοῦ χειμῶνος καὶ τοῦ θέρους τὸ πλέον· αὐτὸν δὲ πλησίον καταλύσαντα Μεγαροῖ Ἀθήνησι γενέσθαι τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ πάνυ ῥᾳδίως, εἰ μὲν βούλοιτο, ἐπ´ Ἐλευσῖνος· εἰ δὲ μή, βραχυτέραν διὰ Σαλαμῖνος, μὴ δι´ ἐρήμων σταθμῶν πορευόμενον· ὥστε πλεονεκτεῖν βασιλέως καὶ μᾶλλον τρυφᾶν· (6,7) ἄμεινον γὰρ κατεσκευάσθαι τὴν οἴκησιν. ταῦτα δὲ εἰώθει μὲν παίζων λέγειν· ὅμως δὲ ἐνεδείκνυτο τοῖς θαυμάζουσι τὸν πλοῦτον τοῦ Πέρσου καὶ τὴν λεγομένην εὐδαιμονίαν ὅτι οὐδέν ἐστι τῶν ἐκείνου πραγμάτων οἷον νομίζουσι. τῶν μὲν γὰρ οὐδὲν ὄφελος εἶναι, τὰ δὲ καὶ σφόδρα πένησιν ἐξεῖναι ποιεῖν. (6,8) οὐδὲ γάρ, ὡς ἐνόμιζον ἔνιοι τῶν ἀφρόνων, ἀμελὲς ἦν αὐτῷ περὶ τοῦ σώματος, ἀλλ´ ἐκεῖνοι μὲν ὁρῶντες ῥιγῶντα καὶ θυραυλοῦντα καὶ διψῶντα πολλάκις ἡγοῦντο ἀμελεῖν τοῦ ὑγιαίνειν καὶ τοῦ ζῆν· ὁ δὲ ταῦτα πάσχων μᾶλλον μὲν ὑγίαινε τῶν ἀεὶ ἐμπιμπλαμένων, μᾶλλον δὲ τῶν ἔνδον μενόντων καὶ μηδέποτε μήτε (6,9) ψύχους μήτε καύματος πειρωμένων, ἔτι δὲ ἥδιον μὲν ἀλεαινόμενος ᾐσθάνετο, ἥδιον δὲ σιτία προσεφέρετο· πολὺ δὲ μάλιστα ταῖς ὥραις ἔχαιρεν, καὶ τοῦτο μὲν εὐφραίνετο θέρους προσιόντος, ὁπότε ἤδη διαχέοι τὸν ἀέρα, τοῦτο δὲ οὐκ ἤχθετο παυομένου, ἅτε ἀπαλλαττόμενος τοῦ σφοδροῦ καύματος, ταῖς δὲ ὥραις ξυνεπόμενος καὶ κατ´ ὀλίγον αὐτῶν πειρώμενος ἀλύπως ἀφικνεῖτο πρὸς ἑκατέραν τὴν ὑπερβολήν.

[6,0] The Sixth Discourse: Diogenes, or On Tyranny. 1 When Diogenes of Sinope was exiled from that place, he came to Greece and used to divide his time between Corinth and Athens. And he said he was following the practice of the Persian king. For that monarch spent the winters in Babylon and Susa, or occasionally in Bactra, which are the warmest parts of Asia, and the summers in Median Ecbatana, where the air is always very cool and the summer is like the winter in the region of Babylon. 2 So he too, he said, changed his residence according to the seasons of year. For Attica had no high mountains, nor rivers running through it as had the Peloponnese and Thessaly; its soil was thin and the air so dry that rain rarely fell, and what did fall was not retained. Besides, it was almost entirely surrounded by the sea; from which fact indeed it got its name, since Attica is a sort of beach-land. 3 The city, moreover, was low-lying and faced to the south, as shown by the fact that those sailing from Sunium could not enter the Peiraeus except with a south wind. Naturally, therefore, the winters were mild. In Corinth, on (p253) the other hand, the summer was breezy, since currents of air always met there on account of the bays that dented the shore. The Acrocorinthus, too, overshadows it, and the city itself rather inclines toward the Lechaeum and the north. 4 Diogenes thought that these cities were far more beautiful than Ecbatana and Babylon, and that the Craneion, and the Athenian acropolis with the Propylaea were far more beautiful structures than those abodes of royalty, yielding to them only in size. And yet the circumference of Athens was two hundred stades, now that the Peiraeus and the connecting walls had been added to the compass of the city — for this whole area was not inhabited in ancient times — so that Athens was one-half as large as Babylon, if we could take as true what was said of things there. 5 Moreover, in respect to the beauty of the harbours, and, further, to the statues, paintings, the works in gold, silver, and bronze, in respect to the coinage, the furnishings, the splendour of the houses, he thought that Athens was far superior; only he, for his part, did not care much about such things. 6 Besides, the king had a very long distance to travel in changing residences; he had to spend pretty much the larger part of the winter and summer on the (p255) road. He himself, on the other hand, by spending the night near Megara, could very easily be in Athens on the following day — or else, if he preferred, at Eleusis; otherwise, he could take a shorter way through Salamis, without passing through any deserts. So he had an advantage over the king and enjoyed greater luxury, since his housing arrangements were better. 7 This is what he was wont to say jestingly, and yet he meant to bring to the attention of those who admired the wealth of the Persian and his reputed happiness that there was nothing in his actual life such as they imagined. For some things were of no use at all and other things were within the reach of even the very poor. 8 In fact, Diogenes was not neglectful of his body as certain foolish people thought; but when they saw him often shivering and living in the open and going thirsty, they imagined that he was careless of his health and life, whereas this rigorous regime gave him better health than fell to the lot of those who were ever gorging themselves, better than fell to the lot of those who stayed indoors and never experienced either cold or heat. 9 And he got more pleasure, too, out of sunning himself and more pleasure in eating his food than they did. But the seasons were by far his greatest delight. On the one hand, he rejoiced as the summer approached and was already dissolving the cold air; and on the other, he felt no regret as it drew to its close, since this brought him relief from its excessive heat; and (p257) by keeping pace with the seasons and growing accustomed to them gradually, he met either extreme without discomfort.