[4,70] μὴ οὖν πρότερον, ὦ μάταιε, βασιλεύειν ἐπιχείρει πρὶν ἢ φρονῆσαι. τέως δέ, ἔφη, κρεῖττον μηδὲν προστάττειν, ἀλλὰ μόνον αὐτὸν ζῆν διφθέραν ἔχοντα. Σύ, ἔφη, κελεύεις ἐμὲ διφθέραν λαβεῖν τὸν ἀφ´ Ἡρακλέους γεγονότα καὶ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἡγεμόνα καὶ Μακεδόνων (71) βασιλέα; Πάνυ γε, εἶπεν, ὥσπερ ὁ πρόγονός σου. Ποῖος, ἔφη, πρόγονος; Ἀρχέλαος. ἢ οὐκ αἰπόλος ἦν ὁ Ἀρχέλαος οὐδὲ ἦλθεν εἰς Μακεδονίαν αἶγας ἐλαύνων; πότερον οὖν αὐτὸν ἐν πορφύρᾳ μᾶλλον ἢ ἐν διφθέρᾳ οἴει τοῦτο ποιεῖν; καὶ ὁ Ἀλέξανδρος ἀνείθη τε καὶ (72) ἐγέλασε καὶ ἔφη, Τὰ περὶ τὸν χρησμόν, ὦ Διόγενες, λέγεις. ὁ δὲ στρυφνῷ τῷ προσώπῳ, Ποῖον, εἶπε, χρησμόν; οὐκ οἶδα ἔγωγε, πλὴν ὅτι αἰπόλος ἦν ὁ Ἀρχέλαος. ἀλλ´ ἂν ἀπαλλαγῇς τοῦ τύφου καὶ τῶν νῦν πραγμάτων, ἔσῃ βασιλεύς, οὐ λόγῳ τυχόν, ἀλλ´ ἔργῳ· καὶ κρατήσεις οὐ μόνον τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἁπάντων, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν γυναικῶν, (73) ὥσπερ ὁ Ἡρακλῆς, ὅν σου φῂς πρόγονον εἶναι. καὶ ὅς, Ποίων, ἔφη, γυναικῶν; ἢ δῆλον, ἔφη, ὅτι τῶν Ἀμαζόνων λέγεις; Ἀλλ´ ἐκείνων, ἦ δ´ ὅς, οὐδὲν ἦν κρατῆσαι χαλεπόν· ἑτέρου δέ τινος γένους, δεινοῦ καὶ ἀγρίου παντελῶς. ἢ οὐκ ἀκήκοας τὸν Λιβυκὸν μῦθον; (74) καὶ ὃς οὐκ ἔφη ἀκηκοέναι. διηγεῖτο δὴ μετὰ ταῦτα προθύμως καὶ ἡδέως, βουλόμενος αὐτὸν παραμυθήσασθαι, καθάπερ αἱ τίτθαι τὰ παιδία, ἐπειδὰν αὐτοῖς πληγὰς ἐμβάλωσι, παραμυθούμεναι καὶ χαριζόμεναι μῦθον αὐτοῖς ὕστερον διηγήσαντο.

[4,70] Therefore, o perverse man, do not attempt to be king before you have attained to wisdom. And in the meantime," he added, " it is better not to give orders to others but to live in solitude, clothed in a sheepskin." "You,"he objected, "do you bid me, Alexander, of the stock of Heracles, to don a sheepskin—me, the leader of the Greeks and king of the Macedonians ? " "Surely," he replied, "just as your ancestor did." "What ancestor ? " he asked. "Archelaus. Was not Archelaus a goatherd and did he not come into Macedonia driving goats ? Now do you think he did this clad in purple rather than in a sheepskin ? " And Alexander calmed down, laughed, and said, "Do you refer to the story about the oracle, Diogenes ? "The other puckered his face and said, "Oracle indeed ! All I know is that Archelaus was a goatherd. But if you will drop your conceit and your present occupations, you will be a king, not in word maybe, but in reality ; and you will prevail over all women as well as all men, as did Heracles, whom you claim as an ancestor of yours." Alexander said, "Women indeed ! Or am I to understand that you refer to the Amazons ? " "Nay, it was no hard matter to overcome them," he replied. "I refer to women of another kind, who are extremely dangerous and savage. Have you not heard the Libyan myth? " And the king replied that he had not. Then Diogenes told it to him with zest and charm, because he wanted to put him in a good humour, just as nurses, after giving the children a whipping, tell them a story to comfort and please them.