[4,20] ἐνταῦθα ὁ Ἀλέξανδρος ἐμειδίασεν, καὶ ἥσθη ὡς οὐδέποτε, καὶ ἔδοξεν αὐτῷ ὁ Διογένης οὐ μόνον οὐ σκαιός, ἀλλὰ καὶ δεξιώτατος ἁπάντων καὶ μόνος εἰδὼς χαρίζεσθαι. Τί οὖν, ἔφη, πότερον (21) ἀληθὴς ἢ ψευδὴς εἶναι δοκεῖ σοι ὁ λόγος; Ἄδηλον, ἔφη, ἐστίν· ἐὰν μὲν γὰρ ᾖς σώφρων καὶ ἀνδρεῖος καὶ τὴν τοῦ Διὸς ἐπιστάμενος τέχνην τὴν βασιλικήν, οὐθέν σε κωλύει τοῦ Διὸς εἶναι (22) υἱόν· ἐπεὶ τοῦτό γε καὶ Ὅμηρόν φασι λέγειν, ὅτι πατήρ ἐστιν ὁ Ζεύς, ὥσπερ τῶν θεῶν, καὶ τῶν ἀνδρῶν, ἀλλ´ οὐ τῶν ἀνδραπόδων οὐδὲ τῶν φαύλων τε καὶ ἀγεννῶν οὐδενός· ἐὰν δὲ δειλὸς ᾖς καὶ τρυφερὸς καὶ ἀνελεύθερος, οὔτε σοι θεῶν οὔτε ἀνθρώπων τῶν (23) ἀγαθῶν προσήκει. ἀλλὰ τοῖς μὲν ἐν Θήβαις Σπαρτοῖς ποτε λεγομένοις σημεῖον λέγεται εἶναι τοῦ γένους λόγχη τις οἶμαι ἐπὶ τοῦ σώματος· ὅστις δὲ τοῦτο τὸ σημεῖον μὴ ἔχοι, οὐ δοκεῖν τῶν Σπαρτῶν εἶναι· τοῖς δὲ τοῦ Διὸς ἐκγόνοις οὐκ οἴει σημεῖον ἐνεῖναι τῇ ψυχῇ, ἐξ οὗ φανεροὶ ἔσονται τοῖς δυναμένοις γνωρίζειν εἴτε ἐξ ἐκείνου γεγονότες εἰσὶν εἴτε μή; πάνυ οὖν ἥσθη τούτῳ τῷ λόγῳ ὁ (24) Ἀλέξανδρος. μετὰ δὲ τοῦτο ἤρετο αὐτόν, Πῶς ἄν, ἔφη, κάλλιστα βασιλεύοι τις; καὶ ὃς δεινὸν ὑποβλέψας, Ἀλλ´ οὐδὲ ἔστιν, ἔφη, βασιλεύειν κακῶς οὐ μᾶλλον ἢ κακῶς ἀγαθὸν εἶναι. ὁ γὰρ βασιλεὺς ἀνθρώπων ἄριστός ἐστιν, ἀνδρειότατος ὢν καὶ δικαιότατος καὶ φιλανθρωπότατος καὶ ἀνίκητος ὑπὸ παντὸς πόνου καὶ πάσης ἐπιθυμίας.

[4,20] Thereupon Alexander smiled and was pleased as never before, thinking that Diogenes, so far from being rude, was the most tactful of men and the only one who really knew how to pay a compliment. "Well then," said he, "do you think the story is true or false ? " "It is uncertain," was the reply; "for if you are self-controlled and know the royal art of Zeus, nothing prevents your being a son of Zeus ; for this is what they claim Homer says : that Zeus is the father, not only of gods but of men as well, though not of slaves nor of any mean and ignoble man. If, however, you are cowardly and love luxury and have a servile nature, then you are in no way related to the gods or to good men. Why, methinks of old the `Sown men,' as they were called, of Thebes had what seemed a spear mark on their bodies as a sign of their origin, and he who did not have this mark was not regarded as one of the `Sown men.' And do you not think that in the souls of the offspring of Zeus also a sign is to be found by which those who have the power to judge will know whether they are of his seed or not ? " Of course Alexander was greatly delighted with this thought. (24) Hereupon he put the following question to Diogenes. "How,"said he, "could one be the best king ? " At this the other, eyeing him sternly, answered, "But no one can be a bad king any more than he can be a bad good man ; for the king is the best one among men, since he is most brave and righteous and humane, and cannot be overcome by any toil or by any appetite.