Stoic Sayings from Antisthenes, Greek Cynic Philosopher

The Greek Cynic philosophers were ancient hippies, the flower children of Athens. The first Cynic Philosopher, Antisthenes was a student of Socrates, walking five miles a day to study under him. The Greek Stoic philosophers inherited much of their philosophy from the Cynic philosophers, and the Cynics inherited much of their philosophy from Socrates.

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Greek Cynic Philosophers
Xenophon and Plato, Socratic Dialogue, Symposium, Romantic and Carnal Love, Part 1

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Diogenese Laertius, Lives of the Eminent Philosophers, Pamela Mensch, Translator

Description for long source videos:
One of Plato’s most notable Socratic Dialogues was his Symposium, or dinner party, though the Greek is better translated as drinking party. These Socratic dialogues were written shortly after the overthrow of the Thirty Tyrants, and shortly after the subsequent trial and execution of Socrates. The Thirty Tyrants who were put in office by Sparta after she won the Peloponnesian Wars, were overthrown.
The dinner guests for Xenophon's Symposium include Socrates and:
• Callias, the host.
• Antisthenes, who founded the Cynic school of philosophy, which precedes Zeno and reek stoicism.
• Charmides, who was one of the Thirty Tyrants.
• Niceratus, Autolycus, Lycon, Critobulus, and Hermogenes.
The dinner guests for Plato's Symposium include Socrates and:
• Agathon, tragic poet and host.
• Aristophanes, comic playwright whose play, The Clouds, ruined the reputation of Socrates.
• Phaedrus appeared in his own Platonic dialogues.
• Eryximachus and Pausanias.
• Alcibiades, student and lover of Socrates, who crashed the party. Many Athenians blamed him for Athens losing the Peloponnesian War.
We will also discuss:
• Socrates and his troublesome wife, Xanthippe.
• Carnal and romantic love versus divine and noble love.
• Love of common Aphrodite and divine Aphrodite.
• How the dialogue offers the example from the Iliad of Homer of the warrior Achilles, his goddess mother Thetis, and his fried Patroclus, who death by Hector he avenged.
• How Alcibiades crashed Plato’s Symposium.
• Homosexuality and pederasty, or men-boy relationships, in Athens and ancient Greece, and how Socrates frowned on predatory relationships.

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This is original content based on research by Bruce Strom and his blogs. Images in the Public Domain, many from Wikipedia, some from the National Archives, are selected to provide illustration. When images of the actual topic or event are not available in the Public Domain, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration.

All events are portrayed in historical context and for educational purposes. No images or content are primarily intended to shock and disgust. The ancient world was a warrior culture out of necessity, to learn from the distant past we should not only judge them from our modern perspective but also from their own ancient perspective on their own terms.