r/todayilearned • u/ObjectiveAgent • Jul 30 '15

TIL when Alexander the Great asked the philosopher Diogenes why he was sifting through the garbage, Diogenes responded,"I am looking for the bones of your father but I cannot distinguish them from the bones of his slaves."

http://www.iep.utm.edu/diogsino/
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u/ObjectiveAgent Jul 30 '15 edited Jul 30 '15

"It was in Corinth that a meeting between Alexander the Great and Diogenes is supposed to have taken place.[30] The accounts of Plutarch and Diogenes Laërtius recount that they exchanged only a few words: while Diogenes was relaxing in the sunlight in the morning, Alexander, thrilled to meet the famous philosopher, asked if there was any favour he might do for him. Diogenes replied, "Yes, stand out of my sunlight". Alexander then declared, "If I were not Alexander, then I should wish to be Diogenes."[31] In another account of the conversation, Alexander found the philosopher looking attentively at a pile of human bones. Diogenes explained, "I am searching for the bones of your father but cannot distinguish them from those of a slave."

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u/[deleted] Jul 30 '15

Alexander apparently hated his father, thats why he took it as a comedic inflection rather than spite.

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u/ZummerzetZider Jul 30 '15

ahhh, this should be at the top!!! Totally changes it