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In the beginning, it is worth mentioning that the barrel is a misconception associated with a certain convention. In ancient Greece, there were no barrels in our understanding, that is, made of wood and connected by iron hoops. Most likely, Diogenes lived in the pythos, a large vessel for storing wine, grain, and oil. They were quite large, often larger than a person's height, so Diogenes could hide there from the sun or rain.
But why did Diogenes choose such a dwelling? Diogenes was a representative of the Cynics (it is no coincidence that dogs are depicted in the picture, because they gave the name to the philosophical school). One of the most important ideas of the Cynics was the concept of Ascesis (ἄσκησις), the ability to renounce oneself and endure difficulties. Ascesis of kinics — extreme simplification; extreme limitation of one's needs; detachment from what is not extremely necessary for the function of a person as a living being; “strength of spirit, character”.
Living in a “barrel”, Diogenes tried to reduce his dependence on the benefits of civilization as much as possible and get closer to the natural state, thereby purifying himself. There is a legend that Diogenes, who considered the house an unnecessary luxury and had already moved to the barrel, nevertheless kept some utensils for himself, in particular a ladle for drinking. But when he saw the boy drinking from a handful of water, the philosopher refused the ladle.
Unfortunately, the writings of Diogenes themselves have not come down to us and we mostly know about him from the works of Diogenes Laertius. He reports on 14 works of Diogenes, among which are presented as philosophical works (“On virtue”, “On goodness”, etc.). Perhaps if these works were available to us, we would be able to say with more confidence why Diogenes lived in the “barrel”
Well, there are several reasons here.
1) He did not have enough money to rent a house, and with his “wolf ticket” after his illegal actions in Sinop, who would hire him for a serious job? Unless it was to be used as a lodger, but this was unacceptable for Diogenes, who had already mastered his ancient Greek Zen by that time.
And second-hand clay barrels around Athens, judging by the archeology, were lying around noticeably, choose any one.
2) The philosophical concept of minimalism and” simplicity”, professed by Diogenes, demanded the simplest housing in terms of functionality. And second-hand clay barrels around Athens, judging by the archeology, were lying around noticeably, choose any one.
3) Provided Diogenes with social security. At all times it was considered that it was unworthy to offend the poor, but Diogenes clearly maintained at the time of his Athenian years the concept of “what you can take from this homeless person, and there will be a lot of stench, smart bastard”.
And finally, Diogenes is one of my favorite historical characters.
I give everyone a poem. I wrote it a long time ago, but it's quite relevant here.
Grapevine juice will not be poured into housing,
Something else matures where it is warm and damp…
….Don't block out the sun for me, my child
Just go and conquer half the world.
Beat them all. And-die between the empires of two
Haire getairos, ave, heart attack!
I'm staying. The rooster hasn't been plucked yet
Agora's argument for a philosophical debate,
An argument for those who will leave without feathers on two
To the realm of Hades, where the memory will leave the body…
… Make a rounded entrance for the sun.
You're disturbing my thoughts. Go ahead and do it.
A cynic. You should pay attention to the lantern in Diogenes ' hand. The expression “Day with fire” from those times. Pay attention – the light is on. In the afternoon. He walked like this with a lantern, and when asked Why with a fire during the day, he answered-I'm looking for a Man. “But it's full of people! – There are a lot of people, but I can't find a Person. Another story about Alexander the Great.
– What can I do for you, I will fulfill any of your wishes! Diogenes ' answer is to stand aside and not block out the sun for me.
The disciple found Diogenes doing some hand-wringing. To the surprised student, he replied, ” If it were so easy, I would be able to cope with hunger as well.
(Diogenes of Laertes).
To make a barrel, you need to have a saw and a plane-this is the worst case scenario . But I note that Pythagoras did not exist then , his trousers could not be proved without Arabic numerals , but were supposedly only Roman, and ZERO had not yet been invented either .
Of course, you can live in a barrel in Greece . But we need to clarify when they started making barrels . I think the saw and plane were invented earlier , otherwise you can't make a barrel . I think it was around 1700 AD of course . But in those days, tramps weren't very popular . Therefore, this person probably lived in prison , maybe it was Ichthyander ?
Not only were there no barrels in Greece, but Diogenes probably never existed. The absence of the author's works in the originals clearly suggests falsification or fantasies of some later authors. For some reason, our historians do not allow the presence of literary fiction in the style of historical fantasy, although there are a huge number of examples. Walking under the shade of porticos or living in barrels, ancient Greek thinkers make great discoveries in passing, having no devices other than a sundial and measure distances by making incredible calculations on the speed of movement of camel caravans. A small nation that does not know the technology of metalworking and lives on a subsistence farm, apparently terribly rich in the sale of goat cheese, suddenly puts out a hundred thousandth army of heavy infantry (the famous Macedonian phalanx) and throws the entire civilized world at the feet of its young king. It does not matter that it is absolutely impossible to make a spear 15-17 meters long with wood and copper, it does not matter that in all of Greece at that time it was impossible to produce copper, bronze, and even more so black bronze. Because it is impossible to make bronze without advanced metalworking of ferrous metals (i.e. steel is needed) furnaces for tin mining are needed from polymetallic ore, and black bronze is generally aerobatics even today. It does not matter that in 1914, the whole of Greece with great difficulty was able to put 84 thousand infantry under arms. The list can go on for a very long time. All historical science operates with data invented on soft sofas and in warm offices. Give a hundred athletes shields weighing 15 kg., helmets weighing 6-7 kg. a spear weighing 4-5 kg., copper armor weighing another 10 kg., swords weighing 3-4 kg. three javelins weighing more than 1500 gr. each, a knife, a shoulder pack with a supply of food for three days and spend a formation under the sun or rain on an untilled field overgrown with weeds and shrubs and you will understand that even the Roman legions are just nonsense. I'm not even talking about building them into a turtle. Stand with a 15 kg shield held above your head for at least 10 minutes even without everything else. A simple example: at mid-15th century prices, a single sheet of parchment cost 17 gold coins. Because of the terrible cost, a hundred-page book had the price of an average barony. What they were recorded on (suddenly lost)original works of Roman historians? Especially in hundreds of volumes. Where did two ships of papyri from Egypt disappear, which Napoleon took to France? What is actually written in them? Why did the Grand Inquisition burn ALL the ancient books, even the royal libraries? Why did they burn all the chronicles and manuscripts in Russia during the reform?
As mentioned earlier, Diogenes was the most famous cynic. Cynics (or cynics) argued that true happiness does not consist in external things like material wealth, political power, or good health, but in not making yourself dependent on these random and short-lived things. And since real happiness does not depend on them, it is available to anyone, moreover, having found happiness, a person cannot lose it. That is why Diogenes lived in a “barrel” and all his possessions consisted of a cloak, a staff and a knapsack for provisions. It was really hard to deprive someone of happiness.