![Oinoanda 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Oinoanda_2.JPG)
Diogenes of Oenoanda ( grc-gre, Διογένης ὁ Οἰνοανδεύς) was an
Epicurean
Epicureanism is a system of philosophy founded around 307 BC based upon the teachings of the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus. Epicureanism was originally a challenge to Platonism. Later its main opponent became Stoicism.
Few writings by Epi ...
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
from the 2nd century AD who carved a summary of the philosophy of
Epicurus
Epicurus (; grc-gre, Ἐπίκουρος ; 341–270 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher and sage who founded Epicureanism, a highly influential school of philosophy. He was born on the Greek island of Samos to Athenian parents. Influenced ...
onto a
portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...
wall in the ancient Greek city of
Oenoanda
Oenoanda or Oinoanda ( Hittite: 𒃾𒅀𒉌𒌓𒉿𒀭𒁕 ''Wiyanawanda'', el, τὰ Οἰνόανδα) was a Lycian city, in the upper valley of the River Xanthus. It is noted for the philosophical inscription by the Epicurean, Diogen ...
in
Lycia
Lycia (Lycian language, Lycian: 𐊗𐊕𐊐𐊎𐊆𐊖 ''Trm̃mis''; el, Λυκία, ; tr, Likya) was a state or nationality that flourished in Anatolia from 15–14th centuries BC (as Lukka) to 546 BC. It bordered the Mediterranean ...
(modern day southwest
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
). The surviving fragments of the wall, originally extended about 80 meters, form an important source of Epicurean philosophy. The inscription, written in Greek, sets out
Epicurus
Epicurus (; grc-gre, Ἐπίκουρος ; 341–270 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher and sage who founded Epicureanism, a highly influential school of philosophy. He was born on the Greek island of Samos to Athenian parents. Influenced ...
' teachings on
physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
,
epistemology
Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics.
Episte ...
, and
ethics
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns m ...
. It was originally about 25,000 words long and filled 260 square meters of wall space. Less than a third of it has been recovered.
Life
Nothing is known about the life of Diogenes apart from the limited information he reveals to us. The inscription itself, which had been dated to the late 2nd century,
has now been assigned on
epigraphic
Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...
grounds to the
Hadrian
Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania B ...
ic period, 117–138AD.
Diogenes was wealthy enough to acquire a large tract of land in the city of
Oenoanda
Oenoanda or Oinoanda ( Hittite: 𒃾𒅀𒉌𒌓𒉿𒀭𒁕 ''Wiyanawanda'', el, τὰ Οἰνόανδα) was a Lycian city, in the upper valley of the River Xanthus. It is noted for the philosophical inscription by the Epicurean, Diogen ...
to construct (or possibly buy) a
piazza
A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...
to display his inscription. As a man who had found peace by practicing the doctrines of
Epicurus
Epicurus (; grc-gre, Ἐπίκουρος ; 341–270 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher and sage who founded Epicureanism, a highly influential school of philosophy. He was born on the Greek island of Samos to Athenian parents. Influenced ...
, he tells us that in his old age he was motivated "to help also those who come after us" and "to place therefore the remedies of salvation by means of this porch."
The inscription
Diogenes constructed a rectangular piazza surrounded by a portico, and furnished with statues.
On one of the smaller sides he placed a portal, with perhaps his mausoleum on the opposite side. On the two larger sides he inscribed a lengthy account of
Epicurean
Epicureanism is a system of philosophy founded around 307 BC based upon the teachings of the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus. Epicureanism was originally a challenge to Platonism. Later its main opponent became Stoicism.
Few writings by Epi ...
doctrines.
The inscription was 2.37 meters high,
and extended about 80 meters. It was originally about 25 000 words long and filled about 260 square metres of wall space.
It was discovered in 1884, and the first 64 fragments were published in 1892. Since then, more fragments have been discovered, notably in a series of excavations led by
Martin Ferguson Smith
Martin Ferguson Smith, (born 26 April 1940, Birmingham, England) is a British scholar and writer. After education at Shrewsbury School (1953–1958) he proceeded to Trinity College, Dublin (1958–1963), where he was a Foundation Scholar in Cla ...
.
Perhaps a quarter of the inscription has been recovered.
New parts are being discovered in the excavations of the
Deutsches Archäologisches Institut
The German Archaeological Institute (german: Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, ''DAI'') is a research institute in the field of archaeology (and other related fields). The DAI is a "federal agency" under the Federal Foreign Office of Germany ...
; among the parts discovered in 2008 was a statement on
Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
's theory of cosmogony.
The inscription contains three treatises written by Diogenes as well as various letters and maxims:
*''A Treatise on Ethics'', which describes how
pleasure
Pleasure refers to experience that feels good, that involves the enjoyment of something. It contrasts with pain or suffering, which are forms of feeling bad. It is closely related to value, desire and action: humans and other conscious anima ...
is the end of life; how
virtue
Virtue ( la, virtus) is moral excellence. A virtue is a trait or quality that is deemed to be morally good and thus is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being. In other words, it is a behavior that shows high moral standard ...
is a means to achieve it; and explains how to achieve the happy life.
*''A Treatise on Physics'', which has many parallels with
Lucretius
Titus Lucretius Carus ( , ; – ) was a Roman poet and philosopher. His only known work is the philosophical poem ''De rerum natura'', a didactic work about the tenets and philosophy of Epicureanism, and which usually is translated into E ...
, and includes discussions on
dream
A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, althou ...
s,
the
gods
A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greater ...
, and contains an account of the origin of humans and the invention of clothing, speech and writing.
*''A Treatise on Old Age'', which appears to have defended
old age
Old age refers to ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings, and is thus the end of the human life cycle. Terms and euphemisms for people at this age include old people, the elderly (worldwide usage), OAPs (British usage ...
against the jibes of the young, although little of this treatise survives.
*''Letters from Diogenes to his friends'', which includes a letter addressed to a certain Antipater concerning the Epicurean doctrine of innumerable worlds.
*''Epicurean maxims'', a collection of the sayings of Epicurus and other eminent Epicureans, which was appended to the end of the treatise on ethics.
*''Letters of Epicurus'', which includes a letter to Epicurus' mother on the subject of dreams.
Jürgen Hammerstaedt, philologist from the University of Cologne, and epigrapher Martin Ferguson Smith, have translated some of the fragments discovered in Oenoanda. "He was a remarkable man and a cosmopolitan man," says Hammerstaedt, commenting upon a quote from Smith's translation of a passage in which Diogenes declares that he set up the inscription: "Not least for those who are called foreigners, for they are not foreigners. For, while the various segments of the Earth give different people a different country, the whole compass of this world gives all people a single country, the entire Earth, and a single home, the world."
Notes
References
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*
*
*
*
Further reading
*
*Clay, Diskin. ''The Philosophical Inscription of Diogenes of Oenoanda: New Discoveries 1969-1983''. edited by W. Haase (1990) 2446–2560 with 10 Plates and Index. (Berlin and New York)
*Clay, Diskin
"Sailing to Lampsacus: Diogenes of Oenoanda, New Fragment 7" ''Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies'', 14 (1973) 49–59. (reprinted as Chapter 11 of Paradosis and Survival,1998)
*Gordon, Pamela. (1996), ''Epicurus in Lycia: The Second-century World of Diogenes of Oenoanda''.
University of Michigan Press
The University of Michigan Press is part of Michigan Publishing at the University of Michigan Library. It publishes 170 new titles each year in the humanities and social sciences. Titles from the press have earned numerous awards, including L ...
.
*
Smith, Martin Ferguson. (1996), ''The philosophical inscription of Diogenes of Oinoanda''.
Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften.
*
Smith, Martin Ferguson. (2003), ''Supplement to Diogenes of Oinoanda The Epicurean Inscription''. Bibliopolis.
*
Vassallo, Christian. (2021), ''The Presocratics at Herculaneum: A Study of Early Greek Philosophy in the Epicurean Tradition. With an Appendix on Diogenes of Oinoanda's Criticism of Presocratic Philosophy''. Berlin-Boston: De Gruyter.
External links
Oinoanda and the biggest inscription of the ancient world- Deutsches Archäologisches Institut
- Translated by Martin Ferguson Smith
- Site devoted to Diogenes of Oenoanda and Epicurean philosophy.
{{Authority control
2nd-century philosophers
Roman-era Epicurean philosophers
Roman-era Greek inscriptions
2nd-century inscriptions
Ancient Anatolian Greeks
People from Roman Anatolia