I’m embarrassed at how long it’s been since my last post. I’ve been caught up in work and reading longer texts and that’s all drawn me away from my original goal of writing at least once a week. I’ll try to get back to that and I’m starting by turning to one of my most favorite passages in all of ancient literature: Discourse 3.22 of Epictetus, On the Cynic Calling.
The founder of Stoicism, Zeno of Citium, had been a disciple of the Cynic Crates, and the two traditions, especially early on, have much in common. Cynicism wasn’t a school, though, and by the first century CE there were Stoic ideas of what a Cynic should be that don’t necessarily match up to what it was. So, don’t take this as a historical account of what a Cynic was, but do take it as an expression of one’s Stoic philosophers ideal of Cynicism was.
Epictetus begins by saying that no one should take up the Cynic lifestyle without the aid of God. Since God gives shape to all things, living in accordance with nature (the Cynic and Stoic goal of life) means fully living the role that God has established for you. The Cynic calling is not just performative, though.
“So you also should deliberate with care upon this matter; it is not what you think it is. ‘I wear a coarse cloak now, and I shall have one then. I sleep on a hard surface now, and I shall do so then. I will, furthermore, take a wallet and a staff and begin to go about begging from the people I meet, and abusing them; and if I see anyone ridding himself of hair by using pitch-plasters, or with finely dressed curls, or walking in purple, I will rebuke him.’ If you imagine the Cynic calling to be something like that, keep well away; you should not come near it, for it is not your concern. But, if you imagine it as it really is, and do not think yourself unworthy of it, consider what a great enterpriese you are undertaking.”
If I were describing the Bourdieuian ‘field’ of ancient philosophy, I would use some of these activities Epictetus has mentioned as part of the practices that distinguished the Cynic sub-field in the broader philosophical landscape. But external performance is not enough, and the realities of the lifestyle are much more challenging than one might think.
First, a Cynic must suppress all their desires and focus only on what is within their sphere of choice (a very Stoic way of putting things, to be sure). “You must harbor neither anger, nor malice, nor envy, nor pity. Neither pretty boy, nor young girl, nor your paltry reputation, nor sweet-cakes must have charms for you.” Epictetus points out that people who indulge in such things typically do so in hiding, behind closed doors, so as to maintain their reputation. (We have far too many examples in our very recent history of powerful people engaging in illicit behavior in secret, terrified that the truth ever be made public.) A Cynic, on the other hand, lives openly, for all to see, so nothing is hidden. A Cynic has only their sense of shame to protect themselves. “He must not wish to conceal anything relating to himself; for, if he does, he is lost; he has lost the Cynic in him, the free and outdoor character; he has begun to fear something external; he has begun to have need of concealment.” At a time when privacy rights have become so central to our sense of security, the call to live openly with nothing to hide would likely be a challenging one for anyone to accept. Even most people who post on social media or on ‘reality’ tv shows are making a performance of who they are. They are not truly being themselves, and thus they are protecting themselves from the judgments of others, which prevents them from being truly free.
Epictetus reminds his listeners that the greatest punishments they can imagine (e.g., torture, execution, exile) are ultimately nothing. “My wretched body is nothing to me; its parts are nothing to me. Let death come when it will, either to the whole or a part. Exile? And where can ayone banish me to? Not beyond the universe. But wherever I go, there will be the sun, the moon, the stars, dreams, auguries, communication with the gods.” One of the things I’ve been reading lately is Ovid’s poetry from his place of exile. How far was he from this kind of attitude toward being forced to leave one’s home!
As a scholar of early Christianity who found the Cynic Jesus literature of the ‘90s to be really interesting, the next bit is especially fascinating. “He must know that he has been sent as a messenger (angelos) from Zeus to men concerning what is good and evil; to show them that they have gone astray, and are seeking the true nature of good and evil where it is not, without ever considering where it really is…” For Epictetus, the person who best exemplified this and who best understood that he was a sort of scout sent to tell people where they had gotten it wrong was Socrates. The ‘successful’ people that most might look to with envy, wealthy rulers like Croesus, Nero, or Agamemnon were miserable, constantly worried about things that were beyond their control. Following that path to ‘success’ was a huge mistake that just about everyone makes to some degree.
In an imagined discussion between a Cynic and someone who doubts that one can be happy living like a Cynic, Epictetus’s Cynic says that God has sent him as an example of how one can live happily.
“Look at me, I am without a country, without a home, without possessions, without a slave; I sleep out on the ground; I have no wife, no children, no fine residence, but only earth and heaven and one sorry cloak. And what do I lack? Am I not without sorrow, without fear? Am I not free? Did any of you ever see me disappointed in my desires, or falling into what I would avoid? Have I ever blamed god or man? Have I ever accused any one? Has any of you seen me with a sullen face? How do I treat those whom you fear and stand in awe of? Do I not treat them like slaves? Who, when he sees me, does not think that he is seeing his own king and master?”
It is only because a true Cynic does not just perform Cyncism, but has fully aligned themselves with Cynic values, that they are free. To so many people, today and also in antiquity, the lifestyle seems pitiable at best, definitely something to be avoided at all costs. And yet, for the Cynic, this is the only appropriate way for humans to live.
The hardships a Cynic faces are not to be avoided. “For this is a pretty strand woven into the Cynic’s destiny, that he must be beaten like an ass, and, when he is beaten, must love those who beat thim as though he were the father or brother of them all…And is he not persuaded, that whatever of those things he suffers, is imposed by Zeus to train him?” Epictetus compares the Cynic to Heracles, a son of god, performing his the labors assigned to him. An early Christian might hear this description and think of Jesus (or is that just me?). Heracles, though, is not someone I think of when I think of loving one’s enemies, so he falls short there.
Epictetus then turns to the questions of friends and family. A Cynic will only be friends with other Cynics. “For to be worthy of being numbered amongst his friends, a person must be another Cynic like himself.” Perhaps thinking of the example of Crates and Hipparchia, Epictetus allows that a Cynic might marry, were they to marry another Cynic, and if they lived in a community of people who did not need the figure of a Cynic to correct their errors.
“But as things are ordered at present, as though for a battle, is it not necessary that a Cynic should be free from distraction, wholly dedicated to the service of god, at liberty to walk about among mankind, not tied down to private duties, not entangled in relationships which cannot be violated if he is to maintain his character as a wise and good man, relationships which, if he remains faithful to them, will destroy him in his nature as a messenger and spy and herald of the gods?”
The self-designated apostle Paul had a similar view of marriage. Writing to the Corinthians, he discouraged people from getting married so they could focus fully on God and living a life of moral and physical purity, especially since the end of all things was just around the corner (Will Deming gets this a bit confused in his book Paul on Marriage and Celibacy). I’ve felt this same tension at times. Occasionally I think about living a life of service and making myself free in just such a Cynic fasion, so that I might be able to just take care of anyone and be free to challenge injustice and oppression wherever I find it. When I’ve been married and have had others to provide for, that just seems impossible, like Epictetus describes.
Epictetus pushes back against the fear that society will not be able to continue if people refuse to marry and procreate. He looks to the examples of Epaminondas, Homer, and Diogenes to argue that not having children does not mean that one cannot benefit one’s community or all of humanity even. “Consider, man, that he is the father of humankind, that all men are his sons, and all women his daughters. It is in this character that he approaches them all, and takes care of them all.” I think I have been feeling this call throughout my life, but especially since returning to a career in residence life. I’m no longer married, I’m no longer in the role of step-parent, I don’t even have a pet. But I get to work with and for hundreds of students and taking care of them and challenging them to be better is what I have come to see as my life’s calling. It’s not quite a Cynic’s calling since it comes with an on-campus apartment, but it’s the balance that’s right for me, at least for now.
The next aspect of public life that Cynic would refrain from is getting involved in politics. The topics they teach about are far more important that taxes, wars, or laws. That work can be left for others. A Cynic is there to do God’s work, not to get caught up in the details. Here is where I for one do not quite agree with Epictetus, or with the Cynics, but I’ll leave that for another time, perhaps when I’m writing about Cicero’s De Re Publica. For now, I’ll consider Epictetus’s final warning that this lifestyle is not for most people and you need to beware of your limits. I think I’m still figuring out where mine are, so I’ll continue to play it safe. But the ideal for me, in many ways, is the Cynic calling.
I listened to Royel Otis while writing this post.