Antisthenes' Literary Fragments: Edited with Introduction, Translations, and Commentary

Abstract

This thesis deals with the most important fragments of Antisthenes. The closest companion of Socrates, Antisthenes was himself a major thinker and far-famed writer of the late fifth and early fourth centuries BC. In antiquity he enjoyed a stellar reputation in the fields of literature and ethical philosophy, and was known as the equal of writers such as Plato, Xenophon, and Critias. In modern times, however, he has been largely ignored. The literary fragments are some of the most interesting and display Antisthenes' extraordinary variety and versatility. Compared with his more philosophical fragments, they have been the most neglected. These fragments throw positive light on all of Antisthenes' work. The major goal of this thesis is to demonstrate that Antisthenes was at least as much a literary as a philosophical figure. Another is to show that, in so far as Antisthenes was a philosophical figure, he was thoroughly Socratic, holding ethical values consistent with the elite, aristocratic class he kept company with, and undeserving of his reputation as a founder of Cynicism. The reputation of being a Cynic he only acquired in later antiquity, and yet it remains mostly unchallenged in modern scholarship. In demonstrating that Antisthenes was an important literary figure, this thesis will show that he played a seminal role in a range of literary innovations, including: the portrayal of character in prose writing (ethopoiia); the development of dialogue form; and the deployment of a systematic method of literary criticism. Among the very first Greek writers of prose fiction, Antisthenes used dialogue as a vehicle to convey his entire ethical programme – centred on excellence and justice. He wrote dialogues interpreting Homer, and he deployed a greater variety of strategies in his dialogues than most of his contemporaries – e.g. including mythical characters and himself as speaker.