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WANDERINGPHILOSOPHERSIN CLASSICALGREECE*
THEwandering philosopher is best known to us as a Romantic ideal that projects one's long-
ing for physical and mental withdrawal.1Rousseau's 'promeneursolitaire'does not cover great
distances to bring a message to the world. His wanderings,most often in the immediate sur-
roundings,ratherconvey spiritualalienation. But the 'promeneursolitaire'is not the only kind
of wandering philosopher known in Western culture. Itinerant philosophers existed already in
antiquity. During the Roman empire, many sages wanderedall over the Mediterraneanworld.
They went about for the sake of intellectual and spiritual enrichment, but essentially to spread
their teaching and to intervene in local quarrelsas religious consultants. Wanderingconnoted
their ambiguous status in society-both in and out-and thereby enhancedtheir charismaand
endowed them with an auraof superiorpower.2
The growing presence of wanderingphilosophersin the Roman empire is related to socio-
political and cultural factors. On the one hand, the unification of the Mediterraneanafter
Alexander,and especially underthe rule of Rome, made travelling easier and safer.3 The bur-
geoning of itinerant sages bears witness to the coherence of the Roman empire.4 On the other
hand, one's native city became less importantin the perceptionof one's role and identity. While
they usually did relateto theirnative communities,most sages propoundedcosmopolitanismand
cultivated remoteness.5 But what about earlier periods, when travelling was much less common
or desirable and when one's native city did represent a significant locus of identity? Why would
a philosopher embrace the behaviour of the wanderer in archaic and classical Greece? What
message, if any, would he want to convey?
By 'wandering'we primarilymean an unstructuredand unfocused movement. Greek has
two main verbs thatexpress this notion: d Xd a 0 a Land TrrXava
a9l. Both verbs (andtheircog-
nates) also describe the condition of the outcast, while TrXavdaOal can mean travelling, not
along a road,fromA to B, but along manyroads,withoutsettinga final destination.These seman-
tic overlaps alone suggest the complexity of connotations that the Greeks attached to wandering.
Since Homer, the wanderer was perceived as an uncanny figure, whose identity it was diffi-
cult to 'locate'. Wanderersare unknowable,unclassifiable. They could be anything because
they appearto be from everywhere and nowhere. A wanderermay look like a beggar, but he
could be a god. In the Odyssey, one of the 'proudyouths' makes precisely this point in rebuk-
ing Antinous, who has abusedthe 'wanderingbeggar' Odysseus: 'you did not well to strikethe
unhappy wanderer (8ViGTflVOV dX\1\Tfv), ruined man. What if perchance he is a god come
from the sky? And the gods, like strangersfrom a foreign land, assumingall sorts of shapesturn
in and out from city to city, looking at the violence and the justice of men' (Od. 17.483-7). The
wandererlives at the margins of humanity,both below and above: a beggar, he must creep
aroundasking for food, and cannotaffordto keep his dignity (Od. 17.578); a god, he judges men
from his superiorvantagepoint. Odysseus, whom the 'proudyouth' has before his eyes, indeed
6 Cf Pratt(1993) 89-93.
7 Cf. Segal (1994) 179-83, who plays on the pun dXf0r s/d XrjTrs in Od. 14.118-27.
8 dXX' OT6TE KaL KELVOS dTrTXOETO TrdL OCOlLV, / "TOL O KOlT TECSLOV TO 'AXJ"ov o OOS
cXdLTO, / 6v Ovpov KaTESWV, 1TrdTov dvOpPTrrovdXEELvwv (I1.6.200-2). Cf. Padel (1995) 102. Theimage
of a 'WanderingPlain', a fictionalplace thattakes its name from its function,and the repeatedalliteration' A Xr L'o vl
d Xd TO/ d X?eL vciv (etymologically related to d Xd olla i), characterizeBellerophon as the embodimentof the
wanderer.
9 TrXayKTOaUOVis 8' OVK EU TL KaKOTEpOV aQXXo PPOTOLCLV / dXX' EVEK' o6XopEivr|s yaCTpo0
KCaKd KiS e XOVoLV / d ve pEs, ov TLV' 'KETTl Cr TaK KQL
adXi KalL dXyos (Od. 15.343-5). Cf.
Padel (1995) 107. Wanderingassociatedwith suffering: cf. also Od. 13.418, 14.362, 15.176, 15.401, 16.205, 19.170.
Tragic poets similarly link wandering, evil, and divine wrath. Words related to wanderingbecome metaphorsfor
suffering. As Wilamowitz points out ((1969) 3.1197), TroXv'TrXayKTos in tragedy means both 'much wandering' and
'much suffering'.
where he was killed for having introducedGreek cults.19 Herodotus casts Anacharsis as a
Scythian Solon: they both go to 'many places' for the sake of the6rie and sophia.20
The Odyssean model of the wanderer who learns from his wanderings seems to underlie
Herodotus' description of Solon and Anacharsis. These sages even 'improve' Odysseus'
approach to wandering by embracing wandering voluntarily. Far from being forced to wander,
they choose to set off for the sake of observationand discovery. Unlike Odysseus, Solon and
Anacharsis are tourists.21 Odysseus unwillingly wanders away from his homeboundjourney,
while these sages willingly wanderfar fromhome. Odysseus' intendedmovementis centripetal,
Solon's and Anacharsis',centrifugal.
Their choice of wandering to accumulate knowledge is shared by Democritus, another world-
traveller who said of himself: 'I, among my contemporaries,wanderedmost over the earth,
inquiring the farthest things. I saw most skies and lands and heard most learned men...'22
Historein, associated with plane in Democritus' self-presentation,has the same meaning as
sophia or philosophein, similarly coupled with plane, in Herodotus'descriptionsof Solon and
Anacharsis. This semantic equivalence suggests a continuitybetween these images of wander-
ing sages and the first 'historians',who similarlypresentedthemselves as wandrers by choice.
Herodotus-who was a touristas much as his Solon andAnacharsis-indeed cast himself as an
Odysseanworld-inquirer.His travels, far from having a centreor a predeterminedpurpose,sat-
isfied the intellectual needs of the hour and accordingly produced a 'wandering writing'.23 The
model of Odysseus as a wandering storyteller may also underlie Herodotus' taste for fabulous
tales about fabulous lands.24 Before him, Hecataeushad called himself 'a man who wandered
much', d vT p TroXvTrXavrj s.25 There is hardlyany differencebetween these wanderingmen
of learning in their approach to knowledge: both the 'historian' and the 'philosopher' aim at
understanding the complexity and variety of the world by their all-encompassing travels.
A Presocratic philosopher who travels to expand his knowledge is the opposite of the
Romantic wanderer who moves away from men. The wandering philosopher in Solon's version
does not withdraw from his fellow humans: he is not a 'promeneur solitaire', no matter how
19 Hdt. 4.76.4-5: ... ETrELTE -yTV TO\XXTV 0ewp1ijo as KCtal dTro8Edlevos KCT' cLVTT\V CTO(LrIV
tiTOXX\. Cf. Hartog (1980) 82-101; Martin(1996) 142-3; Payen (1997) 57-8. Khazanov (1982) 16-17 and 21
readsthis version of Anacharsis'deathas a sign of widespreadhostility againstGreekculturein sixth-centuryScythia.
20 Cf Hartog (1980) 83-; Kindstrand(1981) 27-8. The legend of Anacharsiswill connect the two: cf. D.L.
1.101-2. I take d TrTo8d pEvos-in Herodotus'passage as coming fromdLTro8e xoai ('I receive') ratherthanfrom
d TTroS l KVV[L ('I display'). Cf Kindstrand(1981) 27-8: Kindstrandthinks thatthe underlyingtraditionis precise-
ly that of Greekphilosopherstravelling,and he cites the passage of Diodorus Siculus aboutGreektravellersto Egypt
(1.96.1) in which the verb 8e xo0aL is used in a similarcontext. Indeed,in reportinga differentversion of the story,
HerodotuspresentsAnacharsisexplicitly a student,ratherthantas a eacher (77): 'he became a studentof Greece'
(TTJs 'E E Xd 8os ca6OrTTsr).It is true that the 'student'ends up criticizingthe Greeks (except the Spartans); but
this does not mean that he becomes a teacher. Contra: Ungefehr-Kortus(1996) 36-40. Only in laterversions of the
legend is Anacharsispresented as the foreign who teaches the Greeks. On this famous development, cf esp.
teaches
Greign
sage
Kindstrand(1981); Martin(1996). On Anacharsis'wanderings,cf. also D.L. 1.103 (TrXavnriLs); Ael. VH 5.17:
'AvaXCpcLs. . . Ka TrepaLTEp iTrporiyays TV aTrXdvtv;Lucianus,Anach. 18: Eyoh vo(ds Kal TiXdvrsO
dvOpwTrog.See also infra.
21 Homeric Odysseus is not a tourist; he only 'made the best of his enforcedwanderings'(Stanford(1968) 87).
22 DK 68 B 299: 8E TOV KaT' ELalUTOV dvCpoiTrmv yfjv TXELUCT11V ETrETrXav1acTd [rlv
Eyoy
LCTOpEWV Td [jflKL(Ta KaCLLdetpaCs TE Kal yE-as TXELUTaTS ET8OV KCal Xoyov dvbpdiv
TrXELCT&V E1TrKOUaot... Cf. Marincola(1997) 2.
23 On Herodotusas a tourist,cf. Redfield (1985) and Casson
a95-111.
(199485) On the Odysseanmodel underlying
Herodotus'self-presentation,cf. Marincola(1997). The Odysseanreferenceis clear fromthe beginningof Herodotus'
work (1.5.13-14): '... going over large and small cities of men alike', where 'going over' (e rTreLov) connects
Herodotus'wanderingsas a travellerwith his wanderingsas a writer. He will go over in writing the places he has
gone over in his travels. On the relatively improvisedcharacterof Herodotus'travels, cf. Asheri (1991) xvi-xvii. On
the historian's'wanderingwriting', cf. Payen (1997) 334-8.
24 Marincola(1997) 13-18.
25 FGrHist 1 T 12a. Cf. Marincola(1997) 2.
This is the first time that a Greek philosopher refers to himself as a lonely, exiled wanderer. But
Empedocles presents this condition as a doom.30 His descriptionof the stained demons, who
wander rejected by all the elements, foreshadows Plato's description of the evil soul, likewise
condemnedto wander apart: 'Everyone flees and avoids it; no one wants to become its travel
companion or its guide, and it wanders alone in utter distress...'31 In both cases, wanderingin
solitude is the punishmentfor a fault, and not the conscious behaviourof a withdrawnmind.
Empedocles chooses the image of the outcast wandererto picture the hardshipof human life
under the necessary domination of Strife. The demon who stained himself with perjuryand
26 In classical Greece, however, travellerswere hardlyalone on the road. Only the very poor and the exile trav-
elled alone: cf Casson (1994) 76.
27 An example is Thales of Miletus, who allegedly said of himself that he lived 'in solitude and as a private
38 In describingthe condition of the soul, an anonymous authorfrom the Pythagoreanschool opposes quiet and
wanderingin a way that foreshadowsPlatonic images (cf. Phd. 79c 7-d 5; 81a 6-8): 'When [sc. the soul] is strong
and at rest within itself (KaO' aiTvT v yeVOiE
VT0pE T I t), speeches and deeds become its ties; when it is thrown
upon the earth, it wanders (TrXdCcr0ai)in the air like the body' (DK 1 B a). In a much-discussed fragment of
Parmenides(DK 16 B), probably to be assigned to the way of seeming (Gallop (1984) 87), the 'wanderinglimbs'
(p,eoE v TroXVuTrXayKT)v) signify either the instabilityof humansand the constantchange in their constitutionand
mentality (Coxon (1986) 90) or even noetic impotence (Wilamowitz(1969) 3.1196); in another(DK 6 B), ignorant
mortals wander (PPOTOL EL66TEs oV8Ev / TrXa(CovTaL; the verb is an emendation of the transmitted
TrXdTTOvTaL),preyto d [Ir|xavL T in their 'wanderingmind' (TrrXayKTOv voov); in a thirdfragment(DK 8 B 54),
wanderingmeans erring. Democritusrelates wanderingto disordersin the body (B 57, 2; 126; A 135;A 152) and to
the beginnings of existence (B 148: the navel grows in the uterus as a supportagainst wandering; A 95: the earth
wandereduntil it became thicker and heavier). Finally, we shall see that in Critias'Rhadamanthyswanderingcon-
notes greed and instability.
39 The Sophistic writing Dissoi Logoi, however, betrays some ethnographicinterest in that it uses oppositions
between the customs of differentpeoples: cf. Kerferd(1981) 112.
40 Cf. Kerferd(1981)passim, esp. 15 and 23, 42.
41
Cf Kerferd(1981) 44-5; Rankin(1983) 38.
42 With Stanford(1968) 96, one can read Gorgias'and, more generally,the Sophists' depreciationof Odysseus in
the light of 'the common tendency to be severest on others for one's own dearestfaults'.
43 Cf. II. 9.648, 16.59; Od. 17.245-6, 20.377, 21.327 and 400.
44 ...TOV kWa0r1iaTa CrVVWVOViEVOV TrOXLV TE EK TroXEwsVOlCltaTOS (Sph. 224b1-2).
da[L3OVTacfvT...
(317d 5-6). Everyone takes his place on benches and the dialogue begins 'when we were all
seated' (317e 3). Its opening repeats the discussion that Socrates and Hippocrateshave had
before, while they were walking in Socrates'courtyard.
Talking and walking warms up the mind. Socrates introducesthe topic of the discussion
while walking with Hippocrates,but only as a sort of 'rehearsal',in preparationfor the more
demandingchallenge thatwill take place in the seatedposition.52 Sitting down marksthe end of
the preliminariesand the beginning of the formal dialogue, in climactic contrastwith Socrates'
and Hippocrates'privatediscussion as well as with Protagoras'meaningless conversation,both
of which take place while walking. A similarpatterncan be observed in the Phaedrus. When
he fell in with Socrates,Phaedruswas going off to the countryin orderto study Lysias' speech:
he wanted to 'practise'it while walking (228b 6). Conversely,the properdiscussion (inaugurat-
ed by Phaedrus'reading of the speech) takes place while sitting or reclining (229b 2, 230e 3).
Because sittingtogetherhas egalitarianovertonesin classical Greekculture,I would suggest that
this position conveys the 'egalitarian'characterof the philosophical discussion: the actors are
all equally situated to search for a truthwhich belongs to everyone and to no one.53 Sitting
togetheris the position of sharing.
Plato, however, also describes solitarythinking. But Plato's solitarythinker,far from being
a wanderer, stands immobile. He does not even sit, like Heracles in Prodicus' allegory.
Standing,not walking or wandering,is the metaphoricalposture of the philosopherwho with-
drawsfrom the upheavalsof life: 'remainingquiet and mindinghis own business, and standing
aside (d Tro a T a s) undershelter of a wall as in a stormof dust and rain broughtby the wind ...
he is happyif in any way he can live this life free frominjusticeandunholy deeds...' (Rep 6.496d
6-e 1). Socrates'most intense intellectualsearchestake place in this position of standingwith-
drawal. While he is going with Aristodemus to Agathon's house at the beginning of the
Symposium,Socrates suddenly starts lagging behind: 'Then, Socrates turnedhis thoughts to
himself and walked along the way, falling behind' (174d 4-6). One of Agathon's slaves finds
the thinkerin his mental retreat,standingin the porch next door (175a 8). Indeed,Aristodemus
explains that standing immobile is a patternin Socrates' behaviour: 'This is a habit of his.
Sometimeshe standsaside andremainsstanding(d TTd.C S C'. . CTq KEv) whereverhe happensto
be' (175b 1-2). Like the withdrawnphilosopherdescribedin the Republic,Socrates'standsaside'
(aphistemi). This posturealone allows him to 'find' and to 'hold' what he is seeking (175d 2).
Alcibiades present ocrates
ates in the same position at the end of the Symposium. During the
of
siege Potidaea,Socratesaccomplishedan exploit of intellectualendurancethat took the form
of an unshakablestandingimmobility:
'Butwhatthatenduringmandidandsuffered'duringthecampaign,it is worthhearing.For,engrossed
in thought,he stoodtherescrutinizingsomethingsincedawn,andsincehe was not advancingin his
search,he didnotgiveupbutstoodtheresearching.Itwasalreadymiddaywhenthemenrealizedwhat
was happening;theyweresurprisedandtoldeachotherthatSocrateshadbeenstandingtherethink-
ing aboutsomethingsincedawn. At last,wheneveningcame,someloniansafterdinnerbroughtout
theirpallet-beds(forit was summerthen),bothto sleepin thecool airandto watchwhetherhe would
standthereevenall nightlong. He stoodthereuntilmorning,whenthe sunrose. Thenhe wentaway
havingsaidhis prayersto the sun(220c 2-d 5).
52
Cf. also Euthd. 271a 8-b 7 (the discussion takes place sitting), 272e -273b (a group of men walk about, but
finally they sit down to talk).
53 On the egalitarianconnotationsof this
posturein the context of the Greekassembly,cf., for instance,Cic. Flac.
7.16.
54Nu. 415, cited by D.L. 2.27. This quality is partof Socrates talaip6ron.
55 Nu. 362-3, cited by D.L. 2.28.
56 On Socrates'paradoxicalcourage, see Loraux (1995) 155. Lorauxshows that Socrates subvertsthe values of
hoplite moralityby fleeing nobly, while hoplite moralitydoes not conceive of such a thing as a noble flight.
57 The citation 'what that enduringman did and suffered'is taken from Hom. Od. 4.242 and 271. In 4.271, the
phrase introducesthe narrationof how Odysseus quieted the Achaeans hidden in the TrojanHorse, preventingthem
from rushingout or from respondingto the alluringvoice of Helen. Odysseus succeeds in reducinghis companions
to immobilitybecause he succeeds time and again in remainingimmobile himself.
58 Cf. Loraux(1995) 158: 'the philosopherstands firm in logos as in life'. Lorauxobserves the frequentoccur-
rences of menein in the Phaedo. Menein, 'to remain', is the hoplite's duty. Even the hoplite's movementhas a static
quality because of the compact orderin which it occurs.
59 Similarly,Diogenes Laertiusconfounds Socrates'intellectualexploit with his militaryprowess by omittingto
say that Socratesstood there 'thinking'(we know from Plato thatthis is the case, but in Laertius'formulationSocrates'
sustainedposition could also be taken as an exercise of physical endurance). Moreover,immediatelyafternarrating
this episode, Laertiussays that Socrates won the prize for valour. The readercannot fail to relate Socrates'military
decorationto his intellectualexploit.
60 Socrates' intense concentrationshould not be mistakenfor a mystic rapture: cf. Dover (1995) at 220 c 4. The
phrase o0 K d Vl eL (220 c 5), 'he did not give up', that is, he would not 'slacken', 'loosen' the mind, suggests
Socrates' mental 'tightness', for d v LT L is used for the unstringingof musical instruments. Aristophanesmocks
Socrates'techniquesof concentrationby showing the philosopherask his studentStrepsiadesto lie down on a bed and
to cover himself (Nu. 633, 694, 727, 735). Fromthis unusualposition, Strepsiadeswill engage in a very loose search;
far from focusing on one and the same idea, he will dropany idea thatmay cause embarrassmentand 'move on' (744);
his mind will benefit from some airing, from a 'slackening towardthe sky' (762-3).
against travelling.61 But when he calls his travels to Sicily plane, he emphasizes the failure of
his mission. In the Seventh Letter (350 d 5-6), Plato says that 'he hated his Sicilian wanderings
and misfortune'(...JLeJLLCr1TKS' TTV TrEPL XLKEXiav TrXdvrlv KCaLdCTvXav).62 The
term plane conveys the ineffectiveness of the journeys and the unwillingness of the traveller.63
Plato indeed depicts himself as a passive traveller, an avatar of Odysseus the suffering wander-
er (345 d 8-e 1): he has been 'forced' to go to Sicily for the thirdtime and 'again to cross in its
length deadly Charybdis'.64 By means of this Homeric quotation, Plato identifies with
Odysseus, but he views wandering under a purely negative light: unlike Odysseus, Plato has not
acquiredextensive knowledge from his toilsome wanderings.
It is true that at the beginning of the Sophist Plato does not attach these negative connotations
of wanderingto the philosopher. Socrates describes the true philosopheras a wandererwhose
epiphaniesresemblethose of Homeric gods:
These men-not the counterfeitbut the truephilosophers-appearing in 'all sorts of shapes'because of
the ignoranceof the others, 'turnin and out from city to city' looking down fromthe heights on the lives
of those below. To some they seem worthyof nothing,to othersof everything. At times they appearas
statesmen,at timesas sophists,andat timestheymaygive theimpressionof beingtotallymad.65
The image of the philosopher who goes from place to place is not a negative one in this passage.
Plato seems eager to differentiate from the start this figure from the wandering Sophist: later in
this dialogue, the wandering Sophist will be called a merchant, while the wandering philosopher
is a judge; his disguise, unlike the Sophist's, is not meant to deceive, but depends on the igno-
rance of the non-philosopherswho cannot see his real image.66 Like a god, the philosopher
inhabits too bright a region for mortal eyes to reach.67 However, Plato does not idealize the
philosopher qua wanderer. Wanderingconnotes the unknowabilityof this figure ratherthan
describing an actual behaviour. The philosopher is a wandreer in the sense that he can hardly be
spotted and grasped. Plato draws on the wider culturalassociation of wanderingwith elusive-
ness, although the elusiveness of a true philosopher is not in his nature, as in the case of
Odysseus (or, negatively, of the Sophists), but in the deficient eyes of the beholder. By conjur-
ing up this undefinable figure at the beginning of a dialogue that aims at distinguishing the
61 His ideal philosopheris called to educateboth his own citizens and others. In the Sophists,the tension between
these complementaryroles of the philosopheris reflected in Plato'sdouble 'disguise': on the one hand as Socrates,
who never left Athens, and on the other as the Eleatic Stranger,who is visiting Athens from abroadto make a gift of
his knowledge. On the oppositionbetween Socratesand the Eleatic Stranger,cf. Rosen (1983) 108.
62
Cf. also 344 d 3.
63 Plato uses plane and cognates much more frequently in a disparagingthan in a neutral sense. The neutral
instances are Ti. 38 c 5, 39 d 1, 40 b 7; [Epin.] 986 b 2; Lg. 7. 821 b 9 and c 4 ('planets, movement of the planets');
Lg. 3.683 a 3 ('digression'); Lg. 1. 633 c 3 (wanderingas a componentof Spartaneducation); Ap. 22 a 7 (Socrates'
wandering; see infra); Plt. 264 c 7 (touring); Rep. 2.371 d 7 (wanderingmerchants; see supra). In all the other
instances, wanderinghas strongly negative meanings: mainly, it is a metaphorfor intellectualconfusion, unsteadi-
ness, deficiencies (for instance,Rep. 6.484 b 6, 505 c 7; [Hp.Mi.]376 c 3-7; Sph. 230 b 5, 245 e 5; Parm. 135 e 3,
136 e 2; planaomai is most often used in this sense) and belongs with the body as opposed to the soul, with opinion
as opposed to knowledge (for instance,Phd. 79 d 5, 81 a 6; Alc. 1.117 a 10-12; Men. 248 a 2; Ti.43 b 6, 47 c 4, 88 e
3, 91 c 5; Rep. 5.479 d 9, 9.586 a 3; Ti. 19 e 4; see supra).
64 Hom. Od. 12.428.
65 dv6pE' OVTOL 'TTaVTOLOL'
faVTCa(toieVOL bid T1IV TOV (dXXwv dyvoLav
'EaTLETpxGT fxWjL Tr6TOfas',
oL 1(T TTXaCOT(S dXX' 6VTWS' L\XO6cOOOLKaOOp6OVTE VI660EV
I TOV TL)V KdaTW L'OV, Kal TOL[ [IE\V
SOKOVCLV cIVaL TODVti8EVO6 TLiLOL, TOLS 8' daLOL TOVD rctVT6g' KcaL
TOpVl TE T rOXLTLKOL fCtav-
Td(OVTaL, TOTE 8c CTO7tLCTac, TOTE 8' ECUTLVot0 86Ctav TrapadxoLVT' aV 'g rTCtVTCTCarctVEXOVTES
LavLK(is'(216 c 4-d 2). ThequotedwordsarefromHom.Od. 17.485-6. Even thoughhe uses e TrLTp4)cLv, Socrates
is referringto wanderingphilosophers. For the lines from the Odyssey apply to a wanderer,Odysseus (d XrjTl v at
483). See supra.
66
Cf. Movia (1994) 46. On the difficulty of recognizing the philosopher,cf. also Bluck (1975) 30-1.
67 Cf. also Sph. 254 a 8-b 1.
philosopher from the Sophist and the statesman,Plato suggests the difficulty of such a task.
Should the philosopherbe defined, he would cease to be a wanderer.
But what about Socrates'wanderings? According to what Plato has him say in the Apology,
Socrates went 'wandering' (he uses the word plane) all over the city of Athens in order to
verify the Delphic oracle that had proclaimed him the wisest of all men; to prove its truth,
he searchedeverywhere for a person wiser than himself (22a-e).68 Socrateshighlights in tradi-
tional termshis alleged unwillingnessto set off to wander: his wanderingsare 'labours',ponous;
they are an obligation(cfJ21e 5: LT e o v), a constraint(21e 4: d vayKacLov), a servitude(23c 1).
By emphasizinghis passivity, Socrates dresses himself up as an embodimentof Heracles, who
was likewise forced to wanderand whose labourshad been as beneficial to mankindas Socrates
claims his own to be. UndoubtedlySocrates sets himself up as a wanderinghero. But in what
sense? Can we infer from this picturethat Plato romanticizedthe wanderingphilosopher?
Plato's Socrates does not endow wanderingwith any symbolic meaning; going about is just
a means to make contact, to engage in dialogue. Plato casts Socrates'wanderingas a miniature
(a mockery?) of Presocratictravels. Like Solon accordingto Herodotus,Socrates embarkson
his wandering(in both cases the term is plane) for the sake ofsophia. But the resultof Socrates'
wanderingis only negative knowledge (no one is wise; therefore,what the oracle meant is that
there is hardlyany humansophia). Unlike Solon, who has acquiredpositive knowledge through
his wanderings, Socrates has only acquired the knowledge that there is no one who knows.
Moreover,the very choice of the wordplan has ironicalovertoneswhen appliedto the man who
loathedtravelling.69Unlike the extensive travelsof the Presocratics,Socrates'wanderingscover
very little distance: they are confined to the city of Athens.
In sum, Plato did not romanticizewandering,let alone the wanderingphilosopher.Along tra-
ditional lines, he associatedwanderingwith passivity and sufferingon the one hand,with decep-
tion, elusiveness, and even greed on the other. He presented Socrates'wanderings(no matter
how urgenttheirmotivation)as a simple means to make contact,withoutaddingany significance
to the act of wandering in itself. Ratherthan romanticizingthe wanderingphilosopher,Plato
romanticizedthe standingthinker. This is not surprising,given that Plato was the first philoso-
pherto choose a permanentsetting for his teaching,the Academy. This foundingseems to mate-
rialize in stone his conviction that a nomadic attitudedoes not help the cause of philosophy.70
By contrast,his younger contemporary(and opponent) Diogenes the Cynic was convinced
that a nomadic attitudenot only helped the cause of philosophy,but also was the condicio sine
qua non for the philosophical life. Diogenes may well have been 'a philosopherin a recogniz-
ably Greektradition-a walking and talkingphilosopher'.71The practiceof walking while talk-
ing was indeed becoming more and more common in philosophicalcircles, as suggested by the
very names of Aristotle's and Zeno's schools.72 Diogenes, however, did not presenthimself as
a book on the lives of philosophers (D.L. 5.36, 6.81, 9.42). The spreadingof the philosophical walk is probably
relatedto the more generalspreadingof walking as a leisurely activity. Even thoughthe Greeksvalued leisurelywalk-
ing already in the fifth and fourthcenturiesBC (cf Bremmer(1991) 19), the impressive improvementsin city plan-
ning and the developmentof tourism from the Hellenistic period onwardsmay have contributedto the diffusion of
this practice. At least in Romantimes, vacationingincludedstrollingamong its pleasures,as the architectureof many
a Romanvilla, with its shadowy alleys and porticos, suggests (cf Casson (1994) 138-48).
73D.L. 6.38 = TGF Adesp.284. The ancientsources agree in attributingthis saying, or variantsof it, to Diogenes.
Cf Jul. Or 9. 256d, 6.195b; Arr.Epict. 3 22.45-7 and 4.8.31; Ael. VH3.29. This unanimousagreement(whereas in
attributingmany other sayings our sources disagree) suggests that Diogenes' statementcould hardlybe attributedto
anyone else.
74 D.L. 6.63. This attributionis probablycorrect; cf Hoistad (1948) 141-2; Moles (1993) 260. H6istad cites a
passage from Lucian'sPhilosophersfor Sale (8) that supportsthe attribution.Asked where he was from, Diogenes
answered: 'You see a citizen of the world' (TOV KOCRtOU TroXlTIV).
75 Cf. Lana (1951) 213-15, also Baldry (1965) 58.
76 See supra and D.L. 9.35-6.
77 Cf Navia (1996) 87. Diogenes spent his philosophicalcareereither in Athens, or in Corinth,or between these
two cities.
78 It is widely agreedthat Diogenes advocates a negative form of cosmopolitanism,one that denies adherenceto
any individualcommunityinstead of assertinga universalcommunityof men. Cf Sayre (1938) 12-13 and 119-21;
Baldry (1965) 108; Ungefehr-Kortus(1996) 100-1; Navia (1996) 24 n.61, 101, 137-8. Navia draws a parallel
between the saying attributedto Anaxagoras (see supra) and Diogenes' negative cosmopolitanism (102). But
Diogenes does not even advocate the superiorkosmos of the mind as one's only true citizenship. On Diogenes' neg-
ative cosmopolitanism,cf also Lana (1951) 194 n.2 and 338; Dorandi(1993) 68. Contra:Moles (1993). In arguing
that Cynic cosmopolitanismhas a positive side, Moles insists that Diogenes did not say 'I am apolis' when asked
where he came from (264). But he did so when he attributedthe 'curses of tragedy'to himself! In my opinion, Moles'
interpretationminimizes the differencebetween Cynic and Stoic positions (see esp. 277), for the Stoics undoubtedly
propoundeda positive form of cosmopolitanism. Cf Navia (1996) 113.
79 Cf [Diog.] Ep. 1.1; Plu. Mor. 662a; D. L. 6.49; Branham(1993) 455. On the episode of the adulterationof
the coinage and its allegoricalinterpretation(deface the local currency= subvertconventionalmoralvalues), cf. Sayre
(1938) 65; Hoistad (1948) 10-12; Paquet(1975) 59 n.; Onfray(1990) 116-17; Navia (1996) 90-3.
80 Cf. also Plu. Mor. 602a; [Diog.] Ep. 1.1. Lucian (Vit.auct. 9) considers 'leaving the paternalhouse' as one of
the tenets of Cynic philosophy. A milder version of Diogenes' praise of exile as a prerequisitefor the philosophical
life can be found in Arr.Epict. 3.16.11. However, Diogenes' proclaimedindifferenceto all places does not imply a
renunciationof the world; cf. Long (1996) 39-40. In so far as he does not renouncethe world, the Cynic wanderer
differs significantly from the Christianascetic. The two figures have been comparedsince late antiquity(cf. Sayre
(1948) 27; Downing (1993) 282 and 286; Anderson (1994) 6; Matton (1996) 240-64). Still in the Middle Ages,
Christianascetics, like Diogenes, embraced a life of peregrinatio by exiling themselves from their fatherland(cf.
Ladner(1967) 233-59). For the Christianascetic, however, to be a wanderermeans to emphasizethe fleeting condi-
tion of our life on earth. It is possible that Diogenes, too, associatedwanderingwith the fragility of the humancon-
dition, if these lines belong to one of his tragedies (Stobaeus, one of the sources for this fragment,attributesit to
Sophocles): 'Humanrace, mortaland miserable/We are but reflections of shades/ who wander,a useless weight, on
earth'(4.2.34, 1= TGF 859). But the Cynic wandererdoes not know of any other dwelling than the earthwhere he
wanders.
81It is even debatedwhetherthe Cynosargeshosted Antisthenes'teaching; cf Giannantoni(1993) 15-34; Billot
(1993) 69-116; Navia (1996) 16. Whateverthe answer,Diogenes did not teach there. Therefore,in orderto associ-
ate the Cynosargeswith the Cynics one must give credit to the traditionalaffiliationAntisthenes-Diogenes, which is
far from certain. But even if the Cynosargesis connected with the Cynics, what other place could be more 'atopos'
with respectto the conventionalsocial norms? A gymnasiumfor non-citizens,the Cynosargeswas located outside the
city walls. It was the space of the outcast,of the wanderer. Cf. Onfray(1990) 19: 'Au Cynosargese retrouvaientles
exclus de la citoyennete... L'ecole cynique voit donc le jour en banlieu, loin des quartiersriches, dans un espace con-
sacre aux exclus et aux laisses-pour-comptede l'orgueil grec.'
82The tragic fragmentthat Diogenes attributesto himself begins with two privativeadjectives (a-polis, a-oikos)
followed by 'bereft of country'. Cynic freedom is especially negative: cf. H6istad (1948) 15; Goulet-Caze(1986)
19-20. On freedom as the supremeCynic value (insteadof 'nature'or 'self-sufficiency'), cf. Branham(1993) 463.
83 On Diogenes' wanderingas an image of his freedom, cf. also [Diog.] Ep. 34.22-3: 'I roam the entire earth,a
free man, under fatherZeus, fearing none of the great lords.'
at times because of some necessity, at times for the sake of the spectacle itself. And it is somethingof
this kind thathappenedto Odysseus: 'he saw the cities and learnedthe minds of manymen'. And even
before, it fell to Heracles to go aroundthe entire inhabitedworld, 'seeing the haughty and the just
behaviourof men', purifyingthe world by throwingout the one, and introducingthe other. Yet, how
many friendsdo you thinkhe had in Thebes, how many in Athens, and how many did he acquiregoing
around? He even married,when he saw fit, and begot childrenand then left them without groaningor
longing for them (Arr.Epict. 3.24.12-14).84
Epictetus presents the condition of the wanderer as 'natural' (12) and pleasurable. His Odysseus
travels not only 'because of some necessity', in keeping with the Homeric picture of the hero,
but also 'for the sake of the spectacle itself'. This un-Homeric recasting of the unwilling wan-
derer as a tourist puts forward the happy disposition and even the initiative of the wanderer.
Epictetus' Odysseus, who goes about to contemplate the world, resembles Horace's, an example
of Stoic uirtus and sapientia because of his wanderings: 'the tamer of Troy, who, with fore-
thought, observed the cities and the customs of many men, and, while he was preparingthe
return for himself and his companions, endured much hardship on the vast sea, undrownable by
the waves of adversity' (Ep. 1.219-22). Odysseus the wanderer not only 'endures', but also 'sees
forward' (prouidus) and 'examines' (inspexit).85 Even though Epictetus and Horace, in a Stoic
fashion, emphasize in Odysseus' wanderings the coincidence of necessity and pleasure, of des-
tiny and will, their Odysseus speaks like the Presocratics or the first historians who satisfied their
intellectualcuriosity in their wanderings.
In this respect, Epictetus' position is not original. But the introduction of Heracles into the
picture adds a privative meaning to wandering. Heracles appeals to Epictetus as the prototype
of the cosmopolitan wan
wanderer who is urged to move on and does not regret leaving things behind.
As a non-Athenian, whose temple stood next to the gymnasium for non-citizens on the
Cynosarges, Heracles lent himself to being cast as a homeless, cosmopolitan wanderer.86
Epictetus reads Heracles' cosmopolitan wanderings in the light of the Cynic-Stoic ideal of emo-
tional detachment. Albeit inflicted on him,87wanderingallows Heracles to display his superior
knowledge and independence. Heracles is like a god who wanders to judge the deeds of men
without attachinghimself to anythingor anyone.88
Likewise, the Cynics seem to have admiredAnacharsis'wanderingsas a token of independ-
ence and self-sufficiency. The main reason for their idealizationof Anacharsiswas probablyhis
Scythian accent. Unlike other legendarycharacteristicsof the sage, Anacharsis'way of speak-
ing is emphasized only in Cynic writings (in particular, in the Letters of Anacharsis).
84 The quotationis from Horn. Od. 17.487. On Epictetus'Cynic inspirationin this passage, see Hoistad (1948)
34. Hoistadcomparesthis passagewith Arr.Epict.2.16.44, where Heraclessimilarlystandsout as theperierchomenos
hero.
85A comparisonwith the beginning of the Odyssey shows the distancebetween Horace's and Homer's hero with
respect to wandering. 1TXdyXOrq(Od. 1.2) disappearsfrom Horace's version; inspexit highlights Odysseus' visual
and mental activity more than Homeric L'SE V (Od. 1.3); finally,prouidus is absent from Homer,unless it translates
TroXvTpoTrosg. But in this case, while TroXVTpoTros9
means 'turned in many ways' as much as 'of many turns',
prouidus refers only to Odysseus'mental alertness,not to his passivity as a wanderer.
86 Cf. Hoistad(1948) 34.
87As early as the Homeric Hymnto Heracles, Heracles'wanderingsare presentedas a feat of endurance,in very
similartermsas those of Odysseus: '...who beforehand,wanderingover the immense earthand the sea underthe com-
mands of lord Eurystheus,did many reckless things, and many endured'(4-6: os lTpiLV PEv KaTd yalav
dQFOaTov i8? OdXatauav / irXacdoe?voS" UTT' EOpvCTfjos"
TTOL1TT1LVLV TvaKTos / TroXXdpev avTo
EpetEV dTda9OaXa, TroXXd8' d vE TX)). In Euripides'Heracles, Amphitryonsays of him (1196-7): 'Youcould
not see anothermortalwho suffered and wanderedmore' (ovK dv Et8E(rSL YTEPOV / TroXIVRoXO6TEPOV 1roXV-
rrXayKTOTEpOvV TE OvaT6V).
88The line 'seeing the haughtyand the just behaviourof men' (Od. 17.487) follows the two lines about the wan-
dering gods that Plato refers to the truephilosophersin the Sophist. Cf. supra.
Anacharsis' barbarian accent could easily appeal to the Cynics because of their preference for
'deeds' over 'words'.89
However, the Cynics could not ignore another characteristic of Anacharsis that had already
become legendary: as a Scythian, Anacharsis was a paradigm of nomadic existence, a prototype
of the wanderer. Lucian gives to his presentation of wandering Anacharsis a distinct Cynic twist.
In the Anacharsis, Solon jokingly suggests that the Scythian sage should be the educator of the
Athenians. Anacharsis rejoins with his usual wit: 'How could I, a nomad and a wanderer
(voi_d s' KCL TTrXd vrS'), who has lived in a chariot exchanging one land for another at differ-
ent times, and has never dwelt in a city or seen one except now, relate about politics and teach
men born from the soil, who have inhabitedthis very old city for such a long time in good
order...?'(18). This Anacharsisrecalls Diogenes: both attachthe label of the wandererto them-
selves in the first person. Like Diogenes, Anacharsisdoes not call himself a wandererto convey
his experience of the world (he has only crossed land after land and not seen a single city);
rather,he points to his consistentnomadic life-style that characterizeshim as the opposite of the
autochthonous Athenian. In emphasizing that nomadism is incompatible with politeia,
Anacharsis echoes the Cynic ideal of the wanderer alien to the administrationof the city.90
Similarly,Plutarch'spresentationof Anacharsis in the Banquet of the Seven Sages (Mor. 155
a-b) matches Diogenes' description of himself as a wanderer and an exile. Plutarch depicts
Anacharsis as homeless and proud to be so (ae?vlVVETCai TOL GtOL KO' EcvcaL). His
89 Martin(1996) 152-4.
90 His words reverse the negative meaning that Plato attributedto the same association of wanderingand politi-
cal incompetencein the Sophist: cf. supra. MaximusTyriusalso associatesDiogenes' wanderingand his indifference
to politics (36.5, cited supra). On the presence of Cynic elements in the Anacharsis, see Kindstrand(1981) 66-7.
Kindstrandarguesthatnone of the charactersshould be regardedas Cynic, but that Lucianused materialprovidedby
the Cynics in composing the dialogue.
91 Cf Martin(1996) 147. On the possible Cynic influence on Plutarch'streatise,cf also Kindstrand(1981) 48.
On Anacharsis'wanderings,cf also Aelian: 'The Scythians wander (-rrXavCivTal) aroundtheir own land, whereas
Anacharsis,a wise man, pushed his wandering(TrXd v-rv) even further. He came to Greece, and Solon admiredhim'
(VH 5.7). But this Anacharsisis not a Cynic wanderer: like Solon (andAnacharsishimself) accordingto Herodotus,
he travels for the sake of sophia, and not to propound nomadism as a life-style (although Aelian leaves it
unclear whetherAnacharsiscame to Greece to teach or to leam: he says only 'because he was a wise man', d'T
dvi p caoos6).
92The presence of Cynic elements in Letter5 has been noticed by Kindstrand(1981) 64. On KOL TI Trdaa y rf,
'the entire earth', ratherthan 'the naked earth', cf Ungefehr-Kortus(1996) 99.
93 In Str. 7.3.9; cf Kindstrand(1981) 62, 64; Cremonini(1991) 19. KindstrandarguesthatLetter 5 depends on
Ephorus'passage.
94 See [Anach.] Ep. 9 with the comments of Cremonini(1991) 27-8.
senting himself as an outcast wanderer, the Cynic advertises his contempt for social conventions
and his practice of hardship. Cynic wandering, no matter how solitary, has an audience. It is not
by chance that it fell to the Cynics, the least intellectualand the most exhibitionistphilosophers,
to make wanderinga partof theirprogramme. For no Greekphilosopherin the classical period
is reportedas wanderingwhile he is seeking mental concentrationand withdrawal. The with-
drawnthinkerstands, like Socrates in the Symposium; sits, like Heracles in Prodicus'allegory;
or walks in order,up and down, like Plato as caricaturedby the comic poet Alexis. He does not
wander. In the backgroundof such widespreadresistance to associating the behaviourof the
concentratedphilosopherwith that of the solitarywandereris the tendency,equally widespread
in Greek thought,to perceive the wandereras a deceiver or a mad person. These connotations
of wanderingmay explain why the figure of the wanderercould hardlyappealto the philosopher
who seeks the 'unerring'truthand aims for self-possession (thatis, for an 'unwandering'mind),
except if the latter state is achieved, as in the case of the Cynics, not througha curriculumof
study,but throughan exercise of detachmentand open rejectionof traditionalvalues and cultur-
al conventions.
SILVIAMONTIGLIO
University of Wisconsin at Madison
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