For a young man not yet; for an old man never at all

Ἀγαμία (celibacy) was a Cynic principle in spite of the tradition that Crates had a wife and children. "Being asked what was the right time to marry, Diogenes replied, 'For a young man not yet; for an old man never at all'" (D. L. 6, 54). The 47th Letter of Diogenes represents him as urging Zeno not to marry because marriage will bring him nothing but trouble; he adds, "Whoever trusts us will remain single; those who do not trust us will rear children. And if the race of men should cease to exist, there would be as much cause for regret as there would be if the flies and wasps should pass away." Maximus of Tyre says of Diogenes; "He did not marry, for he had heard of Xanthippe; he did not rear children, for he knew the troubles involved" (Diss. 3, 9). Lucian represents a Cynic as saying, "With wife and children and country you will not concern yourself" (Vitarum auctio 10). "But, said the young man, shall marriage and the procreation of children as a chief duty be undertaken by the Cynic? If you grant me a community of wise men, Epictetus replies, perhaps no man will readily apply himself to the Cynic practice... But in the present state of things which is like that of an army placed in battle order, is it not fit that the Cynic should without any distraction be employed only on the ministration of God, able to go about among men, not tied down to the common duties of mankind, nor entangled in the ordinary relations of life?" (Arrian 3, 22, 67-69).

Epictetus confirms the belief that the Cynics were celibates, but the reasons which he assigns for their celibacy differ widely from those given in the Letters and by Maximus Tyrius, and the discrepancy indicates that Epictetus took a highly idealized and unrealistic view of the functions of the Cynic. He admits that his ideal Cynic had no actual existence in his own time (Arrian 3, 22, 80). The Cynics advocated promiscuous sexual intercourse (D. L. 6, 72), which was inconsistent with marriage, and they regarded marriage as restricting freedom (Maximus Tyrius 36, 5).

Image: Xanthippe in a book published by Guillaume Rouillé in 1553
Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

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getonthetrain (69) · 7 years ago

Had to give ya an upvote because I learned something new.

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roomerkind (56) · 7 years ago

Thanks man! Always nice to hear from a whale! I wish I could have been to Steemfest. Next time they should have it on the East Coast of the USA!

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The interesting thing about this aspect of the Cynic school (not to be confused with the modern conception of cynicism) is that their celibacy influenced Christianity.

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A whale? Thanks but I am probably a dolphin.

The rumor was that it would be in Texas next. Since Steemit just moved HQ to Austin, maybe there is my thinking? But the problem is there are a lot of Steemians that might not get to go because of Visa issues.

We will see, I guess.

minnowsupport (70) · 7 years ago

Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by roomerkind from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, theprophet0, someguy123, neoxian, followbtcnews/crimsonclad, and netuoso. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows and creating a social network. Please find us in the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.

drotto (48) · 7 years ago

This post has received a 0.28 % upvote from @drotto thanks to: @banjo.

For a young man not yet; for an old man never at all

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