Diogenes lamp series#

The Cynic philosopher carries the lamp around in broad daylight precisely in order to provoke people, so that he can then turn around and insult them. The oldest version of the story consists of a single sentence: “Having lighted a candle in the day time, Diogenes said, ‘I am looking for a man.'” Unlike Aesop, Diogenes plays the fool on purpose. This story about Aesop as a “wise fool” is based on an even older story about the Cynic philosopher Diogenes, who rejected human society, lived inside a tub, and ate nothing but onions. Aesop, however, manages to make the man look like a fool: it may be broad daylight, but men worthy of the name are so hard to find that he needs a lamp to look for them. The person in the forum, however, thinks that Aesop is being a fool, carrying around a lamp when it is perfectly light outside. Phaedrus’s story gives a practical reason why Aesop was carrying a lighted lamp during the daytime: the fire had gone out at his house, and he needed to relight it. There amidst the crowds a talkative fellow shouted at him, “Aesop, what’s with the lamp in the middle of the day?” “I’m just looking to see if I can find a real man,” said Aesop, as he quickly made his way back home. Since his search had taken him out of his way along a winding path, he decided to shorten his journey on the way back and go straight through the forum. He thus had to visit a few houses looking for fire, until at last he found a place where he could light his lamp. Once when Aesop happened to be the only slave in his master’s household, he was ordered to prepare dinner earlier than usual. Let’s begin with the version of the anecdote told about Aesop himself, as found in the Roman poet Phaedrus: Once again, we will see that Rumi’s mysticism takes the story in an entirely different direction.

Diogenes lamp series#

In this article, I continue that series by looking at an ancient anecdote about Aesop himself, which also made its way into the writings of Rumi. In the previous issue, I introduced a series on religious interpretations of Aesopic material by looking at how the Sufi mystical poet Rumi adapted Aesop’s fable of “ the lion’s share” for his religious purposes.