![]() ![]() He lived a life of cheerful simplicity, and Plutarch, who wrote a detailed biography of Crates which does not survive, records what sort of man Crates was:īut Crates with only his wallet and tattered cloak laughed out his life jocosely, as if he had been always at a festival. Crates is also described as being the student of Bryson the Achaean, and of Stilpo. ![]() He moved to Athens where tradition says he became a pupil of Diogenes of Sinope the precise relationship between Crates and Diogenes is uncertain, but there is one apparent reference to Crates referring to himself as "a fellow-citizen of Diogenes, who defied all the plots of envy". Diogenes Laërtius preserves several different accounts of this story one of them has Crates giving his money away to the citizens of Thebes, apparently after seeing the beggar king Telephus in a tragedy whereas another account has him placing his money in the hands of a banker, with the agreement that he should deliver it to his sons, unless they too became philosophers, in which case he should distribute it among the poor. He was the son of Ascondus, and was the heir to a large fortune, which he is said to have renounced to live a life of Cynic poverty in Athens. Various fragments of Crates' teachings survive, including his description of the ideal Cynic state.Ĭrates was born c. Respected by the people of Athens, he is remembered for being the teacher of Zeno of Citium, the founder of Stoicism. Crates gave away his money to live a life of poverty on the streets of Athens. 285 BC ) of Thebes was a Greek Cynic philosopher, the principal pupil of Diogenes of Sinope and the husband of Hipparchia of Maroneia who lived in the same manner as him. ![]()
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