Work
Life of Alexander, Chapter 14: The Encounter with Diogenes, by Plutarch
Plutarch tells the celebrated encounter in which Diogenes asks Alexander to stop blocking his sunlight. The scene opposes conquest to sufficiency and makes the king recognize a freedom his power can neither grant nor purchase.
- Composition
- c. 96-120 CE
Sources and precision
The range describes composition or formation of the text, distinct from the dates of the editions held.
Confidence C · probable range
- Tradition
- Greek and Roman traditions
- Period
- Antiquity
- Languages
- Ancient Greek · English · French
- Extent
- 1 passage · 378 words
Before reading
What you will learn
Interpret the contrast between power and independence, analyze biographical character-building, and measure the distance between exemplary anecdote and established event.
Short summary
Plutarch tells the celebrated encounter in which Diogenes asks Alexander to stop blocking his sunlight. The scene opposes conquest to sufficiency and makes the king recognize a freedom his power can neither grant nor purchase.
Long summary
The episode draws force from brevity: a ruler surrounded by courtiers offers anything, while the philosopher asks only that an obstacle be removed. Alexander’s response turns affront into admiration and fixes the moral portrait of both men.
Plutarch composed the biography centuries after the alleged event. The account belongs to his art of character and to an already developed anecdotal tradition. It should be read as an exemplary scene of reception, not a secure transcript of the encounter.
Inside this work
The table of contents follows the divisions actually carried by the corpus.
Work › Carrier reference
Concepts covered
Historical context
The world around the text
The corpus manifests do not yet establish the precise place and circumstances of composition. The images below document the author’s world or the text’s transmission. They do not claim to show the exact scene of writing.
These are modern reconstructions. They situate a documented place, practice, or transmission and are not period documents.
What the world looked like
Classical Greek world, 5th century BCE
- State of technology
- Bronze, iron, pottery, simple cranes, and shipbuilding sustain cities. Power still comes mainly from people, animals, wind, and water.
- Science and knowledge
- Geometry, astronomy, inquiry into nature, and rational argument advance without modern measuring instruments or standardized experiments.
- Medicine and care
- Practitioners observe symptoms, diet, and seasons; healing sanctuaries and ritual treatment also remain common.
- Transport
- Walking and animals dominate on land. Sailing ships and triremes connect islands, ports, and colonies.
- Agriculture and food
- Small farms, grain, vines, olives, goats, and sheep shape the diet; harvests remain vulnerable to weather and war.
- Communication
- Public speech, messengers, and handwritten letters carry news. Theatre, the civic square, and the banquet are major social media.
- Clothing and fashion
- Women and men drape wool or linen as chitons, peploi, and cloaks. Garments are pinned, belted, and shaped by status rather than tailored like modern clothes.
Editions, translations, and provenance
The following carriers represent the text. They do not create new passage identities.
- Ancient Greekoriginal
- Englishtranslation
- French AI-generated translation, non-officialCodex gpt-5.6-sol · Non-official working translation · 2026-09-11
Source manifests: diogenes.plutarch_alexander
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Life of Alexander, Chapter 14: The Encounter with Diogenes, by PlutarchPlutarch