Extract Two

Diogenes:
As to his death different accounts are given. He remained rooted to the spot after giving sacrifice one night, and was called by the loud voice of a god, and disappeared, leaving only a light in the sky and a glitter of lamps. Or, when he reached the volcano at Etna, he plunged into the fiery craters and disappeared, intending to confirm the report that he had become a god. Afterwards the truth was known, because one of his sandals was thrown up in the flames. Or, going to some festival or other in a carriage, he fell and broke his thigh, bringing a fatal illness. Or, he tied a noose to a laurel tree, and strangled himself, on his 60th birthday. Or, in great old age he slipped into the sea and was drowned. Thus and thus much is made of his death.

Copyright John Sutton 1999.

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