Crates of Thebes - Philosophy

Philosophy

Crates wrote a book of letters on philosophical subjects, the style of which is compared by Diogenes Laërtius to that of Plato; but these no longer survive. There are 36 surviving Cynic epistles attributed to Crates, but these are later, 1st-century, compositions. Crates was also the author of some philosophical tragedies, and some smaller poems apparently called Games (Ancient Greek: Παίγνια, Paignia).

Several fragments of his thought survive. He taught a simple asceticism, which seems to have been milder than that of his predecessor Diogenes:

And therefore Crates replied to the man who asked, "What will be in it for me after I become a philosopher?" "You will be able," he said, "to open your wallet easily and with your hand scoop out and dispense lavishly instead of, as you do now, squirming and hesitating and trembling like those with paralyzed hands. Rather, if the wallet is full, that is how you will view it; and if you see that it is empty, you will not be distressed. And once you have elected to use the money, you will easily be able to do so; and if you have none, you will not yearn for it, but you will live satisfied with what you have, not desiring what you do not have nor displeased with whatever comes your way."

His philosophy was infused with a gentle, rich humour. He urged people not to prefer anything but lentils in their meals, because luxury and extravagance were the chief causes of seditions and insurrections in a city. This jest would later be the cause of much satire, as in book 4 of Athenaeus' Deipnosophistae where a group of Cynics sit down for a meal and are served course after course of lentil soup.

One of his poems parodied a famous hymn to the Muses written by Solon. But whereas Solon wished for prosperity, reputation, and "justly acquired possessions," Crates had typically Cynic desires:

Glorious children of Memory and Olympian Zeus,
Muses of Pieria, listen to my prayer!
Give me without ceasing food for my belly
Which had always made my life frugal and free from slavery. . . .
Make me useful to my friends, rather than agreeable.
As for money, I do not wish to amass conspicuous wealth,
But only seek the wealth of the beetle or the maintenance of the ant;
Nay, I desire to possess justice and to collect riches
That are easily carried, easily acquired, and are of great avail to virtue.
If I may but win these, I will propitiate Hermes and the holy Muses,
Not with costly dainties, but with pious virtues.

There are also several fragments surviving of a poem Crates wrote describing the ideal Cynic state which begins by parodying Homer's description of Crete. Crates' city is called Pera, which in Greek refers to the beggar's wallet which every Cynic carried:

There is a city Pera in the midst of wine-dark Tuphos,
Fair and fruitful, filthy all about, possessing nothing,
Into which no foolish parasite ever sails,
Nor any playboy who delights in a whore's ass,
But it produces thyme, garlic, figs, and bread,
For which the citizens do not war with each other,
Nor do they possess arms, to get cash or fame.

The word tuphos (Greek: τῦφος) in the first line, is one of the first known Cynic uses of a word which literally means mist or smoke. It was used by the Cynics to describe the mental confusion which most people are wrapped-up in. The Cynics sought to clear away this fog and to see the world as it really is.