The Gospel According to Dog: The Good News of Ancient Cynicism

is an encyclopedia comprised of texts, definitions, and images to provide a comprehensive picture of Ancient Cynicism. It provides a survey of Ancient Cynicism as it emerged from Mythology, Rhetoric, and Philosophy into a movement that spread throughout the Hellenic and then the Roman world. Only with the eclipse of antiquity in the 5th Century CE did Ancient Cynicism conclude.The Ancient Cynics believed in living in accordance with Nature. Only by living this way can a person develop Virtue. There are unavoidable consequences to this view, namely that all human conventions become antithetical to Virtue and must be avoided.Amongst the most influential of Cynics were Antisthenes, Diogenes, Crates, and Menippus. Each preached the need for poverty, self-sufficiency, shamelessness, and personal austerity. Moreover, the Cynics were well-known for their acerbic wit and promotion of freedom of speech. is an excellent resource for many fields such as Ancient History, Ancient Philosophy, Stoicism, Comedy, and Biography. is intended to be a reference book. The author does not claim content originality except insofar as the organization of the work.