ABSTRACT
The chapter examines the anecdote recorded in Athenaeus 5.211 concerning Diogenes of Seleucia, an Epicurean at the court of Alexander Balas. The anecdote is hostile to Diogenes and presents him as an abusive presence at a court dominated by Stoic philosophers. The chapter attempts to assess the extent to which the account of the philosopher’s behaviour recorded by Athenaeus can be reconciled with other evidence for what Epicureans believed was most appropriate in philosopher-monarch interactions, especially as can be recovered from Diogenes Laertius Book 10 and Philodemus’ On Frank Criticism. It is argued that some of the key details in the anecdote (Diogenes’ appropriation of the title ‘Priest of Virtue’ and his transferral of the robe and crown to a female transvestite performer) can be interpreted as deliberate and provocative challenges to the Epicurean’s Stoic competitors at court.
