BMCR 2006.08.05, William D. Desmond: The Greek Praise of Poverty

William D. Desmond, The Greek Praise of Poverty. Origins of Ancient
Cynicism.  Notre Dame, IN:  University of Notre Dame Press, 2006.  Pp.
xiv, 240.  ISBN 0-268-02581-9.  $48.00 (hb).  ISBN 0-268-02582-7.
$25.00 (pb).

Reviewed by Kostas Vlassopoulos, University of Nottingham
(konstantinos.vlassopoulos <at> nottingham.ac.uk)
Word count:  2058 words
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To read a print-formatted version of this review, see
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/2006/2006-08-05.html
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Regrettably, the study of ancient philosophy and the study of ancient
cultural and intellectual history have long parted ways. Those studying
ancient philosophy pay little attention to the work of cultural and
intellectual historians, while they, in turn, pursue their agendas
often ignoring what scholars who work on ancient philosophy have to
say. It is a rare case that a study tries to bring the two subjects
together, and this is the greatest merit of the work under review here.
The ancient Cynics have long been seen as exceptional and outside the
margins of Greek culture. William Desmond makes a powerful argument
against this perception, by searching for the origins of Cynic ideas
and attitudes within mainstream Greek culture and society. He examines
a wide number of different texts, ranging from Homer and Hesiod to the
tragic poets, Thucydides, Herodotus, Xenophon and of course Plato and
Aristotle. He also attempts to contextualise Cynicism by viewing it as
a reaction to contemporary developments in Greek society during the
classical period.