Cynic

A snarling, churlish person, like a cynic. The Cynics were so called because Antisʹthenēs held his school in the gymnasium called Cynosarʹgēs, set apart for those who were not of pure Athenian blood. Cynosargēs means white dog, and was so called because a white dog once carried away part of a victim which Diomeʹos was offering to Herculēs. The sect was often called the Dog-sect; and the effigy over Diogĕnēsʹ pillar was a dog, with this inscription:

“Say, dog, I pray, what guard you in that tomb?”

“A dog.”—“His name?”—“Diogĕnēs.”—“From far?”

“Sinoʹpē.”—“What! who made a tub his home?”

“The same; now dead, amongst the stars a star.”

E. C. B.

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

Cynic

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