Cleomenes (; ; fl. c. 300 BCE) was a Cynic philosopher. He was a pupil of

Crates of Thebes Crates (; c. 365 – c. 285 BC) of Thebes, Greece, Thebes was a Ancient Greece, Greek Cynicism (philosophy), Cynic philosopher, the principal pupil of Diogenes, Diogenes of Sinope and the husband of Hipparchia of Maroneia who lived in t ...

, and is said to have taught Timarchus of Alexandria and Echecles of Ephesus, the latter of whom would go on to teach Menedemus. He wrote a work on ''Pedagogues'' () from which

Diogenes Laërtius Diogenes Laërtius ( ; , ; ) was a biographer of the Greek philosophers. Little is definitively known about his life, but his surviving book ''Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers'' is a principal source for the history of ancient Greek ph ...

has preserved an anecdote concerning Diogenes of Sinope:Diogenes Laërtius, vi. 75

Cleomenes in his work on ''Pedagogues'' says that Diogenes' friends wanted to ransom him, for which he called them simpletons, for, he said, lions are not the slaves of those who feed them, but rather those who feed them are at the mercy of the lions, Fear, he added, is the mark of the slave, whereas wild beasts make human beings afraid of them.

The importance of this anecdote is that it is an early reference to the story of Diogenes being captured by pirates and being sold into

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

, lending credence to the idea that the story may well be true.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cleomenes the Cynic 3rd-century BC Greek philosophers Cynic philosophers Hellenistic-era philosophers in Athens