Crates of Thebes
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Crates (c. 365-c. 285 BC) of Thebes, was a Cynic philosopher. Crates gave away his money to live a life of poverty on the streets of Athens. He married Hipparchia of Maroneia who lived in the same manner that he did. Respected by the people of Athens, he is remembered for being the teacher of Zeno of Citium, the founder of Stoicism. Various fragments of Crates' teachings survive, including his description of the ideal Cynic state.
Later cultural references
The relationship between Crates and Hipparchia became the subject of a number of fictional accounts, such as the play Spozalizio d' Ipparchia filosofa, wrote by Italian nun Clemenza Ninci in the 17th century, or Christoph Martin Wieland's novel Krates und Hipparchia (1804). A fictional biography of Crates was written by French author Marcel Schwob in his 1896 work Vies imaginaires.