Publication Details

Abstract

The main purpose of this paper is to reconstruct Antisthenes’ position on education (paideia) and especially to define its character by answering the questions concerning the nature of the relationship that arose on the border of philosophy (Plato) and sophistry (Gorgias). In the first part of our study we offer an explanation of how and whether it is even possible – despite the fact that Antisthenes’ works on education have not been preserved – to identify his philosophy of education without comparing it with competing educational models. Subsequently, we analyze the Socratic and cynic elements (topoi) embodied in the character of Odysseus in Antisthenes’ speech Odysseus or On Odysseus (Ὀδυσσεύς ἢ περὶ Ὀδυσσέως).