Page 149 - Sarpedon’dan Keykubad’a Bir Zamanlar Antalya
P. 149
Philosopher Diogenes From Oinoanda
A great philosopher lived in this land about 1800 years ago. The
name of this great philosopher was Diogenes. He was not the Dio-
genes of Sinop, he was a person raised in this geography. He was
from Oinoanda, so he is from Antalya. In the city of Oinoanda, locat-
ed in the north of the fertile Eşen valley, he constantly explained the
importance of love and science to people and gave them the key to
happiness throughout his life. Diogenes said such words that had
them written on the stones because he knew that his word would
take wings. Thus, he became immortal through his words.
Diogenes was the greatest defender of the Epicurean philoso-
phy of Lycia. He went to Athens and studied there at the Epicurean
school. Then he returned to his country and aimed to teach every-
thing he had learned throughout his life. According to him, people
would get sick from wrong thoughts and infect each other. There-
fore, he saw himself as a doctor who healed his patients with his
thoughts and argued that philosophy is the medicine of the mind
and the soul; The great philosopher who devoted his life to this until
his death.
Fig.102: İncealiler Village on the Slope of the High Hill where the City
of Oinoanda is located. Photo by S. Pamuk
148