The Life of Symeon the Fool and the Cynic Tradition

Leontius of Neapolis's Life of Symeon the Fool, written on Cyprus in the 640s, challenges the conventions for the composition of Christian saints' lives in Late Antiquity. In an effort to interpret Symeon's strange behavior, the present study argues that Leontius makes sustained allusion to traditions about Diogenes of Sinope, the Cynic philosopher, especially when Symeon defecates in public, eats lupines and raw meat, and arrives in Emesa dragging a dead dog. By allying the holy man with a pagan exemplar, Leontius comments on the difficulty of living a holy life in an urban environment. The study also reveals Leontius's ambivalence about his model.