Abstract

Fragment 21 (= NF 40/YF 097) of the Epicurean inscription of Diogenes of Oinoanda continues the argument of the so-called Theological Physics-Sequence (= NF 167 + NF 126 + NF 127 + fr. 20 + NF 182, henceforth: Theol.). In Theol. XIV, Diogenes sets out to investigate whether god designed everything for the sake of human beings. The discussion is divided into two parts: the design of the world and the design of human beings themselves. The part dealing with the world starts in Theol. XIV and continues in fr. 21. Only at the end of column III, the discussion moves on to the human condition, which is continued in column IV. Unfortunately, the text of this argument is only partially perserved, because the block which contained the right-hand half of column IV has not been found. The reconstruction of this column by Martin Ferguson Smith (Diogenes of Oinoanda. The Epicurean Inscription, Naples 1993, 182-184 and 377) permits us to understand the general argument. Diogenes seems to have pointed out the inconsistency of the Stoics, who claim, on the one hand, that human beings are privileged above all other animals, but, on the other hand, that almost all people are miserable on account of their foolishness. Although Smith’s reconstruction is generally on the right track, many of its details are open to discussion. This paper offers a discussion and an alternative reconstruction of the column, that makes better use of the available spaces and is more regular in terms of grammar and idiom. It suggests, moreover, that Diogenes, in criticizing the Stoics, mimicked the Stoics’ own diction.