Diogenes (often called Diogenes the Cynic) was a Greek philosopher who lived around the 300s BC. He taught that a good life is a simple life: need little, tell the truth, and do not care what rich or important people think. Later stories say he lived in a barrel. Though actually, the “barrel” in those stories is more likely a large clay storage jar, the kind used for wine or grain — not a wooden cask. Other famous stories: he walked around in daylight with a lamp, saying he was looking for an honest man; and when Alexander the Great offered him a gift, Diogenes asked him to move aside because he was blocking the sun. Cynic here is the name of his school of thought. In modern English cynical means something harsher — believing people are only selfish — which grew out of that tradition but is not exactly what Diogenes was doing. The name is a person’s name, so we capitalise it.