Interrogating the Dog

[sdi]

I mentioned Hipparchia's epitaph a while back; it turns out that Diogenes' is preserved for us, too:

εἰπὲ, κύον, τίνος ἀνδρὸς ἐφεστὼς σῆμα φυλάσσεις;
 Τοῦ Κυνός. Ἀλλὰ τίς ἦν οὗτος ἀνὴρ ὁ Κύων;
Διογένης. Γένος εἰπέ. Σινωπεύς. Ὃς πίθον ᾤκει;
 Καὶ μάλα· νῦν δὲ θανὼν ἀστέρας οἶκον ἔχει.

"Whose tomb is this, O Dog, thou watchest here?"
 "The Dog's." "Who's he?" "Diogenes the Seer."
"His town?" "Sinope." "Lived he in a jar?"
 "Yes—but in death, the stars his dwelling are."

(As quoted by the Greek Anthology VII lxiv, and as translated by W. H. D. Rouse. Apologies if I messed up the Greek, the scan I worked from was really bad.)