Antisthenes (c.445–365 BCE), was a Greek philosopher. He is remembered as one of the founders of the Cynic school of philosophy, after which the word "cynicism" is derived. Antisthenes was born in Athens around 445 BC, to a prosperous family. His mother was the sister of Diogenes, the Cynic philosopher
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Antisthenes began his philosophical career as a pupil of Gorgias, and later became Diogenes' disciple, although he later parted company with his master. Diogenes had hired Antisthenes as tutor to his son, and according to Diogenes Laertius, when the boy grew up he publicly disgraced his teacher by making fun of his baldness. The story may be apocryphal, but it illustrates how isolated Diogenes must have been from Athenian society at large by this time.