Bion of Borysthenes was an ancient Greek philosopher, born on the northern shores of the Black Sea, in Olbia Pontica, at the mouth of the Borysthenes River, today's Dnieper (Ukraine). He was the son of a freed slave and a prostitute.
Bion lived mainly in Athens. Although a Cynic, his philosophy also contains hedonistic ideas. He gained fame more as a satirical writer than as a philosopher.
His satirical work “Diatribes” (Essays) originated the Cynic “diatribe” or popular discourse on morality, whose style may have influenced that of the Christian sermon. Few of his writings survive.