Epictetus: The Ancient Greek Stoic Philosopher Who was Born into Slavery

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The past Greek Stoic philosopher, Epictetus, was calved into slavery, but his survey of Stoicism made him a escaped antheral who became an influential Stoic whose ideas resonate today.

Epictetus was calved c. 50 CE astatine Hierapolis, successful Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). His name, successful Greek, means the “Acquired One.”

He spent his younker successful Rome arsenic a enslaved to Epaphroditus, a affluent freedman and caput to Emperor Nero. In 68, Epaphroditus assisted Nero successful committing termination since Nero could not carnivore to stab himself. While dying, the conceited emperor lamented, Qualis artifex pereo (“What an creator dies successful me!”).

Epictetus recovered emotion for doctrine and adjacent though helium was a enslaved helium managed to survey nether the charismatic Roman Stoic philosopher Musonius Rufus.

Around this time, helium developed a disability, which whitethorn person been caused by rheumatoid arthritis, though the Christian theologian Origen claims that it was his maestro who injured him.

According to the story, 1 day, Epaphroditus mislaid his temper and grabbed Epictetus by the leg. He twisted it truthful forcefully that Epictetus warned him that it would break. When it snapped, the past Greek Stoic did not wince oregon outcry but calmly said, “Did I not archer you that it would break?”

Upon receiving his freedom, Epictetus began lecturing connected his relationship but was forced to permission Rome successful 89 erstwhile Emperor Domitian issued an edict banning philosophers from the Italian peninsula.

He past moved to Nicopolis, an important commercialized hub and administrative halfway successful Epirus, connected the Adriatic seashore of northwest Greece. He established his schoolhouse determination and lectured for the remainder of his beingness until his decease astir 135.

Like galore aboriginal philosophers, arsenic acold arsenic tin beryllium determined, Epictetus wrote thing down, unless thing of his writings remain. The doctrine attributed to him is documented
in the notes taken by his pupil Arrian, the philosopher and historian who wrote The Anabasis of Alexander.

Epictetus was an exponent of Stoicism, 1 of the astir fashionable philosophical systems successful the Hellenistic and Roman periods. It was founded by Zeno of Citium astir 300 BCE and named aft the Porch oregon Arcade (Stoa) successful which Zeno taught.

Epictetus is 1 of the 3 large precocious Stoics on with Roman statesman Seneca (c. 5 CE–65 CE), Epictetus, and Emperor Marcus Aurelius (121-180 CE).

Stoics and logos

Stoic morals specify virtuousness arsenic surviving pursuing logos. Epictetus asserted that humans are escaped to take successful each circumstances, albeit wrong the constraints imposed by the functioning of the logos. In Greek, logos means ‘word’ oregon ‘speech,’ but it besides means one’s quality to convey a overmuch greater scope of meaning, including ‘to convey thought’ and ‘to reason.” It is an eternal unit that moved done each things and each people, which created and guided the universe’s cognition and which had ever existed.

It is intrinsically connected with logic and physics successful that lone a wide grasp of world allows a idiosyncratic to beryllium virtuous. Evil is defined negatively arsenic not surviving per logos, a benignant of ignorance.

Along with logos, the past Greek Stoic stresses the value of gnome (γνώμη), one’s capableness to justice circumstances and signifier a concise opinion. Logos and gnome abstracted humans from the animals. Epictetus says that the capableness for judgement is unsocial to quality beings and, alongside crushed (logos), is impervious of God (Zeus) dwelling wrong us.

For Epictetus, doctrine was not conscionable a theoretical subject but a mode of life. According to the past Greek Stoic, each outer events are determined by destiny and, thus, beyond our control. However, portion we cannot power outer events, we tin judge what happens to america calmly and dispassionately, and, much importantly, we tin power however we respond to these events. For Epictetus, we should lone emotionally respond to what we tin control. Good and evil are exclusively progressive successful things nether our control, not outer events. The events themselves are neither bully nor evil, but our presumption of events defines them arsenic bully oregon evil.

Philosophy of the champion beingness possible

Epictetus’ doctrine focused connected a person’s work to unrecorded the champion beingness possible. Like different Stoics, helium made a favoritism betwixt pleasance and happiness. For the past Greek Stoic, happiness arises from state from passionateness and disturbance and the consciousness that one’s affairs are successful order.

Along with each different philosophers of the Hellenistic period, helium saw motivation doctrine arsenic having the applicable intent of guiding radical towards starring amended lives. The purpose was to unrecorded good and unafraid eudaimonia (happiness oregon a flourishing life) for oneself. He claimed suffering arises from attempting to power what is beyond our power oregon by failing to negociate oregon enactment bid connected that which is wrong our powerfulness to bash so.

For Epictetus, the main root of our misery comes not from circumstances but from our judgments astir our circumstances. Most of our problems, prevention the question astir what lies successful our control, are self-created. Epictetus presents this thought clearly: Our intelligence faculties contiguous the imaginable for occurrence and failure.

The past Greek Stoic often calls the volition the astir indispensable faculty, and adjacent the precise happening that makes america human—“for you are not soma oregon hair, but you are will”. The volition is the module whose cardinal constituent is to take for us.

At the halfway of Epictetus’s Stoicism lies the powerfulness and work of idiosyncratic prime and escaped will, each portion recognizing that galore aspects of beingness stay beyond idiosyncratic control.

Epictetus quotes

Several of the past Greek Stoic’s quotes are fashionable contiguous for his insights successful quality psychology.

“Wealth consists not successful having large possessions, but successful having fewer wants.”

“Man is not disquieted by existent problems truthful overmuch arsenic by his imagined anxieties astir existent problems.”

“There is lone 1 mode to happiness, and that is to cease worrying astir things which are beyond the powerfulness oregon our will. ”

“It’s not what happens to you, but however you respond to it that matters.”

“First, accidental to yourself what you would be, and past bash what you person to do.”

“If you privation to improve, beryllium contented to beryllium thought foolish and stupid.”

“Any idiosyncratic susceptible of angering you becomes your master; helium tin choler you lone erstwhile you licence yourself to beryllium disturbed by him.”

“It is intolerable for a antheral to larn what helium thinks helium already knows.”

“The cardinal is to support institution lone with radical who uplift you, whose beingness calls distant your best.”

“Freedom is the lone worthy extremity successful life. It is won by disregarding things that prevarication beyond our control.”

“Circumstances don’t marque the man; they lone uncover him to himself.”

“People are not disturbed by things, but by the views they instrumentality of them.”

“Only the educated are free.”

“Other people’s views and troubles tin beryllium contagious. Don’t sabotage yourself by unwittingly adopting negative, unproductive attitudes done your associations with others.”

“To impeach others for one’s ain misfortune is simply a motion of privation of education. To impeach oneself shows that one’s acquisition has begun. To impeach neither oneself nor others shows that one’s acquisition is complete.”

“He is simply a omniscient antheral who does not grieve for the things which helium has not, but rejoices for those which helium has.”

“Attach yourself to what is spiritually superior, careless of what different radical deliberation oregon do. Hold to your existent aspirations nary substance what is going connected astir you.”

“Seek not the bully successful outer things; question it successful yourselves.”

“Do not effort to look omniscient to others. If you privation to unrecorded a omniscient life, unrecorded it connected your ain presumption and successful your ain eyes.”

“Small-minded radical blasted others. Average radical blasted themselves. The omniscient spot each blasted arsenic foolishness.”

“What truly frightens and dismays america is not outer events themselves, but the mode successful which we deliberation astir them. It is not things that disturb us, but our mentation of their significance.”

“The much we worth things extracurricular our control, the little power we have.”

“It is our cognition toward events, not the events themselves, which we tin control. Nothing is by its ain quality calamitous—even decease is unspeakable lone if we fearfulness it.”

“Freedom is secured not by the fulfilling of men’s desires, but by the removal of desire.”

“Don’t anticipation that events volition crook retired the mode you want, invited events successful whichever mode they happen: this is the way to peace.”

“Nature hath fixed men 1 lingua but 2 ears, that we whitethorn perceive from others doubly arsenic overmuch arsenic we speak.”

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