1. Introduction
Epictetus (c. A.D. 55 - 135) was a Greek/Roman philosopher of the Hellenistic
period. He managed to overcome huge obstacles in developing from a
crippled Roman slave to become one of the most popular and sought after
philosophers of his time.
He was one of the most influentialteachers of thelater years of the school of
Stoicism, and considered by some to bethe greatest of the Stoics. Because so
little of the original early works of Stoicism has survived, his transcribed
teachings are also a major source of our knowledge of the movement.
Life
Epictetus (pronounced epic-TEE-tus) was born around A.D. 55 in the Roman
city of Hierapolis (thepresent-day city of Pamukkalein south-western Turkey).
He spent his youth in Rome as a slave to Epaphroditus, a wealthy freedman
and secretary to the Roman Emperor Nero. He was either lame from birth or,
as some sources haveit, deliberately crippled by Epaphroditus. Even as aslave,
he studied Stoic philosophy under one of the greatest Stoic teachers of the
age, Gaius Musonius Rufus, before the latter's exile by Nero for his ethical
teachings.
He gained his freedom after his master was put to death by Nero's successor
Emperor Domitian, and began to teach philosophy in Rome. Around A.D. 93,
however, Emperor Domitian banished all philosophers from Rome (and
ultimately from all of Italy), and Epictetus traveled to Nicopolis in north-
western Greece. There, he founded his own philosophicalschool, which soon
acquired a good reputation, attracting many upper-class Romans. His most
famous pupil there was Arrian (Flavius Arrianus: c. A.D. 86 - 160), who studied
under him as a young man and wrote the famous "Discourses" and the
"Handbook" based on his lecture notes.
He lived a life of great simplicity, with few possessions. He was reportedly a
powerful speaker and famed for his knowledge and wisdom. According to
some reports, he was more popularin his day than Plato had been in his, and
the Emperor Hadrian (among other eminent figures) favored him and may
havevisited his schoolin Nicopolis. He nevermarried and had no children, and
for many years he lived alone, although in his old age he adopted a friend's
child (who would otherwise havebeen left to die), and broughthim up as his
own.
Epictetus died around the year A.D. 135 in Nicopolis.
So faras is known, Epictetus himself wrote nothing, and allthatremains of his
work was faithfully transcribed by his pupil, Arrian around theyears A.D. 104 -
107. The main work is "The Discourses" (of which four of the original eight
books have been preserved), and a popular digest of that work, entitled the
"Enchiridion" (or "Handbook").
The Stoicism school of philosophy had been founded nearly 400 years before
Epictetus, and very littleof the originalworks of Zeno of Citiumand Chrysippus
of Soli (c. 280 - 207 B.C.) has survived. Most of our knowledge of Stoic
philosophy thereforecomes down to us from Epictetus, although itis difficult
to tell to what extent he preserved the original doctrines, and how much he
innovated and adapted.
Epictetus focused more on Ethics (and less on Logicand physics)than theearly
Stoics had, and he brought to a logical conclusion Stoicism's tendency to
reduce philosophy to Ethics. He saw the role of the Stoic teacher as
encouraging his studentsto discover the invariableand inviolabletrue nature
of things. The nature of things falls into two categories: those which are
subject to ourexclusive power (e.g. judgment, impulse, desire, aversion, etc),
and those which are not (e.g. health, material wealth, fame, etc). In order to
achieve the ultimate goal of ataraxia (an undisturbed and serene state of
mind), the philosopher should therefore concentrate on those things he has
some control over, and not be affected by the external objects of our lives
(over which we have no control). Essentially, then, Stoicism teaches the
development of self-control and fortitude as a means of overcoming
destructive emotions, in order to develop clear judgmentand inner calm and
the ultimate goal of freedom from suffering.
The Stoics were essentially materialists, and God was conceived of as atype of
fiery breath that blended perfectly with all other matter in the universe and
transformed matter from undifferentiated "stuff" into the varied forms that
we see around us. The mind of each person was quite literally a fragment of
God, and the rationality that we each possess therefore a fragment of God's
3. similar to aplay orbeing in the military, as we all haveourpartto play. Himself
a cripple, he explains that whatever your fate, it is God’s intention.
Epictetus recognized that a stoic’s response to an event would make him
stand outfromthe crowd. Heexplains that this simply the price topay in living
a virtuous life. Epictetus distinguishes between philosophers and non-
philosophers. He believed a philosopher should marry and have children in
order to provide a replacement for himself. Since Epictetus had done neither
himself, a clever student once asked him if he could marry one of his
daughters.
Epictetus’ Stoicism would greatly influence the Roman emperor Marcus
Aurelius, and his own Stoic writings the Meditations. Epictetus has since
served as an inspiration for others who have endured hardships. Most
strikingly in recent times, James Stockdale, a prisoner of war in Vietnam was
imprisoned for seven and a half years, tortured, and held in solitary
confinement for four years. He would credit his survival to the writings of
Epictetus, explaining “The emotions of grief, pity, and even affection are well-
known disturbers of thesoul. Grief is themost offensive; Epictetus considered
the suffering of grief an act of evil. It is a willful act, going against the will of
God to have all men share happiness.”
http://www.philosimply.com/philosopher/epictetus
Epictetus
GREEK PHILOSOPHER
WRITTEN BY: The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Epictetus, (born AD 55, probably at Hierapolis, Phrygia [now Pamukkale,
Turkey]—died c. 135, Nicopolis, Epirus [Greece]), Greek philosopher
associated with theStoics, remembered forthereligious toneof his teachings,
which commended him to numerous early Christian thinkers.
His original name is not known; epiktētos is the Greek word meaning
“acquired.” As a boy he was a slave but managed to attend lectures by the
Stoic Musonius Rufus. He later became a freedman and lived his life lame and
in ill health. In AD 90 he was expelled from Rome with other philosophers by
theemperor Domitian, who was irritated by thefavourablereception given by
Stoics to opponents of his tyranny. The rest of his life Epictetus spent at
Nicopolis.
As far as is known, Epictetus wrote nothing. His teachings were transmitted
by Arrian, his pupil, in two works: Discourses, of which fourbooks are extant;
and the Encheiridion, or Manual, a condensed aphoristic version of the main
doctrines. In his teachings Epictetus followed the early rather than the late
Stoics, reverting to Socrates and to Diogenes, the philosopherof Cynicism, as
historical models of the sage. Primarily interested in ethics, Epictetus
described philosophy as learning “how it is possible to employ desire and
aversion without hindrance.” True education, he believed, consists in
recognizing thatthere is only onething thatbelongs toan individualfully—his
will, or purpose. God, acting as a good king and father, has given each being a
will thatcannot be compelled or thwarted by anything external. Men are not
responsible for the ideas that present themselves to their consciousness,
though they arewholly responsible forthe way in which they use them. “Two
maxims,” Epictetus said, “wemustever bearin mind—thatapartfrom thewill
thereis nothing good orbad, and thatwemustnottry toanticipateortodirect
events, but merely to accept them with intelligence.” Man must, that is,
believe there is a God whose thought directs the universe.
As a political theorist, Epictetus saw man as a member of a great system that
comprehends both God and men. Each human being is primarily a citizen of his
own commonwealth, but he is also a member of the great city of gods and
men, of which thepolitical city is only apoorcopy. All men arethe sons of God
by virtue of their rationality and are kindred in nature with the divinity. Thus,
man is capable of learning to administer his city and his life according to the
will of God, which is the will of nature. Thenatural instinctof animated life, to
which man also is subject, is self-preservation and self-interest. Yetmen are so
constituted that the individual cannot secure his own interests unless he
contributes to the common welfare. The aim of the philosopher, therefore, is
to see the world as a whole, to grow into the mind of God, and to make the
will of nature his own.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Epictetus-Greek-philosopher
