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More likely, perhaps, he [Arrian] made his own detailed notes and used his memory to fill them out. No doubt he worked up the material into a more finished form. In some cases, he may have relied on others' reports, or checked his own record with Epictetus himself. However Arrian actually compiled the discourses, there are numerous reasons, internal to the text, for taking the gist of his record to be completely authentic to Epictetus' own style and language. These include a distinctive vocabulary, repetition of key points throughout, [and] a strikingly urgent and vivid voice quite distinct from Arrian's authorial persona in his other works. [12]
The Discourses are set in Epictetus' own classroom in Nicopolis and they show him conversing with visitors, and reproving, exhorting, and encouraging his pupils. [10] These pupils appear to have been young men like Arrian, of high social position and contemplating entering the public service. [13] The Discourses are neither formal lectures nor are they part of the curriculum proper. [14] The regular classes involved reading and interpreting characteristic portions of Stoic philosophical works, [13] which, as well as ethics, must have included instruction in the logic and physics which were part of the Stoic system. [14] The Discourses instead record conversations which followed the formal instruction. [14] They dwell on points which Epictetus regarded as of special importance, and which gave him an opportunity for friendly discourse with his pupils and to discuss their personal affairs. [14] They are not, therefore, a formal presentation of Stoic philosophy. [14] Instead the Discourses are intensely practical. [15] They are concerned with the conscious moral problem of right living, and how life is to be carried out well. [13] [15]
Epictetus divides philosophy into three fields of training, with especial application to ethics. [16] The three fields, according to Epictetus, are, (1) desire (ὄρεξις); (2) choice (ὁρμή); (3) assent (συγκατάθεσις): [17]
There are three fields of study in which people who are going to be good and excellent must first have been trained. The first has to do with desires and aversions, that they may never fail to get what they desire, nor fall into what they avoid; the second with cases of choice and of refusal, and, in general, with duty, that they may act in an orderly fashion, upon good reasons, and not carelessly; the third with the avoidance of error and rashness in judgment, and, in general, about cases of assent.
— Discourses, iii. 2. 1
The first and most essential practice is directed towards our passions and desires, which are themselves only types of impression, and as such they press and compel us. [18] A continued practice is thus required to oppose them. [18] To this first practice must be added a second, which is directed towards that which is appropriate (duty), and a third, the object of which is certainty and truth; but the latter must not pretend to supplant the former. [18] Avoidance of the bad, desire for the good, the direction towards the appropriate, and the ability to assent or dissent, this is the mark of the philosopher. [18]
Scholars disagree on whether these three fields relate to the traditional Stoic division of philosophy into Logic, Physics, and Ethics. [19] The third field unambiguously refers to logic since it concerns valid reasoning and certainty in judgment. The second field relates to ethics, and the first field, on desires and aversions, appears to be preliminary to ethics. [19] However Pierre Hadot has argued that this first field relates to physics since for the Stoics the study of human nature was part of the wider subject of the nature of things. [19]
True education lies in learning to distinguish what is our own from what does not belong to us. [15] But there is only one thing which is fully our own: that which is our will or choice (prohairesis). [15] The use which we make of the external impressions is our one chief concern, and upon the right kind of use depends exclusively our happiness. [16]
Although we are not responsible for the ideas that present themselves to our consciousness, we are absolutely responsible for the way in which we use them. [15] In the realm of judgment the truth or falsity of the external impression is to be decided. [16] Here our concern is to assent to the true impression, reject the false, and suspend judgment regarding the uncertain. This is the act of choice. [16] Only that which is subject to our choice is good or evil; all the rest is neither good nor evil; it concerns us not, it is beyond our reach; it is something external, merely a subject for our choice: in itself it is indifferent, but its application is not indifferent, and its application is either consistent with or contrary to nature. [20] This choice, and consequently our opinion upon it, is in our power; in our choice we are free; nothing that is external of us, not even Zeus, can overcome our choice: it alone can control itself. [20] Nothing external, neither death nor exile nor pain nor any such thing, can ever force us to act against our will. [15]
We are bound up by the law of nature with the whole fabric of the world. [15] In the world the true position of a human is that of a member of a great system. [15] Each human being is in the first instance a citizen of one's own nation or commonwealth; but we are also a member of the great city of gods and people. [15] Nature places us in certain relations to other persons, and these determine our obligations to parents, siblings, children, relatives, friends, fellow-citizens, and humankind in general. [21] The shortcomings of our fellow people are to be met with patience and charity, and we should not allow ourselves to grow indignant over them, for they too are a necessary element in the universal system. [21]
The universe is wholly governed by an all-wise, divine Providence. [21] All things, even apparent evils, are the will of God, and good from the point of view of the whole. [21] In virtue of our rationality we are neither less nor worse than the gods, for the magnitude of reason is estimated not by length nor by height but by its judgments. [15] The aim of the philosopher therefore is to reach the position of a mind which embraces the whole world. [15] The person who recognizes that every event is necessary and reasonable for the best interest of the whole, feels no discontent with anything outside the control of moral purpose. [21]
The historical models to which Epictetus refers to are Socrates and Diogenes. [15] But he describes an ideal character of a missionary sage, the perfect Stoic—or, as he calls him, the Cynic. [15] This philosopher has neither country nor home nor land nor slave; his bed is the ground; he is without wife or child; his only home is the earth and sky and a cloak. [15] He must suffer beatings, and must love those who beat him. [15] The ideal human thus described will not be angry with the wrong-doer; he will only pity his erring. [15]
The earliest manuscript of the Discourses is a twelfth-century manuscript kept at the Bodleian Library, Oxford as MS Auct. T. 4. 13. [22] In the Bodleian manuscript, a blot or stain has fallen onto one of the pages, and has made a series of words illegible; [23] in all the other known manuscripts these words (or sometimes the entire passage) are omitted, [24] thus all the other manuscripts are derived from this one archetype. [24] [25]
It is thought that the Bodleian manuscript may be a copy of one owned by Arethas of Caesarea in the early 10th century. [26] Arethas was an important collector of manuscripts and he is also responsible for transmitting a copy of Marcus Aurelius' Meditations . [26] The Bodleian manuscript contains marginal notes which have been identified as by Arethas. [26]
The manuscript is however "full of errors of all kinds". [27] Many corrections were made by medieval scholars themselves, and many emendations have been made by modern scholars to produce a clean text. [27]
The Discourses were first printed (in Greek) by Vettore Trincavelli, at Venice in 1535, although the manuscript used was very faulty. [28] This was followed by editions by Jakob Schegk (1554) and Hieronymus Wolf (1560). [28] John Upton's edition published 1739–41 was an improvement on these since he had some knowledge of several manuscripts. [28] This in turn was improved upon by the five volume edition by Johann Schweighäuser, 1799–1800. [29] A critical edition was produced by Heinrich Schenkl in 1894 (second edition 1916) which was based upon the Bodleian manuscript. [29]
The first English translation did not appear until 1758 with the appearance of Elizabeth Carter's translation. This proved to be very successful, with a second edition appearing a year later (1759), a third edition in 1768, and a fourth edition published posthumously in 1807. It influenced later translations: e.g. those of Higginson and George Long (see his Introduction for comments, some critical of Carter).
A complete list of English translations is as follows:
All of these are complete translations with the exception of Robert Dobbin's book, which contains only 64 of the 95 Discourses. Robin Hard has produced two translations: the first (for Everyman in 1995) was just a revision of Elizabeth Carter's version; however, his 2014 edition (for Oxford University Press) is the first complete original translation since the 1920s.
Epictetus was a Greek Stoic philosopher. He was born into slavery at Hierapolis, Phrygia and lived in Rome until his banishment, when he went to Nicopolis in northwestern Greece, where he spent the rest of his life.
The Enchiridion or Handbook of Epictetus is a short manual of Stoic ethical advice compiled by Arrian, a 2nd-century disciple of the Greek philosopher Epictetus. Although the content is mostly derived from the Discourses of Epictetus, it is not a summary of the Discourses but rather a compilation of practical precepts. Eschewing metaphysics, Arrian focuses his attention on Epictetus's work applying philosophy to daily life. Thus, the book is a manual to show the way to achieve mental freedom and happiness in all circumstances.
Zeno of Citium was a Hellenistic philosopher from Citium, Cyprus. He was the founder of the Stoic school of philosophy, which he taught in Athens from about 300 BC. Based on the moral ideas of the Cynics, Stoicism laid great emphasis on goodness and peace of mind gained from living a life of virtue in accordance with nature. It proved very popular, and flourished as one of the major schools of philosophy from the Hellenistic period through to the Roman era, and enjoyed revivals in the Renaissance as Neostoicism and in the current era as Modern Stoicism.
Epicureanism is a system of philosophy founded around 307 BCE based upon the teachings of Epicurus, an ancient Greek philosopher. Epicurus was an atomist and materialist, following in the steps of Democritus. His materialism led him to religious skepticism and a general attack on superstition and divine intervention. Epicureanism was originally a challenge to Platonism, and its main opponent later became Stoicism. It is a form of hedonism insofar as it declares pleasure to be its sole intrinsic goal. However, the concept that the absence of pain and fear constitutes the greatest pleasure, and its advocacy of a simple life, make it very different from hedonism as colloquially understood.
Diogenes Laërtius was a biographer of the Greek philosophers. Little is definitively known about his life, but his surviving Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers is a principal source for the history of ancient Greek philosophy. His reputation is controversial among scholars because he often repeats information from his sources without critically evaluating it. He also frequently focuses on trivial or insignificant details of his subjects' lives while ignoring important details of their philosophical teachings and he sometimes fails to distinguish between earlier and later teachings of specific philosophical schools. However, unlike many other ancient secondary sources, Diogenes Laërtius generally reports philosophical teachings without attempting to reinterpret or expand on them, which means his accounts are often closer to the primary sources. Due to the loss of so many of the primary sources on which Diogenes relied, his work has become the foremost surviving source on the history of Greek philosophy.
Arrian of Nicomedia was a Greek historian, public servant, military commander, and philosopher of the Roman period.
Gaius Musonius Rufus was a Roman Stoic philosopher of the 1st century AD. He taught philosophy in Rome during the reign of Nero and so was sent into exile in 65 AD, returning to Rome only under Galba. He was allowed to stay in Rome when Vespasian banished all other philosophers from the city in 71 AD although he was eventually banished anyway, returning only after Vespasian's death. A collection of extracts from his lectures still survives. He is also remembered for being the teacher of Epictetus and Dio Chrysostom.
Cleanthes, of Assos, was a Greek Stoic philosopher and boxer who was the successor to Zeno of Citium as the second head (scholarch) of the Stoic school in Athens. Originally a boxer, he came to Athens where he took up philosophy, listening to Zeno's lectures. He supported himself by working as a water-carrier at night. After the death of Zeno, c. 262 BC, he became the head of the school, a post he held for the next 32 years. Cleanthes successfully preserved and developed Zeno's doctrines. He originated new ideas in Stoic physics, and developed Stoicism in accordance with the principles of materialism and pantheism. Among the fragments of Cleanthes' writings which have come down to us, the largest is a Hymn to Zeus. His pupil was Chrysippus who became one of the most important Stoic thinkers.
Timon of Phlius was an Ancient Greek philosopher from the Hellenistic period, who was the student of Pyrrho. Unlike Pyrrho, who wrote nothing, Timon wrote satirical philosophical poetry called Silloi (Σίλλοι) as well as a number of prose writings. These have been lost, but the fragments quoted in later authors allow a rough outline of his philosophy to be reconstructed.
Meditations is a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor from 161-180 C.E., recording his private notes to himself and ideas on Stoic philosophy.
Diodorus Cronus was a Greek philosopher and dialectician connected to the Megarian school. He was most notable for logic innovations, including his master argument formulated in response to Aristotle's discussion of future contingents.
Prohairesis or proairesis is a fundamental concept in the Stoic philosophy of Epictetus. It represents the choice involved in giving or withholding assent to impressions (phantasiai). The use of this Greek word was first introduced into philosophy by Aristotle in the Nicomachean Ethics. To Epictetus, it is the faculty that distinguishes human beings from all other creatures. The concept of prohairesis plays a cardinal role in the Discourses and in the Manual: the terms "prohairesis", "prohairetic", and "aprohairetic" appear some 168 times.
Amor fati is a Latin phrase that may be translated as "love of fate" or "love of one's fate". It is used to describe an attitude in which one sees everything that happens in one's life, including suffering and loss, as good or, at the very least, necessary.
Crinis was a Stoic philosopher who lived in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, who was contemporary with and likely a pupil of Archedemus of Tarsus. He seems to have founded an independent school within the boundaries of the Stoic system, since the authority of his followers is sometimes quoted. He is mentioned also by Arrian.
Quintus Junius Rusticus, was a Roman teacher and politician. He was probably a grandson of Arulenus Rusticus, who was a prominent member of the Stoic Opposition. He was a Stoic philosopher and was one of the teachers of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, whom Aurelius treated with the utmost respect and honour.
Panthoides was a dialectician and philosopher of the Megarian school. He concerned himself with "the logical part of philosophy", and at some point taught the Peripatetic philosopher Lyco of Troas. He wrote a book called On Ambiguities, against which the Stoic philosopher Chrysippus wrote a treatise.
Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy that flourished in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. The Stoics believed that the practice of virtue is enough to achieve eudaimonia: a well-lived life. The Stoics identified the path to achieving it with a life spent practicing the four cardinal virtues in everyday life — prudence, fortitude, temperance, and justice — as well as living in accordance with nature. It was founded in the ancient Agora of Athens by Zeno of Citium around 300 BCE.
The Boy and the Filberts is a fable related to greed and appears as Aarne-Thompson type 68A. The story is credited to Aesop but there is no evidence to support this. It is not included in either the Perry Index or in Laura Gibbs' inclusive collection (2002).
Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1 is a papyrus fragment of the logia of Jesus written in Greek. It was among the first of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri discovered by Grenfell and Hunt. It was discovered on the second day of excavation, 12 January 1897, in the garbage mounds in the Egyptian town of Oxyrhynchus. The fragment is dated to the early half of the 3rd century. Grenfell and Hunt originally dated the fragment between 150 and 300, but "probably not written much later than the year 200." It was later discovered to be the oldest manuscript of the Gospel of Thomas.
The Galilean faith is a term used by some people of the ancient world to designate Christianity. The town of Nazareth is located in Galilee. Christ's followers were thus called Galileans. Galilee was part of the province of Judea. The reason for this term was to marginalize Christianity and to indicate that it came from a small area, a religion of only local significance.