Epictetus

Epictetus (/ˌɛpɪkˈtiːtəs/, EH-pick-TEE-təss; Ancient Greek: Ἐπίκτητος, Epíktētos; c. 50 – c. 135 AD) was a Greek Stoic philosopher. He was born into slavery at Hierapolis, Phrygia (present-day Pamukkale, in western Turkey) and lived in Rome until his banishment, when he went to Nicopolis in northwestern Greece, where he spent the rest of his life.

Epictetus studied Stoic philosophy under Musonius Rufus and after manumission, his formal emancipation from slavery, he began to teach philosophy. Subject to the banishment of all philosophers from Rome by Emperor Domitian toward the end of the first century, Epictetus founded a school of philosophy in Nicopolis. Epictetus taught that philosophy is a way of life and not simply a theoretical discipline. To Epictetus, all external events are beyond our control; he argues that we should accept whatever happens calmly and dispassionately. However, he held that individuals are responsible for their own actions, which they can examine and control through rigorous self-discipline. His teachings were written down and published by his pupil Arrian in his Discourses and Enchiridion. They influenced many later thinkers, including Marcus Aurelius, Pascal, Diderot, Montesquieu, Rabelais, and Samuel Johnson.

Having described himself as old in 108 AD, Epictetus is presumed to have been born around AD 50, at Hierapolis, Phrygia. The name given by his parents is unknown. The name by which he is known is derived from the word epíktētos (ἐπίκτητος) that in Greek, simply means "gained" or "acquired"; the Greek philosopher Plato, in his Laws, used that term to mean property that is "added to one's hereditary property". Epictetus spent his youth in Rome as a slave to Epaphroditus, a wealthy freedman who was secretary to Nero. His social position was thus complicated, combining the low status of a slave with the high status of one with a personal connection to Imperial power.

Early in life, Epictetus acquired a passion for philosophy and, with the permission of his wealthy master, he studied Stoic philosophy under Musonius Rufus. Becoming more educated in this way raised his social status. At some point, he became disabled. Celsus, quoted by Origen, wrote that this was because his leg had been deliberately broken by his master. Without citing a cause, Simplicius wrote that Epictetus had been disabled from childhood.

Epictetus obtained his freedom sometime after the death of Nero in AD 68, and he began to teach philosophy in Rome. Around AD 93, when the Roman emperor Domitian banished all philosophers from the city, Epictetus moved to Nicopolis in Epirus, Greece, where he founded a school of philosophy.

His most famous pupil, Arrian, studied under him as a young man (around AD 108) and claimed to have written his famous Discourses based on the notes he took about lectures by Epictetus. Arrian argued that his Discourses should be considered comparable to the Socratic literature. Arrian described Epictetus as a powerful speaker who could "induce his listener to feel just what Epictetus wanted him to feel". Many eminent figures sought conversations with him. Emperor Hadrian was friendly with him, possibly having heard Epictetus speak at his school in Nicopolis.

Epictetus lived a life of great simplicity, with few possessions. He lived alone for a long time, but in his old age, he adopted the child of a friend who otherwise would have been left to die, and raised him with the aid of a woman. It is unclear whether Epictetus and she were married. He died sometime around AD 135. After his death, according to Lucian, his oil lamp was purchased by an admirer for 3,000 drachmae.

Epictetus maintains that the foundation of all philosophy is self-knowledge; that is, the conviction of our ignorance and gullibility ought to be the first subject of our study. Logic provides valid reasoning and certainty in judgment, but it is subordinate to practical needs. He also maintained that the first and most necessary part of philosophy concerns the application of doctrine, for example, that people should not lie. The second concerns reasons, e.g., why people should not lie. The third, lastly, examines and establishes the reasons. This is the logical part, which finds reasons, shows what is a reason, and that a given reason is a correct one. This last part is necessary, but only on account of the second, which again is rendered necessary by the first.

No writings by Epictetus are known. His discourses were transcribed and compiled by his pupil Arrian (c. 86/89 – c. after 146/160 AD). The main work is The Discourses, four books of which have been preserved (out of the original eight). Arrian also compiled a popular digest, entitled the Enchiridion, or Handbook, of Epictetus. In a preface to the Discourses that is addressed to Lucius Gellius, Arrian states that "whatever I heard him say I used to write down, word for word, as best I could, endeavouring to preserve it as a memorial, for my own future use, of his way of thinking and the frankness of his speech".

The philosophy of Epictetus influenced the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius (AD 121 to AD 180), who cites Epictetus in his Meditations. Epictetus also appears in a second or third century Dialogue Between the Emperor Hadrian and Epictetus the Philosopher. This short Latin text consists of seventy-three short questions supposedly posed by Hadrian and answered by Epictetus. This dialogue was very popular in the Middle Ages with many translations and adaptations.

In the sixth century, the Neoplatonist philosopher Simplicius wrote an extant commentary on the Enchiridion.

• List of slaves

• Origen's Contra Celcus, Book vii, episode is in chapter LIII, with a secondary mention of the episode in chapter LIV.

• All the Works of Epictetus, Which Are Now Extant, Elizabeth Carter (trans.) (1758).ISBN 978-1171001867
• The Complete Works: Handbook, Discourses, and Fragments, Robin Waterfield (trans.) (2022).ISBN 978-0226769479
• Discourses, Fragments, Handbook, Robin Hard (trans.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.ISBN 978-0199595181
• Discourses and Selected Writings, Robert Dobbin (trans.), Oxford: Penguin Classics, 2008.ISBN 978-0140449464.
• The Discourses (The Handbook, Fragments), Robin Hard (trans.), Christopher Gill (contrib.), Everyman Edition, 2003.ISBN 0460873121.
• Epictetus Discourses: Book 1, Robert Dobbin (trans.), (Clarendon Later Ancient Philosophers), Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998.ISBN 0198236646.
• The Handbook, Nicholas P. White (trans.), Indianapolis: Hackett, 1983.ISBN 0915145693.
• Enchiridion, George Long (trans.), New York: A. L. Burt, 1955 (reprint: New York: Dover, 2004).ISBN 0879757035.
• The Discourses, trans. W. A. Oldfather. 2 vols. (Loeb Classical Library edition.) Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1925 and 1928.ISBN 0674991451, 0674992407.
• Moral Discourses, Enchiridion and Fragments (at Open Library), Elizabeth Carter (trans.), W. H. D. Rouse (ed.), London: J.M. Dent & Sons, 1910.

• Scott Aikin and William O. Stephens, Epictetus's Encheiridion: A New Translation and Guide to Stoic Ethics, London: Bloomsbury, 2023ISBN 9781350009523.
• Jonathan Barnes, Logic and the Imperial Stoa, Leiden: Brill, 1997 (Chapter Three: Epictetuts, pp. 24–127).ISBN 9789004108288.
• Adolf Friedrich Bonhöffer, The Ethics of the Stoic Epictetus, rev. edn., William O. Stephens trans., New York: Peter Lang, 2021ISBN 978-1-4331-7613-5.
• Michel Foucault, The Hermeneutics of the Subject: Lectures at the Collège de France, 1981–1982, New York: Picador, 2005ISBN 0312425708.
• Pedro P. Fuentes González. art. "Épictète", in R. Goulet (ed.), Dictionnaire des Philosophes Antiques III, Paris, CNRS, 2000, pp. 106–151ISBN 2271057485.
• Gordon, Dane R.; Suits, David B., eds. (2014). Epictetus: his continuing influence and contemporary relevance. Rochester (New York): RIT Press. ISBN 978-1-933360-90-4.
• Ryan Holiday; Stephen Hanselman (2020). "Epictetus the Free Man". Lives of the Stoics. New York: Portfolio/Penguin. pp. 250–266. ISBN 978-0525541875..
• Brian E. Johnson, The Role Ethics of Epictetus: Stoicism in Ordinary Life, Lanham: Lexington Books, 2014ISBN 978-0739179673.
• A. A. Long, Epictetus: A Stoic and Socratic Guide to Life, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002ISBN 0199245568.
• Theodore Scaltsas, Andrew S. Mason (ed.), The Philosophy of Epictetus. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007ISBN 978-0199585519.
• Keith Seddon, Epictetus' Handbook and the Tablet of Cebes: Guides to Stoic Living, Routledge, 2005.
• Werner Sohn, Epictetus: Ein erzkonservativer Bildungsroman mit liberalen Eselsohren (German version) Norderstedt: BoD, 2010ISBN 978-3839152317.
• William O. Stephens, Stoic Ethics: Epictetus and Happiness as Freedom, London: Continuum, 2007ISBN 0826496083.

• Works by Epictetus in eBook form at Standard Ebooks
• Works by Epictetus at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Epictetus at the Internet Archive
• Works by Epictetus at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
• Works by Epictetus at the Internet Classics Archive
• Works by Epictetus Archived 2021-02-28 at the Wayback Machine at the Stoic Therapy eLibrary
• Who Was Epictetus?
• Graver, Margaret. "Epictetus". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
• "Epictetus". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
• "Dialogue Between Hadrian and Epictetus" – a fictitious 2nd or 3rd century composition, translated into English in The Knickerbocker magazine, August 1857
• Commentary on the Enchiridion of Epictetus by Simplicius of Cilicia (6th century)
• Stockdale on Stoicism I: The Stoic Warrior's Triad (Archived 2021-07-16 at the Wayback Machine) by James Stockdale
• Stockdale on Stoicism II: Master of My Fate (Archived 2021-07-16 at the Wayback Machine) by James Stockdale
• Epicteti dissertationes ab Arriano digestae, Heinrich Schenkl (ed.), Lipsiae, in aedibus B. G. Teubneri, 1916.