Epictetus studied Stoic philosophy underMusonius Rufus and after manumission, his formal emancipation from slavery, he began to teach philosophy. When philosophers were banished from Rome by EmperorDomitian toward the end of the first century, Epictetus founded a school of philosophy inNicopolis. He taught that philosophy isa way of life and not simply a theoretical discipline. To Epictetus, all external events arebeyond our control; he argues that we should accept whatever happens calmly and dispassionately. However, he held that individuals areresponsible for their own actions, which they can examine and control through rigorous self-discipline. His teachings were written down and published by his pupilArrian in hisDiscourses andEnchiridion. They influenced many later thinkers, includingMarcus Aurelius,Pascal,Diderot,Montesquieu,Rabelais, andSamuel Johnson.
Having described himself as old in 108 AD, Epictetus is presumed to have been born around AD 50,[6][7] atHierapolis,Phrygia.[8] The name given by his parents is unknown. The name by which he is known is derived from the wordepíktētos (ἐπίκτητος) that inGreek, simply means "gained" or "acquired";[9] the Greek philosopherPlato, in hisLaws, used that term to mean property that is "added to one's hereditary property".[10] Epictetus spent his youth in Rome as aslave toEpaphroditus, a wealthyfreedman who was secretary toNero.[11] Epictetus's 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.[12]
Early in life, Epictetus acquired a passion for philosophy and, with the permission of his wealthy master, he studiedStoic philosophy underMusonius Rufus.[13] Becoming more educated in this way raised his social status.[14] At some point, he became disabled.Celsus, quoted byOrigen, wrote that this was because his leg had been deliberately broken by his master.[15] Without citing a cause,Simplicius wrote that Epictetus had been disabled from childhood.[16]
Epictetus obtained his freedom sometime after the death of Nero in AD 68,[17] and he began to teachphilosophy in Rome. Around AD 93, when theRoman emperorDomitian banished all philosophers from the city,[18] Epictetus moved toNicopolis inEpirus,Greece, where he founded a school of philosophy.[19]
His most famous pupil,Arrian, studied under him as a young man (around AD 108) and claimed to have written his famousDiscourses based on the notes he took about lectures by Epictetus. Arrian argued that his Discourses should be considered comparable to theSocratic literature.[20] Arrian described Epictetus as a powerful speaker who could "induce his listener to feel just what Epictetus wanted him to feel".[21] Many eminent figures sought conversations with him.[22] EmperorHadrian was friendly with him,[23] possibly having heard Epictetus speak at his school in Nicopolis.[24][25]
Epictetus lived a life of greatsimplicity, with few possessions.[16] He lived alone for a long time,[26] 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.[27] It is unclear whether Epictetus and she were married.[28] He died sometime around AD 135.[29] After his death, according toLucian, hisoil lamp was purchased by an admirer for 3,000drachmae.[30]
An eighteenth century engraving depicting Epictetus
Epictetus maintains that the foundation of all philosophy isself-knowledge; that is, the conviction of our ignorance and gullibility ought to be the first subject of our study.[31]Logic provides valid reasoning and certainty in judgment, but it is subordinate to practical needs.[32] He also maintained that the first and most necessary part of philosophy concerns the application of doctrine, for example, that people should notlie. The second concerns reasons, e.g., why people should not lie. The third, lastly, examines and establishes the reasons.[33] This is the logical part, which finds reasons, shows what is a reason, and that a given reason is a correct one.[33] This last part is necessary, but only on account of the second, which again is rendered necessary by the first.[34]
Hadrian and Epictetus are depicted in a fifteenth century manuscript, Bodleian library
No writings by Epictetus are known. His discourses were transcribed and compiled by his pupilArrian (c. 86/89 – c. after 146/160 AD).[21] The main work isThe Discourses, four books of which have been preserved (out of the original eight).[35] Arrian also compiled a popular digest, entitled theEnchiridion, orHandbook, of Epictetus. In a preface to theDiscourses 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".[21]
Epictetus exhibited an influence on FrenchEnlightenment philosophers, such asVoltaire,Montesquieu,Denis Diderot, andBaron d'Holbach, who all read theEnchiridion when they were students.[38]Blaise Pascal listed Epictetus as among those philosophers he was most familiar with, describing him as a "great mind" who is "among the philosophers of the world who have best understood the duties" of an individual.[39]
In the sixth century, theNeoplatonist philosopherSimplicius wrote an extant commentary on theEnchiridion.[40]
^The year of his birth is uncertain. He was born a slave. We do know that he was born early enough to be teaching philosophy by around AD 93, when Domitian banished all philosophers fromRome, because he was among those who left the city under that decree. Around 108 AD, he described himself to Arrian as being an old man cf.Discourses, i.9.10; i.16.20; ii.6.23; etc.
^Fox, RobinThe Classical World: An Epic History from Homer to Hadrian Basic Books. 2006 p. 578
^A surviving second- or third-century work,Altercatio Hadriani Et Epicteti gives a fictitious account of a conversation between Hadrian and Epictetus.
^Simplicius,Commentary on the Enchiridion, 46. There is a joke at Epictetus' expense in Lucian'sLife of Demonax about the fact that he had no family.
^Simplicius,Commentary on the Enchiridion, 46. It is possible that they were married, but Simplicius' language on that subject is ambiguous.
^Lucian, Demoxan, c. 55, torn, ii., ed Hemsterh., p. 393; as quoted inA Selection from the Discourses of Epictetus With the Encheiridion (2009), p. 6
^He apparently was alive in the reign ofHadrian (117–138).Marcus Aurelius (born AD 121) was an admirer, but never met him, andAulus Gellius (ii.18.10) writing mid-second century, speaks of him as if he belonged to the recent past.
^abcBoter, Gerard J. (2011). "Epictetus". In Brown, Virginia; Hankins, James; Kaster, Robert A. (eds.).Catalogus Translationum Et Commentariorum: Medieval and Renaissance Latin Translations and Commentaries. Vol. 9. The Catholic University of America Press. p. 6.ISBN978-0813217291.
^Kors, Alan Charles (1990).Atheism in France, 1650–1729, Volume 1: The Orthodox Sources of Disbelief. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. p. 188.ISBN0691055750.
^Blaise Pascal Thoughts, Letters, and Minor Works. Cosimo. 2007. p. 393.
^George Long, (1890),The Discourses of Epictetus, with the Encheridion and Fragments, p. 390. George Bell and Sons
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Ryan Holiday; Stephen Hanselman (2020). "Epictetus the Free Man".Lives of the Stoics. New York: Portfolio/Penguin. pp. 250–266.ISBN978-0525541875..
Brian E. Johnson,The Role Ethics of Epictetus: Stoicism in Ordinary Life, Lanham: Lexington Books, 2014ISBN978-0739179673.
A. A. Long,Epictetus: A Stoic and Socratic Guide to Life, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002ISBN0199245568.
Theodore Scaltsas, Andrew S. Mason (ed.),The Philosophy of Epictetus. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007ISBN978-0199585519.
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, 2010ISBN978-3839152317.
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