Zeno of Citium (/ˈziːnoʊ/;Koine Greek:Ζήνων ὁ Κιτιεύς,Zēnōn ho Kitieus; c. 334 – c. 262 BC) was aHellenistic philosopher fromCitium (Κίτιον,Kition),Cyprus.[3] He was the founder of theStoic school of philosophy, which he taught inAthens from about 300 BC.
His ancestry is disputed betweenPhoenician andGreek,[6][7] because Citium contained both Phoenician and Greek inhabitants.[6][8] This interpretation reflects early post-Victorian scholarship, which often equated culture with ancestry and failed to recognise the distinct, syncretic identity of ancient Cyprus - a society that integrated Greek and Near Eastern influences within its own local traditions[5][4][9].Ancient biographical sources describe him as a Greek philosopher, reflecting the Hellenic linguistic and intellectual traditions of his time[10]. While a number of contemporary and modern historians regard Zeno as a Phoenician,[11][12] other modern scholars have contested this arguing for a Greek[b][8] or Greco-Phoenician background.[14] He had aGreek name, aGreek higher education and that there is no evidence he knew a language other than Greek,[15] but in a carbonised papyrus fromHerculaneum he is "mocked for his poor command of the Greek language".[16] His father, Mnaseas, had a name ambiguously meaningful both in Phoenician ("one causing to forget") and in Greek ("mindful").[17]. His mother and her name are not recorded.[17]
Zeno received a Greek education and spent most of his life inAthens, where he founded the Stoic school of philosophy. He became a respected figure in Athenian society and was honoured with a public funeral after his death.
Most of the details known about his life come from the biography and anecdotes preserved byDiogenes Laërtius in hisLives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers written in the 3rd century AD, a few of which are confirmed by theSuda (a 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia).[18] Diogenes reports that Zeno's interest in philosophy began when "he consultedthe oracle to know what he should do to attain the best life, and that the gods' response was that he should take on the complexion of the dead. Whereupon, perceiving what this meant, he studied ancient authors."[19] Zeno became a wealthy merchant.
On a voyage fromPhoenicia toPeiraeus he survived a shipwreck, after which he went to Athens and visited a bookseller. There he encounteredXenophon'sMemorabilia. He was so pleased with the book's portrayal ofSocrates that he asked the bookseller where men like Socrates were to be found. Just then,Crates of Thebes – the most famousCynic living at that time inGreece – happened to be walking by, and the bookseller pointed to him.[20]
Diogenes Laërtius describes Zeno as a haggard, dark-skinned person,[21] living a spare,ascetic life[22] despite his wealth. This coincides with the influences of Cynic teaching, and was, at least in part, continued in his Stoic philosophy. From the day Zeno became Crates’ pupil, he showed a strong bent for philosophy, though with too much native modesty to assimilateAnaideia; Cynic “shamelessness” and the disregard for societal norms in favor of freedom. An example of this may be found in the writings ofApuleius who narrates an incident where Crates andHipparchia, his wife and fellow Cynic, engaged in apublic act of sexual intercourse and, as such, drew a crowd. Zeno, upon catching sight of this, covered them both with his cloak so as to prevent bystanders from witnessing the copulating couple, displaying his own inability to be apathetic to the expectations of society.[23] Hence Crates, desirous of curing this defect in him, gave him a potful of lentil-soup to carry through theCeramicus (the pottery district); and when he saw that Zeno was ashamed and tried to keep it out of sight, Crates broke the pot with a blow of his staff. As Zeno began to run off in embarrassment with the lentil-soup flowing down his legs, Crates chided, "Why run away, my little Phoenician? Nothing terrible has befallen you."[24]
According to his contemporaries, Zeno was attracted only to boys and other men,[25] and Diogenes Laërtius mentions by name at least one with whom he was enamored, a young man named Chremonides[19] (who may or may not be the Athenian statesman and generalChremonides).
Zeno began teaching in thecolonnade in theAgora of Athens known as theStoa Poikile (Greek Στοὰ Ποικίλη) in 301 BC. His disciples were initially called "Zenonians," but eventually they came to be known as "Stoics," a name previously applied to poets who congregated in the Stoa Poikile.
Among the admirers of Zeno was kingAntigonus II Gonatas ofMacedonia,[31] who, whenever he came to Athens, would visit Zeno. Zeno is said to have declined an invitation to visit Antigonus in Macedonia, although their supposed correspondence preserved by Laërtius[32] is undoubtedly the invention of a later writer.[33] Zeno instead sent his friend and disciplePersaeus,[32] who had lived with Zeno in his house.[34] Among Zeno's other pupils there wereAristo of Chios,Sphaerus, andCleanthes who succeeded Zeno as the head (scholarch) of the Stoic school in Athens.[35]
Zeno is said to have declined Athenian citizenship when it was offered to him, fearing that he would appear unfaithful to his native land,[36] where he was highly esteemed, and where he contributed to the restoration of its baths, after which his name was inscribed upon a pillar there as "Zeno the philosopher".[37] We are also told that Zeno was of an earnest, gloomy disposition;[38] that he preferred the company of the few to the many;[39] that he was fond of burying himself in investigations;[40] and that he disliked verbose and elaborate speeches.[41] Diogenes Laërtius has preserved many clever and witty remarks by Zeno,[42] although these anecdotes are generally considered unreliable.[33]
Zeno died around 262 BC.[a] Laërtius reports about his death:
As he was leaving the school he tripped and fell, breaking his toe. Striking the ground with his fist, hequoted the line from theNiobe:
I come, I come, why dost thou call for me?
and died on the spot through holding his breath.[43]
At Zeno's funeral anepitaph was composed for him stating:
And if thy native country was Phoenicia,
What need to slight thee? Came not Cadmus thence,
Who gave to Greece her books and art of writing?[44]
This signified that even though Zeno was ofnon-Greek background the Greeks still respected him, comparing him to the legendary Phoenician heroCadmus who had brought thealphabet to the Greeks, as Zeno had brought Stoicism to them and was described as "the noblest man of his age" with a bronze statue being built in his honor.[45][46]
During his lifetime, Zeno received appreciation for his philosophical andpedagogical teachings. Among other things, Zeno was honored with the golden crown,[46] and a tomb was built in honor of his moral influence on the youth of his era.[47]
Following the ideas of theOld Academy, Zeno dividedphilosophy into three parts:logic (a wide subject includingrhetoric,grammar, and the theories ofperception andthought);physics (not justscience, but thedivine nature of the universe as well); andethics, the end goal of which was to achieveeudaimonia through the right way of living according to Nature. Because Zeno's ideas were later expanded upon byChrysippus and other Stoics, it can be difficult to determine precisely what he thought. But his general views can be outlined as follows:
In his treatment of logic, Zeno was influenced byStilpo and the otherMegarians. Zeno urged the need to lay down a basis for logic because the wise person must know how to avoid deception.[48]Cicero accused Zeno of being inferior to his philosophical predecessors in his treatment of logic,[49] and it seems true that a more exact treatment of the subject was laid down by his successors, includingChrysippus.[50] Zeno divided true conceptions into the comprehensible and the incomprehensible,[51] permitting for free-will the power of assent (sinkatathesis/συνκατάθεσις) in distinguishing between sense impressions.[52] Zeno said that there were four stages in the process leading to trueknowledge, which he illustrated with the example of the flat, extended hand, and the gradual closing of the fist:
Zeno stretched out his fingers, and showed the palm of his hand, – "Perception," – he said, – "is a thing like this."– Then, when he had closed his fingers a little, – "Assent is like this." – Afterwards, when he had completely closed his hand, and showed his fist, that, he said, was Comprehension. From which simile he also gave that state a new name, calling itkatalepsis (κατάληψις). But when he brought his left hand against his right, and with it took a firm and tight hold of his fist: – "Knowledge" – he said, was of that character; and that was what none but a wise person possessed.[53]
Theuniverse, in Zeno's view, isGod:[54] a divine reasoning entity, where all the parts belong to the whole.[55] Into thispantheistic system he incorporated the physics ofHeraclitus; the universe contains a divine artisan-fire, which foresees everything,[56] and extending throughout the universe, must produce everything:
Zeno, then, defines nature by saying that it is artistically working fire, which advances by fixed methods to creation. For he maintains that it is the main function of art to create and produce and that what the hand accomplishes in the productions of the arts we employ, is accomplished much more artistically by nature, that is, as I said, by artistically working fire, which is the master of the other arts.[56]
This divine fire,[52] or aether,[57] is the basis for all activity in the universe,[58] operating on otherwise passive matter, which neither increases nor diminishes itself.[59] The primary substance in the universe comes from fire, passes through the stage of air, and then becomes water: the thicker portion becoming earth, and the thinner portion becoming air again, and then rarefying back into fire.[60] Individualsouls are part of the same fire as theworld-soul of the universe.[61] Following Heraclitus, Zeno adopted the view that the universe underwent regular cycles of formation and destruction.[62]
The nature of the universe is such that it accomplishes what is right and prevents the opposite,[63] and is identified with unconditionalFate,[64] while allowing it the free-will attributed to it.[56] According to Zeno's beliefs, "[t]rue happiness" can only be found by obeying natural laws and living in tune with the course of fate.[65]
Like theCynics, Zeno recognised a single, sole and simple good,[66] which is the only goal to strive for.[67] "Happiness is a good flow of life," said Zeno,[68] and this can only be achieved through the use of right reason coinciding with the universal reason (Logos), which governs everything. A bad feeling (pathos) "is a disturbance of the mind repugnant to reason, and against Nature."[69] This consistency of soul, out of which morally good actions spring, isvirtue,[70] true good can only consist in virtue.[71]
Zeno deviated from the Cynics in saying that things that are morallyadiaphora (indifferent) could nevertheless have value. Things have a relative value in proportion to how they aid the natural instinct for self-preservation.[72] That which is to be preferred is a "fitting action" (kathêkon/καθῆκον), a designation Zeno first introduced. Self-preservation, and the things that contribute towards it, has only a conditional value; it does not aid happiness, which depends only on moral actions.[73]
Just as virtue can only exist within the dominion of reason, sovice can only exist with the rejection of reason. Virtue is absolutely opposed to vice,[74] the two cannot exist in the same thing together, and cannot be increased or decreased;[75] no one moral action is more virtuous than another.[76] All actions are either good or bad, since impulses and desires rest upon free consent,[77] and hence even passive mental states or emotions that are not guided by reason are immoral,[78] and produce immoral actions.[79] Zeno distinguished four negativeemotions: desire, fear, pleasure and sorrow (epithumia, phobos, hêdonê, lupê / ἐπιθυμία, φόβος, ἡδονή, λύπη),[80] and he was probably responsible for distinguishing the three corresponding positive emotions: will, caution, and joy (boulêsis, eulabeia, chara / βούλησις, εὐλάβεια, χαρά), with no corresponding rational equivalent for pain. All errors must be rooted out, not merely set aside,[81] and replaced with right reason.
None of Zeno's original writings have survived except as fragmentary quotations preserved by later writers. The most famous of his works was hisRepublic, written in conscious imitation of, or opposition to,Plato'sRepublic. Although it has not survived, more is known about it than any of his other works. It outlined Zeno's vision of the ideal Stoic society.
A manuscript that was attributed to Zeno, matching a known title of one of Zeno's works, Περὶ φύσεως (On Nature), was discovered in 1949 in anOld Armenian translation. In 1956 it was translated into Russian and published with an extensive commentary.[82] Subsequent philological investigation concluded that the author could not have been Zeno and was instead an anonymous Christian philosopher of the late sixth century or a little later, writing in the tradition of ancient philosophy, but doing so as a Christian. He is now known asPseudo-Zeno. His work shows an integration of Christian and philosophical concepts, but in a very restrained way.[83]
The titles of many of Zeno's writings are, however, known and are as follows:[84]
Ethical writings:
Πολιτεία –The Republic
Περὶ τοῦ κατὰ φύσιν βίου –On Life according to Nature
Περὶ ὁρμῆς ἢ Περὶ ἀνθρώπου φύσεως –On Impulse, or on the Nature of Humans
^The dates for Zeno's life are controversial. According toApollodorus, as quoted byPhilodemus, Zeno died in Arrheneides'archonship (262/1 BC). According toPersaeus (Diogenes Laërtius vii. 28), Zeno lived for 72 years. His date of birth is thus 334/3 BC. A plausible chronology for his life is as follows: He was born 334/3 BC, and came to Athens in 312/11 BC at the age of 22 (Laërtius 1925, § 28). He studied philosophy for about 10 years (Laërtius 1925, § 2); opened his own school during Clearchus' archonship in 301/0 BC (Philodemus,On the Stoics, col. 4); and was the head of the school for 39 years and 3 months (Philodemus,On the Stoics, col. 4), and died 262/1 BC. For more information seeFerguson 1911, pp. 185–186; andDorandi 2005, p. 38
^Claims of Zeno's Phoenician descent are often based on the fact that he was often called "Phoenician" by his contemporaries, but such epithets do not necessarily indicate ethnic origin.[13]
^abYon, Marguerite; William A. P. (Nov 1997). "Kition in the Tenth to Fourth Centuries B.C.".Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research.308 (308):9–17.doi:10.2307/1357405.JSTOR1357405.S2CID156694103.
^abPearson, Alfred Chilton (1891).The Fragments of Zeno & Cleanthes with Introduction & Explanatory Notes. C.J. Clay & Sons. p. 2.Zeno, the son of Mnaseas', was born at Citium , a Greek city in the south-east of Cyprus, whose population had been increased by Phoenician immigrants. Whether he was of pure Greek blood or not we cannot tell...
^Iacovou, Maria (2013). "The Great Islands: Studies of Crete and Cyprus Presented to Gerald Cadogan". In Karageorghis, Vassos (ed.).The Cypriot Kingdoms and the Greek World: Between Autonomy and Hellenisation. Katholieke Universiteit Leuven – Presses Universitaires de Louvain. pp. 231–248.ISBN978-90-5867-944-5.The political and cultural development of Cyprus during the first millennium BC demonstrates a continuous, locally grounded identity which incorporated Hellenic and Near Eastern elements without surrendering its autonomy.{{cite book}}:Check|isbn= value: checksum (help)
^Cite error: The named referenceDiogenesLaertius was invoked but never defined (see thehelp page).
^Max Pohlenz,Die Stoa: Geschichte einer geistigen Bewegung. As reviewed byPhillip de Lacy (October 1, 1951).Reviewed Work: Die Stoa: Geschichte einer geistigen Bewegung by Max Pohlenz. Vol. 46. The University of Chicago Press. pp. 260–262.JSTOR265746.
^Hicks, R. D. (2019).Stoic and Epicurean. Courier Dover Publications. p. 4.ISBN978-0-486-83960-8.
^Bar-Kochva, Bezalel (2016).The Image of the Jews in Greek Literature: The Hellenistic Period. University of California Press. p. 341.ISBN978-0-520-29084-6.
^abBrunt, P. A. (2013). "The Political Attitudes of the Old Stoa". In Griffin, Miriam; Samuels, Alison (eds.).Studies in Stoicism. Oxford University Press. p. 87.ISBN978-0199695850.
^Caldwell, Wallace E.; Merrill, Edward H. (1964).History of the World. Vol. 1.United States: The Greystone Press. p. 119.
^Cicero,Academica, i. 10. 35–36 : "Zeno igitur nullo modo is erat qui ut Theophrastus nervos virtutis inciderit, sed contra qui omnia quae ad beatam vitam pertinerent in una virtute poneret nec quicquam aliud numeraret hi bonis idque appellaret honestum quod esset simplex quoddam et solum et unum bonum."
^Cicero,de Finibus, iii. 6. 8; comp.Laërtius 1925, § 100, etc.
Dorandi, Tiziano (2005). "Chapter 2: Chronology". In Algra, Keimpe; et al. (eds.).The Cambridge History of Hellenistic Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 38.ISBN978-0521616706.
_-_BEIC_6353768.jpg)
