Discourses and Selected Writings

The legacy of Greek philosophy that Epictetus represents began in the 6th century BCE. The earliest Greek philosophers, such as Thales of Miletus (c. 626-c. 548), Pythagoras (c. 560-c. 495), and Xenophanes of Colophon (c. 570-c. 478), emphasized topics such as the origins and substance of the universe and the existence (or possible nonexistence) and true nature of the gods—the very topics Epictetus himself scoffs at (209). While this kind of speculation remained a major part of ancient philosophy, the philosopher Socrates (c. 470-399) placed more emphasis on moral subjects that people could use to improve their ethical behavior. Although discussions on topics like the nature of the human soul are attributed to Socrates, he also debated at length on the meaning of virtue, how to achieve happiness, and similar ideas that could be put into practice.

In the centuries between Socrates’s death and the conquest of Greece by the Roman Empire in the 2nd century BCE, numerous rival schools of philosophy developed. These schools were mostly influenced by Socrates’s ideas and methods of debating. The school Epictetus belonged to, Stoicism, had been founded by Zeno of Citium (c. 334–c. 262). It was very popular among the Roman elites, to the point that Stoicism was arguably the “state philosophy” of the Roman Empire. Stoicism was centered around the idea that happiness could be achieved by following a universal natural law, which could be perceived through basic reason.

Other major schools that influenced Epictetus include Platonism, named for Socrates’s student, Plato (c. 428-c. 348), which stressed abstract thought and a higher and perfect spiritual reality, and Cynicism, founded by Diogenes (c. 413-c. 324), whose followers relinquished all material wealth and rejected social conventions. There are schools Epictetus opposes as well. One he is explicitly opposed to is the Epicurean philosophy of Epicurus (341-270), who taught that happiness can be achieved through the pursuit of moderate, rational pleasure and the avoidance of pain, that there is no afterlife, and that the gods exist but do not influence human affairs in any way. Another is Pyrrhoism, established by Pyrrho (c. 360-c. 270), whom Epictetus refers to when he talks about the Academics and Skeptics (249). They argued that, since logic can be used to argue for or against any proposition, one can only achieve serenity through never developing beliefs in or against anything that is not fully evident.