Editing Epictetus

{{Short description|Greek Stoic philosopher (c. 50 – c. 135)}}
{{About|the philosopher|the vase painter|Epiktetos}}
{{Distinguish|Epicurus}}
{{Infobox philosopher
|region = [[Western philosophy]]
|era = [[Hellenistic philosophy]]
|image = Epicteti Enchiridion Latinis versibus adumbratum (Oxford 1715) frontispiece.jpg
|alt = A line drawing of Epictetus writing at a table with a crutch draped across his lap and shoulder
|caption = Eighteenth-century line drawing<br>depicting Epictetus with his crutch
|name = Epictetus
|birth_date = {{circa|AD 50}}
|birth_place = [[Hierapolis]], [[Phrygia]]<br>(''presumed'')
|death_date = {{circa|135}} (aged {{circa|85}})
|death_place = [[Nicopolis]], [[Epirus (Roman province)|Epirus]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Nicopolis-Actia|title=Nicopolis Actia &#124; Greece &#124; Britannica|website=www.britannica.com}}</ref>
|notable_works = {{Flatlist}}
* ''[[Discourses of Epictetus|Discourses]]''
* ''[[Enchiridion of Epictetus|Enchiridion]]''
{{Endflatlist}}
|school_tradition = [[Stoicism]]
|main_interests = [[Ethics]]
|notable_ideas = ''[[Memento mori]]''<ref>''[[Discourses of Epictetus]]'', 3.24.</ref>
}}

'''Epictetus''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|ɛ|p|ɪ|k|ˈ|t|iː|t|ə|s|}}, {{respell|EH|pick|TEE|təss}};<ref>Jones, Daniel; Roach, Peter, James Hartman and Jane Setter, eds. ''Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary''. 17th edition. Cambridge UP, 2006.</ref> {{langx|grc|Ἐπίκτητος}}, ''Epíktētos''; {{circa}} 50 {{ndash}} {{circa}} 135 AD) was a Greek [[Stoicism|Stoic philosopher]].<ref name="CarterEpictetus2017">{{cite book | author1 = Elizabeth Carter | author2 = Epictetus | date = 9 July 2017 | title = The Complete Works of Epictetus | publisher = Independently Published | pages = | isbn = 978-1521800355 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=yDpEswEACAAJ}}</ref><ref name="Stevens2022">{{cite book | author = Rowan Stevens | date = 28 February 2022 | title = <nowiki>Wise Quotes – Epictetus (294 Epictetus Quotes): Greek Stoic Philosophy | Quote Collections | Epicurean</nowiki> | publisher = Rowan Stevens | pages = | isbn = 978-1636051833 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=bgf2zgEACAAJ}}</ref> He was born [[Slavery in ancient Greece|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 [[Modus vivendi|a way of life]] and not simply a theoretical discipline. To Epictetus, all external events are [[determinism|beyond our control]]; he argues that we should accept whatever happens calmly and dispassionately. However, he held that individuals are [[Moral responsibility|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 of Epictetus|Discourses]]'' and ''[[Enchiridion of Epictetus|Enchiridion]]''. They influenced many later thinkers, including [[Marcus Aurelius]], [[Blaise Pascal|Pascal]], [[Denis Diderot|Diderot]], [[Montesquieu]], [[François Rabelais|Rabelais]], and [[Samuel Johnson]].

== Life ==
Having described himself as old in 108 AD, Epictetus is presumed to have been born around AD 50,<ref>{{cite SEP |url-id=epictetus |title=Epictetus |last=Graver |first=Margaret}}</ref><ref>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 from [[Rome]], 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. [http://classics.mit.edu/Epictetus/discourses.html ''Discourses''], i.9.10; i.16.20; ii.6.23; etc.</ref> at [[Hierapolis]], [[Phrygia]].<ref>Suda. ''Epictetus''.</ref> 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 language|Greek]], simply means "gained" or "acquired";<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=%E1%BC%90%CF%80%CE%AF%CE%BA%CF%84%CE%B7%CF%84%CE%BF%CF%82&la=greek#Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=e)pi/kthtos-contents|title=Greek Word Study Tool|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> the Greek philosopher [[Plato]], in his ''[[Laws (dialogue)|Laws]]'', used that term to mean property that is "added to one's hereditary property".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:abo:tlg,0059,034:924a&lang=original|title=Plato, Laws, section 924a|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> Epictetus spent his youth in Rome as a [[slavery|slave]] to [[Epaphroditus (freedman of Nero)|Epaphroditus]], a wealthy [[freedman]] who was secretary to [[Nero]].<ref>[https://www.livius.org/ei-er/epaphroditus/epaphroditus.html Epaphroditus] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140802005238/http://www.livius.org/ei-er/epaphroditus/epaphroditus.html |date=2014-08-02 }}, livius.org</ref> 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.<ref>P. Christoforou, ''Imagining the Roman Emperor'' (2023), p. 22</ref>

Early in life, Epictetus acquired a passion for philosophy and, with the permission of his wealthy master, he studied [[Stoicism|Stoic]] philosophy under [[Musonius Rufus]].<ref>Epictetus, [http://classics.mit.edu/Epictetus/discourses.html ''Discourses'']. i.7.32.</ref> Becoming more educated in this way raised his social status.<ref>Epictetus, [http://classics.mit.edu/Epictetus/discourses.html ''Discourses''], i.9.29.</ref> At some point, he became disabled. [[Celsus]], quoted by [[Origen]], wrote that this was because his leg had been deliberately broken by his master.<ref>Origen, [http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/origen167.html ''Contra Celcus''. vii.]</ref> Without citing a cause, [[Simplicius of Cilicia|Simplicius]] wrote that Epictetus had been disabled from childhood.<ref name="simpl1">Simplicius, ''Commentary on the Enchiridion'', 13.</ref>

Epictetus obtained his freedom sometime after the death of Nero in AD 68,<ref>Douglas J. Soccio, ''Archetypes of Wisdom: An Introduction to Philosophy'' (2012), p. 197</ref> and he began to teach [[philosophy]] in Rome. Around AD 93, when the [[Roman emperor]] [[Domitian]] banished all philosophers from the city,<ref>Suetonius, [http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/ancient/suet-domitian-rolfe.html ''Domitian''], x.</ref> Epictetus moved to [[Nicopolis]] in [[Epirus]], [[Greece]], where he founded a school of philosophy.<ref>Aulus Gellius, ''Attic Nights'', xv. 11.</ref>

His most famous pupil, [[Arrian]], studied under him as a young man (around AD 108) and claimed to have written his famous ''[[Discourses of Epictetus|Discourses]]'' based on the notes he took about lectures by Epictetus. Arrian argued that his Discourses should be considered comparable to the [[Socrates|Socratic]] literature.<ref>Hendrik Selle: ''Dichtung oder Wahrheit&nbsp;– Der Autor der Epiktetischen Predigten''. Philologus 145 [2001] 269–290</ref> Arrian described Epictetus as a powerful speaker who could "induce his listener to feel just what Epictetus wanted him to feel".<ref name="arrian1">Epictetus, [http://classics.mit.edu/Epictetus/discourses.html ''Discourses''], prologue.</ref> Many eminent figures sought conversations with him.<ref>Epictetus, [http://classics.mit.edu/Epictetus/discourses.html ''Discourses''], i.11; ii.14; iii.4; iii. 7; etc.</ref> Emperor [[Hadrian]] was friendly with him,<ref>[http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/ancient/aelius-hadrian.html Historia Augusta, ''Hadrian''], 16.</ref> possibly having heard Epictetus speak at his school in Nicopolis.<ref>Fox, Robin ''The Classical World: An Epic History from Homer to Hadrian'' Basic Books. 2006 p. 578</ref><ref>A surviving second- or third-century work, ''Altercatio Hadriani Et Epicteti'' gives a fictitious account of a conversation between Hadrian and Epictetus.</ref>

Epictetus lived a life of great [[simple living|simplicity]], with few possessions.<ref name="simpl1"/> He lived alone for a long time,<ref>Simplicius, ''Commentary on the Enchiridion'', 46. There is a joke at Epictetus' expense in Lucian's [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6829 ''Life of Demonax''] about the fact that he had no family.</ref> 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.<ref>Simplicius, ''Commentary on the Enchiridion'', 46. It is possible that they were married, but Simplicius' language on that subject is ambiguous.</ref> It is unclear whether Epictetus and she were married.<ref>Lucian, Demoxan, c. 55, torn, ii., ed Hemsterh., p. 393; as quoted in ''A Selection from the Discourses of Epictetus With the Encheiridion'' (2009), p. 6</ref> He died sometime around AD 135.<ref>He apparently was alive in the reign of [[Hadrian]] (117–138). [[Marcus Aurelius]] (born AD 121) was an admirer, but never met him, and [[Aulus Gellius]] ([https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Gellius/2*.html#18.10 ii.18.10]) writing mid-second century, speaks of him as if he belonged to the recent past.</ref> After his death, according to [[Lucian]], his [[oil lamp]] was purchased by an admirer for 3,000 [[Ancient drachma|drachma]]e.<ref>Lucian, [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6829 ''Remarks to an illiterate book-lover''].</ref>

== Thought ==
[[Image:Epictetus.png|thumb|upright|An eighteenth century engraving depicting Epictetus]]
Epictetus maintains that the foundation of all philosophy is [[Self-knowledge (psychology)|self-knowledge]]; that is, the conviction of our ignorance and gullibility ought to be the first subject of our study.<ref>Epictetus, ''Discourses'', ii.11.1</ref> [[Logic]] provides valid reasoning and certainty in judgment, but it is subordinate to practical needs.<ref>Epictetus, ''Discourses'', i.7.1–8</ref> 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.<ref name="ritter201">[[Heinrich Ritter]], Alexander James William Morrison, (1846), ''The History of Ancient Philosophy'', Volume 4, p. 201</ref> This is the logical part, which finds reasons, shows what is a reason, and that a given reason is a correct one.<ref name="ritter201"/> This last part is necessary, but only on account of the second, which again is rendered necessary by the first.<ref>Epictetus, ''Discourses'', iii.2.1–6; ''Enchiridion'', 52</ref>

== Legacy ==
[[File:MS. Canon. Misc. 378 fols. 78r - Bodleian library - Altercatio Hadriani Augusti et Epicteti philosophi.jpg|thumb|right|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 pupil [[Arrian]] ({{circa|86/89|after 146/160 AD}}).<ref name="arrian1"/> The main work is ''[[Discourses of Epictetus|The Discourses]]'', four books of which have been preserved (out of the original eight).<ref>[[Photios I of Constantinople|Photius]], ''Bibliotheca,'' states that there were eight books.</ref> Arrian also compiled a popular digest, entitled the ''[[Enchiridion of Epictetus|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".<ref name="arrian1"/> 

The philosophy of Epictetus influenced the Roman emperor [[Marcus Aurelius]] (AD 121 to AD 180), who cites Epictetus in his ''[[Meditations]]''.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Marcus Aurelius, Emperor and Philosopher |first=G. R. |last=Stanton |journal=[[Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte]] |year=1969 |volume=18 |issue=5 |pages=570–587 |jstor=4435105}}</ref> Epictetus also appears in a second or third century ''[[Altercatio Hadriani Augusti et Epicteti philosophi|Dialogue Between the Emperor Hadrian and Epictetus the Philosopher]]''.<ref name="boter">{{Cite book|author-last=Boter|author-first=Gerard J.|contribution=Epictetus|page=6|editor1-last=Brown|editor1-first=Virginia|editor2-last=Hankins|editor2-first=James|editor3-last=Kaster|editor3-first=Robert A.|title=Catalogus Translationum Et Commentariorum: Medieval and Renaissance Latin Translations and Commentaries|volume=9|year=2011|publisher=The Catholic University of America Press|isbn=978-0813217291}}</ref> This short Latin text consists of seventy-three short questions supposedly posed by [[Hadrian]] and answered by Epictetus.<ref name="boter"/> This dialogue was very popular in the [[Middle Ages]] with many translations and adaptations.<ref name="boter"/>

Epictetus exhibited an influence on French [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] philosophers, such as [[Voltaire]], [[Montesquieu]], [[Denis Diderot]], and [[Baron d'Holbach]], who all read the [[Enchiridion of Epictetus|''Enchiridion'']] when they were students.<ref>{{cite book|title=Atheism in France, 1650–1729, Volume 1: The Orthodox Sources of Disbelief|last=Kors|first=Alan Charles|date=1990|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=0691055750|location=Princeton, New Jersey|page=188}}</ref> [[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.<ref>{{cite book |title=Blaise Pascal Thoughts, Letters, and Minor Works |date=2007 |publisher=Cosimo |page=393}}</ref>

In the sixth century, the [[Neoplatonist]] philosopher [[Simplicius of Cilicia|Simplicius]] wrote an extant commentary on the ''Enchiridion''.<ref>George Long, (1890), ''The Discourses of Epictetus, with the Encheridion and Fragments'', p. 390. George Bell and Sons</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of slaves]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|25em}}
* [http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/origen167.html Origen's ''Contra Celcus'', Book vii, episode is in chapter LIII, with a secondary mention of the episode in chapter LIV.]

== Further reading ==
{{Library resources box |by=yes |onlinebooks=yes |others=yes |about=yes |label=Epictetus |viaf= |lccn= |lcheading= |wikititle= }}

=== Primary sources ===
* ''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 (scholar)|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}}.
* [https://openlibrary.org/books/OL7099535M/Moral_discourses ''Moral Discourses, Enchiridion and Fragments''] (at Open Library), [[Elizabeth Carter]] (trans.), W. H. D. Rouse (ed.), London: J.M. Dent & Sons, 1910.

=== Studies ===
* Scott Aikin and William O. Stephens, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=4nevEAAAQBAJ Epictetus's Encheiridion: A New Translation and Guide to Stoic Ethics]'', London: Bloomsbury, 2023 {{ISBN|9781350009523}}.
* Jonathan Barnes, ''Logic and the Imperial Stoa'', Leiden: Brill, 1997 (Chapter Three: ''Epictetuts'', pp.&nbsp;24–127).{{ISBN|9789004108288}}.
* Adolf Friedrich Bonhöffer, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=0Z2SzQEACAAJ The Ethics of the Stoic Epictetus, rev. edn.]'', [[William O. Stephens]] trans., New York: Peter Lang, 2021 {{ISBN|978-1-4331-7613-5}}.
* [[Michel Foucault]], ''The Hermeneutics of the Subject: Lectures at the Collège de France, 1981–1982'', New York: Picador, 2005 {{ISBN|0312425708}}.
* Pedro P. Fuentes González. art. "[http://hdl.handle.net/10481/27535 Épictète]", in R. Goulet (ed.), ''Dictionnaire des Philosophes Antiques'' III, Paris, CNRS, 2000, pp.&nbsp;106–151 {{ISBN|2271057485}}.
* {{Cite book |last= |first= |title=Epictetus: his continuing influence and contemporary relevance |date=2014 |publisher=[[RIT Press]] |isbn=978-1-933360-90-4 |editor-last=Gordon |editor-first=Dane R. |location=Rochester (New York) |language=en |editor-last2=Suits |editor-first2=David B.}}
*{{cite book |author1= Ryan Holiday|author1-link=Ryan Holiday|author2=Stephen Hanselman |title=Lives of the Stoics |date=2020 |publisher=Portfolio/Penguin |location=New York |isbn=978-0525541875 |pages=250–266 |chapter=Epictetus the Free Man }}.
* Brian E. Johnson, ''The Role Ethics of Epictetus: Stoicism in Ordinary Life'', Lanham: Lexington Books, 2014 {{ISBN|978-0739179673}}.
* [[A. A. Long]], ''Epictetus: A Stoic and Socratic Guide to Life'', Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002 {{ISBN|0199245568}}.
* Theodore Scaltsas, Andrew S. Mason (ed.), ''The Philosophy of Epictetus''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007 {{ISBN|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, 2010 {{ISBN|978-3839152317}}.
* [[William O. Stephens]], ''[http://www.bloomsbury.com/us/stoic-ethics-9780826496089 Stoic Ethics: Epictetus and Happiness as Freedom]'', London: Continuum, 2007 {{ISBN|0826496083}}.

== External links ==
{{sisterlinks|d=Q183144|commons=Category:Epictetus|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|mw=no|m=no|species=no|s=Author:Epictetus}}
{{Wikisourcelang|el|Επίκτητος|Ἐπίκτητος}}
* {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/epictetus}}
* {{Gutenberg author |id=452}}
* {{Internet Archive author}}
* {{Librivox author |id=4230}}
* [http://classics.mit.edu/Browse/browse-Epictetus.html Works by Epictetus] at the Internet Classics Archive
* [https://www.stoictherapy.com/elibrary#epictetus Works by Epictetus] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228002128/https://www.stoictherapy.com/elibrary#epictetus |date=2021-02-28 }} at the Stoic Therapy eLibrary
* [https://www.orionphilosophy.com/stoic-blog/epictetus/ Who Was Epictetus?]
* {{cite SEP |url-id=epictetus |title=Epictetus |last=Graver |first=Margaret}}
* {{cite IEP |url-id=epictetu}}
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=VGz_OMkbZPwC&pg=PA126 "Dialogue Between Hadrian and Epictetus"] – a fictitious 2nd or 3rd century composition, translated into English in ''[[The Knickerbocker]]'' magazine, August 1857
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050519213611/http://www.geocities.com/stoicvoice/journal/0301/sc0301b0.htm ''Commentary on the Enchiridion of Epictetus''] by [[Simplicius of Cilicia]] (6th century)
* [http://www.usna.edu/Ethics/_files/documents/stoicism1.pdf ''Stockdale on Stoicism I: The Stoic Warrior's Triad''] ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210716024957/https://www.usna.edu/Ethics/_files/documents/stoicism1.pdf |date=2021-07-16 }}) by [[James Stockdale]]
* [http://www.usna.edu/Ethics/_files/documents/stoicism2.pdf ''Stockdale on Stoicism II: Master of My Fate''] ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210716024938/https://www.usna.edu/Ethics/_files/documents/Stoicism2.pdf |date=2021-07-16 }}) by [[James Stockdale]]
* ''[https://archive.org/details/ldpd_10922736_000 Epicteti dissertationes ab Arriano digestae]'', [[:de:Heinrich Schenkl|Heinrich Schenkl]] (ed.), Lipsiae, in aedibus B. G. Teubneri, 1916.

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[[Category:135 deaths]]
[[Category:55 births]]
[[Category:1st-century Greek philosophers]]
[[Category:1st-century Romans]]
[[Category:2nd-century Greek philosophers]]
[[Category:2nd-century Romans]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek ethicists]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek slaves and freedmen]]
[[Category:Imperial Roman slaves and freedmen]]
[[Category:Roman-era Phrygians]]
[[Category:Roman-era Stoic philosophers]]
[[Category:People from Pamukkale]]