Epictetus

—Epictetian /ep'ik tee"sheuhn/, adj.

/ep'ik tee"teuhs/, n.

A.D. c60-c120, Greek Stoic philosopher and teacher, mainly in Rome.

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born с AD 55

died с 135

Greek philosopher associated with Stoicism.

His original name is not known; epiktetos means "acquired." He is not known to have written anything, but his teachings were transmitted by his pupil Arrian (d. с AD 180) in two works, the Discourses and the Encheiridion. True education, Epictetus believed, consists in recognizing that the only thing that belongs to an individual fully is his will. Humans are not responsible for the ideas that present themselves to their consciousness, though they are wholly responsible for how they react to them.

"Barbarian Archer in Scythian Costume," Athenian plate by Epictetus, late 6th century ...

By courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum

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▪ Greek artist

flourished c. 520–480? BC

 

 Greek potter (Greek pottery) and painter who worked in Athens. His work is praised for its care, grace, vitality, delicate line, and fine draftsmanship. He signed his works as both maker and decorator.

      Epictetus is most frequently mentioned in connection with a series of medallions on plates in the British Museum in London and the Cabinet des Médailles in Paris. The medallion paintings represent a “Young Man on His Horse” and a “Man” (possibly Silenus) on his way home from a banquet.

      A kylix (drinking cup), found in Vulci and now in the British Museum, is signed “Python made [it]; Epictetus painted [it].” Dating from 520–510 BC, it features the paintings “Flute Player and Dancer,” on the inside, and “Heracles Slaying Busiris,” on the outside.

▪ Greek philosopher

born AD 55, , probably at Hierapolis, Phrygia [now Pamukkale, Turkey]

died c. 135, , Nicopolis, Epirus [Greece]

      Greek philosopher associated with the Stoics, remembered for the religious tone of his teachings, which commended him to numerous early Christian thinkers.

      His original name is not known; epiktētos is the Greek word meaning “acquired.” As a boy he was a slave but managed to attend lectures by the Stoic Musonius Rufus. He later became a freedman and lived his life lame and in ill health. In AD 90 he was expelled from Rome with other philosophers by the emperor Domitian, who was irritated by the favourable reception given by Stoics to opponents of his tyranny. The rest of his life Epictetus spent at Nicopolis.

      As far as is known, Epictetus wrote nothing. His teachings were transmitted by Arrian, his pupil, in two works: Discourses, of which four books are extant; and the Encheiridion, or Manual, a condensed aphoristic version of the main doctrines. In his teachings Epictetus followed the early rather than the late Stoics, reverting to Socrates and to Diogenes, the philosopher of Cynicism, as historical models of the sage. Primarily interested in ethics, Epictetus described philosophy as learning “how it is possible to employ desire and aversion without hindrance.” True education, he believed, consists in recognizing that there is only one thing that belongs to an individual fully—his will, or purpose. God, acting as a good king and father, has given each being a will that cannot be compelled or thwarted by anything external. Men are not responsible for the ideas that present themselves to their consciousness, though they are wholly responsible for the way in which they use them. “Two maxims,” Epictetus said, “we must ever bear in mind—that apart from the will there is nothing good or bad, and that we must not try to anticipate or to direct events, but merely to accept them with intelligence.” Man must, that is, believe there is a God whose thought directs the universe.

      As a political theorist, Epictetus saw man as a member of a great system that comprehends both God and men. Each human being is primarily a citizen of his own commonwealth, but he is also a member of the great city of gods and men, of which the political city is only a poor copy. All men are the sons of God by virtue of their rationality and are kindred in nature with the divinity. Thus, man is capable of learning to administer his city and his life according to the will of God, which is the will of nature. The natural instinct of animated life, to which man also is subject, is self-preservation and self-interest. Yet men are so constituted that the individual cannot secure his own interests unless he contributes to the common welfare. The aim of the philosopher, therefore, is to see the world as a whole, to grow into the mind of God, and to make the will of nature his own.

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