Teacher, once a slave · c. 50–135 CE
Epictetus
Once a slave in Rome, he became a teacher whose lectures still read like a challenge to the reader. He wrote nothing: his student Arrian took down his lectures, and condensed them into the handbook we call the Enchiridion.
- Works
- 2
- Passages
- 148
- Words
- 130,826
- To read it all
- 9 hours
In his own words
Ten lines to start with
Control
Some things are under our control, while others are not under our control.
Perception
It is not the things themselves that disturb men, but their judgements about these things.
Acceptance
Do not seek to have everything that happens happen as you wish, but wish for everything to happen as it actually does happen, and your life will be serene.
Loss
Never say about anything, "I have lost it," but only "I have given it back."
Insults
Bear in mind that it is not the man who reviles or strikes you that insults you, but it is your judgement that these men are insulting you.
Harm
For no one will harm you without your consent; you will have been harmed only when you think you are harmed.
Progress
If you wish to make progress, then be content to appear senseless and foolish in externals…
Practice
For example, at a banquet do not say how people ought to eat, but eat as a man ought.
Fear
For it is not death or hardship that is a fearful thing, but the fear of hardship or death.
Starting now
How long will you still wait to think yourself worthy of the best things…
Quote 1 of 10
Life
Who was Epictetus?
Epictetus was born some time in the 50s CE in Hierapolis, a Greek city of Asia Minor. For part of his life he was the slave of Epaphroditus, an important administrator at the court of Nero.
In Rome he studied under the Stoic Musonius Rufus, and gained his freedom. He walked with a limp, put down variously to arthritis or to abuse while he was a slave.
When the emperor Domitian banned philosophers from Italy, he left Rome and set up his own school at Nicopolis, on the coast of north-west Greece, where he taught until his death around 135. His student Arrian recorded his lectures as the Discourses, four books of which survive, and abridged them as the Enchiridion.
- 50sBorn in Hierapolis, Asia Minor.
- In RomeA slave of Epaphroditus, an official at Nero’s court. Studies under Musonius Rufus.
- LaterGains his freedom.
- Under DomitianPhilosophers are banned from Italy. He leaves for Nicopolis and opens a school.
- NicopolisArrian records his lectures: the Discourses, and the Enchiridion.
- c. 135Dies, still teaching.
Four lives
Works
2 works, free to read
- DiscoursesEpictetus
Discourses
95 passages · 8 hours
- EnchiridionEpictetus
Enchiridion
53 parts · 33 min
In numbers
The words he leans on
Words Epictetus uses far more often than the other three Stoics, counted across everything of theirs on this site. Pick one to compare.
Epictetus uses ‘externals’ 22 times as often as the other three.
- Marcus0.2
- Seneca0.1
- Epictetus2.4
- Musonius0
Uses per 10,000 words
Epictetus on externalsMen find all their difficulties in externals, their perplexities in externals.
In numbers
Who he talks about
The people Epictetus names most often. Pick one to read the lines where they come up.
ZeusKing of the gods
Epictetus names him 85 times.
My leg you will fetter, but my moral purpose not even Zeus himself has power to overcome.
Connections
Teachers and students
- Senecac. 4 BCE–65 CEBoth in Nero’s Rome
- Musonius Rufus1st century CETaught himNamed 7 times in the Discourses
- Epictetusc. 50–135 CERead his discoursesLent by Rusticus; named 6 times in the Meditations
- Marcus Aurelius121–180 CE
Go further
Guides and other Stoics
- The dichotomy of control: the idea at the heart of StoicismThe idea everything else rests on: separate what is up to you from what is not.
- Stoicism and modern therapy: how CBT grew from Stoic rootsCBT was built on a Stoic idea. What the two share, where they differ, and what the research says.
- What is Stoicism? A beginner’s guide to the philosophyWhat the Stoics believed, where the philosophy came from, and why people still practise it two thousand years later.
Sources
- Rachana Kamtekar, “Marcus Aurelius”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Katja Vogt, “Seneca”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Margaret Graver, “Epictetus”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- William O. Stephens, “Musonius Rufus”, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Word and name counts are from the English translations on this site, so they reflect the translators’ choices as well as the authors’.