Epictetus
Which translation of the Discourses should you read?
The Discourses are Arrian’s record of Epictetus’s lectures: four books survive of perhaps eight. They are long, lively and repetitive, so translations differ most in how much they include and how readable they make him.
The short answer
The best all round
Robin WaterfieldUniversity of Chicago Press, 2022Buy on AmazonThe easiest first read
Robert DobbinPenguin Classics, 2008Buy on AmazonEverything, with full notes
Robin HardOxford World’s Classics, 2014Buy on AmazonFree, right now
W. A. OldfatherFree on this site, 1925–28 Read free here
The main translations at a glance
| Translation | Closeness | English | Help | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robin Waterfield2022 · University of Chicago Press | Balanced | Modern | Introduction and notes | The best all round |
| Robin Hard2014 · Oxford World’s Classics | Close to the Greek | Modern | Introduction and notes | Everything, with full notes |
| Robert Dobbin2008 · Penguin Classics | Balanced | Modern | Introduction and notes | The easiest first read |
| W. A. Oldfather1925–28 · Free on this site | Close to the Greek | Mid-century | Text only | Reading free, right now |
The same lines in each translation
Generally speaking, you’ll find no faculty that has the ability to examine itself, and therefore none that has the ability to assess itself and see whether or not it’s acceptable.
Robin Waterfield, 2022
Among all the arts and faculties, you’ll find none that can take itself as an object of study, and consequently none that can pass judgement of approval or disapproval upon itself.
Robin Hard, 2014
In general, you will find no art or faculty that can analyse itself, therefore none that can approve or disapprove of itself.
Robert Dobbin, 2008
Among the arts and faculties in general you will find none that is self-contemplative, and therefore none that is either self-approving or self-disapproving.
W. A. Oldfather, 1925–28 · Read on
The main translations in detail
- Buy on Amazon
Robin Waterfield
The Complete Works · University of Chicago Press, 2022
A fresh, clear translation that brings out Epictetus’s humour and conversational tone as well as his philosophy. William O. Stephens calls it the current state of the art for reading Epictetus in English, and the print is generous.
The Handbook, all four surviving books of the Discourses and the fragments, with an introduction and notes written for general readers and students, and maps.
Sources: William O. Stephens, “The Best Translations for Reading Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius”, Stoicism Today, University of Chicago Press, PhilPapers
- Buy on Amazon
Robin Hard
Discourses, Fragments, Handbook · Oxford World’s Classics, 2014
Reliable and judicious, in a more formal style than Dobbin’s, with notes that set Epictetus in his time. Complete in one volume; the main complaint is small print.
Everything that survives, in one volume, with an introduction and extensive notes by Christopher Gill.
Sources: William O. Stephens, “The Best Translations for Reading Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius”, Stoicism Today, The Stoic Shelf, Oxford University Press
- Buy on Amazon
Robert Dobbin
Discourses and Selected Writings · Penguin Classics, 2008
Captures the candour and energy of Epictetus’s classroom voice in modern prose that never feels stiff. The easiest way in, though it leaves out part of the Discourses.
A selection of the Discourses (all of Book 1 and much of Books 2 to 4), with the Handbook and fragments; introduction, notes and a glossary.
Sources: William O. Stephens, “The Best Translations for Reading Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius”, Stoicism Today, Penguin Random House
- Read free here
W. A. Oldfather
Free on this site, 1925–28
Made for the Loeb Classical Library, where it was printed beside the Greek. Free here in full, and switchable with Long’s and Matheson’s on every page.
The full text, from the Loeb Classical Library, with every passage numbered and linkable.
Sources: Wikisource
Other translations you may come across
- Read free here
George Long
Free on this site, 1877
The Victorian translation, by the same George Long whose Meditations is also free here, in nineteenth-century English.
- Read free here
P. E. Matheson
Free on this site, 1916
A translation from 1916, a generation after Long’s.
Sources
- William O. Stephens, “The Best Translations for Reading Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius”, Stoicism Today
- The Stoic Shelf: the best Epictetus translation, compared
- Penguin Random House: Discourses and Selected Writings, translated by Robert Dobbin
- Oxford University Press: Discourses, Fragments, Handbook, translated by Robin Hard
- University of Chicago Press: The Complete Works, translated by Robin Waterfield
- PhilPapers: Epictetus, The Complete Works
- Wikisource: Epictetus, the Discourses as reported by Arrian, the Manual, and Fragments (Oldfather, Loeb)
- Wikisource: The Discourses of Epictetus, with the Encheiridion and Fragments (Long)
- Wikisource: Epictetus, The Discourses and Manual (Matheson)
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