Epictetus - "Golden Sayings" Stoicism: The Slave Who Became a Philosopher
Harvard Classics Volume 2 Book 4
Video: Epictetus - "Golden Sayings" Stoicism: The Slave Who Became a Philosopher
He was born a slave, but he would die a philosopher.
Tortured, Broken, Exiled.
But a victim? Not Epictetus! His teachings would influence emperors, kings, and generals. His philosophy would go on to impact the world. Let’s meet Epictetus… The slave turned Stoic philosopher.
Hello everyone, and welcome to The Cause. We will discuss the fourth book in the second volume of the Harvard Classics series. The Golden Sayings of Epictetus. This dude is one of the original Stoics. Before Ryan Holiday and Marcus Aurelius, we had a man named Epictetus. Let’s set up the context and background quickly, as that will help us understand his views and ideas, and then we will dive into the Golden Sayings of the “great” Epictetus.
HISTORY:
A little bit of history:
Epictetus was a Greek born in Hierapolis in Phrygia (fri jee uh), which is in modern-day Turkey, born around the middle of the first century AD. Maybe around 50-55 AD (The exact date is not agreed upon), and he was born into slavery. His name, Epictetus, in Greek, means “Gained” or “Acquired.” So, a fitting name for a boy who was born a slave. He was the slave of Epaphroditus (E pa fro di toss). Epaphroditus was a wealthy freedman and secretary to Nero, who was Emperor of Rome at the time.
Just for context, Nero was more on the “Tyrannical” side of the ruling scale. He did some awkward things, like killing his mom, and married a little boy named Sporus, who looked like his former wife. He then would have him castrated. Nero would eventually have his secretary (Epaphroditus) kill him when things got a little hot in Rome, so to speak. It's a different story for a different day, but Nero would be a fascinating figure in history to cover. Let me state this quickly. If you spend some time studying the Roman period, you will soon realize that our current political issues are tame compared to those of the past.
Back to Epictetus...
This is the environment in which Epictetus lived and experienced. Complete chaos, slavery, perversion, and sin. It appears Epictetus acquired a passion for Philosophy while he was a slave and he would study Stoic philosophy under Musonius (Mew sonnius) Rufus. Now, there is a story of Epictetus’s master snapping his leg. Epictetus tells his master If you keep twisting my leg, the leg will snap. Eventually, the leg snaps, and Epictetus, in a Stoic show of countenance, says, “I told you that was going to happen.” This story appears to have been first mentioned by Origen, a Christian promoter in the 2nd Century. This guy, Origen, would also castrate himself, but that’s probably a little too much info as well. Circumcision just isn’t enough for some people. Anyway, it is also said that Epictetus may have been disabled from childhood. Nobody knows. But a good story to promote a cause never goes out of style.
Epictetus would gain his freedom sometime after the death of Nero in 68 AD. He taught in Rome for about 15 years. Until Emperor Domitian (Duh mi shn) banished all Philosophers between 90 and 93 AD. A significant portion of Christian persecution also occurred around this time. So, Epictetus would live in Rome until his exile to Nicopolis, which is in Northwestern Greece. Epictetus, like Socrates, never wrote anything down. And if he did, the documents have been lost to history. The writing of Epictetus, such as the one we are about to go over, comes from his pupil, or student, Arrian.
Now, Arrian would take notes on his lectures, and I read that he would transcribe them verbatim. Emperor Hadrian is said to have attended Epictetus’s lectures, and it is also believed that Marcus Aurelius studied Epictetus's teachings as well. With that being said, let us dive into…
“The Golden Sayings of Epictetus.”
Epictetus’ book is one where the experiences and place you are at in life will determine what you get out of the sayings and teachings. What sticks out and is intriguing to me will most likely be different for you. The four main points I found in his teachings are.
Philosophy is a way of life for Epictetus. He lives it.
Becoming completely independent from external circumstances beyond our control.
The realization is that man must find happiness within himself and accept whatever happens calmly.
The duty of respecting the voice of reason in your soul and taking responsibility.
Epictetus’s sayings start by praising God. Very quickly, we find out that Epictetus is very religious and is devoted to “his” God. We then get into our first main idea of Epictetus, in my opinion. It is on - how you bear things. Let me explain.
He says here that…
“Yet God has not only given us these faculties by means of which we may bear everything that comes to pass without being crushed or depressed.”
Pg. 124
But he has given it to us without hindrance or restraint. The problem is that we often take this gift for granted and fail to use it wisely.
“If you choose, you are free; if you choose, you need blame no man - accuse no man. All things will be at once according to your mind and according to the mind of God.”
Pg. 124
That means between you and God only. Both of you and only you choose everything that happens to you. Your mom does not control how you feel. History does not dictate your outcome. And past relationships do not define your worth. Everything is on you and God—your happiness, your health, your peace, your tiredness, your stress, your hate.
It is all on you!
So how do you want to deal with? Epictetus would say you need to get with God tonight and start working it out. This mindset is a way of life for Epictetus.
He says,
“You must know that it is no easy thing for a principle to become a man’s own, unless each day he maintain it and hear it maintained, as well as work it out in life.”
How many people start exercising in January just to quit before the month’s end? Maintaining discipline and working on something daily in life can be difficult. To achieve almost anything means making it a lifestyle you live out. The Stoics believe that your guardian spirit is your reason.
But what is philosophy?
Epictetus says the Beginning of philosophy is to know the condition of one’s mind. That’s one of the best lines in the book. Know the conditions of your mind. Not the mind of someone else. Not Socrates’ mind. Not Nietzsche’s mind. Know your mind. Explore it and dissect it. What can it handle, and at what pressure will it break?
“Know thyself” comes into play here. For those who do not know themselves, Epictetus says, do not mock and jeer them. Help them bring themselves back. It's kind of like seeing a hungry person. Don’t complain that he is poor, hungry, and a beggar. Provide some food, offer a job or some work, and listen to his issues. Pull them back up to the battle line of life to press on.
We then move into an area where I struggle, and I think is a big issue in our society today. Happiness is directly related to where we place our attention and how we distribute it.
“If I show you, that you lack just what is most important and necessary to happiness, that hitherto your attention has been bestowed on everything rather than that which claims it most; and, to crown all, that you know neither what God nor Man is—neither what Good or Evil is: why, that you are ignorant of everything else, perhaps you may bear to be told; but to hear that you know nothing of yourself, how could you submit to that?”
Pg. 140-141
Does the mirror harm the offensive person by revealing the reality? He goes on to say that if your doctor says you have a fever, you should take some medicine. If you break your leg, you listen to the doctor’s advice. But if someone tells you that.. “your desires are inflamed, your instincts of rejection are weak and low, your aims are inconsistent. Your opinions are rash and false!” Even if every statement is true, the person still walks away and thinks you have insulted them. I’ve found that life can be improved if you can accept criticism, and it can be drastically improved once you learn to distinguish between valuable and non-valuable criticism. One passage from Epictetus hammers home his faith in God.
He says,
“Lay hold with a desperate grasp, before it is too late, on freedom, on tranquility, on greatness of soul.”
Does he care about his shoes, his lovely jewelry, or his status? No.
“Lift up your head as one escaped from slavery; dare to look up to God, and say Deal with me henceforth as thou wilt.”
Think about that. Exchanging an earthly master in control of your body for a heavenly master in control of your soul. One of my favorite parts of the book was this, where he says...
“Who then is a Stoic? In the sense of a statue modeled after the artistic work. Show me a man in this sense modeled after the doctrines that are ever upon his lips.
Show me a man that is sick but happy.
In exile, and happy.
In danger, and happy,
In evil report, and happy.
Show him to me, I ask again.
So, help me Heaven, I long to see one Stoic!
Nay if you cannot show me, one fully modeled then let me at least see one in whom the process is still at work”
He says that he does not know any models of Stoicism, but only knows individuals who strive for it. If you say, “I am a stoic, look here, my statue I carved is complete.” Epictetus would say no, that is the rough draft. Let’s start again. The process is stoicism; there is no completion. Another one I love is this, he says…
“If you have assumed a character beyond your strength, you have played a poor figure in that, and neglected one that is within your powers.”
You search for an external hero when the hero is within. You care more about the fame and abilities of Lebron than you care about improving your abilities. Keanna Reaves is said to do some great things. Is it not in your power to do nice things as well? Now, I understand the sentiment behind this one, and I’m a sucker for looking up to famous figures of the past. But don’t forget how great you are and how much greater you can be. The next reading solidifies two of the four points I mentioned at the beginning of the post.
Epictetus says…
“Seemeth it nothing to you, never to accuse, never to blame either God or Man? To wear ever the same countenance in going forth as in coming in? This was the secret of Socrates: yet he never said that he knew or taught anything. . . . Who amongst you makes this his aim? Were it indeed so, you would gladly endure sickness, hunger, aye, death itself.”
Pg. 149
If you go into a room happy, regardless of what happens in that room, you should walk out happy. Why? Because you control your happiness in any room you go to. Not your boss. Not your coworker. Not your wife or husband…
Ok... I will admit that I am guilty of leaving rooms in the past, and I was pretty angry. It is hard. One of my favorite lines from the book is a very simple one.
He says, “Then show them by thine own example of what kind of men Philosophy can make.”
I do not want to change my ways because someone is demanding that I should. However, I am willing to change my ways if I see that someone’s example is enabling them to live a better, happier, and more fulfilling life than I am currently living. Be an example for people to follow.
Epictetus says,
“Like an ape, you mimic what you see, to one thing constant never; the thing that is familiar charms no more.”
You see David Goggins running on YouTube, and it motivates you to lace up your shoes. You get excited and quit your old hobby to pursue your new hobby, which is running. After a few weeks, it gets boring. The thing that is familiar charms no more… Man, that is so true in today’s society.
“If any be unhappy, let him remember that he is unhappy by reason of himself alone. For God hath made all men to enjoy felicity and constancy of good.”
You discover happiness when you start exploring your mind. Perhaps the mind requires assistance in figuring things out; it may need to be exercised, or it may need to be relocated to a more conducive environment to enhance the quality of its inputs.
Epictetus will speak extensively about freedom. Being a former slave, it is easy to see why, but his take on slavery looks pretty different than our modern idea of it.
He then brings up Diogenes (day aa juh neez), who in our modern society would have been thought of as a crazy man or a lunatic. Epictetus says Diogenes was unable to be enslaved. You couldn’t make Diogenes a slave because he did not value the things that could make him one. Pain in the body? It will go away, and then I will die. Possessions? You can’t take anything from him if he does not have anything.
There is a famous exchange between him and Alexander the Great. Where Alexander, the great Greek general of Macedonia, found Diogenes lying on the ground. And Alexander says,
“Say what you want and I will grant it to you.”
Diogenes, without hesitation, looks up and asks him to
“Get out of the way of my sunlight.”
You cannot enslave a mindset that does not bend to power. We need to think about that more than ever nowadays. When asked how a man should best grieve his enemy, Epictetus said, “by setting himself to live the noblest life himself.” The greatest thing your enemy can see is that you gave up, you quit, you failed. The worst thing your enemy can see is you succeeding and continuing to be virtuous and good. But let’s move into truth for a minute. I love this section where he says,
“If you seek truth, you will not seek to gain a victory by every possible means; and when you have found truth, you need not fear being defeated.”
Truth is constantly under assault. We often become so caught up in being right due to ego that we forget that only the truth matters.
In accepting our lot in life, we have some choice. You can take life as it comes, or you can create your own life. Epictetus says,
“If it be his good pleasure to assign thee the part of a beggar, a ruler, or a simple citizen, thine it is to play it fitly. For my business is to act the part assigned to me well, to choose it, anothers.”
Accept your lot in life. If you were born poor, be ok with it. Now, I disagree with Epictetus on this point. I believe it is our duty to strive for whatever good we aspire to in life. You have the freedom and duty to pursue positive change.
“Never call yourself a Philosopher nor talk much among the unlearned about Principles, but do that which follows from them. Thus at a banquet, do not discuss how people ought to eat; but eat as you ought.”
Pg. 177
When asked who the rich man is, Epictetus replied, “He who is content!”
Finally, to sum up, Epictetus, I am going to read this. This hammers home his entire philosophy.
“Epictetus would also say that there were two faults far graver and fouler than any others—inability to bear, and inability to forbear, when we neither patiently bear the blows that must be borne, nor abstain from the things and the pleasures we ought to abstain from. “So,” he went on, “if a man will only have these two words at heart, and heed them carefully by ruling and watching over himself, he will for the most part fall into no sin, and his life will be tranquil and serene.”
Pg. 179
Think about those two words. The issues you are probably struggling with right now are because you do not want to bear the situation you are in. I know you have heard the obstacle is the way. But only if you are willing to bear it.
“To forbear”. We create so many of the problems we face because we lack the forbearance or the resistance to the temptation of things that hold us back. The resistance to quit drinking, quit watching porn, quit doing drugs, quit giving second chances to serial abusers. Forbear and resist the urge to stay stagnant and not change. Change is good for your soul sometimes. Bear your responsibilities and practice forbearance daily. But what about the things you can’t control? Epictetus says this regarding seafaring.
“What can I do?”—Choose the master, the crew, the day, the opportunity. Then comes a sudden storm. What matters it to me? my part has been fully done. The matter is in the hands of another—the Master of the ship. The ship is foundering. What then have I to do? I do the only thing that remains to me—to be drowned without fear, without a cry, without upbraiding God, but knowing that what has been born must likewise perish.”
Pg. 180
That is an excellent example of Stoicism, and we will leave it at that. I want to review a few quotes that I particularly enjoyed.
“Who would Hercules have been had he loitered at home?”
“If a man would pursue Philosophy, his first task is to throw away conceit. For it is impossible for a man to begin to learn when he has conceit that he already knows.”
“He is free who lives as he wishes to live.”
“Fame is but the empty noise of madmen.”
“Try to enjoy the great festival of life with other men.”
Conclusion":
I hope you enjoyed this post on the Golden Sayings of Epictetus. Sorry if I got a little long-winded on this one. There is something about reading Epictetus that makes me feel his personality and hear him laughing beside me. It is weird.
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The Book - The Golden Sayings Of Epictetus
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Fascinating, thank you
I hope you enjoy this post on Epictetus! I would love to hear your thoughts on him. Thanks reading and stay blessed!