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SELECTIONS FROM EPICTETUS 'franslated by Walter R. Agard INTRODUCTION WHEN AUTOCRATIC rule put an end to the political initia· tive and responsibility which the individual citizen had enjoyed in both democratic Greece and Republican Rome, one philosophy served more adequately than any other to offer consolation: Stoicism, with its doctrine that man could still control all that essentially matters, his own moral will; and that he shares in the Universal Reason which governs the world unerringly. Epictetus, accepting these traditional principles of the Stoics, became their greatest exemplar and teacher. Born about A.D. 50, of a slave mother in Phrygia, he lived in Rome as a slave of the Emperor Nero's administrative secretary, was permitted by his master to study philos. ophy, and after being freed taught in the marketplace at Rome. After his banishment by the Emperor Domitian, he established a school of philosophy in Epuus which at· tracted many students. He wrote nothing for publication; but one of his pupils, Flavius Arrian, took down in short· hand his comments on Stoic texts and published these Discourses, as well as the Manual, a summary of Stoic doctrine. In the Discourses we see Epictetus as a teacher discussing problems informally with his pupils, intent on winning them to the acceptance of his way of life. I. HUMAN FREEDOM The man is free who lives without hindrance, dealing with things readily as he wishes. But the man who can be hindered or compelled or thwarted or driven into anything against his will is a slave. And who lives without hindrance? He who aims at nothing that is not his own. And what things are not our own? Whatever we are powerless to have or not to have, or to have of a certain quality or under certain conditions. The body, then, is not our own, its parts are not our own, property is not our own. If you crave one of these things as if it were your own, you will pay the price merited by the man who desires Perhaps because of his experience as a slave, Epictetus always emphasized the idea of freedom; and because of his Oriental background his feeling toward Providence was more intimate and fervent than one ordinarily finds in philosophers. These were his most original contribu· tions to Stoic doctrine. But his chief contribution was not in doctrine but in example; he was recognized in his own time, as he was later by Christian theologians, pro· fessional philosophers, and many others concerned with the problems of human conduct, as an outstanding ethical guide. Like his fellow Stoics, he may be charged with neglect. ing the need of positive action against injustice and op· pression (endurance and renunciation are not ~nough) and with too high a regard for the capacity of reason. But the lessons he taught and practised of human dignity, social duty, courage, and faith have continued ever since to set sparks to men's spirits. THE TEXT on which this translation is based is that of W. A. Oldfather (London and New York. 1926). In this interpretation and the following translation special in· debtedness to Mr. Oldfather is gratefully acknowledged. what is not his own. The road leading to freedom, the only release from slavery, is to be able to say whole·heartedly: Lead me on, 0 Zeus and Destiny, Where I was once assigned by Thy decree. -Discourses, IV, 1 Of all existing things some are under our con· trol and some are not. Under our control are conception, impulse, desire, and aversion: in a word, everything which is our own doing. Things not under our control include the body, property, reputation, office, and, in a word, everything 408 CLASSICS IN TRANSLATION which is not our own doing. Things under our control are by nature free, unhindered, untram· melled; things not under our control are weak, servile, subject to hindrance, dependent on others. Remember, then, that if you think that which is naturally slavish is free, and that which is another's is your own, you will be hampered, you will mourn, you will be put to confusion, you will blame both gods and men; but if you think that only your own belongs to you and that what is another's is actually another's, no one will ever compel or hinder you, you will blame no one, you will accuse no one, you will do nothing against your will, you will have no enemy, no one will harm...

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