THE MANUAL FOR LIVING

Epictetus was a philosopher, a prominent figure of the Roman stoicism. A real name of this person was unknown because Epictetus was a nickname, translated as bought, that showed his status. Epictetus, while being a slave, was owned by one of the Nero’s bodyguards and was brought to Rome with such a status. He was born in Phrygia (Minor Asia). Later, the owner granted him freedom.

When he was a slave, Epictetus together with his master went to lectures by Musonius Rufus, a representative of the stoicism. At that time this philosophical trend was very popular, and educated Romans considered it a sign of good manners to go to such lectures. Epictetus highly respected Musonius Rufus and joined himself this flow.

When Domitian came into power and ordered to close all the philosophical schools in Rome, Epictetus moved to Nicopolis and opened his own school. Advocated by him ideas did not contradict with the way of life: a philosopher was not bothered at all by an external side of life, he was satisfied with bare essentials, lived in poverty. The external side did not affect him so much, that he even did not leave his real name for the descendants, not to mention other circumstances from his biography.

His studies were preserved thanks to other people. Just as Socrates, Epictetus did not note his ideas, and used individual messages for their expression, talked to people in the streets, sometimes participated in arguments. An important role in the maintaining of his philosophical heritage played his student Arrian Flavius, who wrote down his mentor’s words and left them in the form of eight books, called Discourses of Epictetus and Enchiridion of Epictetus. Commentaries on Enchiridion of Epictetus, made by Simplicius, the last Greek philosopher banished from Athens in accordance with the Justinian’s order, are also preserved.

The works by Arrian and Simplicius are the main sources of Epictetus’s studies. According to him, the idea of the philosophy is to give a person freedom and help him gain happiness. In order to become happy, one should clearly understand what is within a person’s power and what does not depend on him. Something external that does not depend on him, should not slave his spirit, a person should treat it indifferently. As Epictetus said, the recipe of happiness is the following: one should abandon the idea of submitting the events to his own wishes and adjust to the events.

Epictetus was a pagan; however, his ideas were in many ways close to the Christian view of the world, that is why during the first centuries of a new age the thoughts of this philosopher were widely popular in monasteries.