The Golden Sayings of Epictetus
Epictetus (trans. Hastings Crossley) · 1902
5.0 · 4 ratings
About the book
A lamed slave became Rome's freest man, and his students wrote down how: one hundred and eighty-nine sayings on what is in our power and what is not. Crossley's Golden Treasury selection is the friendliest doorway into Stoicism ever printed.
Try the short course
Part 1 · The slave who taught emperors. The first six slides, free.
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The man behind these sayings was property. Epictetus was born around 50 CE in Hierapolis, in what is now western Turkey, and even his name is a slave's label: in Greek it simply means "acquired".
His owner was Epaphroditus, a freedman who had risen to serve as secretary to the emperor Nero. So the boy grew up in a household that lived by the moods of the palace, where everyone around him was either angling for favour or afraid of losing it.
Keep that in mind as you read. When this book tells you that nobody can own your will, it is not a comfortable theory worked out in a library. It is the report of a man who had been owned.
Inside the course
12 parts- The slave who taught emperors: Epictetus's storyFree above
- What is in our power, and what is not
- On dealing with tyrants — and other inconveniences
- The banquet: take what is passed to you
Questions
Is The Golden Sayings of Epictetus free to read in Astra Trainer?
Yes. The full book opens free in the app’s reader, in English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, and Russian.
What is the short course?
12 short parts that walk through the book’s key ideas in slides, each with a quick quiz. The first six slides are free to try on this page.
Where do I get the app?
Astra Trainer is free on the App Store and Google Play. The Golden Sayings of Epictetus is waiting in the app’s library.
