Epictetus Free Will Essay

Epictetus was a Stoic philosopher who lived during the height of the Roman Empire, 50 to 135 CE roughly. He was born a slave in modern Turkey. He was given his name from the Greek word επικτητος, meaning ‘acquired’ or ‘slave’. As a slave he was permitted to attend philosophy lectures, which were held by Stoics at the time. During his time as a slave, Epictetus’ leg was injured, either from torture or an accident, and, due to his familiarity with Stoicism, he was able to endure it. He got his freedom when Nero was appointed emperor; however, during the rule of Domitian, Epictetus was exiled and moved to Greece. He started a philosophy school where he continued to teach about Stoicism and eventually died. His student, Arrian, wrote and published his works: The Discourses and Epictetus’ shorter book, the Enchiridion, or The Manual.

Free will and fate are both prominent in the Odyssey. In the Odyssey, free will is depicted whenever characters make decisions. In example, Odysseus blinds the Cyclops, Polyphemus. Fate, in the Odyssey, is the consequences that are dealt out due to certain actions. In the case of Odysseus and Polyphemus, the consequence is that when Odysseus is on a ship heading home to reach Ithaca, Poseidon, being the father of Polyphemus, sends a storm at Odysseus being angry that Odysseus blinded his son. In that scenario, Odysseus makes the decision to blind Polyphemus to escape, and in turn, the consequence is that Poseidon attempts to hit him with a storm in the sea. The contrasting themes of

In life, human nature is the only thing that never changes, even as humans progress and evolve. Humans all have the same wants and needs. We need love, compassion, and we want to be happy. In Homer's the Odyssey, the characters have strong opinions and act out of their own free will, but at the same time, the will of the gods keeps coming up as a force that directs events. Although the gods have power against the mortal's, free will is a force much greater then any other power known to mortals and even the gods.

Oedipus the King by Sophocles is the story of a man who was destined to kill his father and marry his mother. The story continues in the tradition of classic Greek plays, which were based upon the Greeks’ beliefs at the time. The ancient Greeks believed that their gods decided what would ultimately happen to each and every person. Since those gods destined Oedipus to kill his father and marry his mother, Oedipus’ life was definitely fated. However, the gods only decided where Oedipus’ life would eventually lead; they never planned the route he would take to get there. All the decisions that Oedipus made in order to fulfill his destiny, and the decisions he made after the fact, were of his own free will,

Epictetus was a Greek Stoic philosopher who was credited with writing the famous quote “No great thing is created suddenly.” Stoicism is a form of ancient Greek philosophy that teaches self-control in order to overcome otherwise destructive moments. In 50 CE, Epictetus was born as a slave in Hierapolis, but in 130 CE, he passed away as one of the best-known philosophers. After being liberated from slavery in 68 CE, Epictetus began teaching Stoicism in Rome. Comparable to the “great thing” that was not created suddenly in Epictetus’ quote, Epictetus’ freedom from slavery was also not granted to him suddenly. Since Epictetus was a slave for eighteen years, he knew that it takes time for great things to happen.

Oedipus the King, was written by Sophocles between C.A.496-406B.C. In this play, Oedipus is a great example of Sophocles’ belief that fate will control a man’s life no matter how much free will exists.

It is one’s choice to apply this to their life and to decide whether if they are “good” or “evil.” “But the Hebrew word, the word timshel - ‘Thou mayest’ - that gives a choice… That says the way is open” (301). Any obstacle a human faces, they will always have a choice. As humans, it is a natural right to choose who and what we want to be. We have the control in our lives to decide and determine anything. We all have a choice. An individual’s destiny is chosen on his or her

In order for one to be happy, one must be free. So this begs the question, how do you become free? Epictetus lends us his distinction between things/objects that depend on us and those that do not. He states that our body, fame, power, etc. are things that do not depend on us. And, our judgments, our desires and dislikes are all things that do depend on us. In order to be free, Epictetus says we need to focus on the things that do depend on us, and for us to not let things that don’t depend on us be of any importance. Surely, they are not dependent upon our own will, rather the opportunity of external circumstances. For instance, fame in which one may desire in not completely dependent on the amount of talent the individual has, but it is also the people that will come and take time to discover one’s talent. In this particular scenario, we lack having total power. This is because we aren’t the sole cause in determining how successful are actions are. Because of this, we are more at risk to having speed bumps or disappointments along the way that will ultimately cause us to be

     Epictetus represents a myriad of concepts. One concept of which being that one should live with the awareness of human imperfection and finitude. He expresses the sentiment that one is able to relinquish the

A believer of fate believes in not only the Roman gods, but also an untampered path in life: yet, free will relies on one’s individual choices to change the path. Free will and fate reveals itself as a central theme in Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. The main characters (Cassius, Brutus, and Caesar) found internal conflict in their individual ideology of either free will or fate.

Fate vs. Free will in Julius Caesar The conflict over fate versus free will is a big conversation that can be argued both ways. Do we let our fate lead the path in our life, or do we take matters into our own hands and find a way to avoid it? If we do avoid our fate, what are the consequences and how do we handle them? The role that consequences play is that people will fully commit to his/her fate in order to avoid the consequences.

Epictetus was a Stoic philosopher who wrote, The Enchiridion, a manual which instructed people on how to live their life ethically and honorably on a social level. His belief was that regardless of personal conditions, people could live with pride and discipline. Epictetus tells us differentiating between what is in our own power to control and what is not is the key to a noble life (281).

One of the major concerns presented by Shakespeare in Julius Caesar is the struggle between fate and free will. This struggle is evident throughout the play through Shakespeares continual presentation of the supernatural. The supernatural is present in many different forms in the text, for example through omens, nightmares and sacrifices. Shakespeare believed that life was a combination of fate and freewill, he presents this idea to the audience through different events that occur throughout the play, events such as the Feast at the Lupercal, the Soothsayers prophecy, the animal sacrifice, Calpurnias dream and the presence of animals and Caesars ghost. These events build dramatic tension throughout the play, illustrating the struggle of

Epictetus was born into slavery from his mother who was also a slave. He was granted his freedom sometime after the death of Emperor Nero in the year 68 AD by Epaphroditus who had also been a slave and was freed by Nero for revealing a coup against the Emperor. Tacitus calls Epaproditus “Nero’s Freedman” and reports he was with Nero when the Emperor committed suicide, and offered to help him do so. It should not be viewed as strange that Epaphroditus, having been a slave, should own slaves once he, himself,

Freedom is an arbitrary concept that has been and will always be limited. The notion of freedom is possible among equals, however, equality itself is universally different. Arendt, a political theorist, believes political freedom manifests through action, her reliance on the ability to act implies that humans can tangibly live freely. Epictetus on the other hand, believes that all humans can be internally free if they had a stoic mindset in their way of life. He believes that human beings are in complete control of their happiness and should only worry about what they can control instead of what they cannot. The revolutionary treasure is the original spirit of individual freedom that has been lost through the principles of public freedom and public happiness. Freedom as Epictetus defines is an internal condition that only we ourselves possess control over, his stoic recommendation offers a simple yet rational approach of living life freely.