The Encheiridion of Epictetus and its Three Christian Adaptations

The Encheiridion of Epictetus and its Three Christian Adaptations
Author: Gerard Boter
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 464
Release: 2016-06-21
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9004321071

Epictetus' Encheiridion, which was composed by his pupil Arrian with the purpose of giving a comprehensive account of Epictetus' thought, has been transmitted in many sources. Besides the rich direct tradition there are three Christian adaptations, a voluminous commentary by the sixth-century philosopher Simplicius, as well as the indirect tradition. The most recent critical edition is the editio maior by Johannes Schweighäuser (1798), which does not meet the requirements of modern philology. In the first part of this book there is a full account of the transmission of Epictetus' Encheiridion and the three Christian adaptations, based on all extant manuscripts. The second part of the book contains critical editions of the four texts; for the Christian Encheiridion of Vaticanus graecus 2231 this is the editio princeps.

Catalogus Translationum Et Commentariorum

Catalogus Translationum Et Commentariorum
Author: James Hankins
Publisher: CUA Press
Total Pages: 307
Release: 2011
Genre: Classical literature
ISBN: 0813217296

Annotation This volume covers six classical authors: Damianus, Geminus Rhodius, Hanno, Sallust, Themistius & Thucydides. The articles explore the influence of each in the medieval & renaissance world, followed in each case by a listing & brief description of latin commentaries before 1600.

Education and Religion in Late Antique Christianity

Education and Religion in Late Antique Christianity
Author: Peter Gemeinhardt
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 229
Release: 2016-03-31
Genre: History
ISBN: 1317145909

This book studies the complex attitude of late ancient Christians towards classical education. In recent years, the different theoretical positions that can be found among the Church Fathers have received particular attention: their statements ranged from enthusiastic assimilation to outright rejection, the latter sometimes masking implicit adoption. Shifting attention away from such explicit statements, this volume focuses on a series of lesser-known texts in order to study the impact of specific literary and social contexts on late ancient educational views and practices. By moving attention from statements to strategies this volume wishes to enrich our understanding of the creative engagement with classical ideals of education. The multi-faceted approach adopted here illuminates the close connection between specific educational purposes on the one hand, and the possibilities and limitations offered by specific genres and contexts on the other. Instead of seeing attitudes towards education in late antique texts as applications of theoretical positions, it reads them as complex negotiations between authorial intent, the limitations of genre, and the context of performance.

The Sermon on the Mount and Spiritual Exercises

The Sermon on the Mount and Spiritual Exercises
Author: George Branch-Trevathan
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 364
Release: 2020-03-31
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004425543

In The Sermon on the Mount and Spiritual Exercises, George Branch-Trevathan provides a new description of Matthew’s ethics, with ethics encompassing both an ideal form of human existence and the means of realizing it.

Epictetus and Laypeople

Epictetus and Laypeople
Author: Erlend D. MacGillivray
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 239
Release: 2020-07-15
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1793618240

Erlend D. MacGillivray’s Epictetus and Laypeople: A Stoic Stance toward the Rest of Humanity explores the understanding that ancient philosophers had towards the vast majority of people at the time, those who had no philosophical knowledge or adherence—laypeople. After exploring how philosophical identity was established in antiquity, this book examines the Stoic philosopher Epictetus, who reflected upon laypeople with remarkable frequency. MacGillivray shows that Epictetus maintained his stance that a small and distinguishable group of philosophically aware individuals existed, alongside his conviction that most of humanity can be inclined to act in accordance with virtuous principles by their dependence upon preconceptions, civic law, popular religion, exempla, and the adoption of primitive conditions, among other means. This book also highlights other Stoics and their commentators to show that the means of lay reform that MacGillivray explores were not just implicitly understood in antiquity, but reveal a well-developed system of thought in the school which has, until now, evaded the notice of modern scholars.

Epictetus’ Handbook and the Tablet of Cebes

Epictetus’ Handbook and the Tablet of Cebes
Author: Keith Seddon
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 297
Release: 2006-05-02
Genre: History
ISBN: 1134346050

This new translation presents two key works in clear, straightforward English. The text is preceded by a comprehensive overview of the ethics in the two works, and includes chapter-by-chapter discussion of key themes.

The Art of Living

The Art of Living
Author: John Sellars
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 388
Release: 2018-01-18
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1351772740

This title was first published in 2003. Presenting philosophy as an art concerned with one’s way of life, Sellars draws on Socratic and Stoic philosophical resources and argues for the ancient claim that philosophy is primarily expressed in one’s behaviour. The book considers the relationship between philosophy and biography, and the bearing that this relationship has on debates concerning the nature and function of philosophy. Questioning the premise that philosophy can only be conceived as a rational discourse, Sellars presents it instead as an art (techne) that combines both ’logos’ (rational discourse) and ’askesis’ (training), and suggests that this will make it possible to understand better the relationship between philosophy and biography. The first part of this book outlines the Socratic conception of philosophy as an art and the Stoic development of this idea into an art of living, as well as considering some of the ancient objections to the Stoic conception. Part Two goes on to examine the relationship between philosophical discourse and exercises in Stoic philosophy. Taking the literary form of such exercises as central, the author analyses two texts devoted to philosophical exercises by Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius.

Simplicius: On Epictetus Handbook 27-53

Simplicius: On Epictetus Handbook 27-53
Author: Charles Brittain
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2014-04-10
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1780939035

The Enchiridion or Handbook of the first-century AD Stoic Epictetus was used as an ethical treatise both in Christian monasteries and by the sixth-century pagan Neoplatonist Simplicius. Simplicius chose it for beginners, rather than Aristotle's Ethics, because it presupposed no knowledge of logic. We thus get a fascinating chance to see how a pagan Neoplatonist transformed Stoic ideas. The text was relevant to Simplicius because he too, like Epictetus, was teaching beginners how to take the first steps towards eradicating emotion, although he is unlike Epictetus in thinking that they should give up public life rather than acquiesce, if public office is denied them. Simplicius starts from a Platonic definition of the person as rational soul, not body, ignoring Epictetus' further whittling down of himself to just his will or policy decisions. He selects certain topics for special attention in chapters 1, 8, 27 and 31. Things are up to us, despite Fate. Our sufferings are not evil, but providential attempts to turn us from the body. Evil is found only in the human soul. But evil is parasitic (Proclus' term) on good. The gods exist, are provident, and cannot be bought off.With nearly all of this the Stoics would agree, but for quite different reasons, and their own distinctions and definitions are to a large extent ignored. This translation of the Handbook is published in two volumes. This is the second volume, covering chapters 27-53; the first covers chapters 1-26.

Simplicius: On Epictetus Handbook 1-26

Simplicius: On Epictetus Handbook 1-26
Author: Charles Brittain
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 193
Release: 2014-04-22
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1472501942

'[Simplicius'] moral interpretation of Epictetus is preserved in the library of nations, as a classic book, most excellently adapted to direct the will, to purify the heart, and to confirm the understanding, by a just confidence in the nature both of God and man.' Edward Gibbon 'This book, written by a "pagan" philosopher, makes the most Christian impression conceivable. The betrayal of all reality through morality is here present in its fullest splendour - pitiful psychology, the philosopher is reduced to a country parson. And Plato is to blame for all of it! He remains Europe's greatest misfortune!' Fredrich Nietzsche Of these two rival reactions the favourable one was most common. Epictetus' Handbook on ethics was used in Christian monasteries, and Simplicius' commentary on it was widely available up to the nineteenth century. The commentary gives us a fascinating chance to see how a pagan Neoplatonist transformed Stoic ideas, adding Neoplatonist accounts of theology, theodicy, providence, free will and the problem of evil. This translation of the Commentary on the Handbook is published in two volumes. This is the first, covering chapters 1-26; the second covers chapters 27-53.