ABSTRACT

Sketching Epicurean and Stoic interests in and contributions to the study of language is an exercise in sharp contrasts rather than subtle chiaroscuro. Underlying their disagreements in these fields are fundamentally opposed, entrenched positions on the nature and proper constituents of philosophy, on its relations to other disciplines such as rhetoric, poetics, and musicology, and on the value and proper contents of systematic instruction, especially for the young. This paper uses primary sources to illustrate these differences, and to outline their causes and ramifications.