ABSTRACT
Happiness in classical Greece and Rome was popularly regarded as rare. It was dependent on wealth and power, but these were never secure, as indicated by adages about how lightning strikes the highest peaks and warnings about the jealousy of the gods. Philosophers examined the conditions for happiness more precisely, insisting that it be stable and self-sufficient. Some were skeptical about the possibility of achieving it in this life, while others offered prescriptions for altering our attitudes and thereby placing it within our grasp. This chapter begins by considering some popular views of happiness and then discusses how philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, and the Stoics construed it, along with the social contexts that in part influenced their approaches.
