ABSTRACT
Epictetus was a Stoic philosopher who taught for a brief period in Rome and then in his own school in Nicopolis from the end of the first century into the early decades of the second century. Along with all the other philosophers of the Hellenistic period, Epictetus saw moral philosophy as having the practical purpose of guiding people towards leading better lives. The aim was to live well, to secure for oneself a happy and flourishing life—what Epictetus frequently refers to as a ‘good flow of life’, or simply a ‘good flow’. The Stoic outlook that Epictetus seeks to convey, originated by its founder Zeno of Citium, 400 years earlier, promises immunity to all harms. Epictetus teaches that what actually comes about is down to Zeus, or the gods, or providence, or fate understood as an organizing principle that permeates the whole of creation, bringing about the unfolding of the universe according to a divine plan.
