ABSTRACT
Stoicism, as did Epicureanism, sought to meet human needs with a way of life that was supported by a philosophy. Cleanthes gave Stoicism a religious expression, but the religious approach of Stoicism was naturalistic. Cleanthes is noted for his Hymn to Zeus, the only surviving work of Stoic authorship. Stoicism was brought to Rome by some prominent scholars and diplomats who tended to moderate some of the harsher features of the Old Stoa. Stoicism stressed self-control and independence, virtues advocated by all of the Greek moral philosophers. They aimed to achieve self-control through apatheia, which is indifference to that which is not in a person's control. The Stoic attitude toward suicide throws some light on Stoic beliefs and disagreements over the relationship between a virtuous life and those things held to be morally indifferent but preferred goods. The Stoic metaphysics was based closely on the philosophy of Heraclitus.
