Building upon many years of privately shared thoughts on the real benefits of Stoic Philosophy, Liam Milburn eventually published a selection of Stoic passages that had helped him to live well. They were accompanied by some of his own personal reflections. This blog hopes to continue his mission of encouraging the wisdom of Stoicism in the exercise of everyday life. All the reflections are taken from his notes, from late 1992 to early 2017.
Reflections
▼
Primary Sources
▼
Thursday, November 21, 2019
Wisdom from the Early Stoics, Zeno of Citium 4
The people of Athens held Zeno in high honor, as is proved
by their depositing with him the keys of the city walls, and their
honoring him with a golden crown and a bronze statue. This last mark of
respect was also shown to him by citizens of his native town, who deemed his statue an ornament to their city, and the men of Citium living in Sidon were also proud to claim him for
their own.
Antigonus (Gonatas) also favored him, and whenever he came
to Athens would hear him lecture and often invited him to come to his
court. This offer he declined, but dispatched there one of his friends,
Persaeus, the son of Demetrius and a native of Citium, who flourished
in the 130th Olympiad,
at which time Zeno was already an old man.
According to Apollonius of
Tyre in his work upon Zeno, the letter of Antigonus was couched in the
following terms:
"King Antigonus to Zeno the philosopher, greeting.
"While in fortune and fame I deem myself your superior, in reason
and education I own myself inferior, as well as in the perfect
happiness which you have attained.
"Wherefore I have decided to ask you
to pay me a visit, being persuaded that you will not refuse the request.
By all means, then, do your best to hold conference with me,
understanding clearly that you will not be the instructor of myself
alone but of all the Macedonians taken together.
"For it is obvious that
whoever instructs the ruler of Macedonia and guides him in the paths of
virtue will also be training his subjects to be good men. As is the
ruler, such for the most part it may be expected that his subjects will
become."
And Zeno's reply is as follows:
"Zeno to King Antigonus, greeting.
"I welcome your love of learning in so far as you cleave to that
true education which tends to advantage and not to that popular
counterfeit of it which serves only to corrupt morals.
"But if anyone has
yearned for philosophy, turning away from much-vaunted pleasure which
renders effeminate the souls of some of the young, it is evident that
not by nature only, but also by the bent of his will he is inclined to
nobility of character. But if a noble nature be aided by moderate
exercise and further receive ungrudging instruction, it easily comes to
acquire virtue in perfection.
"But I am constrained by bodily
weakness, due to old age, for I am eighty years old; and for that reason
I am unable to join you.
"But I send you certain companions of my
studies whose mental powers are not inferior to mine, while their bodily
strength is far greater, and if you associate with these you will in no
way fall short of the conditions necessary to perfect happiness."
So he sent Persaeus and Philonides the Theban; and Epicurus in
his letter to his brother Aristobulus mentions them both as living with
Antigonus.
No comments:
Post a Comment