The Death of Marcus Aurelius

The Death of Marcus Aurelius

Monday, March 3, 2025

Wisdom from the Early Stoics, Zeno of Citium 73


The good are also, it is declared, godlike; for they have a something divine within them; whereas the bad man is godless. 

And yet of this word—godless or ungodly—there are two senses, one in which it is the opposite of the term "godly," the other denoting the man who ignores the divine altogether: in this latter sense, as they note, the term does not apply to every bad man. 

The good, it is added, are also worshippers of God; for they have acquaintance with the rites of the gods, and piety is the knowledge of how to serve the gods. 

Further, they will sacrifice to the gods and they keep themselves pure; for they avoid all acts that are offenses against the gods, and the gods think highly of them: for they are holy and just in what concerns the gods. 

The wise too are the only priests; for they have made sacrifices their study, as also the building of temples, purifications, and all the other matters appertaining to the gods. 

—Diogenes Laërtius, 7.119 



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