Stoicism was a very ambitious philosophy that tried to give a coherent account of all of reality, ranging from the most general and overarching structures to the minutest details. 5Īs a Stoic, Epictetus shared the fundamental convictions of this tradition, which traced its roots back to Zeno of Cyprus, who set up his school in Athens around 300 BCE.
Such a procedure marks a relatively new perspective in comparison with other studies on freedom in Epictetus, which move more traditionally within a purely textual-philosophical realm. 4 The article will therefore explore aspects of this bodily freedom and slavery that have bearings on the notion of self. 3 However, as with all metaphors, such a metaphorical or attitudinal understanding of freedom and slavery is nevertheless based on and informed by the world of real, bodily slavery and takes its imagery and rhetorical power from this material reality. As will be seen, Epictetus’ notion of freedom and slavery is metaphorical, not physical, and concerns freedom from inner states of turmoil and flawed reasoning that can destroy one’s ethical character and integrity. the texts of Epictetus), but also in the socio-political context of ancient Roman slavery.
2 Moreover, this connection between freedom/slavery and self will be explored not only in a strictly philosophical context (i.e. In order to sharpen the perspective, the investigation of freedom and slavery will be carried out by seeing the material through a specific lens, namely Epictetus’ understanding of self, thereby contributing to an ongoing discussion on ancient self-perception among scholars of ancient philosophy and theology.
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