Stoicism is an Ancient Greek philosophy, a Hellenistic approach to life founded by Zeno of Citium in the early 300 BC. In a sentence, Stoicism can be described as the art of response to external events outside of our control. There are several tenets to Stoicism, however, all the principles of the philosophy root from a notion called "the dichotomy of control". This may seem like Greek to some of you, however, we will decode the wise words through the course of this blog. But today, we will firstly address, how did Zeno conceive this philosophy?
Circa 290 BC, Zeno of Citium arrived on the shore of Athens; after suffering a costly shipwreck, Zeno lost his pharmaceutical remedies, his novels and the recipe to the pharmaceutical remedies. Imagine you lost all your wealth, hard work and fortunes in a second. The common man would find such a devastating shock an impediment to their life, a moment of melancholy. The legend of Zeno commences with this shipwreck- the biographers who published about Zeno say that he went to Delphic Oracle in the Temple of Apollo to seek guidance on his hitherto shambolic life. Dejected, he returns to a bookstore in Athens, where he picked up "Memorabilia", a biography of Socrates, a famous Ancient Greek philosopher published by Xenophon, another philosopher.
In Memorabilia, Xenophon scribes his rendezvous with Socrates for this first time; the anecdote is such that Socrates asked Xenophon where he could find good textiles in Athens. Xenophon responded saying that the Agora in Athens is the world's finest market with jewellery, textile, food etc. Then, Socrates asked Xenophon where he could learn how to be a good human in Athens. Xenophon, dumbfounded, could not respond. This dialogue was the embarkation of the search of what it means to be a good man. This anecdote is said to have evoked a philosophical question in Zeno's mind. As he reads, he discovers that Socrates posited that goodness lies within, through "sophia" (wisdom) and "arete" (excellence of character). Zeno, now fully immersed in Socrates' journey and pursuit in philosophy, renders his study of Memorabilia to be a signal from the Delphic Oracle to pursue the study of philosophy. Thus, he asks the bookseller where to find a philosopher; the philosopher directs him to Crates of Thebes, who was just passing by. Crates of Thebes was a Cynic philosopher who mentored Zeno and invited him to the academic parlours of philosophy.
Zeno had several profound learnings from Crates; the Cynic virtue of abstinence, modesty and asceticism. Moreover, certain experiences defined principles of Stoic philosophy- for instance, Crates once asked Zeno to carry a bowl of soup around Athens. In the middle of the Agora, Crates broke the bowl, spilling all the contents on Zeno. Zeno was embarrassed and fled the scene, to which Crates responded by telling Zeno that nothing bad has happened to him. Not only did this discard Zeno's self-consciousness, but also caused the construct of the principle of the dichotomy of control. Zeno scribed several experiences in his journals and his idea of a utopian political state in his book, Republic. Zeno started teaching his philosophy at the Stoa Poikile in Athens during the later years of his life; Stoicism's etymology relates to the "Stoa" (portico) where Zeno's students would learn philosophy. Unfortunately, Zeno's work is not available to us, however, biographies written by other Grecian philosophers about Zeno narrate the his story and the beginnings of Stoicism.
The ancient biographer, Diogenes Lartius mentions in his biography that after his shipwreck, Zeno commented “Now that I’ve suffered shipwreck, I am on a good journey”. Zeno had mastered the art of response to a devastating event. That is the key tenet of Stoicism. Applying the dichotomy of control and responding to the plethora of events that occur during our lifetime.
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