Works


Works
By Epictetus
Edited by: George Long

London George Bell and Sons 1890


Perseus Documents Collection Table of Contents


Arrian's Discourses of Epictetus
   Arrian to Lucius Gellius, with wishes for his happiness.
   Of the things which are in our power, and not in our power.
   How a man on every occasion can maintain his proper character.
   How a man should proceed from the principle of god being the father of all men to the rest.
   Of progress or improvement.
   Against the academics.
   Of Providence.
   Of the use of sophistical arguments and hypothetical and the like.
   That the faculties57 are not safe to the uninstructed
   How from the fact that we are akin to God a man may proceed to the consequences.
   Against those who eagerly seek preferment at Rome.
   Of natural affection.
   Of contentment.
   How everything may be done acceptably to the gods.
   That the deity oversees all things.
   What philosophy promises.
   Of Providence.
   That the logical art is necessary.
   That we ought not to be angry with the errors (faults) of others.
   How we should behave to tyrants.
   About reason, how it contemplates itself.
   Against those who wish to be admired.
   On praecognitions.
   Against Epicurus.
   How we should struggle with circumstances.
   On the same.
   What is the law of life.
   In how many ways appearances exist, and what aids we should provide against them.
   That we ought not to be angry with men; and what are the small and the great things among men.
   On constancy (or firmness).
   What we ought to have ready in difficult circumstances.
   That confidence (courage) is not inconsistent with caution.
   Of tranquillity (freedom from perturbation).
   To those who recommend persons to philosophers.
   Against a person who had once been detected in adultery.
   How magnanimity is consistent with care.
   Of indifference.
   How we ought to use divination.
   What is the nature (ἡ οὐσία) of the Good
   That when we cannot fulfil that which the character of a man promises, we assume the character of a philosopher.
   How we may discover the duties of life from names.
   What the beginning of philosophy is.
   Of disputation or discussion.
   On anxiety (solicitude).
   To Naso.
   To or against those who obstinately persist in what they have determined.
   That we do not strive to use our opinions about good and evil.
   How we must adapt preconceptions to particular cases.
   How we should struggle against appearances.
   Against those who embrace philosophical opinions only in words.
   Against the Epicureans and Academics.
   Of inconsistency.
   On friendship.
   On the power of speaking.
   To (or against) a person who was one of those who were not valued (esteemed) by him.
   That logic is necessary.
   What is the property of error.
   Of finery in dress.
   In what a man ought to be exercised who has made proficiency;441 and that we neglect the chief things.
   What is the matter on which a good man should be employed, and in what we ought chiefly to practise ourselves.
   Against a person who showed his partizanship in an unseemly way in a theatre.
   Against those who on account of sickness go away home.
   Miscellaneous.
   To the administrator of the free cities who was an Epicurean.
   How we must exercise ourselves against appearances (φαντασίας).
   To a certain rhetorician who was going up to Rome on a suit.
   In what manner we ought to bear sickness.
   Certain miscellaneous matters
   About exercise.
   What solitude is, and what kind of person a solitary man is.
   Certain miscellaneous matters.
   That we ought to proceed with circumspection to every thing.
   That we ought with caution to enter into familiar intercourse with men.
   On Providence.
   That we ought not to be disturbed by any news.
   What is the condition of a common kind of man and of a philosopher.
   That we can derive advantage from all external things.
   Against those who readily come to the profession of sophists.
   About Cynism.
   To those who read and discuss for the sake of ostentation.
   That we ought not to be moved by a desire of those things which are not in our power.
   To those who fall off (desist) from their purpose.
   To those who fear want.
   About freedom.
   On familiar intimacy.
   What things we should exchange for other things.
   To those who are desirous of passing life in tranquillity.
   Against the quarrelsome and ferocious.
   Against those who lament over being pitied.
   On freedom from fear.
   Against those who hastily rush into the use of the philosophic dress.
   To a person who had been changed to a character of shamelessness.
   What things we ought to despise, and what things we ought to value.
   About purity (cleanliness).
   On attention
   Against or to those who readily tell their own affairs.

The Encheiridion, or Manual.

Fragments of Epictetus

Some fragments of Epictetus omitted by Upton and by Meibomius.

Index.

Advertisements
   WORKS BY GEORGE LONG, M. A.
   THE THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEROR M. AURELIUS ANTONINUS. Translated. Revised Edition, Post 8vo., 3s. 6d.
   CATALOGUE OF BOHN'S LIBRARIES.
   BOHN'S LIBRARIES.
   STANDARD LIBRARY.
   HISTORICAL LIBRARY.
   PHILOSOPHICAL LIBRARY.
   THEOLOGICAL LIBRARY.
   ANTIQUARIAN LIBRARY.
   ILLUSTRATED LIBRARY.
   CLASSICAL LIBRARY.
   TRANSLATIONS FROM THE GREEK AND LATIN.
   COLLEGIATE SERIES.
   SCIENTIFIC LIBRARY.
   ECONOMICS AND FINANCE.
   REFERENCE LIBRARY.
   NOVELISTS' LIBRARY.
   ARTISTS' LIBRARY.
   LIBRARY OF SPORTS AND GAMES.
   BOHN'S CHEAP SERIES.
   Bohn's Select Library of Standard Works.

Arrian's Discourses of Epictetus
   Arrian to Lucius Gellius, with wishes for his happiness.
   Of the things which are in our power, and not in our power.
   How a man on every occasion can maintain his proper character.
   How a man should proceed from the principle of god being the father of all men to the rest.
   Of progress or improvement.
   Against the academics.
   Of Providence.
   Of the use of sophistical arguments and hypothetical and the like.
   That the faculties57 are not safe to the uninstructed
   How from the fact that we are akin to God a man may proceed to the consequences.
   Against those who eagerly seek preferment at Rome.
   Of natural affection.
   Of contentment.
   How everything may be done acceptably to the gods.
   That the deity oversees all things.
   What philosophy promises.
   Of Providence.
   That the logical art is necessary.
   That we ought not to be angry with the errors (faults) of others.
   How we should behave to tyrants.
   About reason, how it contemplates itself.
   Against those who wish to be admired.
   On praecognitions.
   Against Epicurus.
   How we should struggle with circumstances.
   On the same.
   What is the law of life.
   In how many ways appearances exist, and what aids we should provide against them.
   That we ought not to be angry with men; and what are the small and the great things among men.
   On constancy (or firmness).
   What we ought to have ready in difficult circumstances.
   That confidence (courage) is not inconsistent with caution.
   Of tranquillity (freedom from perturbation).
   To those who recommend persons to philosophers.
   Against a person who had once been detected in adultery.
   How magnanimity is consistent with care.
   Of indifference.
   How we ought to use divination.
   What is the nature (ἡ οὐσία) of the Good
   That when we cannot fulfil that which the character of a man promises, we assume the character of a philosopher.
   How we may discover the duties of life from names.
   What the beginning of philosophy is.
   Of disputation or discussion.
   On anxiety (solicitude).
   To Naso.
   To or against those who obstinately persist in what they have determined.
   That we do not strive to use our opinions about good and evil.
   How we must adapt preconceptions to particular cases.
   How we should struggle against appearances.
   Against those who embrace philosophical opinions only in words.
   Against the Epicureans and Academics.
   Of inconsistency.
   On friendship.
   On the power of speaking.
   To (or against) a person who was one of those who were not valued (esteemed) by him.
   That logic is necessary.
   What is the property of error.
   Of finery in dress.
   In what a man ought to be exercised who has made proficiency;441 and that we neglect the chief things.
   What is the matter on which a good man should be employed, and in what we ought chiefly to practise ourselves.
   Against a person who showed his partizanship in an unseemly way in a theatre.
   Against those who on account of sickness go away home.
   Miscellaneous.
   To the administrator of the free cities who was an Epicurean.
   How we must exercise ourselves against appearances (φαντασίας).
   To a certain rhetorician who was going up to Rome on a suit.
   In what manner we ought to bear sickness.
   Certain miscellaneous matters
   About exercise.
   What solitude is, and what kind of person a solitary man is.
   Certain miscellaneous matters.
   That we ought to proceed with circumspection to every thing.
   That we ought with caution to enter into familiar intercourse with men.
   On Providence.
   That we ought not to be disturbed by any news.
   What is the condition of a common kind of man and of a philosopher.
   That we can derive advantage from all external things.
   Against those who readily come to the profession of sophists.
   About Cynism.
   To those who read and discuss for the sake of ostentation.
   That we ought not to be moved by a desire of those things which are not in our power.
   To those who fall off (desist) from their purpose.
   To those who fear want.
   About freedom.
   On familiar intimacy.
   What things we should exchange for other things.
   To those who are desirous of passing life in tranquillity.
   Against the quarrelsome and ferocious.
   Against those who lament over being pitied.
   On freedom from fear.
   Against those who hastily rush into the use of the philosophic dress.
   To a person who had been changed to a character of shamelessness.
   What things we ought to despise, and what things we ought to value.
   About purity (cleanliness).
   On attention
   Against or to those who readily tell their own affairs.

The Encheiridion, or Manual.

Fragments of Epictetus

Some fragments of Epictetus omitted by Upton and by Meibomius.

Index.

Advertisements
   WORKS BY GEORGE LONG, M. A.
   THE THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEROR M. AURELIUS ANTONINUS. Translated. Revised Edition, Post 8vo., 3s. 6d.
   CATALOGUE OF BOHN'S LIBRARIES.
   BOHN'S LIBRARIES.
   STANDARD LIBRARY.
   HISTORICAL LIBRARY.
   PHILOSOPHICAL LIBRARY.
   THEOLOGICAL LIBRARY.
   ANTIQUARIAN LIBRARY.
   ILLUSTRATED LIBRARY.
   CLASSICAL LIBRARY.
   TRANSLATIONS FROM THE GREEK AND LATIN.
   COLLEGIATE SERIES.
   SCIENTIFIC LIBRARY.
   ECONOMICS AND FINANCE.
   REFERENCE LIBRARY.
   NOVELISTS' LIBRARY.
   ARTISTS' LIBRARY.
   LIBRARY OF SPORTS AND GAMES.
   BOHN'S CHEAP SERIES.
   Bohn's Select Library of Standard Works.

Funded by The Annenberg CPB/Project
 

Advertisements



Book 0

Ch. 0

WORKS BY GEORGE LONG, M. A.

THE THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEROR M. AURELIUS ANTONINUS. Translated. Revised Edition, Post 8vo., 3s. 6d.

My quotations from Marcus Aurelius will be made (by permission) from the forcible and admirably accurate translation of Mr. Long. In thanking Mr. Long, I may be allowed to add that the English reader will find in his version the best means of becoming acquainted with the purest and noblest book of antiquity.The Rev. F. W. Farrar, M. A., in Seekers after God.

Mr. Long's reputation as a scholar is a sufficient guarantee of the general fidelity and accuracy of his translation. . . . But that for which I and the rest of the unlearned may venture to praise Mr. Long is thisthat he treats Marcus Aurelius's writings as he treats all the other remains of Greek and Roman antiquity which he touches, not as a dead and dry matter of learning, but as documents with a side of modern applicability and living interest, and valuable mainly so far as this side in them can be made clear, that, as in his notes on 'Plutarch's Roman Lives,' he deals with the modern epoch of Csar and Cicero, not as food for school-boys, but as food for men, and men engaged in the current of contemporary life and action; so in his remarks and essays on Marcus Aurelius he treats this truly modern striver and thinker not as a classical dictionary hero, but as a present source from which to draw 'example of life and instruction of manners.' Why may not a son of Dr. Arnold say, what might naturally be said by any other critic, that in this lively and fruitful way of considering the men and affairs of ancient Greece and Rome Mr. Long resembles Dr. Arnold. . . . . In general the substantiality, soundness, and precision of his rendering are as conspicuous as the living spirit with which he treats antiquity; and these qualities are particularly desirable in the translator of a work like Marcus Aurelius's, of which the language is often corrupt, almost always hard and obscure.Matthew Arnold's Essays on Criticism. [p. 454]

Post 8vo, 5s. THE DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS; with the Encheiridion and Fragments translated with Notes, a Life of Epictetus, and a view of his Philosophy.

Second Edition, with Additions.

AN OLD MAN'S THOUGHTS ABOUT MANY THINGS. Containing Chapters on Schools, Riches, Statues, Style, Books, Education, Taxation, &c. Foolscap 8vo., 6s.

We feel quite sure that this book will become a favourite with all who love genial wisdom conveyed in a happy and expressive style. Nor will it be a favourite of a moment, but a friend and companion for years, to whom the possessor will often have recourse for counsel as well as for entertain- ment.Daily News.

This quaint and amusing work is well written.Athenum.

The author is a shrewd, clever old gentleman, well informed, and one who has certainly not spent his long life to disadvantage. The range of subjects about which he thinks is very large, and what he does say is of sterling quality.Court Journal.

In this book will be found some excellent writing, many just thoughts, and a dash of racy originality, too rare to be undervalued.Westminster Review.

It is not without regret that we are compelled to acknowledge that the Old Man must be regarded as belonging to the school of gossiping geniality of which 'A. K. H. B.' is the most characteristic and best known representative. He is, however, in every respect, very superior to the Country Parson; for his reading is evidently more than usually extensive, while, at the same time, he possesses a fair share of originality and humour.

Spectator. [p. 455]

THE DECLINE OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC.

In 5 vols., 8vo., 148. each.

Vol. I. From the Destruction of Carthage to the End of the Jugurthine War.

Vol. II. To the Death of Sertorius.

Vol. III. Including the Third Mithridatic War, the Catiline Conspiracy, and the Consulship of C. Julius Csar.

Vol. IV. History of Csar's Gallic Campaigns and of the Contemporaneous Events in Rome.

Vol. V. (Concluding the Work.) From Csar's Invasion of Italy to his Death.

If any one can guide us through the almost inextricable mazes of this labyrinth, it is Mr. Long. As a chronicler he possesses all the requisite knowledge, and what is nearly, if not quite as important, the necessary caution. He never attempts to explain that which is hopelessly corrupt or obscure; he does not confound twilight with daylight; he warns the reader repeatedly that he is standing on shaking ground; he has no framework o! theory into which he presses his facts.Saturday Review.

Of the general tone of the book we can speak with high praise. Mr. Long is free from that admiration of 'blood and iron,' which mars Dr. Mommsen's brilliant volumes. He can admire Csar's greatness, and yet, as we have seen, he is not blind to the enormous amount of human suffering which his wars caused; he points out Cicero's weaknesses, but he does not treat him as a contemptible fool; he is alive to Cato's shortcomings, but he does not think him a criminal because he resisted Csar's attempt to make himself sole master of the Roman world. On the whole, then, we think highly of his work. It might, to cur thinking, have been still more valuable than it is; that it is not, is owing, not to any want of ability in the author, but to his own choice. He had his own idea of the mode in which it ought to be written, and in that mode it is ably and faithfully executed. We feel sorry at parting with a scholar who has, in the course of a long life, done much for classical learning, who has always worked honestly and honourably, and whose labours have been so indifferently rewarded.Athenum. [p. 456]

CICERO'S ORATIONS (Bibliotheca Classica Edition). Edited, with an English Commentary. In 4 vols. Vol. I., 168. Vol. I., 14s. Vol. III., 16s. Vol. IV., 18s.

M. TULLII CICERONIS, Cato Major sive De Senec- tute, Llius sive de Amicitia et Epistol Select. Edited with English Notes for School Use. Foolscap 8vo., 3s.

De Amicitia. 1s. 6d. | De Senectuta 1s. 6d. | Select Epistles. 1s. 6d.

CSAR DE BELLO GALLICO. Edited with English Notes. Foolscap 8vo., 4s.

CSAR DE BELLO GALLICO. Books I.III. With English Notes for Junior Classes. New Edition. Foolscap 8vo., 1s. 6d. Books IV. and V., 1s. 6d. Books VI. and VII., 1s. 6d.

CSAR DE BELLO GALLICO. Cambridge Texts. 1s. 6d.

CICERO DE SENECTUTE, ET DE AMICITIA, ET EPISTOL SELECT. Cambridge Texts. 1s. 6d.