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Epictetus as Socratic teacher
The sage of Hierapolis knew how to challenge his students
One of my goals here at Figs in Winter is to bring to the attention of a broader readership some gems from the primary scientific or philosophical literature that may otherwise go unnoticed. One such gem is a paper published by Anthony Long, arguably the foremost living expert on the Stoic philosopher Epictetus, back in 2013 in the Cambridge Classical Journal. It was entitled “Epictetus as Socratic mentor.”
It begins, uncharacteristically for a scholarly paper, with a reference to popular culture, specifically to Tom Wolfe’s novel, A Man in Full (don’t watch the Netflix series!, despite the excellent acting by Jeff Daniels). In the story, Stoicism changes the lives of the two main characters: Conrad Hensley (a young man unjustly sent to prison) and Charlie Crocker (a ruthless real estate tycoon on the verge of bankruptcy). Indeed, by the end of the novel, Crocker finds himself turned into a successful televangelist for Stoic philosophy, host of a television program called “The Stoic’s Hour.”
A Man in Full had more impact on the public awareness of Stoicism than most people realize, even today. The New York Times published an article on 2 January 1999claiming that Wolfe had promoted Epictetus to almost best-selling status. On January 22 of the same…
