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The Enchiridion, a handbook of the teachings of the Greek Stoic Epictetus, opens by dividing life in two. Our judgements, intentions, desires and dislikes are up to us. Our body, possessions, reputation and position are not, and treating them as if they were leads to frustration.

Epictetus, Enchiridion, chapter 1

Philosophy

The story behind the card

Epictetus was born into slavery around AD 50 in Hierapolis, the ancient city beside today's Pamukkale in western Turkey. He spent his youth in Rome as the slave of Epaphroditus, a wealthy former slave who had been secretary to the emperor Nero, studied Stoic philosophy and began to teach after he was freed. When the emperor Domitian banished philosophers from Rome around AD 93, he moved to Nicopolis in north-western Greece and opened a school. He wrote nothing himself. His student Arrian recorded his lectures as the Discourses and gathered the key points into the Enchiridion, Greek for “handbook”, something kept ready to hand. Marcus Aurelius thanks his teacher Rusticus for lending him Epictetus's lectures, and the handbook was later adapted for Greek-speaking monasteries and translated into Latin in the 15th century.

Türkçe oku
Stoacı Yunan filozof Epiktetos'un öğütlerini toplayan Enkheiridion, yani “El Kitabı”, hayatı ikiye ayırarak açılır. Yargılarımız, niyetlerimiz, isteklerimiz ve hoşlanmadıklarımız bize bağlıdır. Bedenimiz, malımız, ünümüz ve mevkimiz ise bize bağlı değildir; onları elimizdeymiş gibi görmek insanı hayal kırıklığına sürükler.
Epiktetos, Enkheiridion, 1. bölüm

Epiktetos MS 50 dolaylarında, bugün Denizli'deki Pamukkale'nin hemen yanında bulunan antik Hierapolis kentinde köle olarak doğdu. Gençliğini Roma'da, Neron'un sekreterliğini yapmış zengin bir azatlı olan Epafroditos'un kölesi olarak geçirdi. Stoa felsefesini öğrendi, azat edildikten sonra da ders vermeye başladı. İmparator Domitianus MS 93 civarında filozofları Roma'dan sürünce Kuzeybatı Yunanistan'daki Nikopolis'e yerleşip bir okul açtı. Kendisi hiçbir şey yazmadı. Öğrencisi Arrianos derslerini Söylevler adıyla kaleme aldı, en önemli öğütleri de Enkheiridion'da topladı. Bu sözcük Yunancada “el kitabı”, yani hep elin altında duran şey demektir. Marcus Aurelius, Epiktetos'un derslerini kendisine ödünç veren hocası Rusticus'a Kendime Düşünceler'de teşekkür eder. El Kitabı daha sonra Yunanca konuşulan manastırlar için uyarlandı ve 15. yüzyılda Latinceye çevrildi.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Enchiridion of Epictetus
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