the Stoics

Reading notes

• The Pumpkinification of the Divine Claudius §8 Stoic

  The Stoics conceived god as the rational, spherical world-soul; the joke turns 'no head, no heart' into a description of Claudius.

• On Benefits §2.20.2 the Stoic rule

  The discipline of the Stoa, by which Brutus professed to live; Seneca judges his tyrannicide a lapse from it.

• On the Shortness of Life §14.2 Stoics

  The Stoic school, named for 'conquering' human nature by reason — Seneca's own school.

• On Mercy §2.5 sect of the Stoics

  The Stoic school, to which Seneca belonged; mocked as harsh for denying that the sage pities or pardons, which Seneca here defends as in fact the gentlest doctrine.

• On the Firmness of the Wise Man §1.1 Stoics

  The Stoic school, founded by Zeno of Citium; Seneca's own philosophy, which here he sets apart for its 'manly' rigor against the gentler sects.

• On Leisure §1.4 Stoics

  The Stoic school, founded by Zeno of Citium, which held that the wise man owes the commonwealth active service to the very end of life; Seneca argues here that its own principles also license withdrawal.

• On the Happy Life §3.2 the Stoa

  The Stoic school, founded by Zeno of Citium; Seneca writes as a Stoic but claims the right to dissent from its leaders on particular points.

• Moral Letters to Lucilius §3.29.11 Peripatetics, Academics, Stoics, Cynics

  The four leading philosophical schools: the Peripatetics (followers of Aristotle), the Academics (heirs of Plato's Academy), the Stoics (Seneca's own school, founded by Zeno), and the Cynics (followers of Diogenes); Seneca's point is that all of them, however they differ, agree that one should not court the crowd.

• Moral Letters to Lucilius §7.68.1 Stoics' warrant

  The Stoics held that the sage should take part in public life unless circumstances forbid it; Seneca cites both their precept and their example to justify Lucilius's withdrawal into philosophical retirement.