Short answer
The Enchiridion is a short handbook of Stoic ethics drawn from the teaching of Epictetus, a former slave who taught philosophy in Nicopolis in northwestern Greece in the early second century AD. Epictetus wrote nothing himself. His student Arrian recorded his lectures in the Discourses and condensed the core of them into the Enchiridion, whose title means “something held in the hand”, a manual or a dagger kept ready. Its fifty-three brief chapters open with the distinction between what is in our power and what is not, and then apply it to desire, judgment, loss, roles, reputation and progress in philosophy. It can be read in an hour. It takes much longer to absorb, which is why it has been carried by soldiers, monks and prisoners for nearly two thousand years.
Key takeaways
- Epictetus (about 50 to 135 AD) was born a slave, studied with the Stoic Musonius Rufus, was freed and later taught in Nicopolis.
- The Enchiridion was compiled by his student Arrian from the longer Discourses. It is a summary for daily use, not a treatise.
- Chapter 1 sets out the dichotomy of control. Chapter 5 says we are disturbed by our opinions about things, not the things themselves.
- Many chapters are about practice: start with small things, expect obstacles, play your role well, ignore the desire to appear wise.
- Read it slowly, a chapter at a time, and test each one against an ordinary day.
Who Epictetus was
Epictetus was born around 50 AD in Hierapolis in Phrygia, in what is now Turkey. His name means “acquired”. He was a slave in Rome, owned at one point by Epaphroditus, a freedman who worked for Nero. He was allowed to study with Musonius Rufus, the leading Stoic teacher of the time, and at some point was freed. He was lame, and ancient sources disagree about why: some say from birth, some from mistreatment.
Around 93 AD the emperor Domitian expelled philosophers from Rome, and Epictetus moved to Nicopolis, where he opened a school that attracted students from across the empire. He lived simply, by the accounts we have, and taught for the rest of his life. He never wrote anything down. We owe almost everything to Arrian, who later became a senator, a provincial governor and a historian of Alexander the Great. Arrian says in his preface to the Discourses that he tried to record Epictetus’s words as he spoke them, to keep a memory of his thinking and frankness of speech.
That origin explains the tone of both books. They are not polished essays. They are the voice of a teacher talking to young men, often impatient, often funny, constantly turning theory back into questions about how they live.
What the Enchiridion is
The Discourses originally ran to eight books, of which four survive. The Enchiridion selects and condenses the most important teachings into fifty-three short chapters, some only a sentence long. It was meant to be kept at hand, which is the literal meaning of the Greek word, and consulted the way a doctor consults a manual.
It has a loose order. The first chapters set out the basic distinction and its consequences. The middle chapters deal with specific situations: loss, insults, other people’s opinions, desires, social occasions. The last chapters are about the student’s own progress and the danger of confusing knowledge with practice.
Chapter 1: the dichotomy
The opening line is the most quoted sentence in Stoicism. In George Long’s translation: “Of things some are in our power, and others are not.” Epictetus lists what is in our power: opinion, movement toward a thing, desire, aversion, in a word our own acts. What is not: the body, property, reputation, offices, in a word whatever is not our own act.
He immediately adds the consequence. The things in our power are free by nature. The others are weak, dependent and belong to others. If you treat what belongs to others as your own, you will be hindered, you will grieve, you will be troubled and you will blame gods and men. If you treat only what is yours as your own, no one will compel you and no one will hinder you.
A detail that is often skipped: Epictetus then warns that you cannot pursue the good things of life and philosophy at the same time with half your attention. If you want freedom and also office and wealth, you may fail to get even the latter, and you will certainly fail to get the former. This is not a ban on having a job or money. It is a statement about where your heart is. We discuss the whole idea in the pillar on the dichotomy of control.
Chapter 5: opinions, not things
The second most famous line follows soon after. Long translates it: “Men are disturbed not by the things which happen, but by the opinions about the things.” Epictetus gives the example of death. Death is not terrible, he says, or Socrates would have found it so. What is terrible is our opinion that death is terrible.
He then draws a conclusion about blame that is worth reading twice. When we are hindered or troubled, we should blame no one but ourselves, that is, our own opinions. An uneducated person blames others. Someone who has begun to be educated blames himself. Someone who is fully educated blames neither others nor himself.
That last step is easy to miss. The goal is not self-blame, which is only a more refined form of disturbance. It is clear sight: seeing what happened, seeing the judgment you added, and correcting the judgment without drama. This line later became one of the inspirations for cognitive therapy, which we look at in Stoicism and CBT.
Chapters on loss and attachment
Several chapters deal with loss, and they are the ones that shock modern readers most. In chapter 3, Epictetus advises reminding yourself of the nature of things you are fond of, starting with the smallest: if you love a jug, say that you love a jug, so that if it breaks you will not be disturbed. Then he extends it to a child or a wife: when you kiss them, remind yourself that you are kissing a human being, so that if they die you will not be overwhelmed.
Read in isolation, this sounds cold. Read in context, it is closer to what modern psychology would call holding things with awareness of impermanence. Epictetus is not saying do not love. He is saying know what you love. In chapter 11 he puts it more gently: never say about anything, “I have lost it”, but “I have given it back”. Has your child died? It has been given back. While it was given to you, take care of it as something that is not your own, as travelers treat an inn.
These chapters are the root of the practice of negative visualization, and they need careful handling, which is why we treat them separately.
Chapters on practice
Much of the handbook is about how to practice, and it is remarkably modern.
- Start small. In chapter 12, Epictetus recommends beginning with little things. If your oil is spilled or your wine stolen, tell yourself that this is the price of tranquility, and nothing is had for nothing.
- Expect friction. In chapter 4, before you go to the public baths, picture what happens there: people splashing, pushing, insulting, stealing. Then you will go more calmly, having decided in advance to keep your purpose.
- Play your role. In chapter 17, he compares life to a play. Your part is assigned by the author, short or long, beggar or ruler. Your job is to play it well. Choosing the part belongs to another. We return to this in Epictetus on roles and duties.
- Ignore the urge to look wise. In chapter 13, if you want to make progress, be content to be thought foolish about external things.
The last chapters: progress
The handbook ends with a warning to anyone who has read it. In chapter 46, Epictetus tells the student never to call himself a philosopher or talk much among ordinary people about principles, but to act on them. Sheep do not bring their grass to the shepherd to show how much they ate. They digest it and produce wool and milk. In chapter 49 he mocks the student who is proud of being able to explain Chrysippus. If Chrysippus had written clearly, he says, there would be nothing to be proud of.
Then come a few lines of verse and a quotation from Socrates. The last line, in most translations, is the one Socrates is said to have spoken before his execution: they can kill me, but they cannot harm me.
How to read it today
A few suggestions for a first reading, from experience rather than doctrine.
- Use a public domain translation first. George Long’s and Elizabeth Carter’s versions are free online. The language is old fashioned but faithful. Modern translations are smoother if you want to buy one later.
- Read a chapter a day, not the whole book in one sitting. It is short enough to finish in an evening and dense enough that doing so wastes it.
- Test each chapter on something that happened that day. The book was designed for that.
- Skip what does not travel. A few chapters reflect a world of slaves and divination. Note them, think about why Epictetus said them, and move on.
- Then read the Discourses. The handbook is a summary. The Discourses show the teacher at work, with jokes, digressions and arguments, and they explain much of what the handbook only asserts.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Enchiridion of Epictetus?
A short handbook of fifty-three chapters summarizing the Stoic teaching of Epictetus, compiled by his student Arrian in the second century AD from the longer Discourses.
Did Epictetus write the Enchiridion?
No. Epictetus wrote nothing. Arrian recorded his lectures and condensed them into the Enchiridion.
What does Enchiridion mean?
It is Greek for “something held in the hand”, that is, a handbook or manual kept ready for use.
What is the first line of the Enchiridion?
“Of things some are in our power, and others are not,” in George Long’s translation. It introduces the distinction between what is up to us and what is not.
Which translation of the Enchiridion should I read?
George Long’s and Elizabeth Carter’s translations are in the public domain and free online. They are faithful but old fashioned. Several modern translations are easier to read if you prefer contemporary English.