Character guide

Epictetus

major

Also known as Epictetus Omitted by Upton

Epictetus speaks as a former slave who now trains students to prize integrity over food, dress, and reputation, urging them to live as one who wishes to be Socrates. His sharpest tension is with the reader's own softness: he demands you first believe you are bad before you can become good, and he refuses to let anger or luxury sink quietly into the soul. These early fragments set the book's stakes, turning ordinary banquets, slaves, and ravens into daily tests of freedom.

Socrates

supporting

Socrates appears throughout these works not as a biography but as the finished model against whom the reader is measured. Epictetus uses him as a mirror and a rebuke: you are not yet a Socrates, but you ought to live as one who wishes to be. His presence gives the early teaching its emotional weight, showing that Stoic progress is not abstract theory but a life actually completed under pressure.

Lycurgus

minor

Also known as Lycurgus the Lacedaemonian

Legendary lawgiver of Sparta, referenced as an example of discipline and law.

Agrippinus

minor

A contemporary Stoic philosopher admired by Epictetus for his character and resolve.

Chrysippus

minor

Influential Stoic philosopher whose works are often referenced in the discussions.

Plato

minor

Ancient Greek philosopher, mentioned in the context of philosophical ideas and dialogues.

Archimedes

minor

Ancient Greek mathematician and inventor, cited as an example of focused expertise.

Simplicius

minor

Later commentator on Epictetus, referenced in the editorial notes of this edition.

Nicias

minor

Athenian general referenced in a historical or moral example.

M. Antoninus

minor

Also known as Antoninus

Likely refers to Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, the Roman Emperor and Stoic philosopher.

Polus

minor

A character from Plato's Gorgias, referenced in a philosophical argument.

Oedipus

minor

Mythological king of Thebes, used as an example of fate and suffering.

The Gods

supporting

The gods function as both hosts and witnesses in Epictetus's moral world, giving humans reason, food, and the many things they never think to request. The tension is one of gratitude versus greed: guests who demand fish or sweet cakes are unreasonable, yet people ask the gods for what they do not give. By imagining the reader as a fellow banqueter, Epictetus makes everyday restraint a way of sharing power with the divine.