Discourses and Selected Writings (Penguin Pocket Hardbacks)

A new translation of the influential teachings of the great Stoic philosopher, now a Penguin Clothbound Classic designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith

Epictetus, a Greek Stoic and freed slave, ran a thriving philosophy school in Nicopolis in the early second century CE. His animated discussions were celebrated for their rhetorical wizardry and were written down by Arrian, his most famous pupil. The Discourses argue that happiness lies in learning to perceive exactly what is in our power to change and what is not, and in embracing our fate to live in harmony with God and nature. In this personal, practical guide to the ethics of Stoicism and moral self-improvement, Epictetus tackles questions of freedom and imprisonment, illness and fear, family, friendship and love. Robert Dobbin's modern and lively translation is accompanied by an introduction and notes.

Penguin Classics is the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world, representing a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Epictetus (c. AD 55–135) was a teacher and Greco-Roman philosopher. Originally a slave from Hierapolis in Anatolia (modern Turkey), he was owned for a time by a prominent freedman at the court of the emperor Nero. After gaining his freedom he moved to Nicopolis on the Adriatic coast of Greece and opened a school of philosophy there. His informal lectures (Discourses) were transcribed and published by his student Arrian, who also composed a digest of Epictetus's teaching known as the Manual (or Enchiridion).

Robert Dobbin received a PhD in classics from the University of California, Berkeley, and taught history and classics at the college level. He is the translator and editor of Epictetus's Discourses and Selected Writings for Penguin Classics, as well as an author of articles on Virgil, Plato, and Pythagoras. He works as a book editor in Northern California.