Freedom begins in judgment.
Works, testimonies and further readings are distinguished. Dates refer to composition or first publication, as specified in each entry.
Epictetus left no writings in his own hand. The surviving corpus consists of four books of Discourses, the Handbook and quotations collected as fragments, all mediated by Arrian or later witnesses. Four further books of Discourses reported in antiquity are lost. Fragment numbers differ among editions. The inventory covers all 39 numbered headings observed in Oldfather’s 1928 fragment section: 1–36 with 10a, 28a and 28b; his doubtful and spurious group, 29–36, is explicitly marked. Later adaptations and commentaries are reception, not additional authored books.
Explore letters and fragmentsFour books survive from an ancient collection reported as eight. Arrian presents classroom exchanges in which Epictetus questions students and visitors about fear, ambition, freedom and social duty, often using Socrates as an example of philosophical consistency.
Explore this workVisit the source(new tab)Arrian’s compact selection distils Epictetus’s teaching into 53 short chapters. It begins with what is and is not up to us, then applies that distinction to desire, relationships, loss, public conduct and philosophical practice.
Explore this workVisit the source(new tab)Quotations preserved outside the four surviving Discourses supply additional traces of Epictetus’s teaching. Marcus Aurelius and later anthologists transmit short sayings, while modern editions distinguish stronger attributions from material circulating under his name with uncertain authority.
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