Epictetus · c. 50 – c. 135 CE
Fragments 9 — Epictetus
Translation by George Long (1877)
Epictetus, Fragments 9
It is an evil chain, fortune (a chain) of the body, and vice of the soul. For he who is loose (free) in the body, but bound in the soul is a slave: but on the contrary he who is bound in the body, but free (unbound) in the soul, is free.
Cite this passage
Epictetus, Fragments 9, tr. George Long (1877)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/epictetus-fragments/9
Epictetus, Enchiridion and Fragments, tr. George Long (1877). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesThere are two kinds of chains, the ones on the body that come from bad fortune and the ones on the soul that come from vice. Someone physically free but enslaved by his own vices is a slave, while someone physically bound but free in mind is truly free.
Older wording
- “fortune”
- — luck, circumstances
- “vice”
- — bad character, moral fault
Themes and situations
- Freedom
- Virtue and character
- What is in our control
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