Epictetus · Complete work
Chapter 19
Chapter 19 of 53. Read it here for reference, or continue through the entire work without leaving the reader.
Open the complete readerOriginal Ancient Greek
[19.1] ἀνίκητος εἶναι δύνασαι, ἐὰν εἰς μηδένα ἀγῶνα καταβαίνῃς, ὃν οὐκ ἔστιν ἐπὶ σοὶ νικῆσαι.
[19.2] ὅρα μήποτε ἰδών τινα προτιμώμενον ἢ μέγα δυνάμενον ἢ ἄλλως εὐδοκιμοῦντα μακαρίσῃς, ὑπὸ τῆς φαντασίας συναρπασθείς. ἐὰν γὰρ ἐν τοῖς ἐφʼ ἡμῖν ἡ οὐσία τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ᾖ, οὔτε φθόνος οὔτε ζηλοτυπία χώραν ἔχει· σύ τε αὐτὸς οὐ στρατηγός, οὐ πρύτανις ἢ ὕπατος εἶναι θελήσεις, ἀλλʼ ἐλεύθερος. μία δὲ ὁδὸς πρὸς τοῦτο, καταφρόνησις τῶν οὐκ ἐφʼ ἡμῖν.
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from all 53 Ancient Greek chapters and 105 sections for fidelity, Stoic precision, clarity, structure, and cadence.
[19.1] You can be invincible if you enter no contest in which victory is not under your control.
[19.2] Take care that, when you see someone preferred above others, wielding great power, or held in high esteem in some other way, you are not swept away by the impression and pronounce him blessed. For if the essence of the good lies in things under our control, there is no place for either envy or jealousy; and you yourself will not wish to be a general, a chief magistrate, or a consul, but to be free. And there is only one road to freedom: contempt for the things not under our control.
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete Plain English edition, made independently and directly from all 53 Ancient Greek chapters and 105 sections.
[19.1] You can be invincible if you enter no contest in which victory is not up to you.
[19.2] Take care that, when you see someone receiving greater honors, possessing great power, or otherwise enjoying a high reputation, you are not carried away by the impression and call him blessed. For if the essence of the good lies in things that are up to us, neither envy nor jealousy has any place. You yourself will not want to be a general, a chief magistrate, or a consul, but to be free. And there is one path to freedom: contempt for what is not up to us.