Epictetus << `ehp` ihk TEE tuhs >> (A.D. 50?-138?) was a Greek Stoic philosopher. He taught that we should not demand that events happen as we want. We should instead want them to happen as they do. A wise, divine Providence governs all things, so that what seem to be calamities are really parts of a divine plan that orders everything for the best. Epictetus thought that only foolish people are upset by events they cannot control. The true Stoic can face even death and all so-called misfortunes with perfect calm (see Stoic philosophy).
Epictetus was born in Asia Minor, and was a slave in his youth. He became free, and lived and taught in Rome until A.D. 89, when the Emperor Domitian expelled the philosophers. Epictetus spent the rest of his life teaching in Nicopolis, Greece.
