Zeno of Citium · Philosophy

From Shipwreck to the Stoa

A Phoenician merchant lost his cargo at sea, wandered into a bookshop, and founded the most influential school of antiquity. But Stoicism is not the story of its founding - it is a complete system of <em>logic, physics, and ethics</em>, and Zeno of Citium built all three.

What you'll be able to recall

You learned that Zeno of Citium (c. 334 to 262 BC) came to Athens as a merchant, lost everything in a shipwreck, and took up philosophy after reading about Socrates. Teaching in the Stoa Poikile - the Painted Porch - he founded Stoicism, which he organised into three interlocking parts: logic (how we reason and know),…

Leads to Socrates.

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