Zeno of Citium | |
---|---|
Zeno of Citium
|
|
Born | c. 334 BC Citium, Cyprus |
Died | c. 262 BC Athens |
Era | Ancient philosophy |
Region | Western philosophy |
School | Stoicism |
Main interests
|
Logic, Physics, Ethics |
Notable ideas
|
Founder of Stoicism |
Influences
|
|
Influenced
|
Zeno of Citium (/ˈziːnoʊ/; Greek: Ζήνων ὁ Κιτιεύς, Zēnōn ho Kitieus; c. 334 – c. 262 BC) was a Hellenistic thinker from Citium (Κίτιον, Kition), Cyprus, and probably of Phoenician descent. Zeno was the founder of the Stoic school of philosophy, which he taught in Athens from about 300 BC. Based on the moral ideas of the Cynics, Stoicism laid great emphasis on goodness and peace of mind gained from living a life of Virtue in accordance with Nature. It proved very successful, and flourished as the dominant philosophy from the Hellenistic period through to the Roman era.
Zeno was born c. 334 BC, in Citium in Cyprus. Most of the details known about his life come from the anecdotes preserved by Diogenes Laërtius in his Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers. Diogenes relates a legend that Zeno was a merchant; after surviving a shipwreck, Zeno wandered into a bookshop in Athens and was attracted to some writings about Socrates. He asked the librarian how to find such a man. In response, the librarian pointed to Crates of Thebes, the most famous Cynic living at that time in Greece.