The Enchiridion of Epictetus cover art

The Enchiridion of Epictetus

Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

The Enchiridion of Epictetus

By: Epictetus Arrian
Narrated by: Robin Homer
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £3.99

Buy Now for £3.99

Only £0.99 a month for the first 3 months. Pay £0.99 for the first 3 months, and £8.99/month thereafter. Renews automatically. Terms apply. Start my membership

About this listen

The Enchiridion or Handbook of Epictetus is a short manual of Stoic ethical advice compiled by Arrian, a 2nd-century disciple of the Greek philosopher Epictetus. Although the content is mostly derived from the Discourses of Epictetus, it is not a summary of the Discourses but rather a compilation of practical precepts. Eschewing metaphysics, Arrian focuses his attention on Epictetus's work applying philosophy to daily life. The book is thus a manual to show the way to achieve mental freedom and happiness in all circumstances. The Enchiridion appears to be a loosely-structured selection of maxims.

In his 6th-century Commentary, Simplicius divided the text into four distinct sections suggesting a graded approach to philosophy:

Chapters 1-21. What is up to us and not, and how to deal with external things:

1-2. What is up to us and not, and the consequences of choosing either.

3-14. How to deal with external things (reining the audience in from them).

15-21. How to use external things correctly and without disturbance.

Chapters 22-28. Advice for intermediate students:

22-25. The problems faced by intermediate students.

26-28. Miscellania: the common conceptions, badness, and shame.

Chapters 30-47. Technical advice for the discovery of appropriate actions (kath'konta):

30-33. Appropriate actions towards (a) other people, (b) God, (c) divination, (d) one's own self.

34-47. Miscellaneous precepts on justice (right actions).

Chapters 48-53. Conclusions on the practice of precepts:

48. Final advice and his division of types of people.

49-52. The practice of precepts.

53. Quotations for memorization.

Public Domain (P)2019 Robin Homer
Greek & Roman History History & Philosophy Philosophy Science Stoicism Greek Mythology

Listeners also enjoyed...

Letters from a Stoic cover art
Meditations cover art
Letters from a Stoic: Complete (Letters 1 - 124) cover art
How to Think Like a Roman Emperor cover art
Nicomachean Ethics and Eudemian Ethics cover art
Ego Is the Enemy cover art
On Living and Dying Well cover art
The Enchiridion: cover art
The Beginner's Guide to Stoicism cover art
Manual for Living cover art
Plato's Symposium cover art
The Apology of Socrates cover art
Daily Stoic: A Daily Journal cover art
Discourses and Selected Writings cover art
Marcus Aurelius - Meditations: Adapted for the Contemporary Reader cover art
Power vs. Force cover art
No reviews yet