Zeno of Citium

Lore & Background

Zeno was born c. 334 BC in Citium, Cyprus. His ancestry has been described as Phoenician or Greek, as Citium contained both Phoenician and Greek inhabitants; modern scholars contest his background, arguing for Greek or Greco-Phoenician. He had a Greek name, a Greek higher education, and there is no evidence he knew a language other than Greek, though a carbonised papyrus from Herculaneum mocks his poor command of Greek. His father, Mnaseas, had a name ambiguous in both Phoenician ('one causing to forget') and Greek ('mindful'). His mother's name is not recorded. Zeno received a Greek education and spent most of his life in Athens. Most details come from Diogenes Laërtius's Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (3rd century AD), confirmed by the Suda. Diogenes reports Zeno's interest in philosophy began when he consulted an oracle about attaining the best life and was told to 'take on the complexion of the dead,' leading him to study ancient authors. Parallel to this, he became a wealthy merchant. On a voyage from Phoenicia to Peiraeus he survived a shipwreck, then went to Athens and visited a bookseller, where he encountered Xenophon's Memorabilia. Pleased with its portrayal of Socrates, he asked where such men were found; the bookseller pointed to Crates of Thebes, a famous Cynic. Diogenes describes Zeno as haggard, dark-skinned, living a spare, ascetic life despite his wealth. From the day he became Crates' pupil, he showed a strong bent for philosophy, though with too much native modesty to assimilate Cynic shamelessness. Apuleius narrates an incident where Crates and his wife Hipparchia engaged in public sex; Zeno covered them with his cloak, showing his inability to be apathetic to societal expectations. Crates, to cure this, gave him a pot of lentil-soup to carry through the Ceramicus; when Zeno tried to hide it, Crates broke the pot, and as Zeno ran off embarrassed, Crates chided, 'Why run away, my little Phoenician? Nothing terrible has befallen you.' According to his contemporaries, Zeno was attracted only to boys and other men; Diogenes mentions by name at least one with whom he was enamored, a young man named Chremonides. Apart from Crates, Zeno studied under Megarian philosophers including Stilpo, and dialecticians Diodorus Cronus and Philo; he also studied Platonist philosophy under Xenocrates and Polemo. He began teaching in the Stoa Poiki

Reader's Guide

Following the ideas of the Old Academy, Zeno divided philosophy into three parts: logic (including rhetoric, grammar, and theories of perception and thought); physics (including the divine nature of the universe); and ethics, aiming for eudaimonia through living according to Nature. According to anarchist Peter Kropotkin, Zeno advocated an anarchist society without laws, courts, police, temples, or public worship, with an economy based on voluntary gifting. Because his ideas were later expanded by Chrysippus and others, it is difficult to determine precisely what he thought. In logic, Zeno was influenced by Stilpo and the Megarians; he urged laying a basis for logic to avoid deception. Cicero accused Zeno of being inferior to predecessors in logic. Zeno divided true conceptions into comprehensible and incomprehensible, permitting free-will the power of assent (sinkatathesis) in distinguishing sense impressions.

Did You Know?

• Zeno was honored with a bronze statue and described as 'the noblest man of his age.'
• The crater Zeno on the Moon is named after him.
• Zeno declined Athenian citizenship to remain faithful to his native Cyprus.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"Zeno of Citium (334 BC – 262 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Cyprus, and was the founder of the Stoic school of philosophy which he taught in Athens, from about 300 BC." — Zeno of Citium "No one entrusts a secret to a drunken man; but one will entrust a secret to a good man; therefore, the good man will not get drunk." — Zeno of Citium "Love is a God, who cooperates in securing the safety of the city." — Zeno of Citium "As quoted in Deipnosophists by Athenaeus, xiii. 561c." — Zeno of Citium