Happiness in Hellenistic Philosophy

Author:  Alexandria E. Wise

            Two main belief systems, Epicureanism and the Stoicism, dominated Hellenistic philosophy.  Even though they were considered the two most popular philosophies, it would “be hard to find [two] system[s] more diametrically opposed…at every point” (Green 633).  Both philosophies, however, focused on the attainment of happiness.  This paper will focus on the differing paths that Epicureanism and Stoicism took towards attaining happiness, and what each of these paths said about the contemporary Hellenistic World.

            Epicurus founded Epicureanism circa 341 BC.  The Epicurean theory has been dubbed the “philosophy of pleasure” (More 18).  The notion that good stemmed from pleasure was originally a Hedonistic thought that was later redefined by Epicurus and incorporated into his beliefs.  Epicurus aligned pleasure with the highest possible good declaring, “I spit on the Good . . . when it produces no pleasure” (Green 624).  He also warned, however, “No pleasure is a bad thing, but the means of achieving certain pleasures bring also disturbances many times greater than the pleasures” (Green 624).  Epicureans defined pleasure as the removal of pain, suffering, fear and other negative objectives in one’s life, and advocated the avoidance of these negative objectives in order to attain happiness.  Actions that resulted in short term happiness, but in long term pain were undesirable. Epicurus instructed his followers to, “Test each of your desires by this question: ‘What will happen to me if that which this desire seeks is brought to fulfillment, and what if it is not?’” (Epicurus 71).  As seen in this quote, Epicurus did not want his followers to experience pleasure that resulted in greater pain.

            To avoid the negativities throughout the world, Epicurus provided his followers with an alternative option: the Garden.  The desire to be free of worries caused by public affairs and politics ultimately led Epicureans in 311 BC to retreat from Hellenistic society to the famed Garden.  The seclusion of the commune style Garden resulted in many rumors of sexual and gluttonous pleasures, concerning outsiders as these actions have been closely associated with disruptive social behavior.  The Garden’s seclusion combined with the apprehensiveness from rumors may have hindered the public’s acceptance of Epicureanism, potentially turning individuals towards the largest philosophy of the time, Stoicism.

            Stoicism, founded by Zeno of Citium, defined philosophy by a strong emphasis on the value of virtue and goodness.  According to Stoicism, the only good stemmed from virtue, and virtue was established by a harmonious relationship with reason, nature or God.  Diogenes Laertius wrote that in Stoicism anything “honorably virtuous;…renders us happy” (Laertius 540).  As Stoicism’s popularity remained constant throughout the Hellenistic world, the rigidity of beliefs declined with time and rulers.  Beside happiness stemming from virtue, Stoicism requires happiness to be dependent on the existence of evil.  The existence of evil provides a backdrop to contrast and define happiness.  Laertius summaries the Stoic perception of pleasure as, “Pleasure, they [the Stoics] define to be an irrational longing after that which seems to be desirable.  Of which, they number up these several sorts: tickling delights, insulting joys, and excess of joy” (Laertius 532).  This view of pleasure makes reference to and condemns Epicurean belief.  Stoicism used virtue and goodness to attain and define the essence of happiness.  

            Hellenistic philosophy used contemporary problems to define philosophical beliefs, establish methods to cope with and even master life.  The Hellenistic era left limited means to thoroughly comprehend Hellenistic society.  Philosophic beliefs, therefore, provide a unique view into the lives and personal dilemmas that occurred in the Hellenistic period.  For instance, the most popular of the Hellenistic philosophies, Stoicism, provided strong moral virtues and ascetic guidelines to deal with life.  This suggests that the Hellenistic society lacked some degree of order, which philosophy counteracted with austere guidelines to recreate structure and order.

            To fully comprehend the impact of Epicureanism and Stoicism it is beneficial for one to look at the differences between these philosophies and the historical background in which they existed. Stoics mainly incorporated the upper and ruling classes in their philosophy, while the Epicureanism included individuals of lesser standards, i.e. slaves and women.  Stoicism, through moldable doctrines, embraced the chaos and corruption of the political and public world; however, Epicureans retreated to the Garden to avoid those particular aspects of life.  The instability of the political world played a major role in the development of these two philosophies.  The instability resulted from Alexander the Great's death and the fight for succession to his throne.   Athens in particular, had to deal with the Macedonian troops stationed on the Hill of Muses and Antigonus Gonatas as a rising threat that would soon conqueror them (Green 640).  Along with the instability in the Hellenistic Period was the oppressive nature of the monarchies and oligarchies (Green 632).  Athenians dealt with constant threat of political transition and as a result Epicureanism and Stoicism, both originated in Athens, approached this problem two completely different ways.

            Although Epicureanism had a decent following, one cannot help but notice how Stoicism deeply effected the Hellenistic world in three ways: the mass acceptance of Stoicism, the corruption of Stoicism and the changing political environments.  The overall acceptance and popularity of Stoicism in the World is directly related to political leaders’ acceptance of Stoicism.  Antigonus Gonatas was “actively interested in Stoicism” (Green 633).  As leaders of the Hellenistic World incorporated philosophy into their lives they also spread philosophy throughout their kingdoms.  In many instances main philosophical thinkers accepted royal patronage as a means to continue to expand their philosophical thought.  Epicurus himself said, “Since the attainment of riches can scarcely be accomplished without servitude to crowds or kings,” which implied the beneficial nature of royal patronage (Epicurus 71).  The proximity of the political leaders and philosophical thinkers to each other must have resulted in a strong exchange of support from both players, thus expanding philosophical thought, in this case Stoicism, throughout the Hellenistic world.  The spread of the monarchs’ philosophical viewpoint portrays a Hellenistic world at the mercy of strong influential rulers. 

            The second image of the Hellenistic World that Stoicism reflected was its ability to become corrupt.  A hindsight view of Hellenistic Stoicism portrays a corrupt and moldable belief system by political leaders.  Hellenistic leaders, from their perspective, did not view molding Stoic tenets as corrupt, nor as evil.  The altering belief system is evident between the Early and Middle Stoa Periods, during which the code of ethics was “tailor-made for men of action” (Green 641).  In many cases this corruptibility of Stoicism justified individuals' actions as events pre-determined by fate (Green 635).  The manipulation of Stoicism by the Hellenistic rulers paints a world where tremendous strength lay in the ruler’s hand while his influence is far reaching. 

            Stoicism also reflects the changing political environment in the Hellenistic world.  Alexander the Great’s death left a vast empire without a ruler; as a result, monarchs battled for the right to succession throughout the Hellenistic era.  The constant turnover in political leadership led to anxiety and uneasiness felt by all throughout the Hellenistic world.  Therefore philosophy, in particular Stoicism, needed to fulfill the desire for happiness.  On the other hand, Epicureans fulfilled this desire for happiness through the removal of negatives. 

            Why did Epicureans’ pleasure result from deleting negative objectives from their lives and what does that say about the Hellenistic era?  Epicurus, as the founder of his philosophy and a human with unintentional biases, allowed his personal life to influence his philosophies’ tenets.  Epicurus’ life was a struggle in pain with chronic internal discomfort and he supposedly died of strangury and renal calculus (Green 619).  His life may have been overcome with pain, but one’s personal suffering is not enough to gather followers unless they too are in the same state of discomfort.  His followers were not attracted to Epicureanism because of his personal suffering.  Instead, Epicureans and others in the Hellenistic world most likely were banded together with common concerns of political turmoil, fear, pain and uncertainty in the future.  Once the motive for Epicureanism is established, the removal of pain and desire for happiness, one must understand where such a strong fear existed.  The political situation provides the prefect answer to this question, because the political sphere affects an incredibly large population.  All throughout the Hellenistic world individuals were experiencing similar political situations, which were prompted by the battle for succession. 

            After Alexander the Great’s death, battles for the succession swept over his vast, yet crumbling empire.  Potential successors throughout the Hellenistic era were a constant threat and placed negative stresses on the common citizen.  The Garden exemplifies Epicureans’ reactions to the political uncertainty, because the Garden created seclusion from the public and political life.  Although Epicureans were more isolated, that did not stop them from embracing happiness and enjoying pleasure.  Stoics, on the other hand, incorporated the public and political sphere into their doctrines, and even molded tenets that were most beneficial to them.  Pleasure for the Stoic resulted from a harmonious relationship with reason, nature or God.  The Hellenistic world created philosophy that answered the major questions of the day, particularly how to obtain happiness.

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 Works Cited:

Green, Peter.  Alexander to Actium: The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age.  Berkeley: University 

        of California. 1990.

Epicurus.  Epicurus: Letters, Principle Doctrines, and Vatican Sayings.  Trans. Russel M. Greer.  New

        York: MacMillan.  1985.

Diogenes Laeritus.  The lives, opinions, and remarkable sayings of the most famous ancient philosophers. 

        London: Pall Mell.  1969.     

More, Paul.  Hellenistic Philosophies.  New York: Greenwood Press. 1923.