Chapter 31

On Piety

Piety means holding the right conceptions about the gods. You can only do this if you regard only those things within your control as good or evil.

ἴσθι: > οἴδα, 2 sg. perf. act. imper.

κυριώτατον: superlative > κύριος, “most important (thing)”

διοικούντων: διοικέω is the standard Stoic term for the gods’ (nature’s) administration of the universe.

τὰ ὅλα: “the universe.”

εἰς τοῦτο: τοῦτο refers ahead to the art. infin. beginning with τὸ πείθεσθαι.

κατατεταχέναι: > κατατάσσω, perf. act. infin.

τὸ πείθεσθαι ... εἴκειν ... ἀκολούθειν: art. infin. (G. 574-575; S. 2025)

ἀκολουθεῖν ... ὡς ... ἐπιτελουμένοις: ἐπιτελουμένοις agrees with an implied τοῖς γινομένοις as object of ἀκολουθεῖν, “to accept (what has occurred) as having been brought about.”

μέμψῃ: 2 sg. fut. act. ind.

ὡς ἀμελούμενος: ὡς + part. gives the reason imagined to be true by the “you” of the passage, not the author (G. 593; S. 2086).

31.2

ἄλλως δὲ τοῦτο ... ἐὰν μὴ: “in any way ... except”

ἄρῃς ... θῇς: 2 sg. aor. act. subj. > αἴρω and τίθημι in a present general condition (G. 650; S. 2295.1)

ὡς: causal (G. 633d; S. 3000)

τι ἐκείνων: “any of those things,” i.e., things not in your control

ὑπολάβῃς: > ὑπολαμβάνω, 2 sg. aor.act. subj.

πᾶσα ἀνάγκη: “there (will be) every necessity,” “it will be completely necessary.” This is equivalent to the imperative of a conditional + imperative construction.

τοὺς αἰτίους: “those who are responsible,” i.e., the gods

31.3

πέφυκε: > φύω, 3 sg. perf. act. ind., “is naturally inclined.”

τεθαυμακέναι: > θαυμάζω, perf. act. infin.

βλάπτεσθαί τινα οἰόμενον: “someone who thinks he is harmed”

τῷ δοκοῦντι βλάπτειν: “in what seems to be harming (him),” “in what he thinks is harming him”

καί: “also”

31.4

τῶν δοκούντων ἀγαθῶν εἶναι: gen. object of μεταδιδῷ.  εἶναι is the complementary infin. dependent upon δοκούντων.

μεταδιδῷ: 3 sg. pres. act. subj.

Ἐτεοκλέα καὶ Πολυνείκην: Eteocles and Polyneices (or Polynices), the sons of Oedipus, fought and killed each other because neither had been given unambiguous control of Thebes by their father at his death. Because it was removed from reality, the myth was frequently used to criticize Roman imperial politics from a safe distance (Smith 2014).

τοῦτ᾽ ἐποίησε, τὸ ἀγαθὸν οἴεσθαι τὴν τυραννίδα: some manuscripts add πολεμίους ἀλλήλοις either after ἐποίησε or between τοῦτ᾽ and ἐποίησε. The passage would then translate: “this made Eteocles and Polyneices enemies of each other.” This addition is likely a later gloss (a marginal note that has crept into the text through subsequent copying), since we do not find it in the parallel passage, Diss. 4.5.29: Ἐτεοκλέα καὶ Πολυνείκη τὸ πεποιηκὸς οὐκ ἄλλο ἢ τοῦτο, τὸ δόγμα περὶ τυραννίδος, “What made Eteocles and Polyneices (what they were) was nothing other than this, their judgment about tyranny.” So here the passage has a similar meaning: “this made E. and P. (who they were).” Boter (1999) suggests that Eteocles and Polyneices “are meant to indicate their typical and well-known behavior: ‘This made an Eteocles and a Polynices.’” τοῦτ᾽ refers to the following art. infin., τὸ ἀγαθὸν οἴεσθαι τὴν τυραννίδα. Within the context, this mistaken idea of what is good led the sons of Oedipus to revile their father.

διὰ τοῦτο ὁ ναύτης: supply λοιδορεῖ τοὺς θεούς in this and the following clauses. Here the τοῦτο must refer not to thinking that tyranny was a good, but more generally to not having a share in apparent goods (τῶν δοκούντων ἀγαθῶν εἶναι ... μὴ μεταδιδῷ).

ἀπολλύντες: pres. act. part. nom. masc. pl.: “those losing”

ὅπου γὰρ τὸ συμφέρον, ἐκεῖ καὶ τὸ εὐσεβές: “devotion to the gods is found wherever it is in our interest.” That is, people are generally devoted to the gods only when they think the gods are acting in their interest; but the gods are always acting in our (long term) interests, argues Epictetus, so we should always be devoted to them (Smith 2014).

ἐκεῖ καὶ ... ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ καί: The καί in both these clauses means “also.”

ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ: “at the same time”

31.5

ἀπάρχεσθαι: “offer the first fruits,” the offering of a portion of a harvest to the god(s) in thanks for providing a successful crop

κατὰ τὰ πάτρια: “according to ancestral customs”

προσήκει: “it is fitting for” (LSJ προσήκω A.II.b)