The Man Who Started It All..

November 23, 2023

The story of Stoicism begins, most surprisingly, in adversity—as if it was meant to be this way.

A wealthy merchant named Zeno of Citium, started his voyage from Phoenicia to Peiraeus.

It seemed like a usual business trip, but...

As you know, almost nothing in life goes as planned, and you have to be prepared for it.

Zeno was carrying his life’s fortune in cargo, so a potential shipwreck also meant poverty for him.

In an unexpected turn of events, his ship was severely hit by a storm and destroyed.

If you were Zeno, and you saw your life’s work disappearing in front of your eyes, what would you do?

Zeno knew he had no one to blame; the event was outside his control.

Stranded and lost, he found some courage and reached Athens.

Zeno visited the Oracle of Delphi and got the following advice from the prophets: "Learn how to talk to the dead."

What did that even mean?

Not only was he devastated and poor now, but he also had to decode this mojo-bojo witchcraft from a bunch of old weirdos.

Little did he know that this was the first step to his new life.

Soon thereafter, Zeno visits a bookstore.

There, he begins to read a book about Socrates.

He is mesmerized by his philosophy...

“Where can I find such a man—a philosopher?" Zeno asks the bookseller.

“Over there”, the bookseller responded, pointing at the direction where the Cynic philosopher, Crates, just happened to be passing by.

Zeno became his student, and later he decided to start his own school, Stoicism.

When Zeno was asked about the shipwreck, he said, "I made a prosperous voyage when I suffered that shipwreck," or "Good job Fortune, thus driving me to philosophy."

Zeno had also realized what the Oracle meant by "learn how to talk to the dead": grab history's greatest minds' ideas, contemplate on them, discuss them, teach them, and live by them.

In the beginning, Zeno's followers were called "Zenonians".

The name "Stoicism", however, comes from the place where Zeno taught Stoicism, Stoa Poikile, which literally means “Painted Porch”.

Unfortunately (or fortunately as Zeno would say) none of Zeno's works survive.

Luckily for us, we have references based on other philosopher's writings.

These are his top 3 quotes:

"We have two ears and only one mouth so we can listen twice as much as we speak."

"Well-being is realized through small steps, but it's no small thing."

"Man conquers the world by conquering himself."

—Zeno of Citium

How did Zeno die?

The most prevalent idea is that, after leaving the school, he fell, and painfully broke his toe.

"I come, I come, O Fortune. Why do you have to call me this way?" he said.

He held his breath and died on the spot.

Was he a crazy man or a genius?

Who cares?

He started a philosophy that changed the course of history and gave peace of mind and inner freedom to us who learned it.

What's left now is to make the Stoics proud. They did their job, now it's our turn—don't you think?