The Discourses Of Epictetus With The Encheiridion And Fragments

Author : Épictète
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 504 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (113 download)

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Download or read book The Discourses of Epictetus with the Encheiridion and Fragments written by Épictète and published by . This book was released on 1900 with total page 504 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The teaching of Epictetus, briefly expressed, is, that man ought to be thankful to God for all things, and always content with that which happens, for what God chooses is better than what men can choose (iv. c. 7). The Discourses of Epictetus with the Encheiridion and Fragments were translated into English by the learned lady Mrs. Elizabeth Carter; who is said to have lived to the age of eighty-nine. The fourth edition (1807) contains the translator's last additions and alterations. There is an Introduction to this translation which contains a summary view of the Stoic philosophy for the purpose of explaining Epictetus; and also there are notes to the translation. The editor of this fourth edition says that "the Introduction and notes of the Christian translator of Epictetus are, in the estimation of most readers, not the least valuable parts of the work:" and he adds "this was also the opinion of the late Archbishop Seeker, who though he thought very highly of the Philosophy of Epictetus, considered the Introduction and notes as admirably calculated to prevent any mistake concerning it, as well as to amend and instruct the world." The Introduction is certainly useful, though it is not free from errors. I do not think that the notes are valuable. I have used some of them without any remarks; and I have used others and made some remarks on them where I thought that Mrs. Carter was mistaken in her opinion of the original text, or on other matters. The translation of Mrs. Carter is good; and perhaps no Englishman at that time would have made a better translation. I intended at first to revise Mrs. Carter's translation, and to correct any errors that I might discover. I had revised about half of it, when I found that I was not satisfied with my work; and I was advised by a learned friend to translate the whole myself. This was rather a great undertaking for an old man, who is now past seventy-six. I have however done the work with great care, and as well as I could. I have always compared my translation with the Latin version and with Mrs. Carter's; and I think that this is the best way of avoiding errors such as any translator may make. A man who has not attempted to translate a Greek or Latin author does not know the difficulty of the undertaking. That which may appear plain when he reads often becomes very difficult when he tries to express it in another language. It is true that Epictetus is generally intelligible; but the style or manner of the author, or we may say of Arrian, who attempted to produce what he heard, is sometimes made obscure by the continual use of questions and answers to them, and for other reasons"--Résumé de l'éditeur