Hercules said he was a welcome fellow worker to the craftsman. His associates enjoy food and drink with a healthy pleasure because they wait until they feel a natural desire. The sleep is better than that of the easy living so they're neither irritated when they have to awaken early nor make excuses for neglecting their duties. Through me they become dear to the gods, loved by their friends and honoured by their country. You see Hercules she concluded, if you work hard in the way I have described you can possess true happiness and fulfilment in life.
This is the famous speech, which we’re told inspired Zeno, the founder of Stoicism, to embark on a life of philosophy. He came across it in Book Two of Xenophon’s Memorabilia Socratis, where Socrates is portrayed reciting a version of it, which he learned from the celebrated Sophist and orator, Prodicus. It’s an exhortation to philosophy, which uses the legend of Hercules as an allegory to illustrate the choice between a life of virtue and one of vice. This story was illustrated in our graphic novel, Verissimus: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius.
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Highlights
* Introducing the speech
* Hercules confronted by the choice between two paths in life
* The temptations of Kakia or Vice, to a life of pleasure and idleness
* The exhortation of Arete or Virtue, to temperance and endurance
* The legacy of the speech and influence on Stoicism
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