Fragments

The genuine fragments of Epictetus are not very numerous, and since several of them are of unusual interest, it has seemed best to add them at this point. One fragment, No. 28 b, I have added to those listed by Schenkl, since its discovery was subsequent to his latest edition.

Earlier editions have included a large number of aphorisms gathered from Stobaeus, and from a gnomology purporting to contain excerpts from Democritus, Isocrates, and Epictetus. The researches of a group of scholars, principally H. Schenkl, R. Asmus, and A. Elter, have thrown such doubt upon the authenticity of these aphorisms that it would scarcely serve any useful purpose to reproduce them in the present work.

Nevertheless, a few doubtful and spurious fragments have been included in this collection, herein numbered 29 - 36. Authorship for these fragments is in some places ascribed to Epictetus, while in other places it has been assigned to different sources. Additionally, a few of the fragments do not appear to be consistent with the known works of Epictetus, though some sources claim him as author.