Evan Cowgill
ENG 400
Dr. Cream
25 September 2017
Rhetorical Analysis 4: Epictetus’ “The Enchiridion”
Link for Reference: http://classics.mit.edu/Epictetus/epicench.html
“The Enchiridion”, written by Epictetus and translated by Elizabeth Carter, attempts to assert a series of rules, principles, and values belonging to the author as the proper way to live a relatively happy and undisturbed life. And, while I may not agree with everything that Epictetus puts forth, I find it to be a very interesting text to rhetorically analyze.
This is mostly due to how obviously intended for persuasion the text is, as it reads like a speech or argumentative presentation. Epictetus holds up his claims – all of which completely based in opinion and theory – as if they are fact. He does not introduce any of his points with “I believe”, and he even structures his points as numerical tenets or proverbs of passed-down wisdom. And, since the text’s topic of life and how to properly live doesn’t really have a window of opportunity that would ever close (since most of humanity wonders about living life to its fullest and most ethical extent), its rhetorical situation is timeless. This allows for “The Enchiridion” to reappear repeatedly over the timeline of human existence and possibly increase its credibility for some audiences as it becomes more and more ancient.
