Zeno of Citium

334 BCE – 262 BCE(lived 72 years)

Zeno of Citium (c. 334–262 BCE), a Phoenician Greek from Cyprus, came to Athens after a shipwreck and studied with the Cynic Crates, the Megarian Stilpo, and the Academic Polemo. Around 301 BCE he began teaching at the Stoa Poikile, the Painted Porch on the Agora’s edge, founding Stoicism. He taught that virtue is sufficient for happiness, reason permeates nature, and citizens should live in accordance with nature through appropriate actions. In this timeline, Zeno brings philosophy back to the public square with a system tough enough to test character in daylight.

Biography

Zeno was born in Citium on Cyprus around 334 BCE, the son of a merchant. His path to Athens, tradition says, began with a shipwreck that left him reading Xenophon’s Memorabilia in a bookseller’s stall; asked where men like Socrates were found, the bookseller pointed to the Cynic Crates. Zeno studied with Crates, absorbing a taste for austerity; with Stilpo and the Megarians, sharpening his logic; and with Polemo at the Academy, learning composure. He synthesized these strands—Socratic ethics, Megarian rigor, and Heraclitean physics—into a new voice. Tall, reserved, and spare, he kept a simple diet, walked the colonnades, and let his conduct teach alongside his words.

Key figure in Athenian Philosophy

Zeno of Citium's Timeline

Key events involving Zeno of Citium in chronological order

-469

The Athenian Agora as Philosophical Stage

From Socrates to Zeno, Athens’ Agora hosted indictments, lectures, and debate. The Royal Stoa posted charges; the Stoa Poikile displayed painted battles; jurors’ murmurs and merchants’ shouts mixed with philosophy’s claims [11][13][12][14].

cultural

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-306

Institutional Diversification of Athenian Philosophy

Between 306 and 300 BCE, Athens hosted four distinct schools: Plato’s Academy, Aristotle’s Lyceum, Epicurus’ Garden, and Zeno’s Stoa. One city, four addresses—rival remedies for fear, knowledge, and life [19][18][20][17][12].

administrative

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-301

Zeno of Citium Begins Teaching at the Stoa Poikile

Around 301–300 BCE, Zeno of Citium began teaching in Athens’ Stoa Poikile, launching Stoicism. The Painted Porch’s cinnabar battles framed lessons on logic, physics, and ethics delivered amid merchants’ calls and jurors’ murmurs [17][12].

cultural

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-300

Early Stoic System at the Painted Porch

In the early third century, Stoics at the Stoa Poikile taught an integrated system—logic, physics, ethics—with virtue as the only good and life aligned with nature. Cleanthes’ Hymn to Zeus voiced their providential cosmos [17][9].

cultural

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Total Events

-469

First Event

-300

Last Event

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