Zeno of Citium

Zeno of Citium was the ancient Greek philosopher who founded the Stoic school of philosophy around 300 BCE in Athens. Teaching that virtue is the only true good and that we must live in accordance with nature and reason, he laid the foundations for a tradition that endured for five centuries.

Zeno taught in the Stoa Poikile (Painted Porch) in Athens, from which Stoicism takes its name. Although none of his writings survive intact, later Stoics — Seneca, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius — preserved and developed his core doctrines: that only virtue is good, that all else is indifferent, and that the sage alone is truly free.