A sage (, ''sophós''), in

classical philosophy Classical may refer to: European antiquity *Classical antiquity, a period of history from roughly the 7th or 8th century B.C.E. to the 5th century C.E. centered on the Mediterranean Sea * Classical architecture, architecture derived from Greek an ...

, is someone who has attained

wisdom Wisdom, also known as sapience, is the ability to apply knowledge, experience, and good judgment to navigate life’s complexities. It is often associated with insight, discernment, and ethics in decision-making. Throughout history, wisdom ha ...

. The term has also been used interchangeably with a 'good person' (, ''agathós''), and a 'virtuous person' (, ''spoudaîos''). Some of the earliest accounts of the sage begin with

Empedocles Empedocles (; ; , 444–443 BC) was a Ancient Greece, Greek pre-Socratic philosopher and a native citizen of Akragas, a Greek city in Sicily. Empedocles' philosophy is known best for originating the Cosmogony, cosmogonic theory of the four cla ...

' ''Sphairos''.

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). Th ...

describes the ''Sphairos'' as "Completely within itself, well-rounded and spherical, so that nothing extraneous can adhere to it, because of its smooth and polished surface." Pierre Hadot (1998).''The Inner Citadel'', trans. Michael Chase. Harvard University Press, p. 119 Alternatively, the sage is one who lives "according to an ideal which transcends the everyday."Annas, Julia. ''The Sage in Ancient Philosophy
/ref> Several of the schools of

Hellenistic philosophy Hellenistic philosophy is Ancient Greek philosophy corresponding to the Hellenistic period in Ancient Greece, from the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC to the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. The dominant schools of this period were the Stoics, the ...

have the sage as a featured figure. Karl Ludwig Michelet wrote that "Greek religion culminated with its true god, the sage"; Pierre Hadot develops this idea, stating that "the moment philosophers achieve a rational conception of God based on the model of the sage, Greece surpasses its mythical representation of its gods." Pierre Hadot (1995). ''Philosophy as a Way of Life'', trans. Michael Chase. Blackwell Publishing, p. 58.
"Forms of Life and Forms of Discourse in Ancient Philosophy", ''Critical Inquiry'', Vol. 16, No. 3 (Spring, 1990), pp. 483–505. Indeed, the actions of the sage are propounded to be how a god would act in the same situation.

In Platonism and Aristotelianism

Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

's ''

Symposium In Ancient Greece, the symposium (, ''sympósion'', from συμπίνειν, ''sympínein'', 'to drink together') was the part of a banquet that took place after the meal, when drinking for pleasure was accompanied by music, dancing, recitals, o ...

Socrates Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was a Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and as among the first moral philosophers of the Ethics, ethical tradition ...

says the difference between a sage and a

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

(, meaning ''lover of wisdom'') was that the sage has what the philosopher seeks. While analyzing the concept of

love Love is a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment (psychology), attachment to a person, animal, or thing. It is expressed in many forms, encompassing a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most su ...

, Socrates concludes love is that which lacks the object it seeks. Therefore, the philosopher does not have the wisdom sought, while the sage, on the other hand, does not love or seek wisdom, for it is already possessed. Socrates then examines the two categories of persons who do not partake in philosophy: # Gods and sages, because they ''are'' wise; # Senseless people, because they ''think'' they are wise. The position of the philosopher is between these two groups. The philosopher is not wise, but possesses the

self-awareness In philosophy of self, philosophy, self-awareness is the awareness and reflection of one's own personality or individuality, including traits, feelings, and behaviors. It is not to be confused with consciousness in the sense of qualia. While ...

of lacking wisdom, and thus pursues it. Plato is also the first to develop this notion of the sage in various works. Within ''The Republic'', Plato indicates that when a friend of a sage dies, the sage "will not think that for a good man... death is a terrible thing." In the ''Theaetetus'', Plato defines the sage as one who becomes "righteous and holy and wise." The Platonic sages would raise themselves by the life of their mind, while the Aristotelian sages raise themselves to the realm of the divine Mind.

In Epicureanism

Epicurus Epicurus (, ; ; 341–270 BC) was an Greek philosophy, ancient Greek philosopher who founded Epicureanism, a highly influential school of philosophy that asserted that philosophy's purpose is to attain as well as to help others attain tranqui ...

believed that one would achieve

ataraxia In Ancient Greek philosophy, ( Greek: , from indicating negation or absence and with the abstract noun suffix ), generally translated as , , , or , is a lucid state of robust equanimity characterized by ongoing freedom from distress and wo ...

by intense study and examination of

Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

. This sage would be like the gods and would " atchthe infinity of worlds arising out of atoms in the infinite void" and because of this nothing ever disturbs the peace of his soul. Certainly, they would be "unconcerned by mundane affairs in their bright, eternal tranquility, they spend their time contemplating the infinity of space, time, and the multiple worlds." According to

Seneca the Younger Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger ( ; AD 65), usually known mononymously as Seneca, was a Stoicism, Stoic philosopher of Ancient Rome, a statesman, a dramatist, and in one work, a satirist, from the post-Augustan age of Latin literature. Seneca ...

, Epicurus believed that the sage rarely gets married, because marriage is accompanied by many inconveniences.Emily Wilson (2014). ''The Greatest Empire: A Life of Seneca''. Oxford University Press. p. 74
The excerpt Wilson translates from is cited as 'Fragment 5'

Léon Robin Léon Robin (Nantes, 17 January 1866July 1947) was a French philosopher and scholar of Greek philosophy, professor of history of ancient philosophy at the Sorbonne from 1924 to 1936. Robin, the son of a merchant, began teaching in the Faculty of ...

, in his commentary on

Lucretius Titus Lucretius Carus ( ; ; – October 15, 55 BC) was a Roman poet and philosopher. His only known work is the philosophical poem '' De rerum natura'', a didactic work about the tenets and philosophy of Epicureanism, which usually is t ...

, writes "the sage places himself within the immutability of eternal Nature, which is independent of time."

In Stoicism

The concept of the sage within

Stoicism Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy that flourished in ancient Greece and Rome. The Stoics believed that the universe operated according to reason, ''i.e.'' by a God which is immersed in nature itself. Of all the schools of ancient ...

was an important topic. Indeed, the discussion of Stoic ethics within

Stobaeus Joannes Stobaeus (; ; 5th-century AD), from Stobi in Macedonia (Roman province), Macedonia, was the compiler of a valuable series of extracts from Greek authors. The work was originally divided into two volumes containing two books each. The tw ...

, which depended on

Arius Didymus Arius Didymus ( ''Areios Didymos''; fl. 1st century BC) was a Stoic philosopher and teacher of Augustus. Fragments of his handbooks summarizing Stoic and Peripatetic doctrines are preserved by Stobaeus and Eusebius. Life Arius was a citizen of ...

, spent over a third of its length discussing the sage. The Stoic sage was understood to be an inaccessible ideal rather than a concrete reality. Pierre Hadot, ''The Inner Citadel'', trans. Michael Chase. Harvard University Press, 1998.
''The Discipline Of Actions, Or Action In The Service Of Mankind'', p. 192 The aim of Stoicism was to live a life of

virtue A virtue () is a trait of excellence, including traits that may be morality, moral, social, or intellectual. The cultivation and refinement of virtue is held to be the "good of humanity" and thus is Value (ethics), valued as an Telos, end purpos ...

, where "virtue consists in a will which is in agreement with Nature." As such, the sage is one who has attained such a state of being and whose life consequently becomes tranquil. The standard was so high that Stoics were unsure whether one had ever existed; if so, possibly only

Diogenes of Sinope Diogenes the Cynic, also known as Diogenes of Sinope (c. 413/403–c. 324/321 BC), was an ancient Greek philosopher and one of the founders of Cynicism. Renowned for his ascetic lifestyle, biting wit, and radical critiques of social conventi ...

had achieved such a state. Despite this, the Stoics regarded sages as the only virtuous and happy humans. All others are regarded as fools, morally vicious, slaves and unfortunate. The Stoics did not admit any middle ground, as

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

articulated the concept: "every non-sage is mad." The Stoics conceived of the sage as an individual beyond any possibility of harm from fate. The difficulties of life faced by other humans (illness, poverty, criticism, bad reputation, death, etc.) could not cause any sorrow to the sage, while the circumstances of life sought by other people (good health, wealth, praise, fame, long life, etc.) were regarded by the Stoic sage as unnecessary externals. This indifference to externals was achieved by the sage through the correct knowledge of impressions, a core concept in Stoic

epistemology Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge. Also called "the theory of knowledge", it explores different types of knowledge, such as propositional knowledge about facts, practical knowle ...

. Thus, the sage's happiness,

eudaimonia Eudaimonia (; ) is a Greek word literally translating to the state or condition of ''good spirit'', and which is commonly translated as ''happiness'' or ''Well-being, welfare''. In the works of Aristotle, ''eudaimonia'' was the term for the hig ...

, was based entirely on

. The difficulty of becoming a sage was often discussed in Stoicism. When

Panaetius Panaetius (; ; – ) of Rhodes was an ancient Greek Stoic philosopher. He was a pupil of Diogenes of Babylon and Antipater of Tarsus in Athens, before moving to Rome where he did much to introduce Stoic doctrines to the city, thanks to the patro ...

, the seventh and final

scholarch A scholarch (, ''scholarchēs'') was the head of a school in ancient Greece. The term is especially remembered for its use to mean the heads of schools of philosophy, such as the Platonic Academy in ancient Athens. Its first scholarch was Plato h ...

of the Stoa, was asked by a young man whether a sage would fall in love, he responded by saying: "As to the wise man, we shall see. What concerns you and me, who are still a great distance from the wise man, is to ensure that we do not fall into a state of affairs which is disturbed, powerless, subservient to another and worthless to oneself."

Epictetus Epictetus (, ; , ''Epíktētos''; 50 135 AD) was a Greek Stoic philosopher. He was born into slavery at Hierapolis, Phrygia (present-day Pamukkale, in western Turkey) and lived in Rome until his banishment, when he went to Nicopolis in ...

claims that only after the removal of any attachments to things in the external world could a Stoic truly possess friendship. He also outlined that progress towards sagehood would occur when one has learned what is in one's power. This would only come from the correct use of impressions.

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ( ; ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoicism, Stoic philosopher. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, the last of the rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors ...

defines the sage as one "who has knowledge of the beginning and the end, and of that all-pervading Reason which orders the universe in its determinate cycles to the end of time".''Meditations'', Marcus Aurelius, trans. Maxwell Staniforth. §5.32

References

{{Philosophy topics Wisdom Ancient Greek philosophical concepts Hellenistic philosophy

In Platonism and Aristotelianism

In Epicureanism

In Stoicism

See also

References