Would you rather dine with Epicurus or Epicitus?

Answer 1

Dinner with Epicurus would be a 'pleasure' no doubt.

But I'd prefer Epictetus' company because it is not the pleasure I am seeking but freedom from 'grief'.

(Wouldn't I be tempted to try my charms on the man after dinner, just to see how far his 'stoicism' goes??? Evil thought! See, what you've brought on by your constant probing and quizzing of your unsuspecting loyal subjects, O Great Quizzer!)

The temptation is gaining momentum by each passing thought!!! When is the date, for I no longer can wait?

Answer 2

http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1841/dr-theses/index.htm

The Difference Between the Democritean and Epicurean Philosophy of Nature.
with an Appendix

Epictetus (Greek: Ἐπίκτητος; ca. 55–ca. 135) was a Greek Stoic philosopher. He was probably born a slave at Hierapolis, Phrygia, and lived in Rome until his exile to Nicopolis in northwestern Greece, where he lived most of his life, and where he died. The name given by his parents, if one was given, is not known - the word epiktetos in Greek simply means "acquired."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epictetus

a. Discourses

Written in Koine Greek, the everyday contemporary form of the language, Epictetus' Discourses appear to record the exchanges between Epictetus and his students after formal teaching had concluded for the day. Internal textual evidence confirms that the works of the early Stoic philosophers (Zeno, Cleanthes and Chrysippus) were read and discussed in Epictetus' classes, but this aspect of Epictetus' teaching is not recorded by Arrian. What we have, then, are intimate, though earnest, discussions in which Epictetus aims to make his students consider carefully what the philosophic life – for a Stoic – consists in, and how to live it oneself. He discusses a wide range of topics, from friendship to illness, from fear to poverty, on how to acquire and maintain tranquillity, and why we should not be angry with other people.

http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/e/epictetu.htm

I think I would invite both at the same time. They are not as irreconcilable as they appear to be. Epicurus would make a good cook
'He taught that the point of all one's actions was to attain pleasure (conceived of as tranquility) for oneself, and that this could be done by limiting one's desires and by banishing the fear of the gods and of death. Epicurus' gospel of freedom from fear proved to be quite popular, and communities of Epicureans flourished for centuries after his death.'

http://www.iep.utm.edu/e/epicur.htm

and both Epicurus and Epictetus would make good dinner companions.

'The task of the prokoptôn, therefore, is to 'live according to nature', which means (a) pursuing a course through life intelligently responding to one's own needs and duties as a sociable human being, but also (b) wholly accepting one's fate and the fate of the world as coming directly from the divine intelligence which makes the world the best that is possible.'

http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/e/epictetu.htm

Answer 3

Don't listen to Hot Coco Puff. Let me dine with you instead.

Answer 4

Neither, I think you'd be much better company!