# XCIV explained — Short Works

> Chapter companion for Short Works by Epictetus.

## What happens

Epictetus reflects on the paradox of loving and caring for the body, which he describes as unpleasant and troublesome, arguing that this duty is imposed by Nature (or God) and must be accepted and ultimately relinquished when Nature demands.

## Themes in this chapter

### Acceptance of Nature and Fate

Central argument: we must submit to Nature's cycle of giving and taking away the body, just as we submitted to its care when younger.

### Practical Ethics and Self-Discipline

Examines the daily, troublesome discipline of bodily care as a necessary duty and act of service.

## Character check-ins

### Epictetus

The narrator and teacher, using personal reflection ('I fill this bag...') to illustrate the duty of caring for the body as service to God/Nature.

### The Gods

Referenced as the master ('servant of God') whom one serves by enduring the necessary care of the mortal body.

## Key lines

> Admirable is nature, and, as Xenophon says, a lover of animated beings.

Nature is wonderful and, according to Xenophon, cares for living creatures.

_Establishes the benevolent framework of Nature to justify the subsequent discussion of bodily care._

> I must act as the servant of God. For this reason I remain (here), and I endure to wash this miserable body, to feed it and to clothe it.

My role is to serve God, which is why I stay alive and put up with the chore of maintaining this lowly body.

_Frames the mundane tasks of life as a form of pious duty and reason for endurance._

> Why then do you not submit, when Nature who has given us this body takes it away?

So why resist when Nature, the source of this body, decides to reclaim it?

_A rhetorical challenge advocating for non-resistance to death, completing the cycle of acceptance._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/epictetus_short_works_se/chapters/xciv
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/epictetus_short_works_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/epictetus_short_works_se/chapters