Aulus Gellius writes about crossing the Ionian Sea with a Stoic philosopher who was prominent in ancient Athens. A vast, violent storm engulfs the ship, threatening death.
During almost the whole of the night…a fierce side-wind blew, which had filled our ship with water. Then…day at last dawned. But there was no less danger and no slackening of the violence of the wind; on the contrary, more frequent whirlwinds, a black sky, masses of fog, and…fearful cloud-forms…seemed to hang over and threaten us, ready to overwhelm the ship.1
The Stoics teach that we should care only about what we can control, so we should not fear such danger. For example, Epictetus writes,
If you seek to avoid, then…only…those things that are within your own power, you’ll never fall into anything that you want to avoid; but if you attempt to avoid illness, or death, or poverty, you’ll suffer misfortune. Remove your aversion, then, from everything that is not within our power, and transfer it to…those things that are within our power….2
Eager to see this philosophy applied, Aulus Gellius observes the Stoic, only to find him as “frightened and ghastly pale” as anyone else. Aulus Gellius is not the only one to notice. After the storm, another passenger mocks the Stoic, asking why he was so frightened. The Stoic replies,
If in such a terrible storm I did show a little fear, you are not worthy to be told the reason for it. But…the famous Aristippus, the pupil of Socrates, shall answer for me, who on being asked on a similar occasion by a man much like you why he feared, though a philosopher, while his questioner on the contrary had no fear, replied that they had not the same motives, for his questioner need not be very anxious about the life of a worthless coxcomb, but he himself feared for the life of an Aristippus.
Aulus Gellius must not have been easily frightened, because, despite that caustic answer, he also asks the Stoic about his reaction to the storm. The Stoic, apparently sensing the sincere interest of Aulus Gellius, responds differently. He draws from his bag a book by Epictetus that has since been lost. In it, Epictetus explains that our instinctive emotional reactions to the world may be outside of our control. However, we can control how we react to our reactions.
…when some terrifying sound…occurs, even the mind of a wise man must necessarily be disturbed, must shrink and feel alarm, not from a preconceived idea of any danger, but from certain swift and unexpected attacks which forestall the power of the mind and of reason. Presently, however, the wise man…rejects…them….
Emotions embody beliefs. Circumstances may arouse emotions that embody beliefs in conflict with the beliefs we consciously hold. The fear of the Stoic embodied a view of death that he had repudiated. However, with time, we can reconcile our emotions and our conscious beliefs.
We see this process modeled in Psalms, a collection of hymns from ancient Israel. Many psalms were written by David, a king of Israel whose life was characterized by violent conflict—conflict with other nations, with the king who preceded him, and with those who would usurp him. The third psalm begins with David lamenting the danger he faces.
Lord, how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me! (Psalm 3:1 NIV)
The natural emotional response to danger is fear. However, David believes that he serves an almighty God, a God who can deliver him from any danger. In the psalm, we see David shift his attention away from those who would kill him to the God who can deliver him.
But you, Lord, are a shield around me,
my glory, the One who lifts my head high.
I call out to the Lord,
and he answers me from his holy mountain.I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.
I will not fear though tens of thousands
assail me on every side. (Psalm 3:3 – 6 NIV)
Few of us will face the kind of danger that David, or even Aulus Gellius, faced. However, we will all face difficult circumstances and the reactions they arouse. We need not settle for those emotions, because our emotions are not determined solely by our circumstances. The psalms remain a source of comfort for many as David reminds us that our difficulties are mere brush strokes in a vast painting.
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God. (Psalm 42:5 NIV)
- Aulus Gellius, The Attic Nights, trans. John C. Rolfe (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1927), accessed at https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Gel.%2019.1&lang=original.
- Epictetus, Discourses, Fragments, Handbook, trans. Robin Hard (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), pp. 287 – 288.