Cleanthes
c. 330–230 BCE · Second head of the Stoic school
Cleanthes succeeded Zeno as head of the Stoic school in Athens. By day he worked as a water-carrier to fund his studies. His "Hymn to Zeus" is one of the few surviving Stoic poems, expressing acceptance of fate and the rational order of the cosmos.
Ideas from Cleanthes
“Lead me, Zeus, and you too, Destiny, to where you have assigned me.”
Cleanthes · Hymn to Zeus
“I follow willingly; but if I do not, I shall be forced to follow.”
Cleanthes · Hymn to Zeus
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