Greek Notions of Happiness

Epicurus, the Greek Philosopher, spent the entirety of his life contemplating happiness and what a person must do to achieve it. He said, “if thou wilt make a man happy, add not unto his riches but take away from his desires.” He said this was attained through ataraxia, peace, and freedom from fear, and aponia, the absence of pain, believing people could will themselves to feel tranquility and decide not to suffer. These two concepts combined with the ability to eliminate all desires create a highly unattainable and unrealistic approach to reaching true happiness. Interesting in theory, difficult in practice.