On The Disciplines—Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius Mohammad Khorsand Epictetus’ Enchiridion opens with “Of things some are in our power, and others are not. In our power are opinion, movement toward a thing, desire, aversion (turning from a thing)…; not in our power are the body, property, reputation, offices” 1 . He distinguishes actions that one can call their own and actions one cannot, respectively. Hadot in The Inner Citadel identifies the actions within one’s power as the disciplines of desire, action, and assent. Though the ideas presented in the disciplines, sometimes called fields of study, are not new ideas to Stoicism, it is Epictetus who formulates them as aforementioned. 2,3 In writing Meditations, Marcus Aurelius had an opportunity to reflect and to strengthen his ideology and even discussed ideas from other schools of philosophy, e.g. whether the world operated based on Epicurus’ atomism or the Stoic understanding of the Universe—“Either a stew, an intricate web, and dispersal into atoms: or unity, order, and providence” 4 . Epictetus’ Disciplines can be seen as a tool to assist in one’s personal development in line with Stoicism. The purpose of this paper is to explore and analyze Epictetus’ Three Disciplines, based on the texts Enchiridion and Discourses, and to identify Epictetus’ influence on Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations. Enchiridion provides an introduction as to how one can live a good life in accordance to Stoicism; a more in depth explanation of Epictetus’ philosophy is reflected in Discourses. For example, on a similar idea on objects that are and are not within one’s power, Epictetus states “Men are disturbed not by the things which happen, but by the opinions about the things” 5 , 1 Epictetus, translated by George Long, Enchiridion Chapter 1 2 Pierre Hadot, translated by Michael Chase, The Inner Citadel: The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius p. 83 3 Epictetus, Translated by W.A. Oldfather, The Discourses as Reported by Arrian, The Manual, and Fragments p. 20, information from footnote 4 Marcus Aurelius, translated by Martin Hammond, Meditations Book 6:10 5 Epictetus, translated by George Long, Enchiridion Chapter 5