Zeno was a merchant from Cyprus who lost his cargo in a shipwreck near Athens. Stranded, he wandered into a bookshop, read about Socrates, and never left. He studied with the Cynics and the Academics, then began teaching in the Stoa Poikile (the Painted Porch) giving his school its name. Stoicism taught that virtue is the only true good, that the universe is rational, and that we should align our will with nature. It became the most influential philosophy of the ancient world.
Zeno lost his cargo of Phoenician purple dye in a shipwreck. Stranded in Athens, he wandered into a bookshop, read Xenophon’s account of Socrates, and asked the bookseller where he could find such a man. The bookseller pointed to the Cynic Crates, who happened to be passing. Zeno followed him and never looked back.
