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Stilpo was a Philosopher of Megara and the most distinguished member of the Megarean
school. He was not only celebrated for his eloquence and skill in dialectics, but for the success
with which he applied to moral precepts of philosophy to the correction of his natural
propensities. Though in his youth he had been much addicted to intemperance and licentious
pleasures, after he had ranked himself among philosophers he was never known to violate the
laws of sobriety or chastity. With respect to riches he exercised a virtuous moderation. When
Ptolemy Soter, at the taking of Megara, presented him with a large sum of money, and requested
him to accompany him to Egypt, he returned the greater part of the present, and chose to retire,
during Ptolemy's stay at Megara, to the island of Aegina. Afterward, when Megara was again
taken by Demetrius, son of Antigonus, the conqueror ordered the soldiers to spare the house of
Stilpo; and, if anything should be taken from him in the hurry of the plunder, to restore it. So
great was the fame of Stilpo, that when he visited Athens, the people ran out of their shops to see
him, and even the most eminent philosophers of Athens took pleasure in attending his discourses.
On moral topics Stilpo is said to have taught that the highest happiness consists in a mind free
from the dominion of passion, a doctrine similar to that of the Stoics. (Diog. Laert. ii. 113-118;
Sen. Epist. 9).
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