Stoicism and eudaemonia
In a recent Wikipedia serach, a definition of Stoicism came back with this phrase:
Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy that flourished in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome.[1] The Stoics believed that the practice of virtue is enough to achieve eudaimonia: a well-lived life. The Stoics identified the path to achieving it with a life spent practicing certain virtues in everyday life such as courage or temperance and living in accordance with nature. It was founded in the ancient Agora of Athens by Zeno of Citium around 300 BC.
Stoicism – Wikipedia
If you follow the “Eudaimonia” (or eudaemonia) link above, a myriad of definitions and confusions confound us all.
Eudaimonia (/juːdɪˈmoʊniə/; Greek: εὐδαιμονία [eu̯dai̯moníaː]), sometimes anglicized as eudaemonia or eudemonia, is a Greek word literally translating to the state or condition of ‘good spirit’, and which is commonly translated as ‘happiness‘ or ‘welfare‘.
In works of Aristotle, eudaimonia was the term for the highest human good in older Greek tradition. It is the aim of practical philosophy-prudence, including ethics and political philosophy, to consider and experience what this state really is, and how it can be achieved. It is thus a central concept in Aristotelian ethics and subsequent Hellenistic philosophy, along with the terms aretē (most often translated as ‘virtue‘ or ‘excellence’) and phronesis (‘practical or ethical wisdom’).[1]
Discussion of the links between ēthikē aretē (virtue of character) and eudaimonia (happiness) is one of the central concerns of ancient ethics, and a subject of disagreement. As a result, there are many varieties of eudaimonism.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eudaimonia
For me, translations of classical languages are surely to be questioned when the only translations available flowed through institutions bound to substantiate their views – rather than the original.
Decades ago, working with an esteemed professor, we arrived at a translation akin to the ‘good spirit’ above; however, refined to ‘living in harmony with the god within’. Life’s actions and interactions in accordance with the god within – not the godhead, the inner spirit. We were also convinced that a better translation and understanding of ‘eudaemonia’ would be found outside the latin based translations … I have looked superficially for translations via Persian translations but none were found without Arabic influenced versions, e.g., Ibn-Seena, English, Avicenna (Wikipedia).
… balance and harmony between the inner and outer aspects of our lives – acting in life (outer) in complete harmony with the inner human spirit. Then, the question rounds more on your view of the human spirit. What if that human spirit has nothing to do with religion?
Let the religious fanatics go wild …