Fate

The basic tenet of Epicureanism regarding fate is that the wise, having armed themselves with a proper understanding of the workings of the natural world and ridden themselves of the superstitions of the many, can withstand whatever happens to them "by fate".

Yet whereas the Stoics (and perhaps the majority of the population of the Greco-Roman world) nearly deified fate, Epicurus' notion of fate is much more akin to random chance and accident, as understood by modern biologists and natural scientists in general. Whereas the Stoics advocated submission to fate, which they saw as stemming from some Universal Reason (Gr. logos), the Epicureans advised rather a certain indifference to fate -- as they also did not personify it, and saw it as indifferent to them.