Zeno of Citium
Zeno was from Citium in Cyprus (lived about 335-263 B.C.E) and moved to Athens at some point before 300 B.C.E. In Athens, he became a pupil of Crates, who was a cynic. Zeno was mostly interested in ethics and around 300 B.C.E. established the Stoic school of philosophy (a stoa is a painted portico or porch where they would gather for discussions). The Stoic school would become one of the major schools of philosophy up into the Christian Age.
The Stoic school would always hold ethics as the most important aspect of philosophy, would always hold Socrates as a model for virtuous living, and it resembled a religion in many ways. The earlier stoics were materialists, believing that the gods were made of fire, but the latter materialists would be more Platonic.
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