Epictetus: Epictetus’ stoicism inspires poets to find freedom in acceptance: “I cannot change the wind’s command, / but I can choose my own hand.”; His focus on inner control becomes lyrical restraint: “They took my chains, they took my name— / but not the thought that bears my flame.”; Poets borrow his distinction between control and fate: “The world may break, the sun may fall— / but I am still, and I am all.”; His teaching becomes verse: “What is mine? My will, my breath, / the quiet space between my death / and what I choose to call my own.”; Epictetus teaches poets that peace is chosen, not found: “Not in the calm, but in the storm, / the soul becomes, and finds its form.”; His legacy: “He taught no god, no heaven’s gate— / just this: the mind, and what it fate.”