Autarkeia
The philosophical ideal of needing nothing beyond yourself — the self-sufficiency that makes a person immune to fortune.
The Meaning of Autarkeia
Autarkeia — self-sufficiency — was considered essential to the good life by nearly every Greek philosophical school, though each defined it differently. For Aristotle, autarkeia meant having enough external goods (friends, health, moderate wealth) that you lack nothing necessary for flourishing — the self-sufficient life is not solitary but complete. For the Cynics, autarkeia meant radical independence: Diogenes threw away his cup when he saw a boy drinking from cupped hands, declaring the child had surpassed him. For the Stoics, autarkeia was internal: since only virtue is truly good, the wise person needs nothing fortune can provide or remove. For the Epicureans, it meant modest desires satisfied simply — bread and water could provide divine pleasure if approached correctly. The concept also applied to cities: the ideal polis was autarkes, producing everything its citizens needed. This political autarkeia motivated Greek colonisation and later inspired economic theories of self-sufficiency.
Fun Fact
Diogenes threw away his only cup when he saw a child drinking from cupped hands — the boy was more self-sufficient.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Autarchia
💭 conceptphilosophy, politics
Self-sufficiency — the condition of needing nothing beyond oneself, whether applied to individuals, cities, or the ideal philosophical life.
Eleutheria
💭 conceptPolitical and personal freedom
The Greek ideal of freedom — both the political liberty of the citizen and the inner freedom of the wise person.
Eleutheria
💭 conceptpolitics, philosophy
Freedom — the condition of not being enslaved, and more broadly the political and philosophical ideal of self-determination.
Eudaimonia
💭 conceptThe Greek ideal of a well-lived life
The supreme good in Greek ethics — not happiness in the modern sense, but the flourishing that comes from living well and doing well.
Apatheia
💭 conceptStoic Philosophy
The Stoic ideal of freedom from destructive passions, achieved through rational discipline.
Stoicism
💭 conceptPhilosophy
A Hellenistic school teaching virtue, rational self-control, and acceptance of fate as the path to flourishing
Neoplatonism
💭 conceptPhilosophy
A late antique philosophical system teaching that all reality emanates from a transcendent, ineffable One
Homonoia
💭 conceptpolitics, philosophy
Concord or like-mindedness — the civic ideal of citizens sharing common purposes and values, the condition necessary for a functioning community.
Epicureanism
💭 conceptPhilosophy
A Hellenistic school teaching that pleasure through modesty, knowledge, and friendship is the highest good
Golden Age
💭 conceptLanguage and history
A proverbial expression for a past period of peace, prosperity, and happiness, derived from Hesiod's account of the first and best age of humanity under the rule of Kronos
Aidos
💭 conceptShame, modesty, and reverence
Aidos was the Greek concept of shame, reverence, and the inner sense of propriety that restrained people from acting dishonourably — the opposite of hubris.
Agape
💭 conceptlove, selflessness
Selfless, unconditional love — the highest form of love in Greek philosophical and theological thought.