The word stoa originally referred to a type of covered walkway or colonnade common in ancient Greek architecture. The most famous of these was the Stoa Poikile – the “Painted Stoa” – in the Athenian Agora. It was adorned with vibrant murals and served as a gathering place for public discussion. It was here that Zeno of Citium, the founder of Stoicism, began teaching his philosophy around 300 BCE. His followers became known as “Stoics,” named after the stoa rather than after a person, as is the case with many other philosophical schools. Today, the term stoa has been adopted more broadly to refer to modern communities of people who study and practice Stoicism. Just as the original stoa was a place for shared learning and reflection, these communities – both online and in-person – offer space for mutual support, dialogue, and the application of Stoic principles in daily life.
Our communities
At The Scotland Stoics, we also use the term “stoidion” – which in Ancient Greek means “little stoa”. We use it to refer to smaller communities that sprouted of our “capital stoa” in Edinburgh and typically meet every other month, rather than every month.
You are welcome to join any of our Stoic communities. Some of our members attend more than one, or stick to just the one that is closest to their home. We cover a wide range of topics, so even if you decide to attend every single meeting you will still be exposed to many different ideas and texts.
Stoa Akrokorifi
(Edinburgh)
Our capital and original stoa is based in Edinburgh. Stoa Akrokorifi, literally “Stoa of the High Summit” – is a reference to both the central role the stoa has played in The Scotland Stoics’ history as well as Edinburgh’s poetic nickname – Athens of the North.
Stoa Akrokorifi is currently led by Eryk and meets every month.
Stoidion Sideron (Glasgow)
The name of our second community – Stoidion Sideron (“Little Stoa of Iron”) is a nod to Glasgow’s industrial past. Our second largest community, it attracts a diverse range of Stoics from all walks of life and age groups.
Stoidion Sideron is currently led by Hannah and meets every other month.
Stoidion Nautikon
(Dundee)
Why Stoidion Nautikon (“Little Stoa of Seafaring”)? We wanted to honour Dundee’s world famous nautical expeditions to Antarctica. Being our youngest community, it’s still relatively small – but the quality of discussion is what attracts people to travel from surrounding towns too.
Stoidion Nautikon is currently led by Mike and meets every other month.
What to expect at the stoa / stoidion meetings?
Our meetings are very friendly and relaxed. Even if you are completely new to Stoicism, you are welcome to come along to our meetings – we all were novices once! Our attendees are diverse – some are students and some have long been retired; some are academics and some have no degrees; some are Scottish and some are foreigners… What unites us is our interest in Stoicisim and Stoic way of living and pursuit of a holistic self-improvement within a supportive and caring community.
Each meeting has a central theme that inspires our discussion, e.g. love, justice, wisdom, death. Our dedicated Quotes Team prepares a list of related Stoic quotes that we then use as a springboard for our discussions (we pass the list and everybody selects one quote). Additionally, every meeting has some recommended reading (could be a classical Stoic writing, e.g. a selected letter by Seneca or an article analysing Stoic thought). Although it is not compulsory, attendees are strongly encouraged to do the reading (most of them do anyway!) to get a better understanding of the topic in advance.
When is the next meeting of my stoa / stoidion?
All our communities follow a regular schedule. Stoa Akrokorifi (Edinburgh) meets every month while Stoidion Sideron (Glasgow) and Stoidion Nautikon (Dundee) meet every other month. Every year, all our communities take a break in August.
If you are on Facebook, you can join the official group of The Scotland Stoics to get notified about all our upcoming events. If you are not on Facebook, you can follow us on Eventbrite. If you have attended at least one of our in-person meetings, you will be invited to join our private WhatsApp channel where people discuss Stoicism in between the meetings (all meeting announcements are posted there too).
Please note that every year we take a break in August.