This is the modern Buddhist and psychology influenced interpretation of stoicism and apatheia. Personally I don't see much evidence that this really was the ca

This is the modern Buddhist and psychology influenced interpretation of stoicism and apatheia. Personally I don't see much evidence that this really was the case in the golden era of Stoicsm. Freedom from all passions was not the same as removal of emotion, but it was very close to it. > not about becoming a hardened robot capable of taking any punishment. This was exactly what Stoics of the old saw as ideal and this view was propagated in stories. Epicetus was a cripple and according to Origen his leg was broken by his master. >Epictetus' master one day was twisting his slave's leg to help the time pass. Epictetus said calmly, "If you go on doing that, you will break my leg." The twisting went on and the leg broke. Epictetus observed mildly, "Didn't I tell you that you would break my leg?" The story of Gaius Mucius Scaevola was also propagated by stoics. Mucius kept his hand over the fire without indicating any pain while it burned.