Ataraxia

Ataraxia, 'freedom from disturbance', is the serene, untroubled state of mind that two of the great Hellenistic schools set as the goal of life — reached, however, by opposite roads. For the Epicureans it comes from the absence of bodily pain and, above all, from dispelling the fears that torment the soul — the fear of the gods and of death — through a true understanding of nature.

For the Sceptics, by contrast, it follows from the suspension of judgment: ceasing to strain after certainties forever out of reach, the mind lets go and finds peace. By either path, ataraxia is the calm of a soul no longer at war with the world — closely akin to the Stoic apatheia.