Epictetus didn’t look at his life as series of horrors and tragedies, but as a set of endless opportunities.
A podium, and a prison - each is a place - one high and the other is low. But freedom of decision can be maintained in either places, if you wish.
Epictetus choose things that he can control - his opinions, his wants, his thoughts, his sense of self.
Epictetus build his way out of slavery and then became a teacher, and his teachings inspired Marcus Aurelius. And Epictetus, who once had so little power, was influencing the most powerful people in the world.
What we learn from it - is not endurance, but the ability to find a good life anywhere, at all times.
Circumstances don’t make the man, they only reveal him to himself. A man is only able to decide his next step. We can - through determination and own skill - to shape our own destiny. Control it? No. Shape it? Yes.