Derived primarily from the oral teachings of the scarcely-remembered philosopher and poet Etrias of Aola, the Anhedonic movement was fleetingly fashionable among young members of the Atlantean aristocracy.
Background
A former pupil of Katos the Younger, Etrias perverted his master's doctrine of emotional restraint and recommendation towards an austere lifestyle into the type of absolute rejection of luxury and worldliness which is only feasible for the extremely wealthy.
Although ridiculed by philosophers and aristocrats both during his lifetime, the teachings of Etrias were rediscovered several decades after his death (it is speculated that the imprisonment of the leaders of the failed Servant's Revolt and other causes célèbres during that period led to an increased introspection and social reflection among the youth of the Atlantean upper-crust). The Anhedonic movement can be seen as a reaction against the use of slave labour and the lives of luxury granted to Atlanteans in particular through both the spoils of war and trade with more barbaric nations.
Teachings
Derived primarily from the absurd and discredited notion that the pleasure of one person is gained necessarily through the misery or subjugation of another, anhedonists sought to eliminate within themselves the very capability of feeling pleasure, and thus reach a state of spiritual and ethical harmony.
Although individual anhedonists pursued this quixotic goal through a variety of means, the anhedonic lifestyle almost unversally involved the rejection of typical Atlantean refinements (the use of wine and vada in particular, and the attendance of the Games), the unwillingness to use serfs or anything derived from slave-labour, an absolute level of self-sufficiency, and the abstinence from friendships or sexual, romantic, or familial relationships). Most anhedonists chose to dress exclusively in unwashed, unfashionable, chafing and uncomfortable homespun robes; and subsist entirely on a flavourless yet passably-nutritious protein mush.
Legacy
As mentioned, the Anhedonic movement was in vogue only briefly among the contemptibly-fashionable, and (with a handful of notable exceptions) adherence to the lifestyle was almost universally short-lived. The movement influenced no major subsequent philosophers, and the teachings of Etrias were for the most part banished to obscurity.
Edited by Dr. Euripides A. Hladik
