Post on 23-Feb-2016
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By Eudora Olsen
From Atoms to Cosmos: The Genius of Lucretius
By Eudora Olsen
Meet Lucretius
Birth in 94 BC, death in either 54 or 51*
Epicurean poet
Wrote in the middle years of the first century BC
Member of aristocratic clan, Lucretii or possibly a former slave
Cicero: ‘flashes of genius’ and ‘craftsmanship’ characterize Lucretius' poetry
*Little known about exact dates of birth/death (early Christianity branded Lucretius an enemy of religion)
Historical ContextFirst Century BCE91 BC: “Social War”88 BC: Lucius Cornelius Sulla starts
Civil War and becomes dictatorRise of Sulla to fall of CatilineBloodshed, war, tumult
What’s Epicureanism? (On Epicurus):
O you who out of the vast darkness were the first to raiseA shining light, illuminating the blessings of life,O glory of the Grecian race, it is you I follow (Bk 3, 1-3)
Seeks to link Physics, Ethics, and Canonic
The universe consists of matter and void
All matter made of imperishable atoms that are homogenous in substance but differ in shape and size
Epicureanism cont.The universe is an ongoing cosmic
eventEpicurus was a materialist, not an
atheist (Gods do not have interest in human affairs)
Objects send off “idols” of themselves to travel through air and thus we have senses
De Rerum Natura“On the Nature of
Things”Epic Poem6 Books“Unfolding of a
complex philosophical argument” (utm.edu)
Wide range of themes: philosophy, love, reason, luxuries
Unfinished
The Structure of De Rerum Natura Book I: Invocation of Venus, explains EpicureanismBook II: Atomic motionBook III: Proof of materiality, deathBook IV: Epicurus’ theory of vision/sensationBook V: Proliferation and extinction of life formsBook VI: Meteorology, geology
Selected Passages
“All life is a struggle in the dark.”
(Bk II, 54)“Such is the
power of reason to overcome
inborn vices/That nothing prevents our living a life
worthy of gods.” (Bk III, 321-22)
“If she stutters or lisps, she speaks ‘musically.’
If she’s dumb, she’s ‘modest’; and if she’s hot-
temperedAnd a chatterbox, she’s ‘a
ball of fire.’ (Bk 4, 1159-71)
The Lucretius Legacy
One of the principal sources for Epicurean thought
Spurred innovative scientific thought in the sixteenth/seventeenth century
Neo-Epicurean philosopher Pierre Gassendi (1592-1655)Published elaboration of Epicurean science
Milton, Whitman, WordsworthDarwin
Bibliographyhttp://www.iep.utm.edu/lucretiu/#SH2c
http://classics.mit.edu/Carus/nature_things.html