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