CLAS 208 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Lucretius, Philodemus, Epicureanism
29 Jan 2016
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Then the words of sublime lucretius will endure, while there"s a day left, until the world comes to an end. ovid, amores 1. 15. 23-24. Greed and luxury the evils in the world of lucretius. At some point, there is a tipping point in the development of man where man becomes evil. In his poem we had a patron = g. memmius (governor of bithynia in 57 bc) Uses epic-didactic poem in hexameters (6 books, 7400 verses) Philosophical (epicurean) and logical rendering of the world. >didactic poetry = instructions on different things, like teachings. >thousands and thousands of texts still being deciphered. By 1st c bce = fairly spread through italy. Pursuit of tranquility withdrawal of citizens" duties. Contrasted to modern definition: live as largely and luxuriously as possible. Lucretius divides 6 books on epicurean into 3 sections. >live as humbly as possible, live on little to be happy. Atoms: epicurean physics, epicurean anthropology: body, soul, senses, epicurean cosmology.
