Especially useful for the articles by monica gale, lucretius and previous poetic. Preface no one can set about tnnslating lucretius into english without finding his head full of the great work of h. An xml version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer perseus any modifications you make. If livy is easy and horace is hard, then lucretius is much closer to horace in difficulty. Book i book ii book iii book iv book v book vi card. Lucretius, dante and goethe from the worlds largest community of readers. Stearns, epicurus and lucretius on love, cj 31 1936 34351 the violence of lucretius attack. They allowed death to take them away from living before death ever actually came. Book 3, 866869 lucretius also saw that this fundamental fear of death prevented people from living their lives now. On the nature of things, 1951 prose translation by r. Lucretius, on the nature of things loeb classical library.
Kenneys excellent commentary helped explain lucretius epicurean beliefs, satirical elements, and oddities of the authors style. The poem, written in some 7,400 dactylic hexameters, is divided into six untitled books, and explores epicurean physics through poetic. This work is licensed under a creative commons attributionsharealike 3. Encounters, interactions and transformations, chapter. Rather than being gratified and fulfilled, people squandered their time on earth complaining about their old age and impending death. The way things are by lucretius goodreads share book.
Mother of aeneas and his race, darling of men and venus, aid me in my work gods, nurturing venus, a who beneath the smoothmoving heavenly signs fill with yourself the sea fullladen with ships, the earth that bears the crops, since through you every kind of living thing is conceived and rising up looks on the light of the sun. So, if you know a little latin, but youre not really great at it, this compact volume with the latin on the lefthand page and the english on the right, is the book for you. The loss of much of epicuruss own output means that lucretius has become. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. The poem explores lucretius belief about the gods, humanity, the senses, the world, and the universe, all through the philosophical framework of epicurus.
If one or more works are by a distinct, homonymous authors, go ahead and split the author. It is sweet, when on the great sea the winds trouble its waters, to behold from land anothers deep distress. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system. Lucretius observations of the particularities of the world remain alive across the centuries. Lucretius use and avoidance of greek british academy. This edition which complements existing aris and phillips commentaries on books 3, 4 and 6 will help to make lucretius urgent and.
The poem is the fullest extant statement of the physical theory of the greek philosopher epicurus. University of california press, 2008 the joan palevsky imprint in classical literature. A bibliography of work on lucretius, 19451972 jstor. Storia del termine e delle sue traduzioni in latino. For more than twenty years, the latin library has been a labor of love for its maintainer, william l. Book 6 lucretius ends his work with the same goal he had when he started book 1.
Lucretius roman poet titus lucretius carus was a roman poet and philosopher. On the nature of things is a firstcentury bc didactic poem by the roman poet and philosopher lucretius c. The ultimate reality to lucretius is one which has been darkened by the veil of irrational superstition. Lucretiuss on the nature of things is not easy latin.
I am amazed that someone who lived more than 2000 years ago could possess such a deep and complete understanding of our universe. In the first two books lucretius s purpose is to dispose of human fear of the intervention of gods into the world by proving that the universe is material and all events are due to the movement and combination of atoms. A volume which no student of lucretius, of the classics, of philosophic literature can afford to ignore. For more information please look up the beginning of this. Lucretius only extant work, written in dactylic hexameter, addressed to gaius memmius who became praetor in 58 bc and failed to be converted. Online shopping from a great selection at books store. Even lucretius himself once outside book 3 uses the transliterated harmoniue. Prepared from the sphere library book, translated martin ferguson smith 1969. In book 3 he expounds the nature and composition of mind and spirit, proves their mortality, and argues that there is nothing to fear in death. Latham, introduction and notes by john godwin, penguin revised edition 1994, isbn 0140446109. For health reasons he has recently passed the maintenance of the library to someone new who will continue it in the same spirit. Pdf lucretius course 20092012 syllabus and bibliography.
This is an interesting work to read, useful for promoting understanding of classical epicureanism notes mostly extracted from the text. In it, he set out to explicate the universe, embracing and refuting ideas of the great greek philosophers. What do you think a poet like lucretius, disillusioned with his city, and disappointed by corruption in his time, would do. In six books compounded of solid reasoning, brilliant imagination, and noble poetry, he expounds the scientific theories of the greek philosopher epicurus, with the aim of dispelling fear of. I will set out to discourse to you the ultimate realities of heaven and the gods. An xml version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer perseus any modifications you.
Lucretius begins with an account of the atomic theory of democritus and the nature of the cosmos. Book 4 explains the nature of sensation and thought, and ends with an impressive account of sexual love. What makes book 3 of lucretius poem so shocking and revolutionary. Is nothing, nor concerns us in the least, since nature of mind is mortal evermore. It also alludes to his ethical and logical doctrines. On the nature of things by lucretius translated by william ellery leonard. Book 3 treats of the soul, its nature, composition, and fate. I was in the midst of reading yet another book that referenced lucretius on the nature of things and thought i should stop and read lucretius words for myself. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools.
Kenneys comments are themselves not without wit, and i enjoyed learning about lucretius philosophy through this book. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading lucretius. J download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Lucretius latin is interesting, sometimes sublime, and always challenging. A modern translation of the whole work is contained in lucretius on the nature of the universe translated by r.
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