Our recommended translations:
LUCRETIUS, ON THE NATURE OF THINGS, Translated by Ian Johnston
Titus Lucretius Carus, ”On the Nature of Things”, English translation by Lamberto Bozzi
De Rerum Natura, or On the Nature of Things, is an epic poem from the First Century BCE written by Lucretius. It introduces Epicurean canon, physics, and ethics, although the focus is mainly on the physics. The work marks a period of expansion, when Epicurean philosophy was adopted by speakers of Latin, and translated and adapted to a new audience.
I wish to thank Marcus for helping me to edit the links on this collection, and Nathan for sharing many of his own DRN study notes with me.
Essays:
Introduction to Lucretius – John R. Porter
Book I
Lucretius begins by invoking Venus, the embodiment of Pleasure, “The Guide of Life”. He goes on to discuss the sacrificial death of Iphianassa and the dangers of religion, and introduces Epicurus as a culture hero and Promethean Savior of humankind whose doctrines save us from the evils of superstition and lead to a life filled with pleasure. Thanks to his Doxai, religion is trampled beneath our feet, making us heaven’s equals.
1-49 Invocation to Venus
62-79 In praise of Epicurus
NOS EXAEQVAT VICTORIA CAELO. (I:67) “by [Epicurus’] victory we reach the stars.” (Humphries)
…QUOD CONTRA SAEPIVS ILLA RELIGIO PEPERIT SCELEROSA ATQVE IMPIA FACTA. (I:70-71) “More often has religion itself | Given birth to deeds both impious and criminal.” (Melville)
80-101 Sacrifice of Iphianassa
TANTVM RELIGIO POTVIT SVADERE MALORVM. (I:89) “So great the power religion had for evil.” (Melville)
102-148 Against superstition; on why we should study nature
149-237 First law of nature: nothing comes from nothing; Second law: nature breaks all things into their atoms, nothing dies off to nothing
NVLLAM REM E NIHILO GIGNI DIVINITVS VMQVAM. (I:150) “nothing ever springs miraculously out of nothing.” (Smith)
NIL POSSE CREARI DE NIHILO (I:155-156) “nothing can be created out of nothing.” (Smith)
Meleta:
Law of Conservation (Wikipedia)
238-264 First elements are indestructible
329-369 density of bodies varies due to the existence of void
418-448 All nature is atoms and void
440-448 a body “acts or is acted upon” — this is treated as an ontological criterion for whatever exists, also in Epicurus’ Letter to Herodotus
449-458 Properties and accidents
Meleta:
Emergence – Wikipedia
Emergent Properties – Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy
459-463 Time is an accidental property
483-564 Atoms are eternal and solid; bodies are also made up of molecules or combinations or atoms
565-599 Hard and soft bodies
600-634 Primal elements are indestructible
635-704 Against Heraclitus
Meleta:
Various refutations against the other philosophers between I.635-1113 (thank you, Nathan):
Heraclitus, Zeno – Fire
Thales – Water
Anaximander – Apeiron (infinity)
Anaxamines – Air
Anaxagoras – Homoiomereia
Xenophanes – Earth
Empedocles – “The Four Elements”
Pythagoras – Numbers
705-797 Against Empedocles and others
798-829 Compound bodies
830-920 Against Anaxagoras
951-1020 The universe is infinite, ergo prime bodies are always moving
1009-1013 atoms and void are forever bound to each other, ergo there is a space-time-matter continuum
Meleta:
What is Space-Time? – from Nature.com
The Nature of Space and Time – Scientific American
1021-1034 Randomness of particles
1035-1051 Infinite matter
1052-1117 The universe has no center
NAM MEDIVM NIHIL ESSE POTEST INFINITA (I:1070-1071) “There can be no centre in infinity.” (Latham)
Meleta:
Mahsa Amini: the new Iphianassa
Hermarchus’ 22 Books on Empedocles
Book II
Lucretius continues giving a basic overview of a particle-based cosmology. DRN is likely based on Epicurus’ 37 books On Nature. Here, we are presented with the Lucretian account of the doctrine of innumerable worlds, and with how nature does all things without gods ruling over her.
1-19 Philosophy is a fortress of the wise
20-46 Pleasure is easy to acquire (Principal Doctrine 3)
47-61 Science saves us from superstition
OMNIS CVM IN TENEBRIS PRAESERTIM VITA LABORET? (II:54) “…when the whole of life is but a struggle in darkness?” (Bailey)
62-141 Matter in motion
142-183 Speed of particles
184-215 Direction of motion of particles
216-237 The swerve
238-250 Matter travels at set speed in void
251-293 Against determinism
294-307 Laws of physics always the same
308-332 Microscopic motion happens
Meleta:
Brownian Motion – Wikipedia
333-521 Different kinds of particles
522-568 Endless particles
569-580 Growth and entropy
581-599 Different kinds of particles
Meleta:
Elementary and Composite Particles – Wikipedia
Periodic Table of the Elements – Wikipedia
600-643 Great Goddess / Mother Earth
644-660 The nature of the gods
661-729 Possible atom combinations
730-841 Colors
842-864 Primary particles lack smell
865-943 Primary particles lack sensation
944-962 Hard blows numb sensation
963-989 Pain and Pleasure
990-1022 Cycles of death and renewal
CAELESTI SVMVS OMNES SEMINE ORIVNDI (II:991) “We all have come from heavenly seed.” (Humphries)
CEDIT ITEM RETRO, DE TERRA QUOD FVIT ANTE, IN TERRAS… (II:991) “What once sprung from earth sinks back into the earth.” (Bailey)
1023-1076 Doctrine of innumerable worlds
Meleta:
Exoplanets – Wikipedia
Exoplanet Exploration – NASA
1077-1089 Nature makes multiple samples
1090-1104 Gods do not rule over nature
1105-1143 Growth and decay
1144-1174 The universe has an end
Meleta: Lucretian Parable of the Alphabet
Book III
At the opening of DRN, Lucretius tells us that one of his goals in the poem is to shed light on the nature of the mortal soul in order to exorcise fear of death. Liber Tertivs focuses on this task, and argues that the study of nature provides the cure for this fear. The poet personifies Nature and makes her counsel man to leave this life satisfied at the time of death as one who has enjoyed all the delicacies of a banquet.
Meleta:
Study Guide for the Epicurean canon
1-30 Invocation to Epicurus
31-93 Fear of death
Meleta:
The Denial of Death and the Practice of Dying – ErnestBecker.org
Cross-Reference: Yang Zhu, Chapter 3 of Liezi
94-369 On the nature of soul and mind
370-395 Soul is scattered throughout body
396-416 Mind is more vital than soul
417-547 Soul and mind are mortal
MORTALEM TAMEN ESSE ANIMAM FATEARE NECESSE (III:543) “you must admit the soul to be mortal” (Munro)
548-677 Soul dies if body dies
678-829 Soul is inside the body
830-869 Leave life as if leaving a banquet
NIL IGNITVR MORS EST AD NOS (III:831) “Death, therefore, to us is nothing” (Munro)
870-1094 Against fear of afterlife
VITAQVE MANCIPIO NVLLI DATVR OMNIBVS VSV (III:972) “No one is given life to own; we all hold but a lease.” (Stallings)
Cross Reference: Yang Zhu, Book 7 of Liezi, Chapter 11
Meleta:
Passages on the Soul, from Epicurus’ Epistle to Herodotus
Book IV
Liber Qvartvs focuses on the canon (the “measuring stick” or “standard” of truth), and on the importance of trusting the using our senses and our faculties. This was mainly a critique of the Sceptics, who taught that knowledge was neither possible nor desirable.
1-25 Poetry sweetens philosophy
34-268 Explanation of photons (eidolon)
125 Foul odors are cited as proof that tiny unseen particles exist
154 The wave function of light particles is mentioned: “simulacra redundent”, bodies emit images to us ‘wave on wave”
175 On the speed of light
205 Considers the lack of density in outer space
221 The air is ever filled with winged words: “variae cessant voces volitare per auras”
269-352 The case study of mirrors
E TENEBRIS AVTEM QVAE SVNT IN LVCE TVEMVR (IV:338) “Now we see out of the dark what is in the light” (Diderot’s motto in Philo. Tho. 1746)
353-364 Seeing objects from a distance
Meleta:
Scientific names of the various types of “illusions” Lucretius describes in IV.338-463 (thank you, Nathan):
Dark Adaptation (338-353), Distance Illusion (354-364), Beta Movement, and shadows as evidence that light waves are blocked (365-379), Induced Movement (388-391, 421-426, 444-447), Parallax (392-397), Vanishing Point (398-400, 433-436), Vertigo (401-404), The “Moon” Illusion (405-414), Entasis (427-432), Refraction of Light (437-443), Diplopia (“Double-vision”) (448-453), Dreams/Dreaming at Night (454-463)
379-466 Eyes are trustworthy; recognition of perspective
Nothing is harder than separating truth from the hasty, hazy additives of the mind. – Liber Qvartvs, 467-8
Since thus far they’ve seen no truth, how can they know what “know” and “not-know” mean, what thing creates the concepts “false” and “true”, what proves the dubious different from the sure? You’ll find the concept “truth” was first created by the senses, nor can we prove the senses wrong. – Liber Qvartvs, 474-8
467-521 Trusting the senses; 479 Senses can’t be proven wrong; 486-496 Each faculty is independent within the canon; 505 Parable of the building foundation
PROINDE QVOD IN QVOQVEST HIS VISVM TEMPORE VERVMST. (IV:500) “Therefore all sensations at all times are true.” (Smith)
522-614 On the nature of sound waves; 571 On echo
615-632 On the nature of taste
633-672 Animals have different senses
UT QVOD ALIIS CIBVS EST ALIIS FVAT ACRE VENENVM (IV:638) “What’s food for one is poison for another.” (Esolin)
673-721 On the nature of smell; 700 Odors can’t cross walls and boundaries that sound is able to cross, ergo sound is more subtle, and smells easily dissipate
722-822 Photons in the air (posited as a possible explanation for dreams and visions)
823-857 Against natural design, and against teleology in Darwinian evolution
858-876 Hunger and Thirst
877-986 On bodily movement
976 Mentions neural pathways
987-1029 On sleep
1030-1057 Human semen, “the wound of love” and criticism of passionate love, which makes men lose their wealth and their mind
1058-1287 Sexuality and sterility; includes in 1217-1236 the assertion that babies bear the seed of both father and mother, and inherit traits from both sides
… EST COMMUNIS VOLVPTAS (IV:1209) “…sexual pleasure is shared” (Smith)
1260 Food affects our “seed”
Meleta:
Three Lucretian Arguments Against Creationism
Diogenes’ Wall: Who will Choose to Seek What he can Never Find?
On the Canon: Enargeia and Epilogismos; Studying the Canon
Book V
Liber Qvintvs is the most complete extant epitome of Epicurean anthropology. It gives natural explanations for natural and cultural phenomena that ancients used to attribute to the gods. Instead, here nature invents new faculties or powers, and men later perfect their use through culture and habit. It is in this book that Lucretius takes us to the innumerable worlds by depicting a great battle taking place in space.
1-90 In honor of Epicurus
AT BENE NON POTERAT SINE PVRO PECTORE VIVI (V:18) “But a good life could not be lived without a pure mind” (Smith)
91-125 The Earth will also end
Meleta:
When will the Earth come to an end? – Big Think
How will life on Earth end? – Astronomy.com
126-145 Mind can only exist in the body
146-155 The gods are physical
156-194 The gods did not create the world
195-234 Flaws in nature show no design
235-323 Matter is constantly recycled
324-379 Age of the Earth
380-415 How elements affect each other
416-470 How the Earth formed; 437-440 anticipates the modern scientific proposition of the Nebular Hypothesis
Meleta:
Accretion – Wikipedia
471-479 How the Sun and Moon formed
480-494 The land and sea
495-508 The aether / atmosphere
509-563 The motion of the stars and Earth
564-613 The size of the Sun and Moon
614-750 Motion of the Sun and Moon
751-779 Eclipses
780-836 When the Earth was young
NAM NEQVE DE CAELO CECIDISSE ANIMALIA POSSVNT (V:793) “Certainly living creatures cannot have dropped from heaven” (Smith)
… OMNIA MIGRANT (V:830) “…everything is in flux” (Smith)
837-854 Earth produced imperfect beings
855-877 Survival of the fittest
878-924 Animals belong to a single species
925-1010 Early humans
1011-1027 Origin of families and homes
Meleta:
Nathan notes: 1000-1288 in Book V use SEMINA explicitly refer to human male ejaculate fluid, thus, creating a fundamental poetic comparison between the generation of the Earth and the generation of a Child, both of which are composed of clumps of eternal matter that get entangled while falling through the void, both of which lead to inextricably vast complexity, coming from simple, primordial seeds.
1028-1090 Origin of language
1091-1104 Invention of fire
1105-1160 First towns founded
1161-1193 Origin of religion
1194-1240 The dangers of religion
1241-1286 Discovery of metalwork
1287-1349 How metals increased warfare; 1283-1296 anticipates Christian Jurgensen Thomsen’s “Three-Age System” of the “Stone” Age, “Bronze” Age, and “Iron” Age.
1350-1360 Fabrics for clothing
1361-1378 Farming
1379 … Singing and music
Meleta:
Naturalist Reasoning on Friendship
On the Intersection Between Science Fiction and Epicurean Philosophy
Better be a Subject and at Peace
Book VI
Lucretius continues giving natural explanations for natural phenomena that sometimes inspired fear-based beliefs in people. The final book includes the parable of the punctured jar, which illustrates the salvific power of philosophy. While some have argued that De rerum natura is an incomplete work, Michel Onfray calls our attention to the fact that the first book begins with a discussion of the creative powers of the Mother (nature), and the sixth and final book ends with a discussion of death.
1-42 In praise of Epicurus
43-95 Against fear-based belief
96-163 The nature of thunder
164-218 Sounds moves slower than sights; 164-166 both light and sound have finite speeds, and light moves more quickly than sound
219-238 Lightning fires
239-299 How lightning originates
300-322 Wind can carry fire
323-422 The nature of lightning
423-534 Waterspouts
535-607 The nature of earthquakes; (Nathan says: I think lines VI.587-588 explicitly refer to the earthquake/tsunami that destroyed Helike in 373 BCE “near Aegium on the Peloponnesian” side of the Gulf of Corinth.)
Meleta:
Happy Twentieth: Liber Sextvs, on Harmful Beliefs
Plate tectonics – Wikipedia
608-638 The nature of the ocean
639-711 The nature of volcanoes; (Nathan says: the eruption of Etna referred to in VI.641 seems to refer to the eruption in 122 BCE that destroyed the Sicilian city of Catania.)
712-737 The river Nile
738-768 Avernian lakes
OMNIA QUAE NATURALI RATIONE GERUNTUR (VI:762) “All these phenomena are produced by the operation of nature” (Smith)
769-839 Toxic substances
840-905 Water in wells
906-1089 The nature of magnets
1090-1137 The nature of diseases
1138 … The plague in Athens; (Nathan adds context: the Plague of Athens (430 BCE) killed 25% of the population, between 75,000 and 100,000)
Additional Notes
List of literary figures who allude to or have adopted or been influenced by DRN directly (thank you, Nathan!):
Bacon, Bergson, Botticelli, Chaucer, Deleuze, Descartes, Diderot, Dryden, E. Darwin, Freud, Frederick II, Galileo, Gassendi, Goethe, Thomas Gray, Holbach, Hobbes, Horace, Hume, Jefferson, Kant, Locke, La Mettrie, Lord Byron, Marx, Melville, Milton, Machiavelli, Nietzsche, Newton, Pope, Rousseau, Shakespeare, Shelley, Spenser, Spinoza, Santayana, Tennyson, Virgil, Whitman, Wordsworth
Meleta:
The Method of Multiple Explanations
Lucretius’ Apocalyptic Imagination, by Alessandro Schiesaro
Essays and Books on Lucretius:
The Epicureanism of Lucretius – Tim O’Keefe
Metaphor and Argumentation in Lucretius – Matthew Johncock
Predicting Modern Science: Epicurus vs. Mohammed
