Diogenes Laertius reports that Epicurus said that “a sage will set up votive images”, and Philodemus of Gadara–in his scroll On Piety–insisted that Epicurus was pious, citing many examples from his biography and practices, including how the house of the Hegemon was piously decorated for Eikas (the feast of the Twentieth) every month. Piety was part of his art of living (techne biou), of his technologies of the soul.

I asked others in our forum: “Why would Epicurus state this? What do you guys think of this?”, and here are some of the replies:

I’ve always understood it to be a normal part of ancient piety. – Michael

I think it’s not a whole lot different than how we put photographs of loved ones up on the mantle. A votive doesn’t have to be anything other than a reminder to ourselves (and the gods) of what’s important to us. – Jason

If it’s used as a way of focusing on people or ideas that mean a lot to the people involved, I can understand it. – Richard

I’ve seen other translations that say “he will erect statues” (of himself? His friends? The gods?) but will be “indifferent if he has any or not” … I guess a statue could be a votive image, but the passage is unclear. – Marcus

I wonder if this practice links to methods of passive recruitment as per the book The Sculpted Word. – Hiram

Possibly. Maybe also to give members a sense of identity, or maybe as placing before the eyes exercises? – Marcus

Piety itself seems to be psychologically and socially beneficial. I think I saw a quote from Nassim Nicholas Taleb once to the effect that the purpose of religious worship was to prevent one from thinking that they were a god. – Doug

Depends. In some cases, the goal may have been to approach the divine, or free the divine spark within us, as with the mystery religions. In the case of Epicurus, the goal was to “live as a god amongst men” and to “rival Zeus in happiness”. – Marcus

This discussion about the role of the gods made me think of how Epicurus ends his Epistle to Menoeceus, saying that we may live like gods among mortals, but with the condition that we must surround ourselves with immortal goods. What ARE these immortal goods (ἀθανάτοις ἀγαθοῖς) that appear in the ambience, in the environment, in the spaces occupied by someone who lives a blessed life? We know from Vatican Saying 78 that friends are among those goods, and we know (from Principal Doctrine 5) that Pleasure, Correctness, Prudence, and Justice are all necessary for a life lived pleasantly and correctly–so we must suppose these four qualities must be, somehow, tokenized, represented, or present in our environment. These votive icons may represent values or reminders of some of the immortal goods that are necessary for living a pleasant, wise, and correct life.

The Prolepsis of Numen

The rest of soul, throughout the body scattered, but obeys, moved by the nod and motion of the mind. – Liber Tertivs, 143-144

Here is the only instance of the term numen, or the numinous, in the entire work of De rerum natura. Let us consider the prolepsis of this term. The secular meaning of the word is “nod”. It is noteworthy that the numinous is used in the context of the movements of our own minds, rather than to refer to the gods or spirits, which are often the ones to receive the attributes of “the numinous” in the Latin language.

I do not believe this is accidental on the part of Lucretius, but very purposeful. I believe that Lucretius means to link the numinous to movements of the soul, the movement of assent in fact, of a nod: a yay-saying movement.

If we consider epoche–the suspension of belief proposed by Skeptics–as representing a suspension of assent, then numen (both as a nod, and more broadly as an act of yay-saying and of affirmation of some value or some authority) might have an anti-Skeptic / philosophically dogmatic connotation. The act of nodding is a bodily act of assent or affirmation (the making-firm of something), of creating, choosing, or acknowledging some value. Numen and “the numinous” are created as a motion of the mind within the body. There is nothing supernatural about the numinous in the pen of Lucretius.

If we think of the Gods poetically as non-supernatural or non-realist metaphors, we can still see how Gods may represent the values of the Enlightenment. Athena is philosophy, wisdom, prudence, and science. Hephaistos represents industry, craftiness, and inventiveness. Prometheus embodies progress, humanist values, and secularism. Hermes is the eloquent God of the market, of opportunity, communication, trade and exchange, etc. A nod to these personified principles (in the form of a votive image) might represent a recognition of their meaning and influence, and an affirmation of their values.

And so one possible utility of the votive images might involve a technique of active rejection of radical skepticism and cynicism concerning values by giving a nod to the values embodied by the chosen images.

The Prolepsis of Cvltvs

Another way to consider the importance of votive images is to think of the prolepsis of the words cultivation, culture, and cult. Lucretius (in the First Century BCE) hailed Epicurus as a savior and as a man-god in De Rervm Natvra. Historians report that people in the Greco-Roman world organized a cult to Epicurus as a culture hero, and also honored the other Founding Fathers of the School (Metrodorus, Hermarchus, and Polyaenus)–and even the Founding Mother Leontion, since we know that she wrote books and that there was at least one bust to her. If a disciple insulted or profaned the founders, Philodemus compared this behavior with “parricide” (murder of one’s parent). The Roman Empress Plotina hailed Epicurus as the “Savior” (Soter) of her soul. The ancient cvltvs seems to have some of the features that we today still associate with cults, but we must be careful not to project our modern values and perceptions.

As a Spanish speaker, I find it interesting that the word “cult” has such negative connotations in English. This is not a universal attitude, and probably speaks of a deep awareness of how harmful religion can get from our vantage point in history in the English-speaking world.

In Spanish (which has a greater degree of continuity with Latin than the English language does), the term “culto”–when used as an adjective–is used to refer to someone who is highly educated, someone who has cultivated themselves. If you say a gentleman is “culto” or a lady is “culta”, you’re saying that they are refined, that they have deep cultural expertise. Perhaps they speak many languages, have a high level of expertise in some field, or are able to appreciate or play certain types of musical instruments. According to dictionary.com

1610–20; Latin cultus habitation, tilling, refinement, worship, equivalent to cul-, variant stem of colere to inhabit, till, worship + -tus suffix of v. action

and according to Merriam-Webster

Cult, which shares an origin with culture and cultivate, comes from the Latin cultus, a noun with meanings ranging from “tilling, cultivation” to “training or education” to “adoration.” In English, cult has evolved a number of meanings following a fairly logical path. The earliest known uses of the word, recorded in the 17th century, broadly denoted “worship.” From here cult came to refer to a specific branch of a religion or the rites and practices of that branch, as in “the cult of Dionysus.” By the early 18th century, cult could refer to a non-religious admiration or devotion, such as to a person, idea, or fad (“the cult of success”). Finally, by the 19th century, the word came to be used of “a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious.”

When seen through the lens of the prolepsis of the word cvltvs, a cult to an ancestor or founding figure entails some form of self-cultivation, as well as the systematic cultivation of a particular set of skills, knowledge, arts, or character traits that were exemplified by the chosen moral example. For instance, in China, students who wish to excel in school honor the sage Confucius as a god of learning by bowing and offering incense. The cult of Confucius represents him as personifying education as a celebrated human value. To teach, encourage and practice the honoring of Confucius is to instill and to celebrate the value of education. This is a value which has given the Chinese community here in the US a good reputation as a model minority.

The honor paid to a wise man is itself a great good for those who honor him. – Epicurean Saying 32

When we honor a sage or ancestor by offering sacrifices and by praising, nourishing and celebrating their memory, we are recognizing, celebrating, nourishing and strengthening the part of our souls that is like them, and the values they represent in our own souls. In this way, we continue to be influenced by them.

Another definition of “culture” relates to biology (as in, a culture of bacteria that we would grow in a Petri dish):

to grow (microorganisms, tissues, etc.) in or on a controlled or defined medium.

If we apply the methods of the third stage of language evolution–where conventionally used words are re-appropriated for abstract or advanced concepts–, we see the great utility of a philosophical cult and culture, re-defined poetically in the Lucretian tradition. Celebrating and re-membering the Hegemon and Kathegemon at Eikas is as if we were taking the portions of our souls represented by Epicurus and Metrodorus, placing them in a Petri dish, and cultivating them (by celebrating them, by studying them, and also by continuing their conversations) so that they grow and become a culture. This prolepsis of culture insinuates a kind of inner alchemy in our psyche through the cultivation of philosophy.

Considering philosophy as an act of cultivation and tilling, in addition to involving labor, also implies harvesting the fruits of our cultivation. Human culture implies the production of art or of some other concrete cultural product (foods, clothing, songs, etc.), and this also relates to the prolepsis of colere when understood as tilling, which is defined as “to prepare and cultivate (land) for crops“. The activity of cultivation has an end, a harvest.

What cultural products are we harvesting as practitioners of Epicurean philosophy? In his sermon on moral development, Epicurus speaks of the mature moral character as “the developed product”. A refined character, of course, expresses itself concretely in friendly exchanges, clear and intelligent thinking, clear speech, and other concrete tokens and benefits. We also generate cultural expressions, artistic artifacts, and other products by the practice of philosophy.

Eikas is a memorial service to our founders. We know that the atoms in the bodies of Epicurus and Metrodorus dissipated, that they died, and cannot receive our praise or celebration. Therefore, a cvltvs to them does not concern the historical persons of the founders, except as a point of reference in history, and is more concerned with the philosophical descendants’ choice to purposefully and systematically cultivate certain traits and qualities with the intention of harvesting the corresponding fruits.

Conclusion

If votive images are a way to access the numinous (often associated with the divine, the sacred), the prolepsis of “numen” reminds us that a numen is a physical act of nodding or affirming–that there is nothing supernatural about the numinous. It’s just an act of saying yes, of assent. And if setting up votive images is a cultic act, the prolepsis of culture/cult (understood naturally, rather than supernaturally) reminds us that they’re about cultivating certain qualities and practices with the aim of harvesting some fruit or result.

This discussion is meant as a preamble to an upcoming essay about Eikas as it relates to ancestor reverence.