Happy M’Eikas, m’friends!

In honor of this May Eikas, and in the name of Epíkouros, I have produced a new translation of Book 10 of Diogénēs Laértios’ Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, and published it digitally. Each section has been organized at TWENTIERS.COM. Enjoy it here!

I have also uploaded a static version to this post: The Life of Epíkouros.

This translation was produced as a point of personal study and spiritual devotion. It will dually serve as a basis upon which future editions of The Hedonicon can be developed.

As I write in the introduction of the publication: “Diógénēs Laértios composed this biography over 500 years after the death of Epikouros, so the texts preserves multiple literary voices. While Diógénēs’ words are passive and encyclopedaeic, the Gargettian writes with much more color and enthusiasm. Although Epíkouros dismisses ‘unwisely inflecting’ upon the activity of formal poetry, his analogical reasoning relies upon vivid examples that require clear, poetic insight. As Aristophanes the grammarian charges, Epikouros writes with a unique style, characterized by practical metaphors, parallelisms, allusions, humor, and affection.

Epíkouros’ voice is characterized by his friendly demeanor. The receipients of his letters were dear friends and devoted students; his tone accomodates each delivery. To sensitive Menoikeús, he provides sweet words of encouragement and endearing guidance. With inquisitive Pythoklḗs, he shares colorful language and memorable analogies (“thunderbolts” as “atmospheric diarrhea”). To skeptical Hērodótos, he produces a critical methodology that would challenge an otherwise unserious mind. Far from the stereotype of a sterile sage, Epíkouros was personable and quirky.

As with any author, the Hegemon exhibits a variety of rhetorical preferences. He has favorite phrases (refering to reality as “The All” or “The Real”, and to thinking as a “creative casting of the mind“). He has favorite metaphors (that the fabric of reality is made of “seeds“), favorite analogies (as felt is to wool, so moisture is to clouds), and preferred antagonists (the astrologers above all). Much of this flavor risks being lost without delving into the mines of the mind to unearth new treasures.

For instance, consider the ways in which Epíkouros refers to the fundmental units of physical matter, as being “uncuttable“, “unchangeable“, “eternal“, “endless“, “strong“, “swift“, “motes“, “morsels“, “hooklets“, “grains“, “pieces“, and “cents“, among other metaphors. Nowhere does does he simply name them “atoms” as do we; he only flirts with this employment in referring to them as “atomic”. This author maintains that students and scholars alike are robbing themselves of beautiful opportunities to re-invigorate the language by deconstructing overused phrases (such as “atoms“).

Consider further the Epicurean taxonomy of outer space and his treatment of the “activities above are head”: meteoric phenoemna is characterized by spectacular illuminations. Those spectacles are called “glowers”. Most “glowers” follow the “primordial flow” of the “cosmic whirlpool”. Those that do not are “wanderers”. Some are shaggy, with dynamic “feathers” so-called “long-haired”. Some descend through the sky and we call them “falling”. The conventions of “astronomy”, “stars”, “planets”, “comets”, and “meteors”, while compatible, fail to capture the nuance of this poetry.

Likewise, words that carry the weight of contemporary jargon have been avoided, if not omitted completely. What would otherwise be translated as “universe” is here translated as “The All” or “the Heavens”, and what would otherwise be translated as “weight” or “mass” is here translated as “burden“. Epíkouros’ insight is valuable, not simply because it anticipated contemporary discoveries, but because it stands on its own as a coherent, rational system that was developed upon the method of empiricism, and thus, is compatible with empirical discoveries made now and forward.

Further deconstructing the modern lexicon helps reinforce the realities of Epíkouros’ context, realities like the abundance of barley bread over wheat bread, antiquated treatments for kidney stones, mild Winters, speculations about humans living in the Arctic, and general astonishment over the phenomena of lightning (perhaps equivalent to our fascination with black holes). Many times, Epíkouros presents poignont responses to specific propositions made by his opponents, albeit Empedoklḗs’ hypothesis on optics, Aristotélēs’ hypothesis about the propogation of light, Theóphrastos’ conclusions about natural signs, or the Stoics’ propositions about the windy soul.

To animate Epíkouros’ analogies, I make ample use of cossonance, aliteration, and take liberties in generating necessary neologisms. You can expect mellifluous constructions, colorful choices, and as contextually-appropriate as I can recreate. Otherwise, please forgive my aesthetic preferences: “amalgamation” feels good in my mouth, but “accumulation” gets like a cough in my throat. I wield punctuation with wrecklass abandon hoping that I do so for the greater good. I attempt to restore the names of people and places according the their original expressions (all C’s have been restored to their former glory as Kappas.) As a tool for study, I try to use the consistent English expressions for the same ancient Greek words. For the sake of recognition, colors have been very-loosely assigned to various concepts and categories, including the qualities of fundamental particles, the virtues, the goals of life, images of light, and key terms in general. In my own study, I have found that color helps the eye find orientation and serves as a mnemonic marker. I hope that it helps your study, as well.

All [bracketed words] indicate either implied [nouns], or else, they are my additions [intended to improve the fluidity of the statments, carrying the tone of Modern American English vernacular, as well as provide brief historical anecdotes to contextualize some of the propositions].

This structure of this translation builds upon organizational choices made by Robert Drew Hicks (1925) and Stephen White (2021), who illuminate some of the linguistic shadows that have overtaken other works. Besides these points, readers may be pleased to find an interactive copy of this work through https://www.twentiers.com/biography/ where refinements will continue to be affected. I hope you find this endeavor to be entertaining and instructive.”

Live fearlessly,
EIKADISTES
Keeper of Twentiers.com
Editor of the Hedonicon