Difference between revisions of "Lucretius" - New World Encyclopedia

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[[Image:Lucretius.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Lucretius]]
 
[[Image:Lucretius.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Lucretius]]
  
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'''Titus Lucretius Carus''' (ca. [[99 BC]]-[[55 BC]]) was a [[Roman Republic|Roman]] [[poet]] and [[philosopher]]. His only work that we know of is ''De Rerum Natura'', ''[[On the Nature of Things]]'', which is considered by some to be the greatest masterpiece of Latin verse - deeper than any other poet; more moving, imaginative than any other philosopher. Stylistically however, most scholars attribute the full blossoming of Latin [[hexameter]] to [[Virgil]]. The ''De Rerum Natura'' however, is of indisputable importance for its influence on Virgil and other later poetry. The main purpose of the work was to free men's minds of [[superstition]] and [[fear]] of [[death]].  
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'''Titus Lucretius Carus''' (c. 99 b.c.e. - 55 b.c.e.) was a [[Roman literature|Roman poet]] and Epicurean philosopher. During the first century B.C.E. he wrote ''De Rerum Natura, On the Nature of Things'', a masterpiece of Latin verse which sets out in careful detail the [[Epicureanism|Epicurean]] worldview.  Beginning with a tribute to [[Epicurus]], the six books of ''De Rerum Natura'' provide a full explanation of the physical origin, structure and destiny of the universe. The work includes theories of [[atomic structure]] and of the [[evolution]] of life forms.  The work is intended to free the reader from the two types of mental anguish which Epicurus identified as obstacles to human happiness: fear of the gods and fear of death. Lucretius does this by expounding the philosophical system of Epicurus, clothed, as he says, in sweet verse to make it more palatable. 
  
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It achieves this through expounding the philosophical system of [[Epicurus]], whom Lucretius immortalizes. Lucretius identifies superstition with the notion that the gods created our world or interfere with its operations in any way. Fear of such gods is banished by showing that the operations of the world can be accounted for entirely in terms of the purposeless motions of atoms through empty space, instead of in terms of the will of the gods. The fear of death is banished by showing that death is annihilation, and so, as a simple state of nothingness, death can be neither good nor bad. Lucretius also puts forward the 'symmetry argument' against the fear of death. In it, he says that people who fear the prospect of eternal non-existence after death should think back to the eternity of non-existence before their birth, which really wasn't so bad after all.
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''De Rerum Natura'' was an important influence on [[Virgil]] and later Roman poets. The [[early Christianity|early Christians]] frowned on ''De Rerum Natura'' because it denied both the [[afterlife]] and  [[divine intervention]] in human affairs, but during the [[Renaissance]] the work emerged as a source of inspiration for numerous scholars, scientists and philosophers. It is also a valuable source for understanding the details of the Epicurean philosophical system, since many of the written works of the early Epicureans no longer exist except as fragments.
  
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Lucretius compares his work as a poet to that of a doctor. Just as a doctor may put honey on the rim of a cup containing bitter but healing medicine, so too Lucretius cloaks hard philosophical truths in sweet verse to make them go down more easily.  ''De Rerum Natura''  faithfully transmits Epicurean [[physics]] and [[psychology]]. Lucretius was one of the first [[Epicurean]]s to write in [[Latin]].
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== Life ==
 +
Very little is known about Lucretius' life; the information we have comes  from occasional references to him in the works of later writers, and from what can be understood from his writings about his character, attitude and experiences.  [[St. Jerome]], in the ''Chronica Eusebia'', mentions Lucretius and says that he died at the age of forty-four. [[Aelius Donatus]], in his ''Life of Virgil'', while stating that Virgil assumed the ''toga virilis'' on October 15, 55 B.C.E., adds "it happened on that very day Lucretius the poet died."  If these two sources are accurate, Lucretius would have been born in 99 b.c.e..  [[Cicero]] (106- 43 B.C.E..e.) implies in one of his letters to his brother that they had once read Lucretius' poem.
  
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We know very little about Lucretius' life; one source of information (generally considered unreliable) is St. [[Jerome]], who mentions Lucretius in the ''[[Chronica Eusebia]]''. According to Jerome, Lucretius was born in [[94 B.C.E.]], and died at the age of 44. He claims that Lucretius was driven mad by a love-[[philtre]] and that the work was written during the intervals of his insanity, before he killed himself. These claims about Lucretius' life have been discredited for three main reasons: firstly, the Epicurean [[philosophy]] expounded by Lucretius sets great store on reason and discourages romantic attachments; secondly,  it would have been exceedingly difficult for Lucretius to compose a sustained poetic masterpiece if were raving mad most of the time; and finally, it seems likely that Jerome, as one of the early [[church father]]s, would have wanted to discredit Lucretius's philosophy, which includes disbelief in any kind of life after death and in any [[god|divinity]] concerned with man's welfare.
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From his name, Lucretius, it is generally assumed that the poet was associated with the aristocratic clan of the Lucretii, either a family member of a freedman or slave attached to that family. As a poet and an educated intellectual it is clear that Lucretius came from a privileged background.  The only certain facts of Lucretius' life are that he was either a friend or a client of Gaius Memmius, to whom he dedicated his poem ''On the Nature of Things (De Rerum Natura''), and that he died before the poem was finished. (Gaius Memmius was a Roman patrician who was at one time married to [[Sulla]]'s daughter, Fausta. He was involved in a political scandal in 54 B.C.E. and exiled to [[Athens]] in 52 B.C.E.). According to literary tradition Lucretius had a wife, Lucilla, but there is no evidence, except for a brief mention in his poem of marital discord and a reference to "our Roman wives" (4. 1277), that he was ever married.
  
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[[Cicero]] implies in one of his letters to his brother that they had once read Lucretius' poem. This is the last mention of Lucretius until [[Aelius Donatus]], in his ''Life'' of Virgil, while stating that Virgil assumed the ''[[toga virilis]]'' on [[October 15]], [[55 B.C.E.]], adds "it happened on that very day Lucretius the poet died." If Jerome is accurate about Lucretius' age (44) when he died, then based on other evidence that confirms [[55 B.C.E.]] as Lucretius' year of death we can then conclude he was born in [[99 B.C.E.]]. Also, the work has several allusions to the tumultuous state of political affairs in [[Rome]] and its [[Roman Civil War|civil strife]].  
+
It is clear from his poem, ''De Rerum Natura'', that Lucretius was a serious student of science and philosophy and a keen observer of natural phenomena. The poem is full of images and descriptions of plants, animals and landscapes which reveal a sensitivity to the beauty of nature and the change of the seasons. Like Epicurus himself, Lucetius obviously preferred to distance himself from political strife and live surrounded by nature.
  
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However, the only certain fact of Lucretius' life is that he was either a friend or a [[client]] of [[Gaius Memmius (Poet)|Gaius Memmius]], to whom he dedicated his poem ''[[On the Nature of Things]]'' (''De Rerum Natura''). This poem is also unfinished, although Jerome says that Cicero "amended" it — which may mean he edited it for its eventual publication.
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A fourth century chronicle history by St. Jerome contains the following item regarding the death of Lucretius :
 +
94 [sic] BC. . . ''The poet Titus Lucretius is born. He was later driven mad by a love philtre and, having composed between bouts of insanity several books (which Cicero afterward corrected), committed suicide at the age of 44.''
  
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Lucretius attempts in this poem to present a total [[Epicurus|Epicurean]] [[worldview]]. Ranging from the nature of [[matter]] to [[sex]], [[politics]], and [[death]], the poem is [[encyclopedic]], and is considered one of the masterpieces of [[Latin literature|Latin verse]].   
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Scholars discredit this story for several reasons.  ''De Rerum Natura'' contains a two-hundred-line denunciation of sexual love; it seems improbable that a person so aligned with Epicurean principles of [[moderation]] and self-control would have fallen victim to a love potion.  It is also unlikely that someone suffering from mental illness would have been able to produce such a lucid and sophisticated work of poetry.  Finally, St. Jerome and the early Christians were motivated to discredit Epicureans as being [[atheism|atheists]]; it is thought that their works may even have been deliberately destroyed by the early Christian church.
 +
 
 +
== Political Background ==
 +
The first century B.C.E. was a time of political turmoil and violence which threatened the stability of the [[Roman Empire]].  The [[Social War]] (91-88 B.C.E.) between Rome and her Italian allies was followed by a [[Civil War]] instigated by Lucius Cornelius Sulla.  Sulla became dictator in 82 B.C.E. and executed more than 4,000 Roman citizens.  In 71 B.C.E..e. the slave revolt led by [[Spartacus]] resulted in the crucifixion of 6,000 rebels.  [[Catiline]] was defeated and killed in 62 b.c.e.. Roman intellectuals were stimulated to seek solutions to the disparity between ideal concepts of government and the reality of corruption, violence and injustice. This brought about a resurgence of interest in Epicureanism and in [[Stoicism]].
 +
 
 +
== ''De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things)'' ==
 +
The two most authoritative manuscripts of ''De Rerum Natura'' are the O and Q codices in Leiden, both dating from the 9th century.  Scholars have recently deciphered a manuscript on papyrus scrolls, possibly dating to the 1st century C.E., which was recovered from a library in [[Herculaneum]] that had been buried by a volcanic eruption.  All other existing manuscripts date from the 15th and 16th centuries and are based on a manuscript (now lost) discovered in a monastery in 1417 by Poggio Bracciolini, an Italian humanist.
 +
 +
''De Rerum Natura'' has been a continuing influence on the work of a number of epic poets, including [[Virgil]], [[Milton]], [[Whitman]] and [[Wordsworth]].  The sustained energy of Lucretius' writing is unparalleled in Latin literature, with the possible exception of parts of [[Tacitus]]'s ''Annals'', or perhaps ''Books II and IV'' of the ''Aeneid''.  His use of the [[hexameter]] is very individualistic and ruggedly distinct from the smooth urbanity of Virgil or [[Ovid]]. His use of [[heterodynes]], [[assonance]], and oddly [[syncopation|syncopated]] Latin forms create a harsh acoustic.  Lucretius laments several times that Latin is not as well suited as Greek for the expression of philosophical ideas.
 +
 
 +
''De Rerum Natura'' is organized into six books, designed to lay out a complex philosophical argument in such a way as to make it understandable and logically compelling.  Lucretius compares his work as a poet to that of a doctor. Just as a doctor may put honey on the rim of a cup containing bitter but healing medicine, Lucretius cloaks hard philosophical truths in sweet verse to make them go down more easily.  At the same time, he is careful not to let his literary devices overshadow the philosophical truths he is seeking to convey.
 +
 
 +
*''Book 1'' begins with an invocation to Venus.  Lucretius identifies Venus with Love, the unifying force of Empedocles, and also as the patron and mother of the Roman people.  He then sets forth the major principles of Epicurean cosmology and physics: atomism, infinity of the universe, and the division of existence into matter and void.
 +
*''Book 2'' celebrates philosophy as a sanctuary from the turmoil of the world, contains an explanation of atomic motion and shapes, and explains that atoms do not have secondary attributes such as color and smell.
 +
*''Book 3'' opens with a tribute to Epicurus and goes on to alleviate fear of death by proving that the mind and soul are both material and mortal.  "''Nil igitur mors est ad nos''. . ." ("Therefore death is nothing to us.”)
 +
*''Book 4'' contains verses on the art of [[didactic]] poetry and an explanation of Epicurus' [[theory of vision]] and sensation. The conclusion is one of Lucretius' greatest passages of verse, analyzing the biology and psychology of sexual love.
 +
*''Book 5'' is devoted to Epicurean [[cosmology]] and [[sociology]].  Lucretius talks about the stages of life on earth, and the origin and development of civilization.  This book includes a famous [[evolution|evolutionary theory]] on the development and extinction of life forms.
 +
*''Book 6'' contains some of Lucretius' greatest poetry.  Lucretius explains [[meteorology|meteorological]] and [[geology|geologic phenomena]] and includes vivid descriptions of thunderstorms, lightning, and volcanic eruptions. The poem ends with the story of the great plague of Athens (430 B.C.E.), and is obviously unfinished.
 +
 
 +
== Influence on Philosophy and Science ==
 +
Lucretius makes it clear that he intends his work to be an exposition of the philosophy of Epicurus.  He is credited with clarifying and giving substance and depth to the original worldview suggested by Epicurus.  Most of the original works of the early Epicureans were lost, and with them, many details of their cosmology.  The remaining fragments of their work only offer clues to their thought, but ''De Rerum Natura'' lays out a profound explanation of the ideas of Epicurus and offers proofs and examples from the natural world.  Lucretius is responsible for preserving and transmitting Epicureanism as a viable system of thought.  The ideas on evolution advanced in the last book were a unique contribution of his own.
 +
 
 +
In his poem, Lucretius avoids [[supernatural]] explanations of natural phenomena and seeks instead to discover scientific laws and processes.  In some instances, his adherence to certain Epicurean principles, such as the validity of our sensory perceptions leads him to some unrealistic conclusions, such as that the moon is actually a small disk exactly the size that it appears to be to the naked eye. 
 +
 
 +
By the end of the first century C.E., ''De Rerum Natura'' was rarely read and Lucretius was almost unknown.  The recovery of his lost manuscript during the 15th century provided a stimulus to the Renaissance scientists and philosophers of the 16th and 17th centuries.  The Greek concept of [[atomism]] and the idea of the universe as an integrated whole contributed to the development of modern scientific theory.  Lucretius’ influence on early modern philosophy can be seen in the work of [[Pierre Gassendi]] (1592-1655).
 +
 
 +
''Pleasant it is, when over the great sea the winds shake the waters,
 +
To gaze down from shore on the trials of others;
 +
Not because seeing other people struggle is sweet to us,
 +
But because the fact that we ourselves are free from such ills strikes us as pleasant.
 +
Pleasant it is also to behold great armies battling on a plain,
 +
When we ourselves have no part in their peril.
 +
But nothing is sweeter than to occupy a lofty sanctuary of the mind,
 +
Well fortified with the teachings of the wise,
 +
Where we may look down on others as they stumble along,
 +
Vainly searching for the true path of life. . . .'' (2. 1-10)
  
−
His use of the [[hexameter]] is very individualistic and ruggedly distinct from the smooth urbanity of [[Virgil]] or [[Ovid]]. His use of [[heterodyne]]s, [[assonance]], and oddly [[syncopated]] Latin forms create a harsh acoustic. The sustained energy of Lucretius' writing is unparallelled in Latin literature, with the possible exception of parts of [[Tacitus]]'s ''[[Annals (Tacitus)|Annals]]'', or perhaps Books II and IV of the [[Aeneid]].
 
  
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
Line 27: Line 63:
 
==References==
 
==References==
 
*''On the Nature of Things'', (1951 verse translation by R. E. Latham), introduction and notes by John Godwin, Penguin revised edition 1994, ISBN 0140446109
 
*''On the Nature of Things'', (1951 verse translation by R. E. Latham), introduction and notes by John Godwin, Penguin revised edition 1994, ISBN 0140446109
−
*Lucretius (1971). ''De Rerum Natura Book III''. (Latin version of Book III only– 37 pp., with extensive commentary by E. J. Kenney– 171 pp.), Cambridge University Press corrected reprint 1984. ISBN 0521291771
+
*Lucretius (1971). ''De Rerum Natura Book III''. (Latin version of Book III only– 37 pp., with extensive commentary by E. J. Kenney– 171 pp.), Cambridge University Press corrected reprint 1984. ISBN 0521291771
  
 
[[Category:Roman era philosophers]]
 
[[Category:Roman era philosophers]]

Revision as of 18:56, 24 June 2006

Lucretius

Titus Lucretius Carus (c. 99 B.C.E. - 55 B.C.E.) was a Roman poet and Epicurean philosopher. During the first century B.C.E. he wrote De Rerum Natura, On the Nature of Things, a masterpiece of Latin verse which sets out in careful detail the Epicurean worldview. Beginning with a tribute to Epicurus, the six books of De Rerum Natura provide a full explanation of the physical origin, structure and destiny of the universe. The work includes theories of atomic structure and of the evolution of life forms. The work is intended to free the reader from the two types of mental anguish which Epicurus identified as obstacles to human happiness: fear of the gods and fear of death. Lucretius does this by expounding the philosophical system of Epicurus, clothed, as he says, in sweet verse to make it more palatable.

De Rerum Natura was an important influence on Virgil and later Roman poets. The early Christians frowned on De Rerum Natura because it denied both the afterlife and divine intervention in human affairs, but during the Renaissance the work emerged as a source of inspiration for numerous scholars, scientists and philosophers. It is also a valuable source for understanding the details of the Epicurean philosophical system, since many of the written works of the early Epicureans no longer exist except as fragments.

Life

Very little is known about Lucretius' life; the information we have comes from occasional references to him in the works of later writers, and from what can be understood from his writings about his character, attitude and experiences. St. Jerome, in the Chronica Eusebia, mentions Lucretius and says that he died at the age of forty-four. Aelius Donatus, in his Life of Virgil, while stating that Virgil assumed the toga virilis on October 15, 55 B.C.E., adds "it happened on that very day Lucretius the poet died." If these two sources are accurate, Lucretius would have been born in 99 b.c.e.. Cicero (106- 43 B.C.E.) implies in one of his letters to his brother that they had once read Lucretius' poem.

From his name, Lucretius, it is generally assumed that the poet was associated with the aristocratic clan of the Lucretii, either a family member of a freedman or slave attached to that family. As a poet and an educated intellectual it is clear that Lucretius came from a privileged background. The only certain facts of Lucretius' life are that he was either a friend or a client of Gaius Memmius, to whom he dedicated his poem On the Nature of Things (De Rerum Natura), and that he died before the poem was finished. (Gaius Memmius was a Roman patrician who was at one time married to Sulla's daughter, Fausta. He was involved in a political scandal in 54 B.C.E. and exiled to Athens in 52 B.C.E.). According to literary tradition Lucretius had a wife, Lucilla, but there is no evidence, except for a brief mention in his poem of marital discord and a reference to "our Roman wives" (4. 1277), that he was ever married.

It is clear from his poem, De Rerum Natura, that Lucretius was a serious student of science and philosophy and a keen observer of natural phenomena. The poem is full of images and descriptions of plants, animals and landscapes which reveal a sensitivity to the beauty of nature and the change of the seasons. Like Epicurus himself, Lucetius obviously preferred to distance himself from political strife and live surrounded by nature.

A fourth century chronicle history by St. Jerome contains the following item regarding the death of Lucretius : 94 [sic] BC. . . The poet Titus Lucretius is born. He was later driven mad by a love philtre and, having composed between bouts of insanity several books (which Cicero afterward corrected), committed suicide at the age of 44.

Scholars discredit this story for several reasons. De Rerum Natura contains a two-hundred-line denunciation of sexual love; it seems improbable that a person so aligned with Epicurean principles of moderation and self-control would have fallen victim to a love potion. It is also unlikely that someone suffering from mental illness would have been able to produce such a lucid and sophisticated work of poetry. Finally, St. Jerome and the early Christians were motivated to discredit Epicureans as being atheists; it is thought that their works may even have been deliberately destroyed by the early Christian church.

Political Background

The first century B.C.E. was a time of political turmoil and violence which threatened the stability of the Roman Empire. The Social War (91-88 B.C.E.) between Rome and her Italian allies was followed by a Civil War instigated by Lucius Cornelius Sulla. Sulla became dictator in 82 B.C.E. and executed more than 4,000 Roman citizens. In 71 B.C.E. the slave revolt led by Spartacus resulted in the crucifixion of 6,000 rebels. Catiline was defeated and killed in 62 b.c.e.. Roman intellectuals were stimulated to seek solutions to the disparity between ideal concepts of government and the reality of corruption, violence and injustice. This brought about a resurgence of interest in Epicureanism and in Stoicism.

De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things)

The two most authoritative manuscripts of De Rerum Natura are the O and Q codices in Leiden, both dating from the 9th century. Scholars have recently deciphered a manuscript on papyrus scrolls, possibly dating to the 1st century C.E., which was recovered from a library in Herculaneum that had been buried by a volcanic eruption. All other existing manuscripts date from the 15th and 16th centuries and are based on a manuscript (now lost) discovered in a monastery in 1417 by Poggio Bracciolini, an Italian humanist.

De Rerum Natura has been a continuing influence on the work of a number of epic poets, including Virgil, Milton, Whitman and Wordsworth. The sustained energy of Lucretius' writing is unparalleled in Latin literature, with the possible exception of parts of Tacitus's Annals, or perhaps Books II and IV of the Aeneid. His use of the hexameter is very individualistic and ruggedly distinct from the smooth urbanity of Virgil or Ovid. His use of heterodynes, assonance, and oddly syncopated Latin forms create a harsh acoustic. Lucretius laments several times that Latin is not as well suited as Greek for the expression of philosophical ideas.

De Rerum Natura is organized into six books, designed to lay out a complex philosophical argument in such a way as to make it understandable and logically compelling. Lucretius compares his work as a poet to that of a doctor. Just as a doctor may put honey on the rim of a cup containing bitter but healing medicine, Lucretius cloaks hard philosophical truths in sweet verse to make them go down more easily. At the same time, he is careful not to let his literary devices overshadow the philosophical truths he is seeking to convey.

  • Book 1 begins with an invocation to Venus. Lucretius identifies Venus with Love, the unifying force of Empedocles, and also as the patron and mother of the Roman people. He then sets forth the major principles of Epicurean cosmology and physics: atomism, infinity of the universe, and the division of existence into matter and void.
  • Book 2 celebrates philosophy as a sanctuary from the turmoil of the world, contains an explanation of atomic motion and shapes, and explains that atoms do not have secondary attributes such as color and smell.
  • Book 3 opens with a tribute to Epicurus and goes on to alleviate fear of death by proving that the mind and soul are both material and mortal. "Nil igitur mors est ad nos. . ." ("Therefore death is nothing to us.”)
  • Book 4 contains verses on the art of didactic poetry and an explanation of Epicurus' theory of vision and sensation. The conclusion is one of Lucretius' greatest passages of verse, analyzing the biology and psychology of sexual love.
  • Book 5 is devoted to Epicurean cosmology and sociology. Lucretius talks about the stages of life on earth, and the origin and development of civilization. This book includes a famous evolutionary theory on the development and extinction of life forms.
  • Book 6 contains some of Lucretius' greatest poetry. Lucretius explains meteorological and geologic phenomena and includes vivid descriptions of thunderstorms, lightning, and volcanic eruptions. The poem ends with the story of the great plague of Athens (430 B.C.E.), and is obviously unfinished.

Influence on Philosophy and Science

Lucretius makes it clear that he intends his work to be an exposition of the philosophy of Epicurus. He is credited with clarifying and giving substance and depth to the original worldview suggested by Epicurus. Most of the original works of the early Epicureans were lost, and with them, many details of their cosmology. The remaining fragments of their work only offer clues to their thought, but De Rerum Natura lays out a profound explanation of the ideas of Epicurus and offers proofs and examples from the natural world. Lucretius is responsible for preserving and transmitting Epicureanism as a viable system of thought. The ideas on evolution advanced in the last book were a unique contribution of his own.

In his poem, Lucretius avoids supernatural explanations of natural phenomena and seeks instead to discover scientific laws and processes. In some instances, his adherence to certain Epicurean principles, such as the validity of our sensory perceptions leads him to some unrealistic conclusions, such as that the moon is actually a small disk exactly the size that it appears to be to the naked eye.

By the end of the first century C.E., De Rerum Natura was rarely read and Lucretius was almost unknown. The recovery of his lost manuscript during the 15th century provided a stimulus to the Renaissance scientists and philosophers of the 16th and 17th centuries. The Greek concept of atomism and the idea of the universe as an integrated whole contributed to the development of modern scientific theory. Lucretius’ influence on early modern philosophy can be seen in the work of Pierre Gassendi (1592-1655).

Pleasant it is, when over the great sea the winds shake the waters, To gaze down from shore on the trials of others; Not because seeing other people struggle is sweet to us, But because the fact that we ourselves are free from such ills strikes us as pleasant. Pleasant it is also to behold great armies battling on a plain, When we ourselves have no part in their peril. But nothing is sweeter than to occupy a lofty sanctuary of the mind, Well fortified with the teachings of the wise, Where we may look down on others as they stumble along, Vainly searching for the true path of life. . . . (2. 1-10)


External links

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References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • On the Nature of Things, (1951 verse translation by R. E. Latham), introduction and notes by John Godwin, Penguin revised edition 1994, ISBN 0140446109
  • Lucretius (1971). De Rerum Natura Book III. (Latin version of Book III only– 37 pp., with extensive commentary by E. J. Kenney– 171 pp.), Cambridge University Press corrected reprint 1984. ISBN 0521291771


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