Lucretius
Who is Lucretius
Titus Lucretius Carus ( TY-təs loo-KREE-shəs, Latin: [ˈtɪ.tʊz lʊˈkreː.tɪ.ʊs ˈkaː.rʊs]; c. 99 – c. 55 BC) was a Roman poet and philosopher. His only known work is the philosophical poem De rerum natura, a didactic work about the tenets and philosophy of Epicureanism, and which usually is translated into English as On the Nature of Things and somewhat less often as On the nature of the universe. Lucretius has been credited with originating the concept of the three-age system that was formalised in 1836 by C. J. Thomsen.
Very little is known about Lucretius's life; the only certainty is that he was either a friend or client of Gaius Memmius, to whom the poem was addressed and dedicated.De rerum natura was a considerable influence on the Augustan poets, particularl...
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Lucretius Poems
- Book Ii - Part 02 - Atomic Motions
Now come: I will untangle for thy steps
Now by what motions the begetting bodies
Of the world-stuff beget the varied world,
And then forever resolve it when begot,
...
- Book Vi - Part 02 - Great Meteorological Phenomena, Etc
And so in first place, then
With thunder are shaken the blue deeps of heaven,
Because the ethereal clouds, scudding aloft,
Together clash, what time 'gainst one another
...
- Book Iii - Part 03 - The Soul Is Mortal
Now come: that thou mayst able be to know
That minds and the light souls of all that live
Have mortal birth and death, I will go on
Verses to build meet for thy rule of life,
...
- Book Iv - Part 02 - Existence And Character Of The Images
But since I've taught already of what sort
The seeds of all things are, and how distinct
In divers forms they flit of own accord,
Stirred with a motion everlasting on,
...
- Book I - Part 06 - Confutation Of Other Philosophers
And on such grounds it is that those who held
The stuff of things is fire, and out of fire
Alone the cosmic sum is formed, are seen
Mightily from true reason to have lapsed.
...
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Lucretius Quotes
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Comments about Lucretius
- Newepicurean: episode 167 of the lucretius today podcast is now available! this week we finish chapter 9 of the dewitt book and discuss issues involving motion.
- John_attridge: me: what is the origin of the word "figure"?
auerbach: it comes from the latin "figura" meaning a 3d shape
me: got it thanks
a: it often translated the greek "schema"
me: ok that'll do
a: its semantic history is complex
me: shhhhh
a: in lucretius
me (fingers in ears): lalalalala
- Ptsdboy: oh what you discover while reading lucretius…
- Crimaiota: "what is food to one, is to others bitter poison."（lucretius）（s1e13）
- Cutterstreeby: stephen barile
ancient campfires
“everything has a fixed mother.” lucretius
outside beyond the back porch
and ringer-washer, up the hill
where the tent-cabins and outhouse stood
for many seasons, a steep climb
among
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