Recent Updates From Across EpicureanFriends.com
ALL CURRENT AND PROSPECTIVE PARTICIPANTS SHOULD READ THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT OF FORUM EDITORIAL POLICY: "Against Katastematic Supremacy - Pleasure Is A Unified Good, Not A House Divided Against Itself."
New Graphics: Are You On Team Epicurus? | Comparison Chart: Epicurus vs. Other Philosophies | Chart Of Key Epicurean Quotations | Accelerating Study Of Canonics Through Philodemus' "On Methods Of Inference" | Note to all users: If you have a problem posting in any forum, please message Cassius
Recent Activities
-
Pacatus
July 24, 2026 at 1:07 PM Reacted withReaction (Blog Article)
to the blog article Why Pleasure as a Unified Whole is the Telos in Classical Epicurean Philosophy.Why Pleasure as a Unified Whole is the Telos in Classical Epicurean Philosophy
Contemplations by Kalosyni
The correct understanding of Classical Epicurean philosophy begins with Epicurus's own declaration that pleasure is the telos, or ultimate goal,… -
Kalosyni
July 24, 2026 at 1:00 PM Wrote the blog article Why Pleasure as a Unified Whole is the Telos in Classical Epicurean Philosophy.Blog ArticleWhy Pleasure as a Unified Whole is the Telos in Classical Epicurean Philosophy
Contemplations by Kalosyni
The correct understanding of Classical Epicurean philosophy begins with Epicurus's own declaration that pleasure is the telos, or ultimate goal,… -
Cassius
July 24, 2026 at 11:18 AM Replied to the thread Epicurus And Homer's Odyssey.PostI know that PD06 has translation issues, but In this discussion of deception both it (especially in Bailey's preferred reading) and other statements about the result being what matters probably has a bearing on Epicurus' attitude toward deception and… -
Kalosyni
July 24, 2026 at 11:15 AM Posted the thread First Monday "Meet-and-Greet" Via Zoom- August 3, 2026 - 8pm ET.ThreadHi Everyone!
We are planning a New Member Meet-and-Greet Zoom, for Monday, August 3, 2026 - 8pm ET -- This Zoom meeting is open to registered members of the forum and new members who have fully completed their registration process.
EpicureanFriends.com… -
Cassius
July 24, 2026 at 11:10 AM Replied to the thread Epicurus And Homer's Odyssey.PostListening to the first part of that reminds me that PENELOPE is also using deception to put off the suitors - but of course only an extreme Stoic would fault her for that?
The role of deception here and how to evaluate it is clearly critical --- and I'd… -
Cassius
July 24, 2026 at 11:04 AM Replied to the thread Epicurus And Homer's Odyssey.Post[…]
That British accent really adds a lot - and the humor too! -
Lowri834
July 24, 2026 at 10:52 AM Replied to the thread Epicurus And Homer's Odyssey.PostIn case anyone wants some background on The Odyssey, also mentions the lying…
A fun half hour summary of The Odyssey.
Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics
Homer: The Odyssey
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001brj5
Also available on podcast apps -
Cassius
July 24, 2026 at 10:34 AM Replied to the thread Epicurus And Homer's Odyssey.PostThis below is going to be far from authoritative but the citations give a place to start answering the question: How did the ancient Greeks view Odysseus? Hero, or deceiver? Give me ancient quotations with citations to back up your answer.
(Hidden… -
Cassius
July 24, 2026 at 10:08 AM Replied to the thread Epicurus And Homer's Odyssey.Post[…]
Yes this is very fascinating to me and the reason that I've never been certain what is really going on here.
That gets at specifically the issues I want to know about:
Did the ANCIENT GREEKS see Odysseus as first and foremost a liar? Or did they approve… -
Bryan
July 24, 2026 at 10:01 AM Replied to the thread Epicurus And Homer's Odyssey.PostHomer’s Odysseus is, first and foremost, a liar. His truth is whatever benefits him.
Odysseus lies to Polyphemus by calling himself “Nobody,” to Athena with a false Cretan identity, to Eumaeus with an invented life story, to the suitors by posing as a… -
Cassius
July 24, 2026 at 7:46 AM Replied to the thread Epicurus And Homer's Odyssey.PostI have updated this thread title and added Youtube links (into post 1 above) to the TV Miniseries production starring Armand Assante, Isabella Rossellini, Vanessa Williams, and many others.
We can certainly discuss the differences between this and the new… -
Lowri834
Reaction (Blog Article)July 23, 2026 at 11:02 PM The Passage You've Seen a Thousand Times, and What It Actually Says
You have almost certainly seen this sentence before, even if you've never read a word of it: "Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum, quia dolor sit, amet, consectetur, adipisci… -
Cassius
PostJuly 23, 2026 at 1:18 PM Update On This Thread -- I have split this quotation and subsequent responses so we can focus on it with greater focus.
Clearly Diogenes Laertius and Torquatus make statements to the effect that "the wise man is always happy."
Nevertheless Epicurus did not… -
Julia
July 23, 2026 at 4:45 AM Reacted withReaction (Blog Article)
to the blog article Against Katastematic Supremacy - Pleasure Is A Unified Good, Not A House Divided Against Itself - INCLUDES FORUM EDITORIAL POLICY.The Current Establishment View - Which It Is the Editorial Policy Of EpicureanFriends.com to Reject
With only a few notable exceptions, practically every modern account of Epicurean ethics repeats the same claim: Epicurus divided pleasure into two… -
Aristos
July 22, 2026 at 1:15 PM Replied to the thread Welcome Aristos!.PostSince I am still unable to participate fully in the forum, I wanted to share a piece of secondary literature that I recently came across and have been actively reading these days. The author is Ivan Nišavić, a local scholar from my region, and the work… -
Cassius
July 22, 2026 at 10:58 AM Replied to the thread Metrodorus project.PostDehorting -- that's a new one for me, but traces right back to the latin as opposite of exhort - which isn't so archaic!
Dehorting is the present participle/gerund of the rare/archaic verb "dehort".MeaningTo dehort = to strongly advise against something,… -
TauPhi
July 22, 2026 at 10:52 AM Replied to the thread Metrodorus project.Post[…]
It's not. Please compare:
https://archive.org/details/plutar…2up?q=dehorting
[…]
I can't answer this conclusively. Here's what Parente has to say about this fragment:
It's the Sent. Vat. LI, clarified as a letter by the papyrus discovery; see VOGLIANO,… -
Cassius
July 22, 2026 at 6:47 AM Replied to the thread Metrodorus project.PostSo this is from Metrodorus and not Epicurus himself? Seems to me I hear this attributed to Epicurus so if it is not that is a misunderstanding that needs correcting.
TO PYTHOCLES:
Sent. Vat. LI (= Pap. Berol. 16369, col. II) [20]
You tell me that the… -
Cassius
July 22, 2026 at 6:44 AM Replied to the thread Philodemus' "On Anger" - General - Texts and Resources.PostFrom Tau Phi's collection of works of Metrodorus:
PHILODEMUS, On Anger, col. XLV [7]
In fact, Epicurus makes clear in his First Appellations both that the sage “will experience rage” and (will experience it) “in moderation,” and Metrodorus, if he… -
Cassius
July 22, 2026 at 6:37 AM Replied to the thread Metrodorus project.PostTau Phi I have a question here - is this "dehorting" a typo?
PLUTARCH, Against Colotes, 34, 1127 d [5]
If those who abolish laws, governments, and polices of men subvert
and destroy human life, and if Metrodorus and Epicurus do this, by
dehorting and… -
Cassius
July 22, 2026 at 6:21 AM Replied to the thread Key Citations - Nothing Is Supernatural - No Gods Over Nature.PostThe following quote from Tau Phi's recent collection of quotations by or about Metrodorus is relevant to this topic of whether all things that have a beginning must have an end. It's also relevant to DeWitt's point that for Epicurus the gods are not… -
Cassius
July 22, 2026 at 6:18 AM Replied to the thread Must All Things That Have A Beginning Have An End?.PostThe following quote from Tau Phi's recent collection of quotations by or about Metrodorus is relevant to this topic of whether all things that have a beginning must have an end. It's also relevant to DeWitt's point that for Epicurus the gods are not… -
Cassius
July 22, 2026 at 6:09 AM Replied to the thread Key Citations On Atoms, Void, and Emergence.PostFrom Tau Phi's recent collection on the works of Metrodorus I want to add this here under a list of quotes relevant to emergence.
It is pretty confusingly worded, or confusingly translated, or both, but it seems to me to be pretty clearly talking about a… -
Cassius
July 22, 2026 at 5:46 AM Replied to the thread Metrodorus project.PostHere is one of the many useful quotes here that we need to be able to find very often. Lately it seems like every mention of Epicurus is accompanied by the assertion that he lived on bread and water (they like to throw in ....and a little cheese) when… -
Cassius
July 21, 2026 at 9:49 PM Added the file The Life And Works of Metrodorus of Lampsacus.FileThe attached PDF contains 100 fragments related to Metrodorus' life and works. The document includes both ancient testimonia and extant fragments. It's divided into two sections: Life and Works. The first one focuses on Metrodorus' biography; the second… -
Cassius
July 21, 2026 at 9:45 PM Replied to the thread Metrodorus project.PostOutstanding Tau Phi thank you! I'm setting this up in the files section now and will post the link below.
The Life And Works of Metrodorus of Lampsacus -
Cassius
PostJuly 21, 2026 at 9:42 PM […]
I have no problem at all with anything that you wrote as being consistent with the policy. As you state in your last paragraph it is difficult and controversial to decide which pleasures are actially kinetic and katastematic in the first place. On… -
TauPhi
July 21, 2026 at 8:29 PM Posted the thread Metrodorus project.ThreadThis is going to be a longer post, so here's a brief summary of what this is about:
The attached PDF contains 100 fragments related to Metrodorus' life and works. The document includes both ancient testimonia and extant fragments. It's divided into two… -
wbernys
Reaction (Blog Article)July 21, 2026 at 6:59 PM The Passage You've Seen a Thousand Times, and What It Actually Says
You have almost certainly seen this sentence before, even if you've never read a word of it: "Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum, quia dolor sit, amet, consectetur, adipisci…
Finding Things At EpicureanFriends.com
Here is a list of suggested search strategies:
- Website Overview page - clickable links arrranged by cards.
- Forum Main Page - list of forums and subforums arranged by topic. Threads are posted according to relevant topics. The "Uncategorized subforum" contains threads which do not fall into any existing topic (also contains older "unfiled" threads which will soon be moved).
- Search Tool - icon is located on the top right of every page. Note that the search box asks you what section of the forum you'd like to search. If you don't know, select "Everywhere."
- Search By Key Tags - curated to show frequently-searched topics.
- Full Tag List - an alphabetical list of all tags.