According to Philodemus, no.
Epicurus believed that the gods did not interfere with the lives of men.
For Epicurus the gods are perfectly happy beings. Epicurus invited his disciples to venerate the gods to imitate their happiness.
I believe that every religion carries with it a part of "wisdom" and that Epicurus does not want to reject religion in its entirety, preferring to save the little good that is in it.
Michele since you are an Italian and presumably very in tune with Lucretius 
--- how do you interpret the references to Venus in the opening of Book 1 of his poem?
Michele since you are an Italian and presumably very in tune with Lucretius
Lol! 
How do you interpret the references to Venus in the opening of Book 1 of his poem?
I don't have enough studies for my opinion to be authoritative. I make a simple hypothesis:
Venus is the goddess of love. Lucretius wanted to open his book with an ode to Love.
It is quite common that a deity is mentioned to understand what it represents.
For example: I love Bacchus = I am a drunkard.
Can anybody recommend some material on the Greek gods? I'm a little familiar with the stories of anger, chicanery and such. It would be Interesting to have references to peruse that deal with such things as:
- stories of the Greek gods
- Greek gods versus Greek myths: are the myths just stories of the gods?
- the place of the gods in Greek culture, especially during Epicurus's time
It might be helpful to see more specifically what the general thinking was that Epicurus was responding to. If so, maybe this subforum is a good place to gather references.
Great, thanks!
