The Garden Then -- and the Garden Now

In addition to that we need a section on

The Garden As Prep School

Today we go through phases in life in which we go locally to school, and then go away to college (in some cases), all with the knowledge and intent that we are preparing for life in the larger world.

We form and take with us many friendships with fellow students and teachers, and many of those last the rest of our lives. But we never should lose sight that the schooling is a preparatory phase that will not last forever, and that our reason for being their is to learn how to stand on our own feet and form our own families and stable communities.

The professors and the staff of the "College" do have a longer-lasting relationship that turns out to be weekly or daily and is open ended as to time, and some of the students will even be incorporated into the College staff and instructors.

But everyone keeps a clear eye on the goal that for most this is a preparatory phase, abs that the goal of happy living for the community requires that its mission be understood and respected, so that each fulfills his or her appropriate role.

Just like in AFDiA the character of Hedeia had ti be saved from the storm, it's not in the nature of life that every individual can live and act as if there are no outside threats to their continued happiness.

It may or may not take a village to raise a child, but it takes a community to support the individual in a world where there are many organized opponents who are not interested in our happiness, and who in fact see it as a threat.

The Garden as a Refuge complements and supports the role of the Garden as a School, and there are other roles that are necessary as well. But none of these roles stand alone, and if we focus on one aspect exclusively we are like Polyaenus spending all his time on his diagrams while the rest of life passes him by and smashes those diagrams.

Quote from Kalosyni

My own possible idea for the future -- perhaps it could be an "Epicurean Bed and Breakfast" where people can come, stay, and study in the library, and enjoy the outdoors (perhaps a rose garden) - advertized on online on airbnb for a good nightly rate -- but it would be free for good friends to come and visit

That is not a bad idea at all!

And that is an interesting quote from both Disken Clay and Seneca:

Quote

Quote Epicurus' Garden was not a school. Seneca had it right when he commented: 'it was not the school of Epicurus that made Metrodorus, Hermarchus and Polyaenus great men but their shared life'.

I don't think anyone seriously doubts that a "school" was a major component of what Epicurus was doing. Even so, the statement that "it was not the "school" of Epicurus (which I would interpret as "the book learning") that made those men great" is probably true figuratively, f not exactly literally.

I've read several of Diskin Clay's articles and found that he was a great writer but given to colorful wording. I remember one thing that has always stuck with me about him. I would never have suspected that his Article "Epicurus' Last Will and Testament" regardless of the title, is largely devoted to a discussion of Epicurus' elemental physics. Much more than being focused on the will itself, it contains a detailed treatment of what much have been included in the book on the "Twelve Fundamentals." After I finally found that, almost by accident, I stopped putting too much stock in the titles that Clay chose for his writing. Apparently the double (or multiple) meanings of the title was a play on Epicurus' physics being his true "last will and testament."

The Epicurean B&B is a great idea and would probably attract people who never heard of Epicurus or think he was a foodie. This would provide a "teachable moment" by creating an environment to introduce them to the real Epicurus through the library, garden &c.

This would also work with a cafe and similar establishments.

Quote from Godfrey

This would also work with a cafe and similar establishments.

Yes I agree that there are many options that could be made to work. I joke in mentioning "nudist colony" or something like that, but the real formula would likely be something entertaining that doesn't cost a lot of money to engage in but can still blend physical with mental pleasures. Not that "nudist colony" is a good example, but depending on the geography of the location there are probably lots of variations on group activities that can be conducted without investing a lot of money.

Quote from Kalosyni

(Sometimes brainstorming ideas get a bit carried away, lol, but that is how the best ideas happen, when you just let the creativity flow).

Yes exactly. It's too bad the Aristotelians trademarked the term "peripatetics" because a "walking group" might well fit the bill as a free and healthful activity that could be engaged in as a group and still combine philosophy. Maybe something like meeting at an appointed time at a park, then having a brief talk, then walking together.

(I am afraid my age is showing that "walking" sounds like more fun and more practical than a nudist colony

I am far too much a natural introvert (which I embrace, after years of living a -- for me -- deeply stressful extroverted life, especially my work-life: work that I was good at, but which took a toll in both physical health and any mental serenity) to "run" an Epicurean anything. Or enjoy more than a brief visit to even "the sweetest kind" of bed and breakfast. But I can see that it could be both a noble and a pleasurable venture.

(And I'm w Cassius on the nudist colony!).

My plan is and has been to, if economic conditions remain favorable, buy land back home and build a homestead that I can share with my friends. Modeled after the Borsodi and Nearing homesteads, working the land half the day and spending the later half of the day in contemplation, discourse, writing or enjoying time with friends and family. With a few extra cabins to rent to tourists and students.