I am of the understanding that Epicurus’ birthday was January 11-12^th 341 BCE. Per Diogenes Laërtius, Epicurus was born “in the third year of the 109th Olympiad […] on the seventh day of the month of Gamelion”. The third year of the 109th Olympiad began on July 11-12^th of 342 BCE. The seventh day of the month of Gamelion is 184 days after the beginning of the third year of the 109th Olympiad; so, 184 days from July 11-12^th is January 11-12^th.

That still begs the question of should we celebrate Epicurus birthdate...

1. On the anniversary of his birthdate (per Diogenes) – Gamelion 7 – January 11/12^th?

2. On its customary celebration (per his Last Will) – Gamelion 10 – January 14/15^th?

3. On the modern Eikas-aligned birthday custom – January 20?

4. On the ancient Eikas-aligned birthday custom – Gamelion 20 – January 24/25^th?

I submit that Epicurus was born on January 11-12^th, and that we were recommended by Epicurus to continue a customary celebration of his birth on January 14-15^th. Though, it seems that later followers may have merged the celebration with Eikas, in which case, January 24-25^th (ancient) or January 20^th (modern) might be appropriate.

My vote is January 14-15^th per Epicurus pointing to Gamelion 10 in his will.

Thank you Don! And you are right we almost have an annual ritual!

Unless you are on Facebook now (and I don't think you are) I will post this over there for comments and report back.

Oh no! Now I see Nate's post! The controversy begins!

Facebook post -

Time to start our annual quest to answer the eternal question: "What's the correct date to celebrate Epicurus's upcoming birthday this time? I have seen two suggestions so far for 2023:

(1) from sunset on Jan. 28 to sunset on Jan. 29, 2023 based on Gamelion 7 (which possibly comes from Gassendi).

(2) January 14-15 per Epicurus pointing to Gamelion 10 in his will.

We have started a thread to discuss this issue at the link below (linked to this thread), where the reasoning behind these two is explained. I know we have readers in this group from Greece who are all over this issue, so if anyone reading this has a suggestion to support one of these, or another calculation, please let us know!

Though I cannot remember the source just now, I read recently that the two days set aside for celebrating Epicurus (his birthday and the 20th) were regarded by his detractors as emblematic of his gluttony. Metrodorus was only given one day, the twentieth, which he shared with Epicurus.

I take as correct, the last desire of the Last Will of Epicurus in which he says that his birthday was on the 10th Gamelion. Why the 10th of Gamelion? Maybe, in Epicurus era, there was a big celebration to honor all hellenic gods. And 10th of Gamelion was a favourable date of the year for a boy to be born.

In the profile below, there is a post from the last year, in this post we read:

"Today (12 January), Hemera Hermou [Day of Hermes - Wednesday], beginning at sundown, will be the tenth day of the lunar month of Gamelion.

“The tenth is favourable for a male to be born; but, for a girl, the four of the mid-month.” – excerpt from Hesiod, Works and Days

The number ten is associated by the Pythagoreans to the Kosmos, as such today is a good day to honour All the Gods, especially the Gods of the celestial beings and Zeus, King of All".

Below is the profile at FB as they're counting the days of the months according to Ancient Hellenic Counting.

In Athens, there is the symposium every year on the 20th -- so I vote for February 20th.

12th Panhellenic Symposium of Epicurean Philosophy, February 19-20, 2022 Athens, Greece

Organized by Friends of Epicurean Philosophy Garden of Athens, Garden of Thessaloniki and Municipality of Pallini Under the Auspices of the Region of Attica

Panhellenic Symposium of Epicurean Philosophy

The Symposium is a tribute to our master Epicurus. The Symposium is organized, with free entrance, every year in February by the Friends of Epicurean Philosophy, because Epicurus was born in that month, and always in Pallini, because that particular municipality of modern Athens metropolitan area includes the ancient Athenian demos of Gargettus, from which Epicurus originated.

Friends of Epicurean Philosophy - Symposium

That's an excellent find, Don that I think definitely explains the discrepancy.

One thing I note is that the months of the ancient Greek Calendar had rotating numbers of days, so any fixed "x of Gamelion" date will always translate as a different date on the Julian calendar depending on your starting point. Since, as Don just demonstrated, Epicurus was, in fact, attesting to the Eikas-aligned celebration of his birthday on "the [earlier] tenth" it would be appropriate to celebrate it in correspondence with our own Eikas-day celebrations.

At the same time, we could approach this holiday as a "moving feast" like the Christian celebration Easter which can fall anywhere from March 22 and April 25 depending on the year and the movements of the moon. Celebrating Epicurus' birthday on the "proper", "moving" date could be a fun, educational exercise we can celebrate every year.

Based on the Calendar Don provided (above), I believe we are in the 2^nd year of the 700^th Olympiad, which started on June 29-30^th 2022. Today, November 24^th 2022 corresponds with the 148^th day of the ancient Greek year, meaning "today" is the final day of Maimakterion. This year also seems to have a second month of Poseideon before Gamelion, so the "early 10^th of Gamelion" (or Gamelion 20) falls 227 days after June 29-30^th is February 11-12^th 2023.

Last ancient Greek year (the 1^st year of the 700^th Olympiad; pictured above), the first month of Hekatombaion began on July 10-11^th 2021, and the “early 10th of Gamelion” (or Gamelion 20) fell 197 days after July 10-11^th. So, according to my calculations, last ancient Greek "year", Epicurus’ Birthday Eikas would have fallen on January 23, 2022.

In next corresponding ancient Greek year (the 3^rd year of the 700th Olympiad; seen above), the first month of Hekatombaion begins on July 18-19^th 2023, and the “early 10th of Gamelion” (or Gamelion 20) will fall 198 days after July 18-19^th. So, next ancient Greek calendar year, Epicurus’ Birthday Eikas will fall on February 1-2^nd, 2024.

So based on my calculations:

Epicurus’ Birthday Eikas 2022: January 23-24^th

Epicurus’ Birthday Eikas 2023: February 10-11^th

Epicurus’ Birthday Eikas 2024: February 1-2^nd

I think it is therefore appropriate to celebrate it on one of two days:

1. January 20^th, aligned with the modern celebration of the Twentiers

2. A "moving feast" like Easter, which will start Epicurus' Birthday Eikas (as I count) on February 10-11^th 2023.

I am partial to celebrating the "moving feast". It provides an opportunity for modern Epicureans to gain a better understanding of the Attic calendar that organized Epicurus' days. It also reinforces our relative feeling of their holidays. There is a slightly different feel between contemporary cultures that start their "week" on Monday instead of Sunday. There is a different feel to "beginning" a year in Summer instead of mid-Winter. This helps us look at time from the perspective of Epicurus and friends. It also provides an opportunity to focus on Epicurus.

Or we could just do the 20th to make it easy. Easter's moving date always was kind of weird growing up.

IMO for the word "σύνοδος" the appropriate word in english is "session" i.e. a period devoted to a particular activity.

Also, "σύνοδος" in new greek means: a period devoted to a collective institution. For the english word "institution" in greek is "θεσμός" that means: "a habit with great importance for an individual or small or large group".

So, IMO the appropriate translation in english could be: For the session of all my School held every month on the twentieth day to commemorate Metrodorus and myself according to the rules now in force.

Quote from Kalosyni

Panhellenic Symposium of Epicurean Philosophy

The Symposium is a tribute to our master Epicurus. The Symposium is organized, with free entrance, every year in February by the Friends of Epicurean Philosophy, because Epicurus was born in that month, and always in Pallini, because that particular municipality of modern Athens metropolitan area includes the ancient Athenian demos of Gargettus, from which Epicurus originated.

It would be interesting to know how they determined the birthday of Epicurus.

Also, is it possible in Greece that they have a belief that birthdays should not be observed earlier than the true date of birth? ( Martin mentioned that is the case in either Thailand or in Germany.

Germany.

I believe these calculations are accurate, if I've understood everything presented so far (which I definitely may not have, but the attempt at making a chart at least revealed some interesting patterns about the Attic calendar).

For one thing, I found that I was born on the 23rd day of final month of Skirophorion, Day 377 in the 3rd year of the 691st Olympiad. For another, I found that, while my Julian birthdate fell within the final month of Skirophorion, it often falls in the following Attic month of Hekatombaion, the first month of the ancient Greek year.

The same seems to be the case with Eikas, which falls from mid-January to mid-February.

A sincere curiosity I found is the following: of those years where my Julian birthdate (July 8th) begins the ancient Greek year (Hekatombaion 1), it turns out that Gamelion 20 corresponds with January 20th (or within one day of it).

Those Gamelion 20s that correspond with our January 20ths were marked red below to denote their coincidence.

Based on the shifting patterns of the Attic calendar, the 20th of Gamelion can come as early as Day 196 and as late as Day 228. Specifically, it falls on either Day 196, 197, 198, 199, or Day 226, 227, 228, depending on the year. (The years on the Attic calendar have varying lengths, some containing 355 days, some containing more than 380).

There is a cycle that occurs every 19 years where a set of dates nearly restarts. For example (from the bottom, below), Gamelion 20 in 2065 falls on the same Julian date as Gamelion 20 in 2046.

Gamelion 20 in 2064 falls on the same Julian date as Gamelion 20 in 2045.

Gamelion 20 in 2063 falls one day earlier than Gamelion 20 in 2044.

Gamelion 20 in 2062 falls on the same Julian date as Gamelion 20 in 2043.

Gamelion 20 in 2061 falls on the same Julian date as Gamelion 20 in 2042.

Gamelion 20 in 2060 falls one day earlier than Gamelion 20 in 2041.

Gamelion 20 in 2059 falls on the same Julian date as Gamelion 20 in 2040.

Gamelion 20 in 2058 falls on the same Julian date as Gamelion 20 in 2039.

Gamelion 20 in 2057 falls on the same Julian date as Gamelion 20 in 2038.

Gamelion 20 next year (2023) falls on the same date as Gamelion 20 in 2004; and so on ... every 19 solar years.

The earliest 20th of Gamelion on the Julian calendar JANUARY 14-15th (approx.)

The latest 20th of Gamelion on the Julian calendar: FEBRUARY 17-18th (approx.)

I'm sure there are other patterns to be found as well. Regardless, I think I have come to the conclusion that I will look to January 20th to both celebrate the monthly practice of Eikas as well the annual Birthday of Epicurus.

My calculations may not be completely accurate (I did 80 years of my lifespan and then quit proof-reading).

Based on Don's original source: http://www.numachi.com/~ccount/hmepa/

This was my resource to determine the date of Eikas: https://www.timeanddate.com/date/dateadded…aw=&ad=197&rec=

These measurements correspond with the following scholarship:

“He was born on the twentieth of the month of Gamelion (24 January 341)⁷⁴ […] ⁷⁴The debate over the exact date of his birth was definitively resolved by Alpers 1968.” (Algra, The Cambridge History of Hellenistic Philosophy 43)

“Date of the birth of Epicurus, according to Apollodorus […] that is, under the seventh archon from the archon of the year of the death of Plato, Theophilus. The tenth of Gamelion however, January 14, and the twentieth, January 24, are also assigned as the dates of birth.” (Origines Kalendariæ Hellenicæ; or, the history of the primitive calendar among the Greeks, before and after the legislation of Solon, Volume 2, 97; 1862)