1. Home
    1. Start Here: Study Guide
    2. Community Standards And Posting Policies
    3. Terms of Use
    4. Moderator Team
    5. Website Overview
    6. Site Map
    7. Quizzes
    8. Articles
      1. Featured Articles
    9. All Blog Posts
      1. Elli's Blog / Articles
  2. Wiki
    1. Wiki Home
    2. FAQ
    3. Classical Epicureanism
    4. Files
    5. Search Assistance
    6. Not NeoEpicurean
    7. Foundations
    8. Navigation Outlines
    9. Reading List
    10. Key Pages
  3. Forum
    1. Full Forum List
    2. Welcome Threads
    3. Physics
    4. Canonics
    5. Ethics
    6. Forum Shortcuts
    7. Forum Navigation Map
    8. Featured
    9. Most Discussed
  4. Latest
    1. New Activity
    2. Latest Threads
    3. Dashboard
    4. Search By Tag
    5. Complete Tag List
  5. Podcast
    1. Lucretius Today Podcast
    2. Episode Guide
    3. Lucretius Today At Youtube
    4. EpicureanFriends Youtube Page
  6. Texts
    1. Overview
    2. Diogenes Laertius
    3. Principal Doctrines
    4. Vatican Collection
    5. Lucretius
    6. Herodotus
    7. Pythocles
    8. Menoeceus
    9. Fragments - Usener Collection
    10. Torquatus On Ethics
    11. Velleius On Gods
    12. Greek/Latin Help
  7. Gallery
    1. Featured images
    2. Albums
    3. Latest Images
    4. Latest Comments
  8. More
    1. Featured Content
    2. Calendar
      1. Upcoming Events List
      2. Zoom Meetings
      3. Fourth Sunday Meet-&-Greet
      4. Sunday Weekly Zoom
    3. Logbook
    4. EF ToDo List
    5. Link-Database
  • Login
  • Register
  • Search
This Thread
  • Everywhere
  • This Thread
  • This Forum
  • Forum
  • Articles
  • Blog Articles
  • Files
  • Gallery
  • Events
  • Pages
  • Wiki
  • Help
  • FAQ
  • More Options

Welcome To EpicureanFriends.com!

"Remember that you are mortal, and you have a limited time to live, and in devoting yourself to discussion of the nature of time and eternity you have seen things that have been, are now, and are to come."

Sign In Now
or
Register a new account
  1. Home
    1. Start Here: Study Guide
    2. Community Standards And Posting Policies
    3. Terms of Use
    4. Moderator Team
    5. Website Overview
    6. Site Map
    7. Quizzes
    8. Articles
      1. Featured Articles
    9. All Blog Posts
      1. Elli's Blog / Articles
  2. Wiki
    1. Wiki Home
    2. FAQ
    3. Classical Epicureanism
    4. Files
    5. Search Assistance
    6. Not NeoEpicurean
    7. Foundations
    8. Navigation Outlines
    9. Reading List
    10. Key Pages
  3. Forum
    1. Full Forum List
    2. Welcome Threads
    3. Physics
    4. Canonics
    5. Ethics
    6. Forum Shortcuts
    7. Forum Navigation Map
    8. Featured
    9. Most Discussed
  4. Latest
    1. New Activity
    2. Latest Threads
    3. Dashboard
    4. Search By Tag
    5. Complete Tag List
  5. Podcast
    1. Lucretius Today Podcast
    2. Episode Guide
    3. Lucretius Today At Youtube
    4. EpicureanFriends Youtube Page
  6. Texts
    1. Overview
    2. Diogenes Laertius
    3. Principal Doctrines
    4. Vatican Collection
    5. Lucretius
    6. Herodotus
    7. Pythocles
    8. Menoeceus
    9. Fragments - Usener Collection
    10. Torquatus On Ethics
    11. Velleius On Gods
    12. Greek/Latin Help
  7. Gallery
    1. Featured images
    2. Albums
    3. Latest Images
    4. Latest Comments
  8. More
    1. Featured Content
    2. Calendar
      1. Upcoming Events List
      2. Zoom Meetings
      3. Fourth Sunday Meet-&-Greet
      4. Sunday Weekly Zoom
    3. Logbook
    4. EF ToDo List
    5. Link-Database
  1. Home
    1. Start Here: Study Guide
    2. Community Standards And Posting Policies
    3. Terms of Use
    4. Moderator Team
    5. Website Overview
    6. Site Map
    7. Quizzes
    8. Articles
      1. Featured Articles
    9. All Blog Posts
      1. Elli's Blog / Articles
  2. Wiki
    1. Wiki Home
    2. FAQ
    3. Classical Epicureanism
    4. Files
    5. Search Assistance
    6. Not NeoEpicurean
    7. Foundations
    8. Navigation Outlines
    9. Reading List
    10. Key Pages
  3. Forum
    1. Full Forum List
    2. Welcome Threads
    3. Physics
    4. Canonics
    5. Ethics
    6. Forum Shortcuts
    7. Forum Navigation Map
    8. Featured
    9. Most Discussed
  4. Latest
    1. New Activity
    2. Latest Threads
    3. Dashboard
    4. Search By Tag
    5. Complete Tag List
  5. Podcast
    1. Lucretius Today Podcast
    2. Episode Guide
    3. Lucretius Today At Youtube
    4. EpicureanFriends Youtube Page
  6. Texts
    1. Overview
    2. Diogenes Laertius
    3. Principal Doctrines
    4. Vatican Collection
    5. Lucretius
    6. Herodotus
    7. Pythocles
    8. Menoeceus
    9. Fragments - Usener Collection
    10. Torquatus On Ethics
    11. Velleius On Gods
    12. Greek/Latin Help
  7. Gallery
    1. Featured images
    2. Albums
    3. Latest Images
    4. Latest Comments
  8. More
    1. Featured Content
    2. Calendar
      1. Upcoming Events List
      2. Zoom Meetings
      3. Fourth Sunday Meet-&-Greet
      4. Sunday Weekly Zoom
    3. Logbook
    4. EF ToDo List
    5. Link-Database
  1. EpicureanFriends - Dedicated To The Study And Promotion Of Classical Epicurean Philosophy
  2. Forum
  3. Uncategorized Discussion (General)
  4. Uncategorized Discussion (General)
  • Sidebar
  • Sidebar

Poem in Petronius' Satyricon

  • Bryan
  • September 8, 2024 at 10:22 PM
  • Go to last post
  • Bryan
    03 - Level Three
    Points
    5,396
    Posts
    671
    Quizzes
    4
    Quiz rate
    97.6 %
    • September 8, 2024 at 10:22 PM
    • #1

    I do not think we have mentioned Eumolpus' poem in Petronius' Satyricon that is clearly Epicurean.

    The book is in pieces, but the poem probably comes after this section (translation by Heseltine, and is purposefully in incorrect English):

    (Link to section) [104] “I thought I heard Priapus say in my dream: 'I tell you, Encolpius whom you seek has been led by me on board your ship.” ' Tryphaena gave a scream and said, “You would think we had slept together; I dreamed that a picture of Neptune, which I noticed in a gallery at Baiae, said to me: 'You will find Giton on board Lichas's ship.” ' “This shows you,” said Eumolpus, “that Epicurus was a superhuman creature; he condemns jokes of this kind in a very witty fashion.”. .

    Usener mentions that part, but I do not think he includes Eumolpus' poem. It is placed in various places in the book; here listed as poem 31 (Link here):

    "It is not the shrines of the gods, nor the powers of the air,
    that send the dreams which mock the mind with flitting shadows;
    each man makes dreams for himself. For when rest lies about the limbs
    subdued by sleep, and the mind plays with no weight upon it,
    it pursues in the darkness whatever was its task by daylight.
    The man who makes towns tremble in war, and overwhelms unhappy
    cities in flame, sees arms, and routed hosts, and the deaths of kings,
    and plains streaming with outpoured blood. They whose life is
    to plead cases have statutes and the courts before their eyes,
    and look with terror upon the judgment-seat surrounded by a throng.
    The miser hides his gains and discovers buried treasure.
    The hunter shakes the woods with his pack. The sailor snatches
    his shipwrecked bark from the waves, or grips it in death-agony.
    The woman writes to her lover, the adulteress yields herself:
    and the dog follows the tracks of the hare as he sleeps.
    The wounds of the unhappy endure into the night-season."

    Edited once, last by Bryan (September 10, 2024 at 1:08 AM).

  • Online
    Cassius
    05 - Administrator
    Points
    108,321
    Posts
    14,885
    Quizzes
    9
    Quiz rate
    100.0 %
    • September 9, 2024 at 6:38 AM
    • #2

    Thanks Bryan and the point there is an exact parallel to what is in Lucretius, right? I will see if I can find it...


    Book 4 - 962

    [962] And for the most part to whatever pursuit each man clings and cleaves, or on whatever things we have before spent much time, so that the mind was more strained in the task than is its wont, in our sleep we seem mostly to traffic in the same things; lawyers think that they plead their cases and confront law with law, generals that they fight and engage in battles, sailors that they pass a life of conflict waged with winds, and we that we pursue our task and seek for the nature of things for ever, and set it forth, when it is found, in writings in our country’s tongue. Thus for the most part all other pursuits and arts seem to hold the minds of men in delusion during their sleep.

  • Don
    ΕΠΙΚΟΥΡΕΙΟΣ (Epicurist)
    Points
    41,764
    Posts
    5,809
    Quizzes
    9
    Quiz rate
    92.8 %
    • September 9, 2024 at 10:38 PM
    • #3

    Nice find, Bryan ! Thanks for sharing.

    And I agree, Cassius , those two share some common themes.

    I tried to compare the Latin of the two, but Petronius doesn't seem (to my untrained eye) to have cribbed from Lucretius (Lucretius Born c. 99 BC - Died c. 55 BC (aged c. 44); Petronius Born c. 27 AD - Died c. 66 AD (aged c. 38–39)), although I'm sure Petronius knew Lucretius's poem. Maybe it was a Zeitgeist thing with the images that Petronius uses? Or maybe he was riffing on De Rerum Natura to show off his erudition? Here is the beginning of each poem/section:

    Lucretius
    Et quo quisque fere studio devinctus adhaeret
    aut quibus in rebus multum sumus ante morati
    atque in ea ratione fuit contenta magis mens,
    in somnis eadem plerumque videmur obire:
    causidici causas agere et componere leges,
    induperatores pugnare ac proelia obire,
    nautae contractum cum ventis degere bellum,
    nos agere hoc autem et naturam quaerere rerum
    semper et inventam patriis exponere chartis.


    Petronius
    Somnia quae mentes ludunt volitantibus umbris,
    non delubra deum nec ab aethere numina mittunt,
    sed sibi quisque facit. Nam cum prostrata sopore
    urget membra quies et mens sine pondere ludit,
    quidquid luce fuit tenebris agit.

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.

Resources

  1. Getting Started At EpicureanFriends
  2. Community Standards And Posting Policies
  3. The Major Doctrines of Classical Epicurean Philosophy
  4. Introductory Videos
  5. Wiki
  6. Lucretius Today Podcast
    1. Podcast Episode Guide
  7. Key Epicurean Texts
    1. Side-By-Side Diogenes Laertius X (Bio And All Key Writings of Epicurus)
    2. Side-By-Side Lucretius - On The Nature Of Things
    3. Side-By-Side Torquatus On Ethics
    4. Side-By-Side Velleius on Divinity
    5. Lucretius Topical Outline
    6. Usener Fragment Collection
  8. Frequently Asked Questions
    1. FAQ Discussions
  9. Full List of Forums
    1. Physics Discussions
    2. Canonics Discussions
    3. Ethics Discussions
    4. All Recent Forum Activities
  10. Image Gallery
  11. Featured Articles
  12. Featured Blog Posts
  13. Quiz Section
  14. Activities Calendar
  15. Special Resource Pages
  16. File Database
  17. Site Map
    1. Home

Frequently Used Forums

  • Frequently Asked / Introductory Questions
  • News And Announcements
  • Lucretius Today Podcast
  • Physics (The Nature of the Universe)
  • Canonics (The Tests Of Truth)
  • Ethics (How To Live)
  • Against Determinism
  • Against Skepticism
  • The "Meaning of Life" Question
  • Uncategorized Discussion
  • Comparisons With Other Philosophies
  • Historical Figures
  • Ancient Texts
  • Decline of The Ancient Epicurean Age
  • Unsolved Questions of Epicurean History
  • Welcome New Participants
  • Events - Activism - Outreach
  • Full Forum List

Latest Posts

  • Latest Article by Elli Pensa - The Epic of Epicurus - Ithaca and the Garden - Dialectic and The Canon

    Bryan December 15, 2025 at 9:56 PM
  • How the Epicureans might have predicted Lorentz time dilation

    Eikadistes December 15, 2025 at 4:31 PM
  • Welcome JCBlackmon

    Eikadistes December 15, 2025 at 4:10 PM
  • Good Website for Self-Help and Learning Coping Skills (dealing with depression etc.)

    Kalosyni December 15, 2025 at 11:34 AM
  • Episode 312 - Not Yet Recorded

    Cassius December 14, 2025 at 9:31 AM
  • Epicurean Fear of Death

    Cassius December 13, 2025 at 8:19 PM
  • Welcome EdGenX

    Cassius December 12, 2025 at 3:54 PM
  • Fourth Sunday Zoom - December 28, 2025 - Epicurean Philosophy Discussion - Agenda

    Kalosyni December 12, 2025 at 2:38 PM
  • Epicurus vs Aristotle: the Role of Reason vs Sensation Seeking?

    Cassius December 12, 2025 at 11:54 AM
  • Crooked Thinking or Straight Talk?: Modernizing Epicurean Scientific Philosophy

    Novem December 11, 2025 at 11:51 PM

Frequently Used Tags

In addition to posting in the appropriate forums, participants are encouraged to reference the following tags in their posts:

  • #Physics
    • #Atomism
    • #Gods
    • #Images
    • #Infinity
    • #Eternity
    • #Life
    • #Death
  • #Canonics
    • #Knowledge
    • #Scepticism
  • #Ethics

    • #Pleasure
    • #Pain
    • #Engagement
    • #EpicureanLiving
    • #Happiness
    • #Virtue
      • #Wisdom
      • #Temperance
      • #Courage
      • #Justice
      • #Honesty
      • #Faith (Confidence)
      • #Suavity
      • #Consideration
      • #Hope
      • #Gratitude
      • #Friendship



Click Here To Search All Tags

To Suggest Additions To This List Click Here

EpicureanFriends - Classical Epicurean Philosophy

  1. Home
    1. About Us
    2. Classical Epicurean Philosophy
  2. Wiki
    1. Getting Started
  3. Frequently Asked Questions
    1. Site Map
  4. Forum
    1. Latest Threads
    2. Featured Threads
    3. Unread Posts
  5. Texts
    1. Core Texts
    2. Biography of Epicurus
    3. Lucretius
  6. Articles
    1. Latest Articles
  7. Gallery
    1. Featured Images
  8. Calendar
    1. This Month At EpicureanFriends
Powered by WoltLab Suite™ 6.0.22
Style: Inspire by cls-design
Stylename
Inspire
Manufacturer
cls-design
Licence
Commercial styles
Help
Supportforum
Visit cls-design