REMINDER: SUNDAY WEEKLY ZOOM - March 22, 2026 -12:30 PM EDT - Ancient text study and discussion: De Rerum Natura - - Level 03 members and above (and Level 02 by Admin. approval) - read more info on it here.
I have had a reply to my email, and will post it here when I have the sender's permission. The writer is indeed from the Netherlands, and has previously attempted to contact Mr. Anderson's family, but with no reply.
The letter itself is full of charm, which is why I am hoping for permission to publish it here.
I have a recording that I'm fairly happy with for a first attempt. I'll do a little light editing tomorrow before I post it. OBS Studio seems to do a fair job at audio, I didn't have to tamper with it at all! I need to put a little more work into scripting, but in other respects things are looking alright.
Yes, that's the one. In any case the copyright would go to his heirs in (presumably) Oregon, unless he made other arrangements. I did send an email to the webmaster, but have not had a reply.
Since his photos are not archived on any stock image site, and we cannot reasonably trace his bequests or know his wishes (except that in his life he did readily grant permission to republish his writings on Epicurus), and further that the photos are reproductions of artworks millennia out of copyright, I don't feel that there's much of an ethical or legal risk here. I don't mind using it to create derivative informational work. I can only hope that his family understands!
Another stab at the artwork. This uses Erik Anderson's photo above. It lacks the gravitas of the earlier effort, but that may not be a bad thing. More bookish, and less reminiscent of a U.S. banknote. The text has problems, but it's a start.
Cassius, do you happen to know anything about the current curator of Erik Anderson's old site? He has an image of the same bust I used above; an artful photo which he took himself at the Capitoline Museum in Rome. It would be the perfect photo to use--a fine portrait of Epicurus, as well as an homage to one of the early Epicureans of the internet age. I'm asking as a prelude to writing the webmaster--I just don't know where that e-mail will land!
This image is listed as public domain by the museum that holds it. At some point we should think about a central location for all images of Epicurus known to be in the public domain.
I've been reading further as well.
I have identified the copyright holder of the photograph. The image is available on several stock image sites, all sourced back to one individual; apparently this is common for photographers to license their images through several different outlets simultaneously. I would be willing to pay a nominal fee--less than $100, say--for such a license, except that the terms of the licenses on offer are so convoluted and opaque. I would probably be fine regardless; but in order to be free of any and all trouble forever (a fine goal!), I think I will choose a different photo to work off of.
I have also found, looking through Wikimedia Commons, that several photographs of busts of Epicurus are already offered either in the public domain, or under a Creative Commons license. That's likely the route I'll go, but I'll also keep looking.
Call it fair use (unless you're making money) and derivative works.
Perfect!
And a timeless quandary; to what extent are photographs of these old sculptures protected by copyright?
Further work on the logo/art;
With space for project title;
And a longer version as a banner;
What I really need now is a good text editor with a block font that works well with this art style! Hoping to record something tomorrow evening.
-josh
The software I've downloaded for the task;
OBS Studio--Screen Recording software
EpicPen--Screen marking tool, for basic visual annotations of the text
Audacity--Audio recording, although OBS Studio has a native audio client that I'll try first.
And an idea I had for flavor art;
Which is a software cartoonification of this image;
(The yellow ribbon is a watermark of sorts; I would have to actually pay for the photo editor or find an alternative to do it properly. BeFunky is the name that popped up in case anyone wants to play around with it)
I've secured the necessary domain and gmail address, so I can tentatively announce EpicureaPoetica as the name of the 'show'. The Latin is slightly clunky, but I suppose "Of the Poetry of the Epicurean Tradition" would be a loose translation. Mainly I derive it from Epicurea, which was a collection of fragments compiled by Usener, and Poetica, which of course is the Latin for poetry as well as the title of a work by Horace (Ars Poetica).
In our recent meeting I mentioned an idea I've been kicking around lately. This is a thread to flesh out the project, and to invite comment and feedback.
Recent major projects have been the group reading of DeWitt, and the ongoing and very dedicated podcast on the close reading of Lucretius. We have additionally been enriched by the rebirth of a classical tradition; the 'feast' (or celebration) and meeting of the Twentieth. These have been excellent and informative, as well as richly inspiring!
But there is as well a large and mostly formless mass of secondary literature pertaining to our school, and I feel that there is an opportunity here to shed new light on some of it.
Working on the model of LatinPerDiem, I envision brief, simple and crisp presentations exploring the shorter poetic works of Epicureans and their detractors: Horace and Virgil; Philodemus, Anacreon, and Catullus; Frederick the Great, Edmund Spenser, and Alfred Tennyson. Lucretius was particularly influential, and the borrowings innumerable, so there will be a lot to work with.
The planned first 'Episode' will explore themes of madness, death and suicide in Tennyson's masterful Victorian poem "Lucretius". I am still looking for a proper and corrected sample of the text, but in the mean time I have been studying the poem Here.
One key to my analysis will be a short section of another of Tennyson's poems, which you can find Here. Careful readers will notice the certain allusion to Lucretius that doubtfully concludes the passage. (I'll post this passage later when I find it.)
If you happen to read the poem and there are points you would like to see touched upon, I encourage you to post them here! I look forward to putting this together.
-Joshua
Happy Twentieth!
If you miss udders and draughts of Chian wine, you will see at least sincere friends and you will hear things far sweeter than the land of the Phaeacians. -Philodemus of Gadara, to Piso
I see! The link that I actually used to download the book myself is at the bottom of This page.
I ought to have mentioned in that post that I have not finished reading this book!
This book doesn't bear directly on our subject in any way that I am aware of, but since we have some right to claim Thomas Jefferson as an Epicurean it may be useful to us. A family member—an evangelical and a conspiracy theorist—has been sending links to youtube videos featuring David Barton. Mr. Barton's extensive work in dissimulation is not unknown to me, but this text is the most serious and dedicated rebuttal that I've encountered. And thanks to the author, it is free for download on PDF!
Christine "Chris" Rodda, Liars for Jesus: The Religious Right's Alternate Version of American History (2006)
http://www.liarsforjesus.com/index.html
For reference, here is a list, compiled by Jefferson himself in his letter to William Short, of the various Christian doctrines which he (Jefferson) denied.
"the immaculate conception of Jesus, his deification, the creation of the world by him, his miraculous powers, his resurrection & visible ascension, his corporeal presence in the Eucharist, the Trinity, original sin, atonement, regeneration, election orders of Hierarchy etc."
We had a thread awhile back that comes to mind. You asked us:
How Would You Answer Someone New Who Asked You: "What Is Epicurean Philosophy All About?"
My answer from that thread was this—
Happiness;
In just one natural life--
In one uncreated, everlasting
And endless cosmos--
Through pleasure, friendship,
And fearless inquiry
Into the nature of things.
It might be worth considering here the very words that were reportedly chosen to hang over the entrance to the Garden itself. Not to select them, necessarily; not if they don't suit your and our purpose. But to examine their implications, and imagine the string of choices that led to their selection. As recorded by Seneca the Younger:
HOSPES HIC BENE MANEBIS, HIC SUMMUM BONUM VOLUPTAS EST
Or in English;
Stranger, here you will do well to tarry; here our highest good is pleasure.
The detail carving has proven to be quite the reality check! 
I do want to keep trying, but the wall-art thread has me thinking that maybe my focus should be on rendering a really solid profile, and then shopping it around to custom ring makers.
Here are a few links to show what's available on that route;
https://www.ringsource.com/signet-samples/
https://www.familysealrings.com/index.html?gcl…PcaAsD7EALw_wcB
