I doubt this philosophy was so wildly successful for 7 centuries without being able to be presented in simpler form, easy to understand and remember
Absolutely!! Wired has YouTube videos where an expert explains a complex topic in 5 levels of detail to different ages:
We should be able to explain Epicurean philosophy in the same way. Epicureanism spread throughout the Hellenistic world not because there were so many scholars but because it appealed to such a wide swath of society. Some had deeper understanding than others, but the "basics" could be grasped by anyone, and the summaries and epitomes like the Principal Doctrines were memory aids.
If only we had more of the original content! Some of this must surely have existed.
Oh, I bemoan this all the time! Epicurus alone wrote over 300 works. Another early Epicurean, Apollodorus, is said to have written 400 works. And that's just 2 and not mentioning Philodemus even!!
(How are our finances? Do we have enough to engage a top tier marketing/promotions firm to develop and deploy the content? )
LOL No wealthy benefactors here.
Good post, Scott . Thanks!