Posts by Bryan

I heartily thank you, Nate, and your wife - these are the best life-like versions of the group I have ever seen.

Also relevant is Vatican Saying 42, recently shared by Onenski.

Ὁ αὐτὸς χρόνος καὶ γενέσεως τοῦ μεγίστου ἀγαθοῦ καὶ ἀπολύσεως <τοῦ κακοῦ>.

The same moment has both the origin of the greatest good and the release from evil.

"The production of the greatest good and (the) release from evil (happens at) [the same time]." [Epicurus Wiki]

"The same time corresponds to the birth of the greatest good and the dissolution of evil." (Enrique Alvarez trans.)

Quote from Cassius

Is the implication that like two atoms, where only one atom can be in a place at a time, you have to move pain out of the way for pleasure to occupy the same spot?

Yes, as we have seen, the Cyrenaics viewed the removal of pain as a state of calm to which pleasure could then be added. Plato argued for the existence of mixed pleasures (μικταί ἡδοναί), which he imagined as pleasures which contained an aspect of pain.

In reality, at any particular time, pain and pleasure are mutually exclusive at any particular point in the body.

KD 3 …whenever there is Pleasure,

then for that time that it is present,

there is no Pain or Sadness

or any Mixture of both.

Physical contentment is achieved frequently and naturally by the internal process in our bodies when we have the necessary accommodations of food, shelter, and security.

Mental contentment is achieved just as naturally and frequently, by realizing the ease of obtaining physical contentment and fostering gratitude for our success in doing so.

Failing to appreciate this fact, most people, even when in a painless state, often try to add to their pleasure – from here most perils of their lives arise.

Metrodorus is quoted by Plutarch as "Τhis very thing is the good: Escaping from the bad -- because It is not possible for the Good to be placed anywhere, when neither What is painful nor What is distressing is any longer making way for it.

Τοῦτο αὐτὸ τὸ ἀγαθόν ἐστι: τὸ φυγεῖν τὸ κακόν -- ἔνθα γὰρ τεθήσεται Tἀγαθόν οὐκ Ἔστιν, ὅταν μηθὲν ἔτι ὑπεξίῃ μήτε Ἀλγεινὸν μήτε Λυπηρόν. (Plutarch Non posse, 1091 A-B)"

Quote from Bryan

Yes they were finding those elephant bones in antiquity as well. The large space in the center of an elephant's skull where the trunk attaches was figured to be the place for a single large eye of the cyclops.

I cannot find the evidence I thought I had for this statement! Perhaps it is a speculation.

Yes they were finding those elephant bones in antiquity as well. The large space in the center of an elephant's skull where the trunk attaches was figured to be the place for a single large eye of the cyclops.

Here is a slightly reformatted version of De Lacy's work. Counter arguments are in red, Epicurean arguments (mostly from Zeno of Sidon and Demetrius of Laconia) in black, with explanatory section titles. Not complete and still has some typos.

Great Idea, a lot of podcasts seem to gain popularity there.

Thank you both! I am looking forward to joining the meeting on the 20th.

Quote from HsiehKW

I wonder if any of us here have a sort of close community of Epicurean friends nearby, how that helps, and any tips on how you go about it if you are without such.

This would be a real outlier!

Hunger is the best spice "cibi condimentum esse famem" as Cicero, in one of his Epicurus roasts (De Finibus II.xxviii) attributes to Socrates. So the idea/statement would have been common/passé in Epicurus' time. The idea seems to be expressed in many cultures at many times in history.

I think this is an important topic. Epicurus valued autonomy and self-sufficiency. It seems to me that having money will provide neither when something really goes wrong with the country/currency.

This is fun! Without much prompting and only giving three different images of Metrodorus.... my first pass is not very good -- but I can see this having potential once I learn what I am doing!

Don I agree with you fully but then I also question myself. Rendering ὁ θaνατοc as anything other than "death" does seem to be a stretch - but death does exit. The afterlife does not. It may be worth bending the English a bit?

Same problem in Latin:

nīl igitur Mors est ad nos neque pertinet hīlum

in no way does Death exist to us and does not concern at all

Lucretius · De Rerum Natura III 830

But death does exit. So it cannot be correct to translate Lucretius in such a way. It is the afterlife, I would think, that is the topic. The afterlife does not exit.

Another point that KΔ1 is not just a reference to the gods, is X 77, οὐ γὰρ συμφωνοῦσιν Πραγματεῖαι καὶ Φροντίδες καὶ Ὀργαὶ καὶ Xάριτες μακαριότητι ἀλλ᾽ ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ καὶ φόβῳ καὶ προσδεήσει τῶν πλησίον Tαῦτα γίγνεταἰ - for Troubles and Anxieties and Tempers and Favors are not consistent with contentment but All come from weakness and fear and dependence on those near by."

These are awesome Nate - thank you! What program are you using? I have not worked with AI images at all. Is Metrodorus in the mix or did I miss him? Thanks again!

As we know, between this and the next KΔ, Diogenes adds "In other places he says that the Gods are mentally discernible by reason and are conceived as numerically distinct but in a similar shape from the continuous influx of similar films to the same place where they are rendered as human-shaped (X139)"

This comment by Diogenes has connected KΔ1 very tightly to the Gods in the minds of the editors, but Ἐπίκουρος uses the vocative of μακάριον when addressing Πυθοκλῆς as «Mακάριε! (X 6) Mr. Contented!» and speaks of «τὴν μακαρίαν ἡμέραν (X 22) a perfect day»· When speaking about the study of nature, Ἐπίκουρος says «τὸ μακάριον ἐνταῦθα πεπτωκέναι (X 77) that the person who is content rests here»· Lucretius translates τὸ Mακάριον as «ipsa suīs pollens opibus (1.48) itself strong in its own resources»

This is one reason why I stretch it to "The complete [and independent]..." But blissful certainly works well too!

Beautiful, thank you for these. The initial Tau(s) are crazy.

I really love this Don. Your mirrored flourish really makes me think we are of somewhat similar minds. Thank you!

This is great! "sometimes we need to overcome subtle feelings of uncertainty, and move forward with activities that will bring us greater joy and well-being over the long-term." Although Epicurus was well studied and, with the help of his group, produced many books -- I do not think he was bookish in the way we often think of the archetype, which is too often, in the west, very quiet and rather antisocial. Epicurus was very social and spent most of his time outdoors, or at least with the windows open.