Posts by Bryan

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

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.

In English we can say, in plural "The complete and independent are free from troubles themselves and do not pass troubles onto others" but we cannot say, in the singular "The complete and independent is free from troubles (itself) and does not pass troubles on to others." This is an English problem.

Good stuff guys. The Greek looks something like

"μή μου παρέλθῃς τὸ ἐπίγραμμα, ὁδοιπόρε,

ἀλλὰ σταθεὶς ἄκουε καὶ μαθὼν ἄπι.

οὐκ ἔστι ἐν Ἅδου πλοῖν, οὐ πορθμεὺς Χάρων,

οὐκ Αἰακὸς κλειδοῦχος, οὐχὶ Κέρβελος κύων.

ἡμεῖς δὲ πάντες οἱ κάτω τεθνηκότες

ὀστέα τέφρα γεγόναμεν, ἄλλο δὲ οὐδὲ ἕν.

εἴρηκά σοι ὀρθῶς. ὕπαγε, ὀδοιπόρε,

μὴ καὶ τεθνακὼς ἀδέλεσχός σοι φανῶ.

[μὴ μύρα, μὴ στεφάνους στήλλῃ χαρίσῃ λίθος ἐστίν.]

μηδὲ τὸ πῦρ φλέξεις. ἰς κενὸν ἡ δαπάνη.

ζῶντί μοι, εἰ τι ἔχεις, μετάδος. τέφραν δὲ μεθύσκων

πηλὸν ποιήσεις καὶ οὐκ ὁ θανὼν πίεται.

τοῦτο ἔσομαι γὰρ ἐγώ, σὺ δὲ τούτοις γῆν ἐπιχώσας.

εἰπέ. ὅτι οὐκ ὢν ἧν. τοῦτο πάλιν γέγονα."

Which is something like "Do not pass by my epitaph, traveler, but stand and listen. But, having learned, depart. There is no boat in Hades, no ferryman Charon, no key-bearer Aeacus, no Cerberus. We have all become ashes, bones of the dead below, and there is no other way. I have spoken rightly to you. Now go on! Traveler- do not let me, who has died, appear to you as a ghost. Please refrain from presenting fragrances or sending floral arrangements. This is just stone. Do not kindle the fire. It is a waste of effort. Give what you have to the living. For the dead, mixing ashes with clay will suffice, and the dead do not drink. Having returned to the earth, this is what I will be to you. Tell them: 'He who did not exist, came into being - (then) he went back!'"

Although this says it is not available, he may still be able to make them.

This provider also can print the Epicurus/Metrodorus Herm. Although it is no longer listed, I had one printed which is 7" tall and I am happy with it.

Sounds great. I'll join in.

Thank you! The idea is to ultimately connect it to the very literal translation.

Here is what I have of book I, far from complete - clearly. I believe Bailey spent over ten years fully employed by the crown to complete his commentary and still worked on it part-time after.

Her point about American life being ill-suited to community - particularly community living is as true as it is heartbreaking.

Such living conditions as suburbia are rather inorganic and alien - working communally but living as atomized units. (One has to only look up "the father of suburbia" or something similar, to learn how putting us in little houses, preferably staring at TVs, was a top-down organized plan).

Safe cities with good infrastructure (eg Tokyo) can work well for frequently meeting with friends, but I find American cities too dirty, dangerous, and dysfunctional for a pleasant life.

That leaves me with the country, but I have learned that building new things is effectively made impossible by the existing laws and bringing in people for a community can get you federal level attention (as the Mormons and many others can also attest).

Very interesting that she had to press her editor/publishers to keep the word "pleasure" in the title - this was great!