Kyria Doxai Comparison

We are now requiring that new registrants confirm their request for an account by email.  Once you complete the "Sign Up" process to set up your user name and password, please send an email to the New Accounts Administator to obtain new account approval.

Regularly Checking In On A Small Screen Device? Bookmark THIS page!

File List

The EpicureanFriends Files section is where our Level 3 and above participants store longer documents created offsite which are of special interest to the study of Epicurus. You can use the "Categories" box on the right to find specific sections of the library.

This sheet grew out of the interest to understand Kyriai Doxai (Principal Doctrines) as a text and not a "list."

This sheet grew out of the interest to understand Kyriai Doxai (Principal Doctrines) as a text and not a "list." The fact that the 1739 text has 44 "doctrines" and not 40, plus individual doctrines are scattered in Vatican Sayings and Diogenes' wall led evidence to there not being a canonical number of divisions in the work.
This spreadsheet provides a comparison as a start.
See this thread for additional information:

Post

RE: What if Kyriai Doxai was NOT a list?

Following up on a post of mine from Cassius' thread about PDs in narrative form on a list of 44 PDs in a 1739 Greek/Latin translation:

I used a 1739 Greek with Latin translation to compare with the text at Perseus Digital Library:

1739: https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nn…id=27021597768674761-1400

Perseus Greek (DL, Book 10): http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/h…3Abook%3D10%3Achapter%3D1

Perseus English (DL, Book 10): http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/h…3Abook%3D10%3Achapter%3D1

I used the Greek text to compare…
Don
August 2, 2023 at 12:00 AM
June 11, 2025 at 1:20 PM

Thank you for sharing this. An interesting idea to pursue would be to also locate instances of the PDs and VSs in the letters correlate them with this work
June 11, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Author

Interesting. You're referring to the letters to Herodotus and Pythocles? I'm not sure how much overlap there is since (in the words of Diogenes Laertius): The first epistle is addressed to Herodotus and deals with physics ; the second to Pythocles and deals with astronomy or meteorology ; the third is addressed to Menoeceus and its subject is human life.

Nonetheless, looking for the themes or text of PDs in other sources is well put.

Unread Threads

    1. Title
    2. Replies
    3. Last Reply

    2. Edward Abbey - My Favorite Quotes 4

      • Joshua
      • August 31, 2025 at 1:02 PM
    3. Replies
      4
      Views
      2.6k
      4

    4. SillyApe

      August 31, 2025 at 1:02 PM

    2. A Question About Hobbes From Facebook

      • Cassius
      • August 24, 2025 at 9:11 AM
    3. Replies
      0
      Views
      1.2k

    2. Anti-Natalism: The Opposite of Epicureanism 8

      • Don
      • August 23, 2025 at 11:26 AM
    3. Replies
      8
      Views
      3k
      8

    4. Kalosyni

      August 23, 2025 at 11:26 AM

    2. Ecclesiastes what insights can we gleam from it? 4

      • Eoghan Gardiner
      • August 18, 2025 at 7:54 AM
    3. Replies
      4
      Views
      4k
      4

    4. Kalosyni

      August 18, 2025 at 7:54 AM

    2. Grumphism? LOL

      • Don
      • August 16, 2025 at 3:17 PM
    3. Replies
      0
      Views
      1.1k

Finding Things At EpicureanFriends.com

What's the best strategy for finding things on EpicureanFriends.com? Here's a suggested search strategy:

  • First, familiarize yourself with the list of forums. The best way to find threads related to a particular topic is to look in the relevant forum. Over the years most people have tried to start threads according to forum topic, and we regularly move threads from our "general discussion" area over to forums with more descriptive titles.
  • Use the "Search" facility at 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." Also check the "Search Assistance" page.
  • Use the "Tag" facility, starting with the "Key Tags By Topic" in the right hand navigation pane, or using the "Search By Tag" page, or the "Tag Overview" page which contains a list of all tags alphabetically. We curate the available tags to keep them to a manageable number that is descriptive of frequently-searched topics.