1. Editions
The version of Lucretius available at Perseus is the 1916 edition of William Emory Leonard. Perseus has excellent searching capability, and great linkage to the Latin, but that edition, which also available at Gutenberg, attempts to retain a poetic form. It is therefore open to the charge that its translation is less literal and therefore less accurate to the meaning of the original. The versions of Lucretius available currently on this website are prose versions which stress accuracy in meaning over the poetic form. They include:
1.1. The Latin Edition
This text comes from LatinLibrary.com. Best if you can read Latin!
1.2. The 1743 Translation Published By Daniel Brown
The translator of this edition is unknown, but it was published in England by Daniel Brown in 1743. This translation has the advantage that despite being older, it can sometimes be easier to read than later versions.
1.3. The 1893 Translation of HAJ Munro
This is one of the most memorable and literal translations available.
1.4. The 1920's Translation by William Rouse (Loeb - English and Latin)
1.5. The 1936 Translation Of Cyril Bailey
This is the most recent edition in the public domain.
2. Topics:
2.1. Book I
- [01] Venus / Nature / Pleasure is the motivating force of all life.
- [62] Humanity has long been oppressed under the grim weight of religion, but Epicurus was the first man with the force of mind to discover the truth of the way things really are, showing us the limits, boundaries, and benchmarks set by nature; in so doing he broke religion’s oppressive hold over the minds of men, raising us equal to the heavens.
- [80] The sacrifice of Iphanessa illustrates that it is religion that is the true mother of wickedness in the world.
- [102] Religion oppresses men by causing them to fear punishment by the gods both in this life and in eternal hell hereafter.
- [105] The true nature of the soul is not obvious to us, so if we are to free ourselves from religious fears we must study nature and determine whether religion is correct when it alleges that we have eternal souls that are subject to the dictates of god here on earth and to eternal damnation after death.
- [127] The remedy to the terrors of the spirit manufactured by religion is to study and uncover the true nature of the universe.
- [146] Our starting point in this study of nature is this primary observation: nothing ever comes from nothing -- neither gods nor any other forces are observed to create anything from nothing. Once we see that nothing comes from nothing, but that all things come into being in accord with their basic nature, we will see that all things occur without any intervention from the gods.
- [159] The proof that nothing comes from nothing is to look around and see that all things are not born of all things, but from fixed seeds.
- [174] And things are not only born from fixed seeds, but after they are born they grow at a fixed rate.
- [199] And not only do they grow at a fix rate but they stop growing according to fixed limits.
- [208] We also see that it takes working the land to produce specific results; unless we work the land specific crops do not grow.
- [215] Our second primary observation is that all things pass away and change back into the essential material from which they are made, but nothing is ever absolutely destroyed to nothing.
- [225] Another reason we know that nothing passes away to nothing is that otherwise in the eternity of time past all things would have passed away and nothing would be left in the universe.
- [238] Further, if things could be destroyed to nothing, it would be easy to destroy anything by force, but rather we see that many things are hard to break up.
- [250] We also see that nature nourishes one thing out of the other, and that the living are born from the dead.
- [265] Do not doubt that matter is indestructible simply because the atoms are too small to see – unseen things like wind are seen to be very powerful and to rival streams of water (which all can see) in their force.
- [298] You cannot see odors or voices either and yet you know they exist.
- [305] We know from hanging up wet garments that the water in them is dispersed, as they dry, into tiny particles that no one can see.
- [311] And we see over the years that rings wear away on fingers, and dripping water hollows stone, even though we cannot see it happening.
- [322] We therefore conclude that Nature’s work is done by particles so small that they are unseen
- [329] We also know that these particles are not tight-packed, and that around them is "void”. We know this because we see the particles move, and therefore there must be void within which they can move.
- [346] No matter how hard things are, they still contain void, which we know from the examples of water seeping through the rocks of caverns, and the roots of trees bringing up water to their branches, and noise travelling through walls.
- [358] We also know that some things weigh more than others of the same size, and the difference is the amount of void they contain.
- [370] Fish do not swim because the water compresses to allow them to pass, but because there is void in the water.
- [384] We also know that when things collide and spring apart the air rushes in to fill the spaces, and that this does not happen instantly but gradually.
- [398] We know that void exists because otherwise movement would be impossible; but we see that things do move, so we know void exists. The examples we have provided are sufficient for you to deduce for yourself that there is a void, just like a hunting dog can sniff out its prey once it catches the scent, but if you remain unconvinced I can keep talking about this until we both get old.
- [418] We conclude that all bodies of nature are built from bodies and void. We know that bodies exist because our senses declare to us that bodies exist, and unless we hold firm to what the senses declare to us, there is nothing we can ever prove by reasoning of the mind. And we know that the void exists because bodies must have a place to exist, and through which to move.
- [430]There is nothing - no third nature - that can exist besides bodies and void, because anything that exists, if it can be touched, must be a body, and if it cannot be touched, then it must be void. Except for the void, nothing can affect something else, or be effected itself, unless it is a body. Nothing else can be sensed or reasoned to exist unless it be body or void.
- [449] Everything that we can name to exist has attributes that we consider to be properties or events/accidents of that thing. A property is something that cannot be separated from the thing without the thing being destroyed, such as you cannot separate weight from rocks, or heat from fire, or moisture from water, or touch from bodies, or emptiness from void. On the other hand, events/accident can be separated from a thing without destroying it, such as slavery, poverty, riches, freedom, war, and peace can be separated from people without destroying the person himself.
- [464] Time is an example of an event that does not exist by itself, but from our feelings about the motion or stillness of things. For example, consider the Trojan War, which does not exist in itself, but as an event of things that occurred in the past. The people involved in that war are long dead, and the Trojan War is but an event of the people and things that were involved at the time.
- [483] Bodies are therefore not only the atoms that compose them, but things that are created when the atoms combine. In the world around us everything is porous, but by reasoning we will see that the atoms themselves are not porous, and from them everything we see is created.
- [503] Since we have determined that everything is composed of only two things, atoms and void, and that nothing else can exist, we conclude that wherever there is empty space there is no body there, and where any body exists, there is no void, and from this we conclude that the atoms are solid bodies free from any void.
- [511] By the same reasoning, since all bodies are composed of nothing but atoms and void, it is atoms which hold the void within a body, and nothing can be reasoned to hold void within it but bodies made of atoms. Therefore when any body dissolves, it is the atoms which composed that body remain.
- [520] If only void existed then the whole universe would be empty; if only atoms existed then the whole universe would be solid. Since this is not the case, bodies must be composed of both atoms and void, and those must be separate from each other. Bodies cannot be destroyed unless they have void in them, and the more void. Only things which have void in them can be destroyed, and since atoms have no void in them, atoms cannot be destroyed.
- [540] If the atoms were not everlasting, long before now everything would have passed away to nothing, and nothing that we see to have been born could have been born from nothing. This shows us that the atoms are everlasting, as in no other way could the universe have sustained itself through the ages.
- [551] For the same reason we also conclude that there is a limit to divisibility. for if there were not a limit nothing could have been generated from them. As we know, things are more easily broken apart than put together, and if there were no limit to divisibility what has broken down in the past could never have been regenerated. But we see that things are regenerated and do grow at their natural rates, so we know there is a limit to divisibility.
- [565] Another proof that the atoms are solid is that we can show how solid atoms can produce soft bodies by mixing them with void. The reverse is not true - if the atoms were soft, then nothing hard like flint or iron could be created.
- [577] If there were no limit to the breaking of things, nothing would survive from ages past, but bodies do exist despite their frail nature, and from this we know that it is the the atoms that compose them that are eternal.
- [584] Since Nature appoints a limit to the growth of all things, and yet the laws of nature hold fast so that birds through their generations show the same markings, and only certain things can come into being, and even the tribes can recall the nature, habits, and manner of life of their parents, it must be through the unchanging substance of the atoms that this continuity occurs.
- [599] Beyond the limit of our ability to observe there must be a least point which has no parts which exist in everlasting singleness.
- [615] If there were not a limit then the tiniest bodies would be composed of infinite numbers of parts, as any half could always be divided into another half. If that were the case, what difference would there be in anything, if everything held an infinite number of parts? Since true reasoning cries out against this, and the mind cannot accept it, we must conclude that there is a lower limit to the size of an atom, and at this lowest level that the atoms are solid and everlasting.
- [628] Also, if Nature had allowed all things to be dissolved into their least parts, and if those least parts were infinitely divisible, then nothing could be renewed from them, but this is contrary to what we see, as we see things are in fact renewed.
- [635] Those who allege that everything is made of fire are using faulty reasoning. Heraclitus is the leader of this pack, and he is famous for his hard-to-follow statements among those who are empty-headed and who love twisted sayings that tickle the ear more than they love the truth.
- [645] Things could not be as diverse as they are if they were created of fire alone, unmixed with anything else.
- [655] The advocates of fire as the only things making up all things might wish to suggest that void is mixed with fire, but they fear where that would lead, and so they lose the track of true reasoning.
- [665] The advocates of fire also know that they cannot admit that fire changes into another substance, for that which exceeds its own limits becomes something else again. The truth is that it is atoms that make up fire by changing their positions and movements, and this does not change the nature of the atoms, but explains how we can make fire and heat from the unchanging atoms.
- [690] Besides, it is crazy to suggest that there is nothing in the universe but fire. In this argument he fights against the senses by which he first came up with the idea that everything is made of fire! For he alleges that yes, the senses can recognize fire, but that they cannot recognize anything else, and this is crazy, for what else can we look to for deciding what is true and what is false except to the senses? Why would anyone choose to pick out fire and deny the existence of everything else? Why not deny the existence of fire but accept everything else? Only madness can explain choosing one over the other.
- [705] The same errors are committed by those who say that everything is made of air, or of some combination of only a few elements like earth or water. This is the error made by the otherwise majestic Empedocles.
- [734] Empedocles and the others (who were much less intelligent than he) all failed in understanding the nature of atoms and void. They believed in infinite divisibility of the material that things are made of, and thus they cannot explain what we see in nature to be the truth.
- [763] All things cannot be produced from only four elements that never lose their own nature, because the union of these four could never retain their character and yet form the things that we see around us - they could never form something of a distinctly new nature, which is what we know that atoms can do when they combine to form things with their own new characteristics.
- [782] Whenever a thing passes the limits of its own nature, that is the death of the thing that existed before, and that is the problem with those who assert that some combination of earth, air, fire, and water, which they allege to be elemental, change in nature to give rise to what we see around us.
- [803] If you argue that all things seem to grow from the earth up into the air and towards the fire of the sun and with the water of the rain, and that this means that these are the elements of all things, you should think again, for what is beyond doubt is that the growth of things is determined by nature, and that nature brings many things together to do its work, but it is of the greatest importance to decide what goes into making the earth and the water and the sun and the rain and how their components are combined together.
- [823] Think about how the words of this poem are composed of letters, and how the meaning of the words changes when the letters are moved around. The atoms have an even greater capacity than this, to make up all things by changing their positions and their motions and combining in different ways.
- [830] Let's not worry we don't have a Latin word for "homoeomeria" - the theory that all things are made up of smaller pieces of the same thing: that bones are made of tiny particles of bone, and the like.
- [834] This theory does not accept the existence of void, or that things are not infinitely divisible, so it suffers the same problems we discussed before.
- [847] In addition, this theory fails because none of these little bones or other miniature things can survive ultimate destruction, so they would all by now have already passed away.
- [859] Another problem for that theory is that if it were true, everything must be made of things which are alien to their own kind in order to produce what we see when smoke rises from burning logs, or plants grow up out of the earth.
- [875] Now Anaxagorus tries to save this argument by alleging that all things in miniature are hidden in all things, but this again is false reasoning, because if it were true, we ought to be able to squeeze corn until blood flows out, or blades of grass would give off animal milk. But we see this does not happen, so theory must be false. Instead, it is the atoms and the void that make up all things.
- [897] Another example is how the tops of trees can rub together in the wind to spark flames. This does not mean that fire is hidden inside trees, but that the movement and positions of the atoms is what creates the fire, just like words change their meaning when their letters are rearranged.
- [915] In the end, if you maintain that things are composed of miniatures of themselves, then you will eventually conclude that there are no true elemental particles, but instead you will find yourself deciding that you are made of little people who are laughing aloud and wetting their faces with tears at the thought of what you are suggesting.
- [921] Let's now cover what remains of these difficult questions, inspired by the Muses, and happy to think of the fame that will come in following paths never before tread by poets before us. We are talking about great things that will free the mind and free us from the bondage of religion, and we are acting as healers who, in giving wormwood to children, cover the rim of the medicine cup with honey so that they can drink the bitter medicine, charmed by the honey but not harmed by the taste, and rather be brought to health. That's the way of this philosophy - it seems bitter, and many shrink back from it, but if you stay with me you will come to see the big picture of the whole nature of things.
- [958] The universe is infinite in extent, and has no boundaries no matter how far you travel in any direction. We know this because the universe has no extreme point beyond which nothing else exists, and it makes no difference where we stand - there is boundlessness on all sides and in all directions.
- [968] A thought experiment confirms this: Consider that we throw a javelin in any direction. Either something will stop it, or it will keep on going. In neither case is the universe shown to be bounded, because if it hits something, then that something is part of the universe, and you can then move there and throw the javelin again. There is no evidence to suggest a boundary point to the universe as whole in the way that the things we see around us, such as the mountains or the sea, are bounded.
- [984] In addition, if the universe were bounded, then all the matter in the universe would have flowed from all directions through its weight toward a bottom, and everything would be piled together. But we know that there is no bottom to the universe at all, and thus there can be no final resting place for matter.
- [1002] Even the thunderbolts, as fast as they travel, could travel on indefinitely, and no matter how far they travel they have no less distance to continue to travel.
- [1008] The universe could not exist if either atoms or void did not surround each other, were limited, because if either were limited then the other would spread out to dominate the universe, which we see does not happen.
- [1021] It was not by intelligent design that the elemental particles placed themselves came together as we see them now, but rather by the unceasing movement of the atoms over the ages. Those movements created and sustain this world and all living things, which could not happen if the atoms and void were not as they are.
- [1037] All things are dissolved when their atomic material ceases to be replaced, and therefore it is necessary for the universe to survive any length of time for there to be limitless matter on all sides.
- [1052] Be sure not to accept the idea that all things press toward a center, and that this explains how the world stays together, and explains how animals can walk on the other side of the earth without falling off.
- [1067] The universe in fact infinite and has no center, so all things do not fall down toward the center of the earth. There is no place for anything to rest and stand still in the universe, and it is foolish to believe otherwise.
- [1083] Those who advocate for the earth being the center of the universe are not consistent, because they think this applies only to earth and liquid but not to air and fire, which fly upward. Instead, the truth is that there is an infinite supply of matter, and this restrains both the matter of the earth from flying outward, and the matter of the skies from crushing us down from above. Remember: on whatever side you argue that there is a limited supply of matter, that side will be the gate of death for things, because in that direction all of matter will throw itself.
- [1107] These basic lessons lead to all the rest that follows. Each spark of knowledge will lead to more knowledge, and from these you will see the truth of nature and kindle a light for others.
2.2. Book II
- Wisdom brings great pleasure, including that of appreciating the dangers from which wisdom protects you
- Nature has established that our highest goal is that the mind enjoy delight, and that the body be free of pain.
- Nature has established that neither our bodies nor our minds require great wealth or power over others
- Wealth, power, and the like are no guarantee of happiness - only reason has power over the fear of death and other irrational fears
- Ultimately only applying reason to the study of Nature can cure our childish fears
- Our next lesson is that the basic material of the universe is in constant motion
- The atoms do not move to please us, nor do they move “perfectly” as if their motions were established by a god
- The movement of the atoms is in accord with their nature, but in addition to the movement caused by their interaction with each other, it is also in the nature of certain atoms to swerve unpredictably, and from this atomic swerve comes our free will
- There is a force resident within certain atoms that leads them to swerve
- The atoms have a finite number of shapes
- The atoms are finite in number of shapes, but the atoms are infinite in number
- There is an eternal deadlock between destruction and rebirth
- Let a man call upon the gods in jest if he like, but let him not be polluted by religion to think that the gods control the universe
- Atoms cannot combine in all possible ways, but only according to their nature.
- Atoms have no color.
- Sentient life is made of non-sentient particles.
- The key aspect of sentient life is the arrangement of the particles.
- But while the arrangement of the material makes the key difference, consciousness does not derive from RANDOM combinations of matter
- Men can laugh without being made of laughing particles; men can be wise without being made of wise particles.
- Sentient things are made of particles which do not themselves have sensation.
- The universe is wonderful but do not be shocked by it; in all things welcome the truth; strike down the false.
- Ours is not the only world; there are many others in the universe, and other races of men, as there has been infinite time and space for all natural combinations of things.
- And there is never in nature only one single thing of a kind.
- Nature has no tyrants (gods) over her.
2.3. Book III
- Epicurus discovered and has shown to us immortal truths, which we should apply to our own lives as he did to his.
- Most importantly, the fear of hell must be shown to be groundless, as it pollutes life and makes happiness impossible.
- The fear of hell is dispelled by the study of nature.
- Mind is a part of man’s makeup just like hands, feet, and eyes.
- Mind and spirit are, like everything else, material in nature.
- Mind is made up of diminutive particles.
- Mind is made up of small particles but also of a fourth, unnamed element.
- This fourth element is lord of all, and rules body and mind.
- Reason can dispel our primitive elements and allow us to live lives worthy of the gods.
- This fourth element of spirit is inseparable from the body.
- Mind is more powerful than spirit.
- Mind and body are born and age together.
- Mind can be diseased just as the body can.
- The truth meets falsehood head-on and cuts off its retreat as well, so it is doubly victor.
- Mind perishes with the body.
- Even if spirit possesses an immortal quality, it keeps no memory of a prior life, so we are essentially new creations.
- The spirit, once infused throughout the body, dies with it.
- Spirits do not make bodies for themselves and crawl into them
- If spirit were immortal and kept its identify we would see beasts perform like scholars.
- It is comical to think that spirits might stand in lines holding tickets to enter the bodies of living things.
- Trees cannot root in the sky; there is an everlasting fixed assignment set for being and growth.
- It is nonsense to think that mortal and immortal can unite in an immortal pact.
- Death is nothing to us, and has no more relevance to us than did the time before we were born
- Just as we have no concern about the eternity of time before our birth, we should have no concern about the eternity of time after our death.
- Even if the mind or spirit has sensation after death, that is nothing to us, as our essence derives from our union with out body, and any such existence has no meaning to us.
- If tough luck lies ahead for any man, he must be there to experience it, but since death removes our consciousness we have no need to fear it.
- Death is no worse than eternal sleep.
- Take leave of life as if you are leaving a banquet.
- Think of the eternity of time before our birth as a mirror of the eternity of time after death and you will realize that this is not grim, and is a rest more free from care than any sleep.
- The terrors that supposedly exist in Hell really exist here – in the minds of fools.
- Remember that the greatest men in the history of the world have also died, just as you will.
- Half their time men spend in sleep; the other half wandering around aimlessly, sleeping with their eyes wide open
- Men seem to feel a burden on their souls, and they waste their lives away, not realizing that the issue for them to understand is not how they spend an hour, but how they will spend eternity.
- All men must die, and none can escape; you must reconcile yourself to this law of nature.
2.4. Book IV
- Epicurus’ teachings bring release from religious fear, and though the limitations of life may seem bitter, it is the best medicine for the soul to realize the natural limits of life.
- We now turn to discussing “images” (visions), to show that they do not result from seeing ghosts of those who are dead.
- Illusions do not show that eyesight is fallible; it is the task of reason to process the information they provide.
- There are many examples of visual illusions, but we fool ourselves; misjudgments are not the fault of the senses but of our processing the information the senses provide
- The man who argues that nothing can be known confesses that he himself is ignorant.
- The ultimate validity of the senses cannot be refuted, because any attempted refutation depends for its proof on the senses.
- If you cannot explain a seeming contradiction, it is better to accept an incorrect theory than to give up those conclusions that you have already had sufficient facts to verify to be true.
- Do not reason based on erroneous observations of the facts of reality, or else your conclusions will be erroneous also.
- Reason is dormant while we sleep, so things seen in dreams cannot be trusted.
- Eyes were not made to see; nor ankle-bones for walking.
- Nature did not make eyes for seeing; what is born creates the use.
- Sleep annuls sensation.
- Avoid the danger inherent in allowing passionate love to overcome your common sense
- Delight comes in a purer form to those who are reasonable in the way they indulge their senses
- It is easier to avoid the snares of love than to escape once you are entangled.
- Romantic love is strongest when based not on passion but on habit, growing stronger over time, like rain wearing away stone
2.5. Book V
- Epicurus appears to us now as god-like, given the immortal wisdom he left to us.
- If the reason is unpurified, we wage an internal war against ourselves.
- All the world is mortal too, and just as it once came together into its present form, it will one day pass away.
- Wonderment at the stars in heaven breeds confusion, as fools think that the stars are moved by the gods, and this leads them to invoke a bitter lordship of religion over themselves.
- Everything that has a body does not have a mind – the element of mind and spirit exists only in connection with living animals.
- The gods did not change their immortal ways to create the world for men.
- The gods did not live in darkness and grief before they created the world.
- It would be of no harm to us if we had never been born.
- Nature had to provide the model for creation – how could the gods themselves have created the universe without a model?
- Too much is wrong with the world for it to have been created by an all-powerful god.
- Our world is very young, or else we would have a much longer knowledge of human history.
- Our world was formed by the natural actions of the basic material of the universe.
- Speculations as to the stars are necessarily only theories, since we lack ability to verify the true facts by direct closeup evaluation.
- The size of the sun is an example of the limits of our ability to determine the truth of things in heaven – certain facts observable here on earth (primarily that all things except light appear to grow less distinct when further away) lead us to conclude that the sun is not significantly larger than it appears to us in the sky.
- Another point we lack the ability to verify is whether the Moon shines with its own light, or reflects light from sun.
- Centaurs and such things as half-men, half-animals never existed, and never can exist, because seeds combine only according to their nature.
- Language developed naturally over time as men learned to communicate with each other.
- Men fell under religion because they had visions of gods in dreams and saw things in the world and sky that they did not understand, so they assumed the gods must be responsible.
- Populations die if they disarm.
- Men developed music by imitating the birds
- We toil in vain because we fail to remember the limits of possessiveness and the brevity of our time to enjoy pleasure.
2.6. VI. Book VI
- Civilization first flowered in Athens, and Athens brought to us a man – Epicurus - who discovered and brought to us the complete truth, and as a result his glory makes him seem to us almost divine
- Epicurus diagnosed the problem that corrupts men’s lives, and cleansed our hearts by words of truth, showing us (1) the error of greeds and fears, (2) the highest good that Nature has ordained for men, (3) the natural evils that confront the lives of men, and that they can be defeated once we learn the proper way to deal with them, and (4) that most of the anxieties we face are imaginary, no worse than the imaginings of children.
- Even those who otherwise understand the laws of Nature may wonder how certain things can happen, especially in the sky, and this wonder leads to confusion and to regress to superstitious religious awe
- Stop having thoughts unworthy of the gods, because this will harm you – not because the gods will care, but because you will fear that you are at the mercy of the gods and this will cause you great anxiety.
- We see that lightning is not caused by the gods because it does not occur with any consistency to punish the enemies of the gods or to accomplish anything.
- Snow, wind, hail and the light are understandable if you keep in mind the basic properties of the elements involved.
- Many natural phenomena cannot be isolated to a single cause due to lack of information, so consider all reasonable possibilities that are not eliminated by the evidence.
- Disease is caused by noxious particles.
- The plague of Athens.