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This introduction to Epicurus was written In 1947 by Norman DeWitt, prior to his release of "Epicurus And His Philosophy."

There are many topics on which we have only scratched the surface at EpicureanFriends. This is a list of topics that would be particularly desirable to write long-form articles about. We'll curate this list so that it is most effective, so please make suggestions for additions at the separate discussion thread - click here.

For our most comprehensive outline of this topic, see the discussion thread and outline for Episode 257 of the Lucretius Today podcast at the link below:

Lucretius Today Episode 257 - Fate, Necessity, Determinism

In addition to the material below, see our discussion outline here:

The Universe Is Infinite And Eternal And Has No Gods Over It

This listing will be expanded with additional detail over time.

Notes: This page will be updated over time. For the latest revision of the EpicureanFriends statement of Classical Epicurean Philosophy, click here.

This is a curated collection of important fragments collected by Usener. The full User material can be accessed either here at Epicurism.info or here at Attalus.org. The Attalus.org version appears to be largely a copy of the Epicurism.info version, which was originally prepared by Erik Anderson, proprietor of the original Epicurus.info, who is now deceased.

Selections from Diogenes Laertius, Lucretius, and from sources which are too fragmentary or short to be of significant usefulness have been removed. The purpose of this collection is to provide better access to significant quotes by or about Epicurus which are not already familiar through review of Diogenes Laertius and Lucretius.

When the first round of editing is complete, we can attack the project of going back and supplementing the topic headings with material from more recently-discovered sources and translations. Eventually we can also fold back in quotes from Diogenes Laertius Book Ten and Lucretius so that the topical aspect is more complete, but the first task is to make more accessible substantial fragments which are rarely discussed.

Anyone interested in assisting with the editing of this document please message Cassius.

Based on information originally put together by Don and Nate, this is an effort to "pretty it up" into a Table form which we can reference more easily and update collaboratively. If you have suggestions please place them in the comments below. If you'd like to do more extensive editing and don't have write access, please contact Cassius.

Green is for Epicurean. Red is for non-Epicurean. Blue is for "events."

This will be a collection of objections gathered from our Lucretius Today Podcast review of Cicero's "On Ends," annotated with comments as to proper responses.

Initially this will be in sequential order as the argument appears in the book. As the argument gets repetitive we can re-order.

Backup of Attalus.org

Transcribed by Cassius Amicus and Ilkka Vouristo. This transcription was very difficult for a variety of reasons, and the reader is advised to check the PDF for the greatest accuracy.

Test Mind Map

This text comes from http://thelatinlibrary.com/lucretius.html)

Other Editions:

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.

The 1893 Translation of HAJ Munro

This is one of the most memorable and literal translations available.

The 1920's Loeb translation by William Rouse

The 1936 Translation Of Cyril Bailey

This is the most recent edition in the public domain.

The Latin Edition

This text comes from LatinLibrary.com.

Editions at EpicureanFriends.com

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.

The 1893 Translation of HAJ Munro

This is one of the most memorable and literal translations available.

The 1920's Loeb translation by William Rouse

The 1936 Translation Of Cyril Bailey

This is the most recent edition in the public domain.

The Latin Edition

This text comes from LatinLibrary.com.

For the likelihood that the translator of this edition is Samuel Dunster, see:

Article

Giving Credit Where It Is Due: Samuel Dunster, Likely Author of the 1743 Prose Translation of Lucretius

For over two hundred years, obscurity has surrounded the identity of the anonymous translator of one of the first readable prose editions of Lucretius in the English language. In this article, Joshua tracks down the evidence and concludes that it points in one direction.

Joshua

July 18, 2024 at 3:07 PM

Editions at EpicureanFriends.com

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.

The 1893 Translation of HAJ Munro

This is one of the most memorable and literal translations available.

The 1920's Loeb translation by William Rouse

The 1936 Translation Of Cyril Bailey

This is the most recent edition in the public domain.

The Latin Edition

This text comes from LatinLibrary.com.

Plutarch’s Morals. Translated from the Greek by Several Hands. Corrected and Revised by William W. Goodwin, with an Introduction by Ralph Waldo Emerson. 5 Volumes. (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1878).

This version comes from here: http://demonax.info/doku.php?id=te…ine_of_epicurus

First posted at EpicureanFriends 07/09/23 - this version needs cleaning up.

This document has been superseded and will soon be deleted.

The following document summarizes sources in support of each of the four primary points of emphasis at EpicureanFriends.com. This list will continue to be displayed, as it has in the past, as a right-side graphic, but as of 7/7/23 is being added to the main section of the home page for ease of reference on mobile devices.

The sources listed below could be greatly expanded, so please feel free to make suggestions for additions in the comments below. Four items are included so as to keep the list manageable and consistent with the goals of the forum.

Items one, two, and four are self-explanatory. Item three, a direct excerpt from Epicurus' letter to Menoeceus and included as well within Principal Doctrine 3, is included here to emphasize the basis of the Epicurean teaching that "good," "evil," and "virtue" are relative to the feelings of pleasure and pain rather than absolute.

Diogenes Laertius' Book Ten - his biography of Epicurus - is the primary source of information about Epicurus remaining to us from the ancient world. The version on this page is that of Cyril Bailey as prepared forhis 1926 work "Epicurus - The Extant Remains." The text here was prepared from a PDF of the original which can be found at Archive.org here. The original PDF contains the full Greek, footnotes, and commentary. Approximate line numbers matching the Bailey edition are placed in brackets such as [20]. Placement of these numbers should not be considered to be exact, and should be used primarily as an aid in looking up the same section in other translations. Headings are not a part of the original text. The Perseus Greek edition, from which individual words can be looked up for English definitions, is here.

NOTE:

A PDF prepared by Tau Phi with three parallel public domain translations of this and the other letters of Epicurus is here. As of this writing 4/7/25, a work-in-progress of a side-by-side page is here, but the text and especially the line numbers are not yet reliable.

Except where noted, this translation is by Cyril Bailey, as contained in his text “Epicurus - The Extant Remains.” The doctrine number is hyperlinked to our Lexicon for additional translations and notes.

For detailed discussion of each doctrine, please post here: The Principal Doctrines.

For those who may wish to print this page, several notes are included at the bottom of this page as to the source of the translation of each doctrine listed here. The "Scholia Commentary" to PD01 and PD29 are included at the end as well.

For an excellent resource useful in comparing each of these in different translations, see Nate's compilation of alternate translations here.

For purposes of inclusion in our regular 20th meetings, the following is a list of prominent Epicureans with notations of their accomplishments. Each month - in addition to Epicurus and Metrodorus - we can remember two others so that each year we rotate through the complete list. The goal for each month would be:

1. To memorialize Epicurus and Metrodorus every month as per the directions in Epicurus' will.
2. To memorialize two other prominent Epicureans from a list of 24 names that everyone ought to know.
3. To memorialize one from a list of "lesser-known" Epicureans about whom we may not know much but which we know enough to make for an interesting mention.

To prepare this we can use Nate's list of "Epicurean Philosophers."

Full discussion thread for this project.

Understanding Epicurus takes considerable effort, but not because the doctrines are always difficult. One problem is that Epicurean philosophy has been heavily criticized for more than two thousand years, and most of the articles and commentary that have been produced over that time are by people who are critical of it and have no desire to present the philosophy clearly and fully.

The following table of major issues within Epicurean philosophy are an attempt to help you navigate those confusing waters. A longer narrative blog post on the topic can be found here. The issues listed in the table are frequent topics of discussion on the internet, and this table lets you know that there are at least two sides to each of these questions. From at least as far back as the time of Cicero, opponents of Epicurus have employed the tactic of taking particular Epicurean passages out of context and torturing them into narrow conclusions that appear - and are - absurd. Opponents of Epicurus have no interest in providing the full context and showing how the pieces fit together, and as a result Epicurean philosophy is portrayed as confusing at best and incomprehensible at worst. It is therefore helpful for you to know as soon as possible in your reading of Epicurus that you are going to run into these issues so you can be ready for them. Posts and articles on the issues listed here are particularly welcome, and articles on these topics are prime candidates for the "Featured Articles" on the Home page of this website.

It would also be helpful to do another chart along the lines of "Where Epicurean Philosophy Disagrees with Other Philosophies" but that is not the focus of this chart. This one focuses on controversies within and among commentators on Epicurean philosophy about what Epicurus taught, not whether Epicurus was right or wrong.

Edits and contributions to this table by Level 3 or above participants at EpicureanFriends.com are welcome. If you attempt to edit and do not have access, please message a moderator.

The purpose of this page is to present a table of major passages from the core texts for which there are translation controversies and as to the real meaning. In many or most cases, the issue involved is controversial, and the choice of words used to translate the text assumes that one among various possibilities is correct. The purpose here is to highlight the ambiguity and the various possibilities so as not to obscure the difficulty, but make it possible to explore the difficulty more deeply, in the spirit of PD24.

PD24. If you reject any single sensation, and fail to distinguish between the conclusion of opinion, as to the appearance awaiting confirmation, and that which is actually given by the sensation or feeling, or each intuitive apprehension of the mind, you will confound all other sensations, as well, with the same groundless opinion, so that you will reject every standard of judgment. And if among the mental images created by your opinion you affirm both that which awaits confirmation, and that which does not, you will not escape error, since you will have preserved the whole cause of doubt in every judgment between what is right and what is wrong.

Edits and contributions to this table by Level 3 or above participants at EpicureanFriends.com are welcome. If you attempt to edit and do not have access, please message a moderator.

This lexicon entry replaces the old entry located here: Table of Texts With Translation or Corruption Difficulties

Calculations of the best modern calendar date that corresponds with Epicurus' actual birthday under the ancient Geek calendar.