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I was just about to post that too Here's the link: http://wiki.epicurism.info/Principal_Doctrine_14/ I think the commentary there is very good as well per their translation.* The Greek above in #2 agrees with Bailey/Usener so I'm good with that. *PS: I'll have something to say about some of their interpretation however.

My translation and interpretation are my own, informed by all the scholarly materials referenced above as well as Bailey's commentary on this Principal Doctrine in his Extant Remains. I want to first look at several individual words. ἀσφαλείας "assurance from danger, personal safety" ἀσφαλείας is about personal, individual safety from danger, one's own personal safety from harm. It's not an abstract concept of "Safety" or "Security" writ large. It asks, "How do I keep myself free from harm?" ht…

I'm seeing "prosperity" simply as a paraphrase for εὐπορίᾳ http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=eu%29pori%2Fa%7C&la=greek&can=eu%29pori%2Fa%7C0&prior=kai\&d=Perseus:text:1999.01.0257:book=10&i=1#lexicon It's the opposite of πενία http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/h…ni%2Fh0&prior=eu)#lexicon PS: "Up to a certain point, personal safety can be achieved by the power to repel and wealth, but the purest safety..."

Here's my highly idiosyncratic paraphrase of PD14, incorporating the notes above: "Up to a certain point, personal safety can be obtained by being powerful and wealthy, but the surest way to personal safety is from withdrawing from the hustle and bustle of the hoi polloi and from the peace gained from not meddling in the affairs of others."

I don't get "retirement **from the world**" at all from ἐκχωρήσεως τῶν πολλῶν at all. It's literally "'withdrawal' from the hoi polloi." It doesn't say society, culture, world, etc. It's specifically referring to withdrawal from the masses, which is why I think "herd" is such a good choice. Those who want to assign ascetic or antisocial tendencies to Epicurus and his school are reading more into that hoi polloi than I think prudent.

(Quote from Cassius) Doesn't he say as much in the Letter to Menoikeus about accepting myths?

We're talking about this, right? (Quote from Epicurus) Yeah, I take this to mean, "Give me the myths believed by the hoi polloi any day over the determinism of the academics!" Not that he endorsed those myths! But, given those two options...

(Quote from JJElbert) Yes, I would concur, although Epicurus was an Athenian citizen by birth, too. I keep coming back to the fact that even Epicurus didn't "withdraw from the world." He's placed his Garden only a few stadia outside Athen's walls directly on the busy road that went past the Academy out to the rest of Attica. It makes more sense to me that he withdrew from there masses, the rat race, the hustle and bustle of City life. The Garden was a refuge of sorts but it wasn't isolated or in…

(Quote from Cassius) If you "borrow" it, is the whole book there? It's just a free account to borrow.