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I have been looking for a long time for a side-by-side Latin-English translation of Lucretius, and searching Archive.org today I see for the first time one that I have never seen before. Does anyone know anything about this version? I can't even be sure who the translator is, but the introduction says that the Creech version was "many years ago" and this one is supposed to be more literal. Unfortunately it has the old "f" for "s" font style, but the eye adjusts to that pretty quickly, and the ar…

Here is the original entry page at Archive.org, but it doesn't seem to list an author, so I don't even now how to cite this edition - https://archive.org/details/tlucretiuscaruso00lucr To me this is very impressive. It is essentially a line-by-line version, with an effort apparently made to translate each sentence - and even each word in each sentence, to a degree - from Latin into English, and at least somewhat literally. With this arrangement it is much easier to check the Latin to see if the …

Poster: we are looking at “rationis egestas.” Egestas is “poverty, lack, need.” Ratio is what the brain does... so “poverty of thinking... lack of thought.. in need of reason.” I agree “Reason alone” is bad philosophically, and happily that is not what the Latin says. So Bailey added “alone” from his head, and the “sense” in the second translation is “mental sense/thinking” not the sensations/senses. Cassius: I think someone in tune with Epicurean philosophy would likely have the same reservatio…

Opening of Lucretius Book 1, from 1743 Edition of unknown author. Everyone has their own taste in writing style, but I've always found this opening one of the most difficult-to-read passages. If the rest of the book lives up to the standard set here, this might be one of the most understandable English versions available. Two takeaways: (1) If this translator is correct, "Venus" is pretty clearly not identical with "Nature." Whatever we conclude Lucretius considered Venus to be, whether it is "p…

Poster: Lucretius uses “Venus” usually to refer to sexual desire, by which “nothing can rise to light” etc. The more literal occurrence when Venus kisses Mars may be an illusion to a statue, well known at the time but lost now. I’d say the same play is occurring with caelum, “heavens” as in the sky... ...unless the godly imagery is just too tempting. We are talking about a poet, after all! He let himself play here more than usual. Cassius: Nocks, as you glance through this edition you know I am …

And how about THIS as to "time" -- Right or wrong, he's clear as a bell - time has no meaning apart from things at rest or in motion:

Even THIS one seems more clear to me - the Trojan War - or any action, does not have an independent existence like a body does - an event, no matter how stupendous, is just something that occurs to the bodies in the space where the event is carried on. The continuing mystery to me is "Who says that events DO have a separate existence?" Did the Platonists or Pythagoreans give some mystical significance to certain events? Were they asserting something like the later Christians assert about the cru…

And is here is one of what I would contend is one of the most important sections of Lucretius - from Book 4 - "So the Reason of Things must of necessity be wrong and false, which is founded upon false Representation of the Senses." Maybe not quite clear as a bell, but superior to many versions of this I have seen.

The remainder of this thread will be used to coordinate the transcription of the 1743 edition so that it is more accessible to new readers. The transcription will be posted here: http://epicureanfriends.com/wiki/doku.php?id=browne_1 At present all of the Munro and Bailey versions are complete (though they need proofreading) and Book 1 of the Browne translation is complete. The next step to be undertaken is to complete the remaining books of the Browne translation, and then cross-reference all bo…

thank you Martin! What I am doing so far is working directly on the wiki pages. I have book 1 finished and have opened pages for the other 5, and I am working as I can to transcribe them. Typing new sections or just proofing what is typed already would be helpful. Probably the best way to communicate for the time being is that anyone who has contributions can just post it to this thread.

For the time being I am using this thread to mark progress on organizing the three English public-domain translations of Lucretius (Browne, Munro, and Bailey). I have today completed the reformatting and numbering of the three versions of book one, which means that line numbers are now available in each of the three versions of book one by which it is easier to find the corresponding line in the other two translations. At some point it will probably be desirable to either hyperlink these or set …

This question isn't chargeable to Epicurus or Lucretius, certainly, because the engraving in this photo is only a couple of hundred years old. But I wonder why, in this portrayal made for the opening of Lucretius Book One, the artist decided to feature a map of CYPRUS at the bottom left of the drawing. And specifically - it says Cyprus - in case anyone didn't recognize the shape. Is Cyprus a particularly delightful place, or something? Or thought to be so in old England? Or is there in fact a co…

Elli: Because according to Myth Cyprus is the birthplace of Venus/Aphrodite. Cassius: I never knew that! Venus was born in Cyprus? Why Cyprus? Is there some mountain or temple or some other feature that connected her or her parents with Cyprus? https://visitworldheritage.com/.../d4a87816-4a22-44d0... visitworldheritage.com Birthplace of Aphrodite | World Heritage Journeys of Europe Birthplace of Aphrodite | World Heritage Journeys of Europe 3d view! Is one of these rocks the important one? https…

Yes I would love to know more about this edition. It's so much better than Creech that it seems likely that whoever translated it probably had much of interest to say about Lucretius and Epicurus. Even though it is probably now lost, it's very interesting to work on fleshing out a picture of the type of people who made themselves part of the Epicurean transmission chain.