Oxford university press is a department of the university of oxford. This abridged presentation of lucretius famous sixbook poem on nature focuses mostly on those passages essential to epicureanism based on translations by. On the nature of things by lucretius the internet classics archive. By a comparison of an entry in jeromes fastp and acasualnote in donatuss life of virgil, 2 and an attempt to reconcile their disagreement by considerations of probability, we can arrive at the conclusion that he was born in 94 b. Before which i step to speak holier oracles about this matter. The introduction itself is for the most part unchanged updates appear in three notes but the section. On the nature of things leonard translation by titus. Evelyns complete extant translation lacking book 2 not published until john evelyns translation of titus lucretius carus. This work is licensed under a creative commons attributionsharealike 3.
On the nature of things by lucretius, part of the internet classics archive. My main goal is to understand epicurean philosophy, though of course it would be nice if it sounded good too. Leonard and smith lucretius university of wisconsin press 1942 richard minadeo, the lyre of science. Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. Then throughout seas and mountains and sweeping torrents and the leafy dwellings of birds and verdant plains, striking alluring love into the breasts of all creatures, you cause them greedily to beget their generations after their kind. These set the stage for his explanation of the diversity of bodies. In book 2 he explains atomic movement, the variety of atomic shapes, and. The title of lucretiuss work translates that of the chief work of epicurus, peri physeos on nature. Prepared from the sphere library book, translated martin ferguson smith 1969. Lucretius begins by invoking the name of venus as a creative force, appealing to memmius to whom the. Please click here to go to our dedicated site for lucretius.
To watch anothers labouring anguish far, not that we. The poem consists of six untitled books, in dactylic hexameter. Hide browse bar your current position in the text is marked in blue. Other than that, virtually nothing is known about lucretius other than what can be deduced from the poem itself.
No attempts to translate the text of lucretius are known of before 1530. Lucretius, on the nature of things loeb classical library. On the nature of things is a firstcentury bc didactic poem by the roman poet and philosopher lucretius c. Latham, introduction and notes by john godwin, penguin revised edition 1994, isbn 0140446109. Check our home page for introductory material on epicurus by clicking here. Home collectionstexts perseus catalog research grants open source about help. I care about clarity and ease of reading more than accuracy or aesthetics. Proem mother of rome, delight of gods and men, dear venus that beneath the gliding stars makest to teem the manyvoyaged main and fruitful lands for all of living things through thee alone are evermore conceived, through thee are risen to visit the great sunbefore thee, goddess, and thy coming on, flee stormy wind and massy cloud away, for thee the daedal earth bears scented flowers, for. Mother of aeneas and his race, darling of men and venus, aid me in my work gods, nurturing venus, a who beneath the smoothmoving heavenly signs fill with yourself the sea fullladen with ships, the earth that bears the crops, since through you every kind of living thing is conceived and rising up looks on the light of the sun. Titus lucretius carus was probably born in the early first century b. Pet care marketing tips elementary mathematics k 2 for girls like you cera una volta il mito.
The poem was lost during the middle ages, rediscovered in 1417, and first printed in 1473. The elemental doctrines of books 12 precede it logically, and the social and. Of the nature of things paperback february 4, 2010 by lucretius author 4. On the nature of things titus lucretius carus, lucrece. On the nature of things work by lucretius britannica. Once more, we all from seed celestial spring, to all is that same father, from whom earth, the fostering mother, as she takes the drops.
Little is known of his life, although two tantalizing bits of gossip were passed on by st. This elegant new translation at last restores the poetry to one of the greatest and most influential poems in the western tradition. Click anywhere in the line to jump to another position. It furthers the universitys objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Stanford libraries official online search tool for books, media, journals, databases, government documents and more. Lucretius observations of the particularities of the world remain alive across the centuries. On the nature of things by titus lucretius carus free ebook. This sumptuous account of a secular cosmos argues that the soul is mortal, that pleasure is the object of life, and. On the nature of things, 1951 prose translation by r. This sumptuous account of a secular cosmos argues that the soul is mortal, that pleasure is the object of life, and that humanity has free will, among other ideas. Pages 207454 are tanaquilli fabri emendations et conjecturae of tanaquillus faber tanneguy lefebvre, daughter of anna and andre dacier on the six books. Edidit joseph martin bibliotheca scriptorvm graecorvm et romanorvm tevbneriana.
The version read here is an english verse translation written by william. This study guide consists of approximately 68 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of on the nature of things. Its earliest published translation into any language french did not occur until 1650. In it, he set out to explicate the universe, embracing and refuting ideas of the great greek philosophers. It is sweet, when winds trouble the waters on the great sea, to behold from land the distress of others, not because it is a pleasure that any should be afflicted, but because it is sweet to see from what evils you are yourself exempt.
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